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Verstappen overtook Leclerc!
41/70 Another Ferrari folly? Verstappen’s mediums edge out Leclerc on hards.
40/70 Leclerc pits, continues on hard tyres. Russell changes and enters his mediums. Sainz leads from Hamilton, Leclerc is third, on difficulties. An intriguing choice. Perez is fourth but will soon give way to Verstappen.
39/70 Verstappen is the first to pit from the leaders and moves into sixth, behind Perez and Hamilton. The plan is to beat Mercedes and Ferrari.
38/70 The rain is coming as Lando Norris warns his team. Vettel, who will soon retire, is 10th, ahead of Ocon.
37/70 Leclerc is 4.48 seconds ahead of Russell, who is 1.2 seconds ahead of Sainz, who is 0.8 ahead of Verstappen, with Hamilton almost six seconds behind.
36/70 Yuki Tsunoda’s crash suggested the chicane might be a bit slippery. Let’s see. Leclerc is a long way off and his tires are the youngest of the leaders.
35/70 Yellow flag as Yuki Tsunoda spins and falls to last place. He returned to a race in which no one, at the halfway point, has been eliminated.
34/70 Russell is now chased by Sainz, 0.6s apart.
33/70 Hamilton picking up speed. By the way, Verstappen was complaining about the rain and several drivers are worried about it. That would set everything in motion.
32/70 Verstappen groans. His garage recognizes this and allows him to continue as before.
Leclerc overtook Russell and took the lead!
31/70 Finally the door opens and Leclerc breaks through Russell’s defence, rounding the other side to the front, and the Ferrari is ahead. Great ride from both of them. Russell’s job now is to hold off Sainz and Verstappen.
30/70 Down the final straight, the DRS reopens and Russell continues to hold off his rival. Leclerc has the younger tires and may prefer to wait.
29/70 Leclerc chases down Russell and another gap opens up, only to be closed once more. Just five seconds between the top four, Hamilton loses that pace.
Leclerc takes the lead against Russell!
28/70 Russell opens the door and Leclerc looks to cross but great defensive work from Russell closes the door again. It showed Russell’s talent. Not this time.
Updated at 14.45 BST
27/70 Russell seems to be losing some time and maybe struggling with his tires as does Hamilton it seems. Leclerc moves forward, Sainz a buffer between him and Verstappen.
26/70 Leclerc closing in on Russell, the gap now under a second, the specter of DRS rising. A great test for the young.
25/70 Hamilton’s brakes locked just as he was setting a fast opening sector. The Ferrari team says the race is “tough on the tyres”.
24/70 Leclerc sets fastest lap as Verstappen rages after Sainz. We may soon see a battle between Verstappen and Leclerc, as has been the norm this season. Then the Alpines of Ocon and Alonso tangled and Ricciardo entered, who read their movement, and in tenth. There is bad blood in the Alpine team.
23/70 Leclerc is warned by his team not to take the balls out of his tyres. He’s the type of driver who needs that kind of warning.
22/70 Russell goes ahead of Leclerc, but Leclerc will race ahead of Sainz. This is a result of Leclerc’s speed and a rather unsuccessful pit stop for Sainz. Alonso has put on the hard tire that gives everyone else a clue.
George Russell leads after his first pit stop. Photo: Darko Bandic/AP
Updated at 14.37 BST
21/70 Verstappen works his way through the field and remains fourth after blowing past the Alpine cars of Alonso and Ocon. Leclerc boxes and continues to the media.
20/70 Hamilton enters and drops to seventh. Russell is second and only Leclerc of the leaders entering. Sainz and Leclerc appear to be the race to watch out for, later opposition permitting.
19/70 Perez enters from third as Russell sets fastest lap to go third. Leclerc flew forward, trying to stay away so he could pit and stay ahead. Verstappen is seventh after his pit stop and Perez is back in 10th. Red Bull has work to do.
18/70 Sainz’s pit is slow and then Russell passes Ocon and stays in front of Sainz with those in front staying in the pits. Mercedes got lucky, their pit was slow.
17/70 Russell pits as does Verstappen. Russell returned to the race in sixth place and stayed ahead of Alonso before coming after Ocon. Hamilton is up to third but will surely pit soon and Ferrari will soon do the same.
16 / 70 Steven Harris, probably not from Iron Maiden, chimes in: “It’s so refreshing to see so many drivers able to win and watch together this year, I’m not against Hamilton but his wins have put me off F1. ”
It’s been a good race so far, the top three were so close, and now Hamilton and Verstappen are chasing each other.
15/70 Russell’s tires start to slow him down, time to pit? Norris has pitted and the Merc team could follow suit.
