Max Verstappen has won the Hungarian Grand Prix despite finishing 10th in qualifying. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell sent their cars to places 2 and 3. Ferrari had another bad day after tactical tinkering.
Faith in George Russell and Mercedes was great. The young Briton was on pole position for the first time and immediately dreamed of a first victory in Formula 1.
That was not counting Ferrari. In their faster cars, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc quickly attacked Mercedes’ silver arrow.
Before halfway through the race, Russell had to put a fairytale story out of his head.
Impressive Verstappen catch-up race
Max Verstappen faced a big catch-up race on the narrow circuit in Hungary. The Dutchman immediately got wings in his Red Bull and made a solid advance from place 10.
To his own surprise, the world champion soon knocked on the door of the podium. This is thanks to a well-thought-out strategy of his team. An early second tire change checkmate the competition.
Leclerc – who was in the lead at the time – almost got a cold from the speed with which Verstappen whizzed by. The latter made it even more exciting for a while by turning a donut as a snack, but the Red Bull chose the wide suds towards victory.
Fiasco for Ferrari
A victory was out of the question for Leclerc, but then – again – a dramatic afternoon for Ferrari had yet to begin.
Due to a wrong tire choice, the Monegask not only lost his positions to Russell, Hamilton also jumped on and over the red car. Ferrari looked at it with sorrow and brought in Leclerc again.
Mercedes had a good laugh and completed the podium. Ferrari wrote another chapter in the tactical fiasco book: Sainz was 4th, Leclerc 6th. The debriefing after the race promised to be another spectacular conclusion to a disappointing race weekend.
Verstappen: “Team strategy was great”
“I didn’t expect this at all”, Max Verstappen reacted in disbelief after the race. “We had a great strategy today, even with a donut I was able to win the race.”
Why did the Dutchman lose control for a moment? “I played with the clutch a bit and wasn’t alert at that corner. Luckily I only lost 1 spot.”
“Now I’m going to enjoy the three-week holiday in August,” laughs Verstappen. “Maybe I’ll go on a trip with the camper, like real Dutch people do.”
