Ocon wins in Hungary as Hamilton takes lead

Gulf today Report

Budapest: Alpine French driver Esteban Ocon posted a stunning victory at the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton took the championship lead on Sunday.

Hamilton spurned the chance to notch up his 100^th victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix but dismantled Max Verstappen from the top with a podium finish.

Hamilton finished third behind Ocon's Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso, which was enough to catapult him to the top of the standings.

Ocon drove to his first career victory. His win also reignited driver’s title race as Verstappen failed to finish in top three and conceded a six-point lead to his strongest rival.

Verstappen car was again involved in a crash which led to some technical problem and he finished the race in the 10^th place.

Verstappen and Hamilton have won five and four races respectively this season so far as the Formula One went into a mid-season break after the Hungarian GP.

After dominating the sport last year completely and beginning the year promisingly with a victory in the opener, Hamilton saw a slump in the form and a lurking Verstappen exploited the chance as he changed his gears to unleash an ambush on the title charge.

He pressed the full throttle to and went to win three races successively to take the lead with a dominant performance. But a crash in the second successive grand prix left his chances in limbo again.

However, a victory each by Sergio Perez and Ocon has heated up the title race again and it will be interesting to see how the action transpires when season resumes.