F1: Verstappen romps to victory in Hungarian GP

Max Verstappen out dueled pole sitter Lewis Hamilton in Turn 1 at the start and romped away to a dominant win in the Hungarian GP.

—by Mark  Cipolloni—

After losing pole to Hamilton on Saturday by just 0.003s Verstappen was on a mission , and in the race he led every lap and gave Hamilton and the rest of the drivers a schooling they won’t soon forget.

Verstappen pulled away to a massive 33.731 second win over the McLaren of Lando Norris for his 9th win of 2023, 7th in a row, and his 44th career F1 win.

“Over one lap, it was a bit of a struggle but today we had a car that was good on any tire, we could look after the tire wear and that’s what made the difference,” said Verstappen.

“For the team, 12 wins in a row is just incredible, the last two years have been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time.”

It was the 12th Formula 1 win in a row for Red Bull, breaking the record of 11 straight they held with McLaren set in the Senna/Prost era.

“Tough race, not an easy one, especially with Checo catching up at the end,” said Norris.

“Another podium for us and McLaren, which is amazing.

“At the minute the [Red Bulls] are too quick, but we are happy with the progress we have made – a few races ago, struggling to get out of Q1 to fighting for poles and podiums.”

Sergio Perez came from 9th on the starting grid to take the final podium position in the #11 Red Bull Honda over 37 seconds behind his teammate Verstappen.

“We got close to P2, unfortunately we had to go through a lot of backmarkers,” said tired Perez.

“The track was dirty off line, so I had some pick up, but in the end, a great strategy from the team and a great result.

“I look forward to being on the podium every weekend. Let’s keep it up.”

Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton brought his Mercedes home in 4th over 35 seconds behind his arch-rival Max Verstappen who once again gave him a schooling.

Oscar Piastri brought the #81 McLaren home a distant 5th and after Charles Leclerc’s 5-second penalty George Russell came from 18th to finish 6th.

Red Bull stats speak for themselves. Their lead in the constructors’ is mind-boggling, Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ is 110 points. He could DNF at the next four races and still be right up there. It’s just… Unbelievable.

Mercedes will leave this one with some head scratching to do. After such a good qualifying – for Hamilton at least – their race pace was patchy. Was it all due to cooling issues, or track characteristics – or were Red Bull and McLaren were just too good?

More to follow……

Hungarian GP Race Results – 70 Laps