Hamilton wins Hungarian GP for the 8th time

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a peerless run to his eighth Hungarian Grand Prix victory, winning out over the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as he tied with Michael Schumacher’s record for most number of wins at a single venue.

Starting from pole, Hamilton quickly surged into a comfortable lead in the early laps, before managing his pace over his rivals in the encounter at the Hungaroring, eventually taking the flag 8.7s ahead of Verstappen to seal his third win in a row at this race.

Rain before the start of the race meant almost the entire field took the start on intermediate tyres. The track dried out quickly, however, and within a few laps everyone had pitted for slicks.

Hamilton was never seriously threatened, pulling out a 20 second lead over the fight for second place. He then sacrificed that to make an extra pit stop, and grab the bonus point for fastest lap.

Mighty Max and his mechanics

The contest for second place was between Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen. Max’s mere presence in the race was the result of a significant achievement by his Red Bull mechanics, who speedily repaired his car after he crashed on his reconnaissance lap.

Lance failed to finish on the podium

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll couldn’t convert his P3 grid position into the team’s first podium of the year as he came home a distant fourth. A late pass from Red Bull’s Alex Albon on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel gave Albon – who started 13th – P5, although Red Bull have been summoned to the stewards after the race for allegedly drying Albon’s grid spot ahead of the race.

Sebastian Vettel brought his Ferrari home in sixth place. His team mate Charles Leclerc lost the final point to Carlos Sainz after a long stint on hard tyres. The pair were separated by Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen, the latter benefitting from a gamble to switch to medium tyres on the formation lap.

Race classification

Indomitable Mercedes

Mercedes is in top form right now. No other teams comes even close to their pace. They are already way ahead of others in the constructor’s points. Lewis is in great touch. First race errors notwithstanding, he seems to be heading for his 7th world title.

Next stop is Silverstone which is a high speed circuit. Expect more Mercedes and Hamilton fireworks there!!