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Ocon claims maiden F1 GP win in Hungary, Hamilton new leader

Sports Desk, Aug 1 (EFE).- France’s Esteban Ocon on Sunday won his maiden Formula One Grand Prix race in Hungary, beating out Germany’s Sebastian Vettel and Briton Lewis Hamilton, who regained the overall lead.

“What a moment! It feels so good!” the Alpine driver told F1 media after the race held at the Hungaroring circuit.

“It’s fantastic, what can I say? Congrats to Fernando (Alonso) as well, I think the win is also thanks to him with the fight that he did. It’s teamwork, it’s been a fantastic day!” he added.

Both Vettel (Aston Martin) and Hamilton (Mercedes) praised the 24-year-old.

“Esteban didn’t do a single mistake, he stayed on track, so well-deserved for him to take his first victory,” the German said.

“It’s a great result for us, but when it’s that close, for sure you’re always looking at the win rather than second place,” he added.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton said, “I want to say congratulations to the Alpine team and to Esteban for his first win – he’s been a shining star for a long time.”

“It was a tough race and I had nothing left at the end. Considering how things went overall, we have to be happy with P3,” he added.

With his third place finish, the Briton regained the top spot in the F1 rankings, a position he had conceded a couple of months ago to Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who finished in the No. 10 spot in Hungary.

Heading into Sunday’s race, the Dutchman was leading Hamilton by eight points at the summit of the drivers’ standings by.

A collision involving several cars marred Verstappen’s start to the race, leading to a brief interruption afterwards.

Spaniards Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) came in fourth and fifth, respectively, ahead of Alpha’s pair of Frenchman Pierre Gasly (6th) and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (7th).

Canada’s Nicholas Latifi and Briton George Russell earned their first points of the season as they ended the race in eighth and ninth place, respectively, ahead of Verstappen.

The Dutchman, however, is now second in the overall classification with 186 points, just six behind leader Hamilton, while McLaren’s Lando Norris is in the overall No. 3 spot 79 points off the pace.

EFE arh/ta-bp

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