Chaotic start earmarks what otherwise was another ho-hum Mercedes win.
BUDAPEST, Hungary—July 19th–Lewis Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix seven times and by considerable margins, too. On Sunday at the Hungaroring, the Briton kept the streak going by claiming the Hungarian Grand Prix by 8.7 seconds. Max Verstappen edged out Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to finish second.
Lewis Hamilton: We’ve just been on point throughout the whole weekend.
Hamilton survived a chaotic start. With the threat of rain, most drivers began the race on intermediates tires. But with the track slowly drying and no sign of rain, there was a mad dash to change onto slicks. Hamilton had a seven-second lead by lap three but he didn’t lose a beat even with his tire-switch. Hamilton’s lead increased to 11, 18, and then 20 seconds.
By the time Hamilton reached 23 seconds ahead, he had time to return to the pits for soft tires in an attempt to secure an extra point for the fastest lap–something he achieved just a few laps before the end of the race. The pit stop closed his winning gap to under nine seconds.
For Hamilton, the race became more of a challenge against himself than a race against competitors. ‘It was a different kind of challenge,” he observed.
Verstappen, on the other hand, was happy to take second–and lucky for it, too. The Dutchman crashed his car just before reaching the starting grid, and the repair to his front wing came just 25 seconds before all pit crews had to clear the track.
As for others this day, Lance Stroll had one of his best finishes in several years by taking fourth. Red Bull’s Alex Albon, who had some rough going earlier in the weekend, finished fifth. Sebastian Vettel took sixth in his Ferrari, while Sergio Perez in the second Racing Point was seventh. Daniel Ricciardo gave Renault some additional points in eighth.
The big news for the American Haas F1 team is that it received points for the first time this season when Kevin Magnussen took ninth. Romain Grosjean finished 15th in the second Haas. Carlos Sainz completed the top ten in his McLaren, while Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly was celebrating after he finished his 50th grand prix race. He retired on lap 15 with an engine issue.
Hamilton now leads the 2020 championship after three races by five points over Bottas. Verstappen in third trails by 25 points.
Teams now take a much-needed break (following races on three consecutive weekends). The next landing place is Great Britain for the British Grand Prix, which will be held on the first weekend of August.
