After two weeks in Austria, the paddock travelled to the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton taking the race win for Mercedes. Pre-race showers made the track conditions very tricky at the start, ensuring plenty of drama to from early on.

  • From Zero to Hero

The biggest of on track dramas came before the race even began for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Last year’s pole sitter was driving around the track to line up on the grid in P7, when he suddenly spun on the entry into turn 12 and hit the barriers, sustaining moderate front left damage and ripping off his front wing. 

It looked like his race was over before it had even began but miraculously, his mechanics were able to repair the damage and get his car race ready to go before lights out, allowing Verstappen to race and finish second.

“I thought I wasn’t going to race, so second is like a victory” is what Verstappen had to say when talking to Sky Sports F1 about the result.

  • Bottas’ horrible start

Valtteri Bottas got off to a really bad start as the Fin appeared to jump the start, moving mere inches before stopping his Mercedes and starting again when all five lights went out. This delayed his getaway, compromising his acceleration down the straight and by the time the field went through turn one, Bottas had dropped down to sixth.

 

Instead of pushing for the win, Bottas was reduced to fighting his way back through the field to recover from his start and eventually finished third after a difficult race. “It was a pretty bad race for me,” a disappointed Bottas explained to SkySportsF1 post-race, “I reacted to a light on my dash instead of the start lights so I anti-stalled.”   

 

  • Future Teammates Battle it out

 

The on-track action wasn’t so abundant in today’s race in comparison to last week’s Styrian Grand Prix but a battle that was interesting to see was the one between future 2021 Ferrari Teammates, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren driver hunted down Leclerc in his Ferrari towards the back end of the race. Once Sainz eventually caught up, the pair fought hard for a couple of laps before the Spaniard finally found a way past in the first sector. Sainz finished ahead of Leclerc in tenth, taking the final points of the race and making a firm statement that it won’t be an easy ride for the Monagas when they become teammates next year.  

 

  • Stroll scores good points

It’s been a weekend to remember for Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who after qualifying third, drove a brilliant race to finish fourth, bringing home an excellent haul of points for himself and his team. It’s the first time Stroll has scored points in Hungary and the first time he has finished ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez this season.

“We’ve got to be happy with the result, it’s some great points for the team, it’s been a solid weekend from start to finish and I believe we had the second fastest car this weekend.” Stroll explained to SkySportsF1 post-race.

  • Hamilton matching records

Much like last week in Styria, it was a comfortable win for Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes, who lead the race from pole and took the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.

This win marks Hamilton’s eighth time on the top step of the podium at the Hungaroring, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record wins at one circuit, already matching one of the German’s records as he aims for another in his seventh World Title. Today’s result put’s Hamilton in the lead of the Championship which will be ever more encouraging for the Britain going into the British Grand Prix in two weeks time.