The Dutchman took his 44th victory in F1 and his ninth this season. The other two were recorded by teammate Perez. Red Bull remain unbeaten this season, claiming their 12th consecutive win in Hungary, which is a record. An F1 round – the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola – has been canceled due to flooding.
See also: What’s next for the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix? New contract signed
The Hungarian Grand Prix was again a one man show. It is currently the biggest star on the race tracks – Verstappen, who led from start to finish. On Saturday alone he was unlucky in the fight for pole position, losing 0.003s to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
But on Sunday the Dutchman quickly proved who is the best driver in F1 this year. Just after the start at the first corner, he took the lead, which he held on to the finish line. Hamilton, on the other hand, made a mistake and dropped to fourth place.
Two riders from the Alpine team tried to create more emotions at the start. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had a collision and had to retire. Their fate will be decided by the team’s management, who – according to team leaks – are fed up with the rivalry between them.
Verstappen led the entire race, followed first by McLaren’s Norris and Australian Oscar Piastri, then Hamilton and Perez. Norris tried to keep up with the Dutchman, but he couldn’t hold his pace for long. After just 12 laps, the leader was 12 seconds ahead of the Briton.
Hamilton was the first to change tyres. The pit stop lasted about three seconds, but the Briton returned to the track in eighth position. Later, he began to complain about the decrease in engine power, but the engineers did not invite him to the service, they just … told him to speed up.
In the middle of the distance after 35 laps, Verstappen led with almost 10 seconds ahead of Norris. Behind them was still Piastri and Hamilton, after changing tires, accelerated to fourth place. On lap 44, the Australian stopped for a tire change and returned to the track in sixth position.
And Verstappen extended his lead lap after lap. After the second tire change he had just 12 seconds, but later increased it again to 30. The Briton finished second without a problem, Hamilton battled for third place with Perez. The Mexican had tire problems at the end, but the Brits couldn’t get past him.
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen leads the world championship with 281 points. Perez is second behind his teammate with 110 points. The Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) is third with 142 points behind.
The next, twelfth round of the World Championship will be the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on July 30.
Czołówka GP Węgier: 1. Max Verstappen (Holandia/Red Bull) 1:38.08,634 2. Lando Norris (W. Brytania/McLaren) strata 33,731 s 3. Sergio Perez (Meksyk/Red Bull) 37,603 4. Lewis Hamilton (W. Brytania/Mercedes) 39,134 5. Oscar Piastri (Australia/McLaren) 1.02,572 6. George Russell (W. Brytania/Mercedes) 1.05,825 7. Charles Leclerc (Monako/Ferrari) 1.10,317 8. Carlos Sainz (Hiszpania/Ferrari) 1.11,073 9. Fernando Alonso (Hiszpania/Aston Martin) 1.15,709 10. Lance Stroll (Kanada/Aston Martin) 1 okrążenie Klasyfikacja MŚ F1 (po 11 z 22 wyścigów): 1. Max Verstappen (Holandia/Red Bull) 281 pkt 2. Sergio Perez (Meksyk/Red Bull) 171 3. Fernando Alonso (Hiszpania/Aston Martin) 139 4. Lewis Hamilton (W. Brytania/Mercedes) 133 5. George Russell (W. Brytania/Mercedes) 90 6. Carlos Sainz (Hiszpania/Ferrari) 87 7. Charles Leclerc (Monako/Ferrari) 80 8. Lando Norris (W. Brytania/McLaren) 60 9. Lance Stroll (Kanada/Aston Martin) 45 10. Esteban Ocon (Francja/Alpine) 31 Klasyfikacja konstruktorów: 1. Red Bull 452 pkt 2. Mercedes 223 3. Aston Martin 184 4. Ferrari 167 5. McLaren 87 6. Alpine 47.
RM, PAP
