Arthur Pic takes his first GP2 win in Hungary

Arthur Pic scored his first GP2 victory at the Hungaroring on Saturday after a perfectly-timed safety car played into the hands of Campos Racing's pit strategy.

Pic was the highest of the runners to begin the race on the soft tire, starting from P3 on the grid, and despite a slow start that dropped him to sixth, he benefited from an effectively free pitstop when the safety car was required after his team-mate Kimiya Sato clashed with Stephane Richelmi, the latter crashing heavily into the tire wall.

Carlin's Felipe Nasr led from pole position after rebuffing the early challenge of Tom Dillmann at Turn 1. Points leader Jolyon Palmer passed Dillmann at Turn 1 on lap two, and then Nasr's 3.5-second lead was obliterated by the safety car.

From the restart, Nasr and Palmer fought an epic battle, but this all played into Pic's hands, as he was keeping them within range so when they pitted he'd be ahead of them.

As Nasr and Palmer pitted, Pic inherited the lead ahead of Stefano Coletti – who'd survived an early clash with a rival that had left him with a punctured tire – and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.

There was then a huge crash behind them, as Nathanael Berthon and Sergio Canamasas collided on the run to Turn 2, with Canamasas requiring medical treatment trackside.

Palmer and Nasr were running seventh and eighth respectively, having swapped positions many times before Palmer made a move stick just before the second safety car with a robust pass at Turn 1. Palmer managed to charge back to fifth, passing Daniel Abt after the restart, which turned out to be a one-lap dash to the finish.

Nasr failed to make a move stick on the German, however, and he's now fallen to 39 points behind Palmer in the title race.

Raffaele Marciello should have won the race, as he was running ahead of Pic on a similar strategy, but he was caught speeding in the pitlane. Despite serving a drive-through penalty, he recovered to eighth and reversed-grid pole for Sunday.

Rio Haryanto should have finished second, but his right-rear wheel fell off behind the safety car.

Originally on Autosport.com