14/70 Up front the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz are taking it easy without putting Russell under too much pressure.
13/70 Verstappen complains. “Fail 20” is the word. Hamilton takes off in front of him. Perez blasted past Norris in the same DRS fashion.
12/70 Hamilton overtakes Norris using DRS and then, on the same route, Verstappen passes Norris. So the battle for fourth place will be between Hamilton and Verstappen. Hamo’s job is to hold Max back to keep him away from the Mercedes in front, Russell’s.
Max Verstappen moves up to fifth place. Photo: Lisa Leutner/Reuters
Updated at 14.25 BST
11/70 Verstappen closes in on Hamilton, who is frustrated by Norris. and cannot make the move.
10/70 Hamilton chasing Norris, DRS soon to be on track, with Norris’ soft McLaren tires perhaps struggling in these conditions.
9/70 Perez overtakes Ocon to claim seventh, Red Bull team flying well. Hamilton chased down Norris to try and claim fourth place.
8/70 Verstappen gained four places, as did Mick Schumacher in 11th. Russell’s Mercedes has a 2.2-second lead over Sainz, with Verstappen a similar distance behind Hamilton in fifth.
7/70 Verstappen spins past Ocon and is sixth. Russell said from his garage that it wouldn’t rain for the next half hour. The black cloud has passed. For now.
6/70 Sainz sets fastest lap as he chases down Russell’s Merc, who will have to go through some tough defensive work very soon. Kevin Magnussen is called to attend to something hanging from his car.
5/70 Verstappen spots a slip and overtakes Alonso and now has Ocon in his sights.
4/70 Some say that Russell cut Sainz off in that start, but the verdict is that he did nothing wrong. Verstappen, eighth, has Ocon and Alonso ahead of him.
3/70 Out of this virtual safety car, Russell showed his driving skills by accelerating away from his pursuers in a manner not dissimilar to that which stole third from Paul Ricard. Sergio Perez complains to Red Bull about his engine.
2/70 Verstappen managed to pass his teammate Perez and took advantage of the snarls of those around him. Alonso is not happy with Ocon. Russell leads Sainz, Leclerc and Norris, Hamilton fifth.
Lights out!
1/70 We’re leaving. Russell is off to a good start and holding off Leclerc and Sainz are on his tail. He remains in the lead, and someone has gone off the track. Verstappen is also moving up. Pierre Gasly pulls out of the pit lane and has a virtual safety as Alex Albon hits Lance Stroll. Russell held off Sainz with a very defensive move and now has to defend even more.
George Russell leads at the start and is followed by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Photo: Darko Bandic/AP
Updated at 14.16 BST
They go on the formation lap and it takes a while, and that means George Russell could spend a long time on the grid, with Nicholas Latifi, always Latifi, going slow. No sign of rain yet.
The Hungarian Grand Prix has been won by a pole 16 times out of a total of 37 races in Budapest. No pressure, George Russell. This can be difficult for those with hard tires.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, just guessed that rain was coming, and as soon as he did, the rain poured down in Hungary, a big black cloud over the track. This is where the variables come in.
And here is the Hungarian national anthem, Himnusz, sung by a singer and a piano.
Wind-obsessed Max Verstappen on podium bid: ‘It’s going to be pretty tough but we’re going to try.’
Max Verstappen climbs into his Red Bull. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Updated at 13.49 BST
The cars load into their starting positions and George Russell, on pole, speaks to Sky F1.
The biggest challenge is managing the tires and trying to make the most of each bump. There are no guarantees. Having the two Ferraris around us means they can do whatever they want, but I’ll just go as fast as I can. Ferrari have better chances than us, but we start from a better position.
The cars have come out of their garages and are on the track in front of the starting grid. There are several head and tail winds there. It’s a classic hard track, with such a long straight. Lewis Hamilton has won eight times here, it’s a place to keep a cool head with some sharp turns, especially at the start.
A reflection of Lewis Hamilton’s car heading towards the starting grid. Photo: Lisa Leutner/Reuters
Updated at 1.40pm BST
Reminder of the drivers’ championship standings
- 1. Max Verstappen – 233 points
- 2. Charles Leclerc – 170 points
- 3. Sergio Perez – 163 points
- 4. Carlos Sainz – 144 points
- 5. George Russell – 143 points
- 6. Lewis Hamilton – 127 points
- 7. Lando Norris – 70 points
- 8. Esteban Ocon – 56 points
- 9. Valtteri Bottas – 46 points
- 10. Fernando Alonso – 37 points
- 11. Kevin Magnussen – 22 points
- 12. Daniel Ricciardo -19 points
- 13. Pierre…
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