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As if by divine intervention, or some force of fate, Formula One and Ferrari honoured Jules Bianchi on Sunday with a Hungarian Grand Prix worthy of the late French driver’s memory, writes Alan Baldwin.
With the family in attendance, only days after most of the starting grid had attended his funeral in Nice, the Hungaroring served up a thrilling race and the Ferrari victory the 25-year-old would have wished for.
“This victory is for Jules,” declared race winner Sebastian Vettel, the four times world champion who had helped carry Bianchi’s coffin five days earlier.
“We know that it has been an incredibly tough week and I think for all of us it is very, very difficult,” added the German.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone had flown the Bianchi family to Hungary on his private jet so they could join the drivers and team bosses in a minute’s silence on the grid before the start.
If a Ferrari victory seemed too much to ask for, given that Mercedes had won eight of nine races before Sunday, the sight of the red cars roaring past the Mercedes to lead one-two after the first lap hinted at something special unfolding.
“As all the drivers have said, this race was for Jules,” commented Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who finished third for Red Bull behind Russian team mate Daniil Kvyat after Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had retired.
Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff had been left in no doubt before the race what Ecclestone had wanted to see and it was not another victory for the champions. The 84-year-old Briton got his wish.
“Bernie was here saying ‘Thank you very much for a great day for Formula One’,” said the Austrian after championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole, and Nico Rosberg both finished far from the podium places.
