BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Formula One champion Max Verstappen overcame a spin and his worst starting position of the season to win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday. His eighth win of the season extended Verstappen’s lead over Charles Leclerc to 80 points as F1 enters its mid-season break.
Although his advantage continues to grow, Verstappen is not thinking ahead.
“Sure, it’s a great trail,” he said. “But if you want to compete for championships, you can’t afford to make too many mistakes.”
Mercedes put both their cars on the podium for the second consecutive race; seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton worked his way from seventh to second, his team-mate and first-timer George Russell third.
Carlos Sainz Jr finished fourth in another disastrous day for Ferrari. Leclerc was sixth, one place behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Verstappen’s eighth win of the season was the 28th of the Dutchman’s career.
“Who would have thought that when we woke up today we would get this result? Unbelievable,” Verstappen told his team, laughing. “I would fight a lot of guys and it was a lot of fun there. It was a crazy race, but (we) stayed calm and won.”
He finished a season-worst 10th due to a loss of power on Saturday, then in Sunday’s race Verstappen did a 360-degree spin.
“Amazing Max, that’s right up there with the best of you,” replied Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. “Fantastic.”
Russell, starting from pole for the first time in his career, led 30 laps before Leclerc overtook him on the outside as dark clouds rolled over the Hungaroring and light rain began to fall.
With Leclerc leading, Verstappen undercuts for faster tyres. Ferrari made a mistake in choosing the more durable solid tires for Leclerc.
“These tires are (expletive),” Leclerc said.
He later explained that he thought the call was wrong.
“I made it clear that I wanted to keep (the medium tyre) as long as possible, but we pitted very early for the hard, which we need to understand why. I think stopping for the hard one was the turning point,” said Leclerc. “Before we think about the championship, honestly, as a team we need to understand what we need to do to get better. Because otherwise it’s going to be really difficult. “
Moments later, Verstappen lost grip and spun on the track, allowing Sainz to take the lead from Hamilton. Leclerc overtook Verstappen, only to lose position soon after because Verstappen had faster tyres.
“It was very difficult conditions but we had a really good strategy,” Verstappen said. “We were really responsive, always pitting at the right time. Even with 360 we still won.”
Recalling the spin, Verstappen said: “I hit the gas and completely lost the rear, it caught me.”
Ferrari’s strategic problems just won’t go away. Leclerc saw two nail-biting wins slip away – at the Monaco GP and the British GP – after the team dropped him from a dominant position in fourth.
The Ferrari botched Sainz’s next tire stop on lap 47, taking too long to fit his rear left tyre.
“It always feels like there’s always something going on, reliability, bugs, whatever,” said a clearly frustrated Leclerc.
Hamilton stayed out but was losing time to Verstappen as the rain increased.
Leclerc, who crashed while leading the French Grand Prix last week, pitted for a third tire change on lap 55.
Ferrari’s strategy even confused Verstappen.
“I think Ferrari chose the wrong tires in their last stint before they pitted again,” Verstappen said. “Ferrari were very fast, they just made the wrong decision with the hard tire (for Leclerc).”
Lando Norris finished seventh for McLaren, Fernando Alonso eighth and his Alpine League team-mate Esteban Ocon ninth. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel finished 10th.
Vettel, who won his four F1 titles with Red Bull from 2010-13, retired at the end of the season, by which time Verstappen may have bettered his F1 record of 13 wins in a season from 2013.
F1 said 290,000 attended the three days of racing in Hungary. On Saturday, F1 released a video condemning all forms of abusive behaviour.
Violent behavior by spectators overshadowed the Austrian Grand Prix three weeks ago, where fans – especially women – exposed F1 to rampant bullying, sexism, racism and homophobia.
Verstappen was asked to comment on a video posted on social media this weekend after winning Sunday’s race showing an orange-clad fan burning what appeared to be some Mercedes merchandise.
“This is of course not acceptable,” said Verstappen, who called for increased security in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. “I definitely don’t agree with that because it’s just disgusting.
After a month-long break, the season resumes with a triple header in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
“To have both cars on the podium is really special for us. The other guys have the edge, but we’re obviously closing the gap,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully we’ll bring more in the second half of the season and start challenging the guys up front.”
Russell pointed out how not so long ago Mercedes was way behind Red Bull.
“We finished a minute back and now we’re 10 seconds back,” he said.
Verstappen also has good reason to welcome Mercedes’ resurgence.
“It’s good that they’re competitive,” he quipped. “It means they can steal more points from Ferrari.”
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly started from the pit lane after being penalized for multiple engine changes and finished 12th.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo showed some of his old form with a great double overtaking of Ocon and Alonso, who were closing in on the mid-race, celebrating with expletives.
But Ricciardo wasn’t laughing later as the Australian driver received a five-second time penalty for clipping Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and sending him off the track. Ricciardo took 15th place.
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