Man of the match ..... Villeneuve

The start of the Hungarian GP saw Damon Hill make yet another poor start and drop back two places and as they exited the first corner Schumacher lead from Villeneuve, with Alesi, Hill, Irvine and Berger making up the top six.
Mika Salo's race ended on the first lap when he was caught up with Diniz, Diniz managed to keep going but retired at the end of the lap.

Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve began to pull away from Jean Alesi by about one second per lap. Hill was stuck behind the Benetton unable to pass on the tight twisty circuit. Passing at the Hungaroring is made very difficult by the amount of dust that gathers off the racing line, any excursions out of the thin grippy corridor can leave tyres struggling for grip in the corners.

Just as Hill was stuck behind Alesi, so too Villeneuve was stuck behind Schumacher, all this was to change when the pit stops started. Most drivers had opted for a three stop strategy

Michael Schumacher was one of the first in, but a poor stop of 7.9 seconds saw him come out behind the Benetton of Gerhard Berger. Villeneuve's stop was also a bit tardy at 7.8 seconds and Alesi slightly quicker at 7.1 seconds.

On lap 22 the running order was now Hill, Villeneuve, Berger, Schumacher and Irvine, with Alesi momentarily relegated to ninth place due to pit stops.

Damon Hill's stop of 6.8 seconds was well executed by the Williams crew and by lap 26 with everyone having been in the running order was Villeneuve, Schumacher, Alesi, Hill, Berger and Irvine.

Hill managed to pass Alesi and from lap 32 he put in a succesion of fastest laps. Villeneuve led Schumacher by 9.7 seconds, Hill was 22 seconds behind Schumacher but beginning to catch the Ferrari. Eddie Irvine retired with suspected gearbox problems on lap 32 moving Mika Hakkinen up into the points.

By lap 36 Hill was 16 seconds behind Schumacher and still catching at about a second a lap, back markers helped him reduce that gap to just 12 seconds by lap 39.

The next set of pit stops were all performed well though again Hill (6.7 seconds) was slightly quicker than his team mate (7.0 seconds).

On lap 42 the running order was Villeneuve, Schumacher, Hill, Alesi, Berger and Hakkinen, with Schumacher 16 seconds behind Villeneuve and Hill 9 seconds behind Schumacher. Hill was really flying and by lap 48 the gap had been reduced to 3.8 seconds, by lap 50 the gap was 1.919 seconds and just as it was getting interesting Schumacher pulled in for the third of his scheduled stops.

Schumacher rejoined in third and the positions remained the same until lap 57 when Villeneuve came in for the last of his three stops. A problem with the right rear wheel delayed him and he finally got away after a 14.8 second stop.

Gerhard Berger got ahead of Alesi and with Villeneuve pitting the running order was now Hill, Villeneuve, Schumacher, Berger, Alesi and Hakkinen.

Hill continued to build up a lead and when he came in on lap 64 he was 15 seconds ahead. A lightning 6.6 second stop got him back out only 6.5 seconds behind his team mate.

Gerhard Berger then suffered another engine failure, which looked very similar to the one which denied him victory in Germany, with one of the Benetton's out Williams were assured of the constructors championship irrespective of any other results. Berger's misfortune moved Olivier Panis up into sixth place.

The last ten laps of the race saw Damon Hill close right up on his team mate, he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 67 with a time of 1.20.093.

By lap 71 he was with his team mate, but two identical cars meant he was never going to get past, the last twist in the race was the retirement of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, running a strong third he pulled off of the track with an unconfirmed mechanical problem, this moved Rubens Barrichello up into the points.

The last few laps saw the two Williams running in formation, securing the constructors title and completing their fifth one - two of the season. Jacques Villeneuve drove a faultless race and deserves the win.

Hungarian GP Results