With the win, Red Bull expanded its commanding lead in both championships.
BUDAPEST, Hungary—Max Verstappen might have had a bad qualifying Saturday due to a power unit failure. Starting on Sunday from 10th on the grid didn’t cost the Dutchman, as he took the lead on lap 52 of the Hungarian Grand Prix and went on to victory.
Verstappen won over the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and he extended his championship lead by 80 points over Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc who finished in sixth. The victory also extended Red Bull Racing’s lead by 97 points over Ferrari.
There were many lead changes right from the start with Russell, then the two Ferraris, as many came into the pits for medium tires. But even with one spin midway through the race, which temporarily cost him the lead, Verstappen was able to keep his momentum going and found himself leading with 20 laps to go.
“It was very tricky conditions out there, but we had a really good strategy, we were really reactive, and always pitting at the right time. I think we had some good outlaps, but even with the 360 (spin), we still won the race,” Verstappen said afterward.
Leclerc and the Ferraris lost a good opportunity to stay up front. Leclerc chose hard tires, not ideal for the race, which had a very spongy track due to rain the previous day.
On the positive side, Mercedes ran a very strong race. Hamilton found plenty of speed, enough to give the Briton the fastest lap of the race, which resulted in Hamilton passing teammate Russell with seven laps to go in the race to take second. Carlos Sainz Jr. finished the second Ferrari in fourth, while the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez took fifth. Lando Norris gave McLaren a good result in seventh, while the Alpine team, also on hard tires, finished with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon taking eighth and ninth places, respectively. Sebastian Vettel earned the last point for Aston Martin with tenth.
A sudden increase of rain and a last-minute virtual safety car occurred when Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas power unit made the Finn the race’s only retirement. That enabled Verstappen to cruise to the finish line once the green flag returned. Verstappen ended up winning by just over ten seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Formula One now goes into a three-week break before resuming the season at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on August 28.
