Sebastien Vettel won his second Grand Prix for Ferrari this year, and his first at the Hungaroring circuit, as he was practically the only driver to avoid some kind of problem and emerge triumphant throughout all the drama on track, to the delight of his mechanics and the huge Ferrari fan base in Hungary.
His win was greeted with cheers, which juxtapose the boos he was met with during his dominant Red Bull days, highlighting how good the move was for his popularity.
It was another day of surprises for the Red Bull team, as they occupied the other two stops on the podium and career best result for Russian born Daniil Kvyat, who overcame early vibration issues to pip his team-mate to second.
Recovery
Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton performed mission impossible as he somehow overcame a disastrous first lap and collision with Daniel Ricciardo to beat Nico Rosberg and to finish in sixth extend his championship lead to 21 points.
With six laps to go it would have been a different tale as Rosberg was only a second off the lead until he had his own meeting with the tough-as-nails Aussie. Ricciardo, who was driving a battered and bruised Red Bull from his incident with Hamilton, came to blows with the second Silver Arrows as his front wing sliced and punctured Rosberg's left rear tyre as the two jostled over second place.
Earlier on Hamilton endured a nightmare start as he fell from first to fourth, after achieving his fifth pole position yesterday, which later became tenth as he went off at the chicane to avoid running into the back of his team-mate. Hamilton was on the radio instantly blaming Nico for making multiple moves to defend his place, but replays suggest he was just taking the correct racing line and Hamilton was too late on the brakes.
For Jules
The chaos was ignited on lap 43 as a front wing malfunction on Nico Hulkenburg's Force India, locked his front tyres and sent him hurtling into the barriers at turn 1. He emerged unscathed but was a chilling reminder of the dangers of piloting an out of control car, on the week the sport suffered its first driver loss in over 21 years; Jules Bianchi. Tributes were paid at the beginning and end of the Grand Prix as Vettel dedicated his win to the late Frenchman.
The crash triggered the Virtual Safety Car, followed by the actual Safety Car and sent the cars heading to the pits, wiping out the lead both Ferrari drivers had worked hard to maintain since lap one. On the restart, Hamilton, who had battled his way back to the top four, saw all his hard work come undone as his collision with Ricciardo earned him a drive through penalty.
Penalties Galore
The stewards were kept busy with a flurry of penalties delivered from the off, as the start had to be aborted due to Felipe Massa missing his grid slot, earning him a five second penalty. Other victims of the rulebook were Kvyat, Max Verstappen, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado earned a few points on his license with an unimpressive three separate penalties for speeding, overtaking under the safety car and crashing into Sergio Perez.
It wasn't all smiles for Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen had to retire with a failed power unit after the restart, as he was on course for a second place.
Honourable mentions include 17 year old Max Verstappen, who came home in his best career finish of fourth and Fernando Alonso took fifth, and Jenson Button in ninth, giving McLaren some much needed points.
This race certainly reinvigorated the season as we head towards the summer break, proving the sport is nowhere near as predictable as was it was at the beginning of the season. Moreover, with many teams introducing updates, next month's Belgian GP is sure to deliver more of the same punch as today's race, which is definitely an instant classic.