Lewis Hamilton’s chaotic racing at Hungarian GP is exactly what Formula One needs

There was a lot of criticism coming Lewis Hamilton's way post-race in Hungary, not least from himself.

The double world champion acknowledged it had been one of his “worst performances” in his Formula One career as he finished sixth, despite going off track twice and colliding with Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull Racing car that required a front wing change.

Hamilton was very lucky to not only finish in the points but also increase his advantage over his Mercedes-GP teammate Nico Rosberg, who dropped from second to eighth in the closing laps after suffering a puncture.

So it is difficult to be too hard on Hamilton, as the errors came while he was pushing his car to the limit as his racing instinct took hold.

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The damage to his hopes of winning in Hungary had been inflicted at the start by another poor getaway from pole position, the fourth time in six races he has surrendered position off the line.

Hamilton could have driven the race cautiously from fourth place, staying behind the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and Rosberg, and waited to see what happened during the race, but that has never been the Hamilton way.

The Briton tried to force his way around the outside of Rosberg at Turn 6 on the opening lap, misjudged his braking horribly and ran wide over the gravel and dropped even farther down to 10th.

Of course, it helps if you have the best car in the field, but the next 40 laps were terrific for Hamilton as he made his way past several cars on a track notoriously difficult for overtaking, and then began to take a second a lap out of Rosberg as he hunted down his German teammate, who was then running fourth.

Unfortunately, Hamilton blew it again as he tangled with Ricciardo after a safety car period when he struggled for grip on cold tyres on a restart.

The smart thing to do would have been to let Ricciardo through as the Australian clearly had the advantage on the run down to Turn 1, but Hamilton fought for position, and misjudged it.

He recovered again, overtaking several more cars, and sixth place was an admirable result under the circumstances – largely of his own making it.

Sunday saw the worst and best of Hamilton.

We witnessed the impetuous and over-aggressive moves, but also some brilliant overtaking and some strong raw pace when in clear air.

Hamilton referred to himself as being “human” post-race.

Obviously he is, yet the comment was interesting, almost as if he was reminding himself he is mortal after all.

Hamilton has a reputation for being aggressive and is willing to take on a risky overtaking manoeuvre given the opportunity. And while that approach has yielded rewards, it can also go badly wrong, as happened on Sunday.

But what would F1 fans rather see? A tactical driver, who rarely takes risks, or one willing to take a chance for the sake of victory?

Hamilton’s racing was chaotic at times on Sunday, but it was also exciting, and exactly what F1 needs.

Hamilton would not have wanted it that way, of course. In an ideal world the 30-year-old Briton would have converted pole into the lead and driven off into the distance for yet another comfortable, risk-free victory.

Fortunately for us that did not happen, and while flawed, Hamilton’s performance lifted the race and made it easily the most entertaining of 2015 so far.

gcaygill@thenational.ae

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Lewis Hamilton’s chaotic racing at Hungarian GP is exactly what Formula One needs

Hamilton referred to himself as being “human” post-race. Obviously he is, yet the comment was interesting, almost as if he was reminding himself he is mortal after all, writes Graham Caygill.