Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix in commanding fashion, clearing the field by more than 30 seconds. His seventh consecutive win meant Red Bulls 12th, breaking McLaren’s record held since 1988. The podium was completed by Lando Norris and Sergio Pérez, who both drove superb races of their own.
The top eight started on the medium tyres, with both Sergio Pérez and George Russell opting for the hard rubber, given they need to come from behind. Verstappen had the best start, taking the lead from Lewis Hamilton, who subsequently drops to fourth place when both McLarens pass him as well.
Further back it was Pierre Gasly who made a daring pass through the grass, but his efforts were terminated by Zhou Guanyu, who had a terrible start and missed his braking point. He tagged Daniel Ricciardo in the process, who in turn launched Esteban Ocon into his teammate. Both Alpines were eliminated and the Chinese driver was handed a five second penalty for causing a collission. Ocon’s seat was cracked in the process, prompting the Frenchman to go to the medical centre.
Verstappen drives a few fastest laps in the mean time and slowly pulls away by Oscar Piastri who is the leading McLaren. Fernando Alonso defends from Pérez, but needs to let the Mexican go in lap 8.
Alexander Albon is the first to make a regular stop, switching to the hard compound, and is followed a lap later by Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas, who also switch to the hard tyre. Bottas shows the rest of the field that new hard tyres are the best at the moment by driving the fastest lap.
Carlos Sainz is again the chief strategist for Ferrari, suggesting to stop as soon as Pérez is within overtaking range. This happens in lap 16, and he too switches to hard. Hamilton opens up the pit stop sequence at the front by pitting a lap later, in an attempt to undercut Lando Norris.
McLaren responds by bringing in Norris, and with a very quick stop he comes back in front of Hamilton. Charles Leclerc pits too, but his left rear wheel gun fails, dropping him behind Sainz.
Piastri stops a lap later, but a two second pitsop could not negate the two purple sections by Norris, who passes his teammate in the first turn. And while Norris drives the fastest lap it’s Leclerc who is making up some ground by passing Stroll.
Alonso pits in lap 21, leaving only Russell and both Red Bulls as the drivers that haven’t stopped yet. The stop is poor, dropping him behind Stroll and Bottas, but his fresher tyres allow him to pass the Fin in the next lap.
Race leader Verstappen eventually pits in lap 24, and a proper stop keeps him in front. Pérez stops a lap later for mediums, putting him between both Ferrari’s, while Russell lets Hamilton past in turn 2. The seven-time world champion seems to bee unable to keep up with the McLarens, who have similar pace to Verstappen.
Pérez capitalises on his tyre advantage, passing Sainz in turn 1. He passes Russell for fifth a lap later, but not without a fight by the Briton. Russell pits at the end of the lap and goes to the mediums too, dropping him back to 14th.
Ricciardo makes his second stop in lap 30, just 11 laps after he switched to the hards, dropping him to the back of the field. Checo in the meantime reels in Hamilton, who in turn slowly gets closer to Piastri.
Albon makes his second stop in lap 32, leaving him on a monster stint of 38 laps, if this were to be his last stop. Russell in the mean time slowly picks off drivers in front of him, driving the fastest lap in the process.
Up front Verstappen pulls away from both McLarens, while his teammate gets closer and closer to Hamilton, which makes the podium a possibility for the Mexican. Albon disposes of Kevin Magnussen, but that only brings the Thai to 15th.
In lap 42 Pérez attempts an overtake, but Hamilton defends, forcing Pérez to stop. Piastri stops as well, but his stop is mediocre, while Red Bull executes a 1.9 second stop for Checo. Both are out on mediums. Leclerc and Alonso stop a lap later, with both switching to hards.
Norris stops in lap 45, switching to the mediums as well. Pérez puts Piastri under pressure with the fastest lap, while Sainz’s pitstop drops him back behind teammate Leclerc. The Monegasque driver is however under investigation for speeding in the pitlane, and it doesn’t take long for him to receive a five second penalty.
Pérez battles with Piastri for fourth place, but the Australian rookie refuses to give up. He has to eventually yield, and receives a black/white flag for track limits. Hamilton makes his last stop in lap 50, dropping him behind Pérez and Piastri. Verstappen makes his final stop in lap 52, switching back to mediums for the final stint.
Hamilton is charging towards Piastri, while Pérez is slowly reeling in Norris, putting the current positions for the McLaren drivers in jeopardy. Hamilton disposes of Piastri in lap 56, with the youngster not really putting up a fight as the Mercedes is just too quick.
The final stages of the race consist of Pérez hunting down Norris, with the latter being quite vocal about the backmarkers not going out of the way. Tsunoda however returns the favour to Pérez, giving Norris some breathing space again.
With seven laps to go Russell is suddenly behind Sainz, and a lap later the Mercedes driver has passed the Ferrari driver, making sixth place possible with the penalty for Leclerc. Pérez in the mean time seems to have given up on second place and needs to look back as Hamilton is charging through the backmarkers.
Checo seems to have burnt up his tyres as he keeps losing time to both Norris and Hamilton. Sargeant brings out a brief yellow with two laps to go with a spin in the chicane, but can continue again, only to retire in the pits.
Verstappen wins in commanding fashion, with Norris finishing second more than half a minute behind. Pérez fends off Hamilton for the final podium spot, while Piastri finishes fifth in front of Russell. Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso and Stroll round up the top 10, with Ricciardo ending up in 13th, four places ahead of team mate Tsunoda.
