You could argue that this win was a bit lucky because Sebastian Vettel's challenge was curtailed by a drive-through penalty, but I'll take it! I've been in F1 long enough to know that you take the rough with the smooth in this sport.I still had to deliver the lap times when it mattered and I've now led 314 laps this season, which is more than any other driver.
My victory in Hungary was the perfect way to enter Formula One's four-week summer break.
It was my fourth win of the year and it put me back in the lead of the world championship.
With Seb coming home third, Red Bull Racing are now leading the constructors' table as well, so it was a good day for the team.
We knew very early in the weekend that the RB6 would be competitive. The Hungaroring had no long straights and lots of corners, which was a combination that played to the strengths of the car.
After first practice on Friday, we knew we had a very good chance of winning the race. First, though, there was the battle for pole. It was a straight fight between Seb and me: I had the edge in Q2, but he did a better lap in Q3 to take pole.
That left me on the dirty side of the grid, which is a huge disadvantage at this track because it's so dirty off-line. And it was no different this year.
Seb and Fernando Alonso, starting third, got away better than me, so I slipped into Fernando's slipstream and fought him in to Turn 1. But this wasn't his first grand prix; like me, he was celebrating his 150th F1 start and he knew what he was doing.
He defended well and I had to settle for third place. Thereafter, my plan was to jump the Ferrari at the pitstops but I didn't have to wait that long. Some debris at Turn 11 brought out the safety car on lap 15 and everyone dived in to the pits for new tyres. Except for me.
The team told me to stay out because they thought I had the pace to open a gap big enough to jump Fernando later in the race. Once the race had gone green, I put in one qualifying lap after another for 25 laps. I needed a minimum of 20 seconds over Fernando for it to work, so I pushed very hard.
It wasn't without its risks because we didn't know how the super-soft tyre would hold up over a 42-lap stint.
We hadn't done anything like that mileage with a single set during practice and the hotter track temperature on race day put more wear on the tyre. The left-front tyre was pretty worn by the end of the stint, but it worked out well.
The guys gave me a great pitstop on lap 43 and I emerged from the pits six seconds ahead of Fernando. Job done. I knew then that the race was in the bag and all I had to do was rattle off the remaining laps.
So I had some luck but as I said earlier, I still had to deliver the lap times when it really counted.
This is the last you'll hear of me for a while because I'm going to switch off my phone and go nowhere near an aeroplane or a hotel room during the summer break.
I'm going to chill out with Annie, the dogs and my sister, who's coming to stay with her family for a while.
Only once I've had some proper R&R will I turn my attention to the next race at Spa-Francorchamps. It's one of the classic F1 venues, which all of the drivers enjoy. It's fast and exciting to drive, and I hope the RB6 will be competitive there as well.
Happy holidays!
Mark
Source: RedBull
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