Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix
Verstappen’s crushing dominance and Hamilton’s “Sorry”
As of: 5:02 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Record hunter: Max Verstappen dominates the premier class
What: Getty Images/Francois Nel
Pole position didn’t help Lewis Hamilton either – Max Verstappen just couldn’t be stopped. In Hungary, the Formula 1 title defender took the tension out of the race early on. For his team, the win has historic significance.
With his seventh win in a row, the mighty Max Verstappen gave his Red Bull team another Formula 1 record. The almost playful success of the double world champion on Sunday in Hungary was the twelfth triumph of his racing team in a row, surpassing McLaren’s record from 1988. Verstappen had already snatched the lead from Lewis Hamilton at the start and then never left any doubt about his ninth victory in the eleventh round of the season.
If the Dutchman also wins in Spa next Sunday and at the home game in Zandvoort after the summer break, he would also equalize Sebastian Vettel’s record series from the 2013 season. In the overall World Championship standings, Verstappen extended his lead over team-mate Sergio Pérez to 110 points.
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Briton Lando Norris was second in the strengthened McLaren, just like he was at Silverstone, ahead of Pérez, who started ninth on the grid to limit the damage. Eight-time Hungary winner Hamilton had to settle for fourth place in the Mercedes. Nico Hülkenberg remained pointless in the defeated Haas in 14th place.
Verstappen was over before the first corner
Verstappen had found it difficult to get going in the days before, although his team had screwed new components to his car. In qualifying, his series of five pole positions in a row surprisingly broke. Silver Arrow star Hamilton was three thousandths of a second faster and took first place on the grid for the first time since December 2021. As the first racing driver in Formula 1 history, the Briton has now conquered nine pole positions on a racetrack. All in all, Hamilton started from the front for the 104th time in a Grand Prix.
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Sustainable muscle building
But the lead was gone before the first corner. Verstappen stayed hard on his line and pushed past Hamilton. The record world champion also had to let the McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Norris go. “Sorry about that, guys,” Hamilton radioed to the Mercedes pits.
Lewis Hamilton started from pole, but the top position was quickly gone
What: AP/Denes Erdos
There was a bang further back in the field. Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou initially stalled at the start and a little later triggered a chain reaction. The cars of Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were severely demolished and both had to retire. Zhou would receive a five-second time penalty. Forgotten was his strong performance in the hunt for a starting place the day before, when the Chinese surprisingly finished fifth.
The picture familiar from the past few weeks developed at the top. World Championship leader Verstappen constantly increased his lead, much to the delight of the thousands of Dutch fans in the stands. According to the organizers, around 303,000 spectators came to the Hungaroring at the weekend.
Verstappen also grabbed the extra point
Formula 1 had already announced the early extension of the contract for the Hungarian guest appearance by another five years until 2032 on Saturday. Linked to this is a modernization of the route, with a new pit building and a new main grandstand to be built by 2026. The aging circuit near Budapest is known among experts as “Monaco without walls” because overtaking is so difficult here. This time, too, there were changes of place, mainly due to the pit stops. In the battle for the podium places, Norris came to his tire change earlier than his McLaren rival Piastri and squeezed past the Australian a little later.
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Verstappen drove a lonely race there. He came to the garage late for service and stayed in the lead afterwards. Team-mate Pérez meanwhile patiently worked his way up the field, starting from eighth place, the Mexican was chasing fourth-placed Hamilton halfway through the race. “Are you turning my engine down?” Hamilton, who was dissatisfied with his lap times, asked the control center via the pit radio. Answer: The Mercedes crew was concerned about the temperatures of the engine.
In the race for the podium places, Hamilton was far behind for a long time. Pérez got the stumbling Piastri in the superior Red Bull, but in the end it was increasingly difficult to save third place from Hamilton. Verstappen grabbed the extra point for the fastest lap and provided further proof of his overwhelming dominance.
