THIS IS WHY WE WATCH!! We Got an F1 Podium NO ONE Saw Coming Today in a Chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix

Darko Bandic. Shutterstock Images.

I am exhausted from this morning's Hungarian Grand Prix. All of the storylines coming into today's race were about Sir Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen finally getting a chance to go wheel to wheel again after the last race ended with Hamilton running into Verstappen and taking him out on the first lap of the race. 

We had a two-week cage match between Mercedes and Red Bull going at each other in the media and lobbying the F1 Stewards. Red Bull even went as far as to re-create the exact line that Hamilton took with their test driver, Alex Albon, to try and prove that Hamilton was in the wrong. Next level saltiness. 

So to say things were at a tipping point heading into this race in the Championship battle is an understatement. Then twenty minutes before the start of today's race, it started raining in Hungary and F1 decided to crank the chaos up to eleven. The lights went out to start the race and in the first corner, almost all of the top ten drivers got involved in wrecks. 

The main culprit? Mercedes's second driver, Valtteri Bottas, who had a very slow start and then went flying into the back of Lando Norris causing multiple wrecks in front and behind him. Lance Stroll also got involved in the chaos at turn one, which led to a red flag stoppage so that they could clean the track and figure out who the hell was still even in the race. 

Mark Sutton. Shutterstock Images.

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Out of the race after lap one, turn one was Bottas, Norris, Charles Leclerc, and Lance Stroll. Verstappen going into turn one had already moved up to second place right behind Hamilton but was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the Bottas train came flying off the tracks. Verstappen was able to keep going in the race but had a massive amount of damage after all of the turn one carnage. This was the second race in a row that Verstappen and Red Bull were taken out of contention by a Mercedes driver but this time it was a two-for-one discount with both Red Bull cars basically done for the day. Meanwhile, Hamilton was able to drive away from the scene unscathed still in first place. Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and Red Bull fans after today.

Giphy Images.

To say that the teams and drivers in the paddock weren't happy with Bottas is an understatement. Queue the off-track pettiness. 

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Then there was this incredible clip of Norris where he was talking shit about Bottas right as he came up to him to apologize for taking him out. Tough scene. 

So after all of the chaos of lap one, the race was finally ready to start again. All of the drivers left the pits on tyres for a wet track, but during the formation lap to restart the race, everyone realized that the track had dried up and they needed to switch to regular tyres. Everyone went diving into the pits right before the restart. Everyone besides Hamilton, who Mercedes decided to keep out and he started the race by himself.

This proved to be the wrong move because Hamilton immediately pitted after this lap and ended up going from first place to last place in just one lap. A nightmare situation for Mercedes. Hamilton came on the team radio and was stunned to find out he was in last place.

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Ten laps into this race, the running order was something you NEVER see in F1. Ocon leading? Sebastian Vettel fighting for the lead in 2021?? Rookie Yuki Tsunoda in fourth??? Both Williams cars in the points and Nicholas Latifi in third???? What the hell is going on around here?????

To put this into perspective, this top ten running order is basically if the Big East, MAC, Sun Belt, and WAC had eight out of the top ten teams in the College Football rankings while the SEC and ACC are out of contention for the season. Chaos. 

After another round of pit stops, Esteban Ocon for Alpine (formerly Team Renault, if you're a Drive to Survive fan and confused) had fully taken control of the race followed closely by the four-time world champion, Vettel, for Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz for Ferrari who was one of the few upper-midfield cars left in this race. 

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Hamilton since the restart debacle had put his hard hat on and went to work passing people both on the track and on pit lane through strategy. Everyone loves to criticize Hamilton about how the Mercedes car is faster than everyone else so it's expected he should be able to easily get back up front, but it was a pretty unbelievable recovery drive from him to get back into contention on a track where it's very hard to pass. Meanwhile, Verstappen was having a miserable day unable to pass anyone because of all the damage to his car and was stuck just outside of the top ten behind Daniel Riccardo who is one of the hardest drivers to pass on the grid.

Near the end of the race, Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres coming out in fifth place and the team told him to push, push until the end to try and win. There was only one problem: two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, was standing in his way in fourth place. This led to one of the best on-track battles we've seen all season. These two guys are some of the best open-wheel drivers of all time and to see them go at each other lap after lap, which they've done for close to two decades now, was incredible to watch.

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Hamilton was finally able to pass Alonso and then quickly passed Sainz for third place, but ran out of time to catch up to Vettel and Ocon. The race ended with Ocon taking home his first-ever F1 win after five seasons in the sport which was an incredible moment. There's no way that Ocon wins this race without all of the chaos from lap one, but that's racing. Ocon was able to escape all of the drama at the start and he ran a perfect race from the restart to end up on that top step. No matter who it is, it's always awesome to see guys get their first win in a sport where it's incredibly difficult to break through. This clip of Alonso, who held back Hamilton, and Ocon celebrating after the race is what it's all about, you love to see it.

Vettel finished the race in second place and Hamilton in third place, who was barely able to stand on the podium suffering from exhaustion and dizziness after that incredible recovery drive. A very random and super unlikely podium, but the most fitting end to this dramatic race.

Pool. Getty Images.

Verstappen finished the race in tenth place, only scoring one point for Red Bull. Heading into the three-week summer break, Hamilton has taken the lead in the Driver's Championship over Verstappen by six points.

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In the Constructor's Championship, Mercedes took the lead from Red Bull and is ten points clear. While the battle for third place is still incredibly close between Ferrari and McLaren with Sainz being the only driver out of the four to score points today.

If you were wondering after today things have only gotten worse between Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, and Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner. Tensions are at an all-time high. There are still twelve races left in the season and this is all far from over.

One last storyline from this incredible race was that William's Driver, George Russell, finished in ninth, scoring his first points in over two years in F1 for the William's team. He's had countless heartbreaking moments where he's been so close to finishing in the top ten, but something has always ended up going terribly wrong. He broke down in tears during his post-race interview.

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What a race. This is why I love F1. The chaos and drama was at an all-time high. These are the races where's it's worth making the jump from just watching "Drive to Sruvive" to watching the races during the seasons. I know I sound like a broken record every blog I write talking about how great this season has been so far, but it really has been on a completely different level compared to past seasons.

Since we have three weeks until the next race, now is your chance to become an official member of the Barstool F1 Hype Circle by buying the merch. Support the movement to #GrowthePaddock

UPDATE: While I've been writing this, turns out basically everyone on the entire grid has been summoned to the FIA steward's office. Sainz got told he had to go to the stewards office live on-air, which lead to a super awkward clip. Shout out Will Buxton for the fantastic delivery:

Vettel's second place is in jeopardy as well as one other driver after basically running out of fuel at the end of the race

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Nothing has officially been ruled yet at the time I've published this, so we'll wait and see. Sick league.

And finally… LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, one of the best races of the entire season!!!