Max Verstappen Takes Phenomenal Victory At Hungarian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has taken victory, in the most extraordinary fashion, after charging from tenth on the grid to first in a strategy-intensive Hungarian Grand Prix. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver had a tricky qualifying session on Saturday, where a power unit issue on his final Qualifying Three lap prevented him from setting a representative time.

After keeping cool and making multiple overtakes on Charles Leclerc for the lead, Verstappen was able to extend his championship lead even further. A quick three-sixty spin was the only mistake Verstappen made all race, in what was a champion’s performance.

Meanwhile, for Sergio Pérez, the race didn’t go quite as smoothly. Having started from eleventh on the grid (after complaining about being held up in Qualifying Two), the Mexican quickly made his way into the top six in the first stint but was unable to make an impact on the race, finishing fifth overall.

Mercedes make it double… Again!

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were able to replicate their two-three finish from last weekend’s French Grand Prix, with the number forty-four driver charging from seventh to second. Hamilton had a DRS issue at the end of Qualifying Three, ultimately stopping him from challenging for pole position.

The Briton started the race on the Medium tyres, switched to another set of Medium tyres at his first stop, and then stayed out until lap fifty-two of seventy (while the front-runners pitted), before switching to a set of Soft tyres, setting the fastest lap, and charging his way past Carlos Sainz and Russell to his fifth consecutive podium. It was an incredible drive for the seven-time champion.

On the other side of the garage, Russell will be disappointed to have not converted his first career pole position to victory but has now jumped Sainz in the Drivers’ Championship after taking the final step of the podium. The Mercedes driver did a good job to fend off the Scuderia Ferrari drivers in the first stint but was ultimately passed by a much faster Leclerc in the second stint. Russell then pitted with Leclerc in response to Verstappen (while Hamilton stayed out), resulting in him getting jumped. Though, a good third stint helped him retain a podium position.

A strange strategy cost Ferrari some important points

Having started second and third on the grid, it was in Ferrari’s best interest to get past Russell at the start of the race. When Leclerc jumped Sainz at the first pit-stop and challenged Russell for the lead, things were looking very good for the Scuderia to capitalise on Red Bull’s unfortunate Saturday. However, Ferrari’s decision to start on the Medium tyre and pit for the Medium tyre would come to haunt them later in the race, when regulations dictated that Leclerc needed to switch to either the Soft or the Hard tyre, during his early pitstop, in order to follow the multiple-compound rule.

The Soft tyres would not make it to the end of the race, so the Italian outfit opted to fit the Hard tyre – a compound that Kevin Magnussen had struggled with in the early stages. Leclerc lost all pace and was passed by Verstappen, so Ferrari pitted the Monégasque in the dying laps for a set of Soft tyres, but sixth place was all they could manage.

Red Bull had a much stronger strategy, starting Verstappen on the Soft tyres, before fitting two sets of Medium tyres. Furthermore, Leclerc claims he was comfortable on the Medium tyres he had fitted before he pitted to cover off Verstappen – meaning he could have gone further into the race and likely made the Soft tyre work like Hamilton did.

Sainz, meanwhile, followed the same strategy as Hamilton, opting for a Medium-Medium-Soft race and staying out longer when Verstappen pitted. However, the Spaniard pitted four laps before Hamilton, suffered with graining a lot quicker, and made Hamilton’s pass a lot easier during his charge. Sainz would cross the line in fourth, in what was a terrible day for Ferrari.

Image: LAT Images.

What happened behind?

Lando Norris took the ‘best of the rest’ spot after beating both BWT Alpine F1 Team cars to seventh place. The Briton was in no man’s land for the majority of the race but put a good effort in to hold Hamilton up in the opening stint of the race. Daniel Ricciardo also had a good start to the race, performing an excellent double overtake on the Alpine cars at Turn Two. However, a mixture of strategy and a five-second time penalty for a collision with Lance Stroll dropped the Australian down to fifteenth.

The Alpine drivers of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon would match McLaren F1 Team‘s haul of points, with their eighth and ninth place finish – though it wasn’t without drama. Ocon pushed Alonso close to the pit wall at the start of the race, much to the Spaniard’s frustration. Ocon also blocked Alonso, who had run wide at Turn Two, prompting Ricciardo’s fantastic double overtake. Despite the hiccups, the Hungarian Grand Prix was still a good finish for the French team.

Sebastian Vettel and Stroll replicated their points-scoring performance from France this afternoon, this time, with Vettel taking tenth and Stroll eleventh. This is another good result for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team, who were the centre of attention with their controversial new rear wing that has been branded as ‘against the spirit’ of the 2022 regulations that are meant to reduce turbulent air.

Pierre Gasly finished twelfth in another tough weekend for Scuderia AlphaTauri, while Yuki Tsunoda finished nineteenth. The Japanese driver had a random spin at the Turn Six and Seven chicane mid-race, and never quite recovered from it, while Gasly was not quick enough to challenge for the final point.

Guanyu Zhou had a decent race to finish thirteenth, while Valtteri Bottas, unfortunately, retired on lap sixty-seven. The Finnish driver lost power and pulled over at Turn Five, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car with just three laps to go, ultimately helping Verstappen secure his victory from a mighty Hamilton.

Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen made a good recovery to finish fourteenth and sixteenth respectively, after initially running eighteenth and last in the opening stint. Magnussen was given a black and orange flag (a non-optional pitstop due to a mechanical issue that could be deemed a safety hazard) as a result of contact with Vettel, who had also been tagged from behind. This is the second time this season that this has occurred, with the first being in Canada, and likely prevented the number twenty driver from challenging for the final point.

Alexander Albon and Nicolas Latifi would finish the race in seventeenth and eighteenth respectively, with the British/Thai driver once again finishing ahead of his team-mate.

You can find the final race results below, data courtesy of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship:

POS	NO.	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1	1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1:39:35.912
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team	+7.834s
3	63	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team	+12.337s
4	55	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Scuderia Ferrari	+14.579s
5	11	Sergio Pérez	MEX	Oracle Red Bull Racing	+15.688s
6	16	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	+16.047s
7	4	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	+78.300s
8	14	Fernando Alonso	ESP	BWT Alpine F1 Team	+1 lap
9	31	Esteban Ocon	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	+1 lap
10	5	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team	+1 lap
11	18	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team	+1 lap
12	10	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+1 lap
13	24	Guanyu Zhou	CHN	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN	+1 lap
14	47	Mick Schumacher	GER	Haas F1 Team	+1 lap
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	McLaren F1 Team	+1 lap
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	+1 lap
17	23	Alexander Albon	THA	Williams F1 Team	+1 lap
18	6	Nicolas Latifi	CAN	Williams F1 Team	+1 lap
19	22	Yuki Tsunoda	JAP	Scuderia AlphaTauri	+2 laps
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN	DNF

Data courtesy of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.