The Hungarian Grand Prix treated us to one of the most bizarre starts in F1 history in 2021, with Lewis Hamilton at the centre of the drama.
The 2021 F1 season catapulted the sport into the spotlight, with fans gripped by the fierce rivalry between Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
With the championship being decided by an overtake on the final lap of the season, you would think that was the most chaotic moment of the year, however, Hungary gave us something we will likely never see again.
It all looked too familiar with Hamilton lining up alongside Verstappen on the front row, but after the first start was red-flagged by a huge crash due to the wet conditions, things took a bizarre turn.
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With the red flag delay allowing the track to begin to dry, Hamilton led the field out for the formation lap in very different conditions to the previous start.
Due to these changing conditions, every driver except Hamilton opted to pit before the start for dry tires, with Hamilton unable to react to drivers ahead due to his grid position.
This left Hamilton completely alone on the grid with intermediate tires, while the rest of the grid lined up on dry tires in the pit lane.
Mercedes' mistake meant Hamilton was forced to pit on lap one, putting him in plum last and handing the lead to Alpine's Esteban Ocon.
Ocon went on to take his first victory after fending off Sebastian Vettel, and Hamilton impressively fought back to stand on the podium.
Lewis Hamilton explained decision not to pit
Following the race, Hamilton heaped responsibility on his team for the decision, and claimed he had informed the pitwall about the dry track.
“We all started on those inters… and through the formation lap I was just giving the team information," he said via F1.com
"I mean, it was dry through all the corners and I kept telling them ‘it’s dry, dry, dry, dry’ but they said just to stay out.
“I don’t really understand but I’m sure it’s definitely a mistake from us all but we win and lose as a team and we bear the burden of the mistake together and we just keep fighting, so the team did an amazing job with the strategy, with pit stops, and I just had to make it work out there.
He added: “So it was flat chat the entire race and very, very hard with tyre temperatures and all that but nevertheless, I enjoyed it."
Topics: Formula 1, Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Motorsport, Mercedes
Tom Jenkins