The “heart-breaking” call that led to Ocon’s Hungarian GP triumph

Set to restart the red-flagged Hungarian Grand Prix in second, Esteban Ocon had some doubts when he peeled into the pits to swap his intermediate tyres for slicks. But this "heart-breaking" call was vindicated in spectacular fashion as the Alpine driver staved off race-long pressure from Sebastian Vettel for a memorable maiden Formula 1 victory

There were plenty of iconic images created at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The sight of Sebastian Vettel wearing an LGBTQ+-supporting rainbow T-shirt made an impact for the right reasons ahead of the start, soon after which the pile-up crashes triggered by Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll created a scene of ugly chaos (albeit in a trivial sporting context compared to the suffering of still-sadly oppressed minority groups). But perhaps the most bizarre pictures on the day at Budapest concerned Lewis Hamilton lining up solo on the grid to restart a race that was eventually won by the irrepressible Esteban Ocon.

The event ultimately broke down into three main storylines – all of which were split apart from the original narrative by some shocking driving into the first corner.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.