BUDAPEST (Hungary): Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a peerless run to his eighth Hungarian Grand Prix victory on Sunday, 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.
Verstappen himself overcame a poor qualifying that saw him start P7, and then an embarrassing crash into the Turn 12 wall on his lap to the grid that required some urgent repairs, to claim P2, the Dutchman holding off an attack by third place Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the race.
Vettel held off the second Racing Point of Sergio Perez in the final laps of the race, as the Mexican finished seventh, having started fourth, while Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo made a monster 42-lap stint on mediums work to take eighth.
With the track greasy ahead of the race start but the rain having stopped falling, an inspired strategy from Haas helped Kevin Magnussen take the team’s first points of the year, with Magnussen and Romain Grosjean pitting for slicks at the end of the formation lap as their rivals started on intermediates on the drying track, with the Dane eventually taking P9 after a fine race.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10, thanks to a late-race pass on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who ended up 11th.
