Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is on his way to the second F1 world championship of his career. Verstappen won Sunday’s Hungarian GP and leads the World Series by 80 points over Charles Leclerc.
18:47•Updated 18:47
The Hungarian Formula One race was formed by the reigning world champion Max Verstappen’s as a show. The Red Bull driver drove to 10 wins from the starting grid. The 24th victory of his career came with a difference of almost eight seconds to Mercedes to Lewis Hamilton. Kolmas had started Mercedes from the first pole position of his career George Russell.
Red Bull managed to overcome the technical problems of qualifying. The victory was also a surprise for Verstappen himself.
– I would not have believed this this morning. We had a really good strategy in difficult conditions and it felt like we always made pit stops at the right time, Verstappen beamed after the race.
The world champion joked in the interview that the victory came despite the bad-looking mistake. Verstappen had challenges with the clutch and towards the end of the race the Dutchman spun his car for a full lap.
– The victory came despite the 360 spin, Verstappen smiled with relief.
Ferrari flashed with Leclerc
Ferrari’s bad luck continued in Hungary, when the team’s tire tactics failed completely.
Charles Leclerc started the race third and fought for a long time to win the race. At the end of the race, however, the team decided to gamble by putting hard tires under Leclerc, which had not been driven in at all.
Leclerc had to make an extra stop when the hard tires offered no grip at all. Another Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz was finally fourth and Leclerc sixth. The duo started the competition in 2nd and 3rd place.
The team is currently unable to take advantage of the car’s high speed. From one race weekend to the next, there is something to do about Ferrari’s performance.
Hamilton succeeded on his favorite track
Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was in trouble at the start of the race. Towards the end, however, the British driver mysteriously found speed.
– I really don’t know where that speed suddenly came from, Hamilton thought after the race.
Mercedes’ challenging year has shown glimpses of light in the last few races. The top three have now been identical for two races in a row, as Mercedes took second and third places also a week ago in France.
For some reason, cooler conditions suit the Mercedes car. However, no answer could be found from Hamilton.
– I don’t know exactly what causes it. I wished it had rained at the end so I could still challenge Max (Verstappen). However, the laps ended in the middle, Hamilton regretted.
Started from pole position George Russell led the race for 30 laps before giving way to the chasers. He ended up third.
– The first stint was really good, but then it just wasn’t enough. However, both of the team’s drivers were on the podium, so we managed to rock well, Russell said bittersweetly.
Bottas stopped at the end of the race
Finland Valtteri Bottas was the only moderator of the Hungarian GP. Alfa Romeo froze on the side of the track in the last laps of the race.
– Just lost power and the engine went to idle. I still don’t know what was in it, Bottas explained in an interview with Viaplay.
– I don’t think there would have been any points anyway. We committed to that one stop and it was hard to cancel later. Maybe it wasn’t the fastest tactic today, but we tried, Bottas continued.
Bottas didn’t really have the pace at any point and he already dropped five places at the start.
– Everyone with soft tires got by at the beginning. Yes, there is still work to be done in that start, Bottas estimates.
F1 will be on a three-week summer break. Next up is the 14th race, which will be held in Belgium from the 26th to the 28th. August.