Mercedes Drivers Get Their Worst Finish This F1 Season
Giancarlo Perlas July 26, 2015
The recently concluded Hungarian Grand Prix was the worst performance of Mercedes-AMG Petronas as a team this Formula One season so far. Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line sixth while Nico Rosberg followed in the eighth place.
Early on, Hamilton fell behind in the 10th position after going off the tracks. He managed to squeeze his way to the fourth position, but he had to go to the pits when he damaged his front wing as he tried to overtake Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. He was consequently penalized for the incident.
Rosberg tried to capitalize on the situation only to suffer his own share of frustration. Once more, Ricciardo was involved in the woe of Rosberg in Hungary.
As the German was aiming at catching up with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the lead, his rear left tire was punctured by the the Australian Red Bull driver. It happened as Ricciardo tried to overtake Rosberg.
Hamilton later apologized to the team and didn’t mince words in admitting that he really had a bad performance in the race. Rosberg felt defeated also for not being able to get his chance to make up for his gap with his teammate in the F1 Driver Standings.
The event ended with Vettel securing the win. Red Bull was able to get the second and third place with Daniil Kvyat in the second and Ricciardo bagging the third.
The Mercedes drivers remain as the leaders in the overall driver standings though. Currently, Hamilton has 202 points while Rosberg has 181 points. Vettel looms at third with 160 points.
Adding humor to the aftermath, Bernie Ecclestone later went to the motorhome of Mercedes, according to Toto Wolff. The F1 boss congratulated Mercedes for not winning this time.
Quoting the statement of Wolff with Yahoo! News, he said:
Bernie was here saying ‘Thank you very much’ for a great day for Formula One. We also had a laugh before the race. He said ‘Don’t win this race, it’s important for Formula One.'”
