Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever winner in Formula One after taking victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, securing Renault’s first win in 20 years.
Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever winner in Formula One after taking victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, securing Renault’s first win in 20 years.
The 22-year-old, who started from pole position, led for most of the race. He is also the first Spaniard to win an F1 race.
Kimi Raikkonen was second and Juan-Pablo Montoya third. Michael Schumacher could only add one more point to his tally, after finishing in eighth place. He now leads the world standings by only one point over Montoya, who has a one-point advantage over third-placed Raikkonen, with three races remaining.
Montoya survived a scare towards the end of the race when his tyres locked up. His Williams team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, started on the front of the grid, but got into all sorts of trouble as he spun off at the second turn and dropped to last place. The German fought his way through the field to take fourth place. He is also fourth in the standings.
Alonso stormed off to a 12-second lead after only six laps, coming in for his first pit stop on lap 13. Raikkonen took over the lead, but Alonso was back in front again a few laps later.
“It was a fantastic weekend for me. To get pole position and then to win at 22 is a dream come true,” said Alonso. “Hopefully, there will be many more wins and that I will have a
long career in Formula One.”
Alonso said he was surprised to have such a huge gap at the start. “The first three laps, I could see Webber in my mirrors and then, on the ninth lap, I asked my team where are the others. They said they were 15 seconds back and I knew that I was very fast,” he said.
It was a miserable day for Ferrari, with Schumacher getting lapped by Alonso and finishing in eighth place and Rubens Barrichello crashing out.
The Brazilian was in fifth place when he suffered mechanical failure. His left rear suspension failed and the wheel came off. He hit the tyre barrier. “I was a passenger,” Barrichello said. “I just had to break hard and hope. Thank God I am walking and I am okay.”