Simply Unbeatable Verstappen helps Red Bull Break Formula 1 Race Win Record
Max Verstappen absolutely dominated today’s Hungarian Grand Prix as the Dutchman won by nearly 34 seconds as Red Bull break the record for the most consecutive Grand Prix victories (12). McLaren’s Lando Norris came home in a brilliant P2 whilst Sergio Perez rounded out the Podium on a special day for his team.
The Biggest Talking Points
Lewis Hamilton started on Pole, but he didn’t get a very good start as he was overtaken by both Max Verstappen and the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by the time he got down to Turn 4. Back at Turn 1, Zhou Guanyu, who was starting in a career-high 5th place, barely got off the line and then he connected with the back of Daniel Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri which caused a sort of “domino effect” which resulted in the two Alpine’s of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly colliding before they were both forced to retire by the end of Lap 2. What a horrible, horrible day for Alpine in what’s turning out to be a pretty tough season. McLaren made an interesting strategy choice in the fact that they prioritised Lando Norris and it resulted in the Brit jumping his Australian teammate in the pitstop phase. Sergio Perez was making his way through the field at the expense of the Ferraris and Aston Martins who didn’t seem to have any pace and it didn’t take long for Checo to overtake Oscar Piastri and move up into the Podium places. Charles Leclerc got himself a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane which makes him look dumb whilst the end of the race saw the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell make a late charge whilst Max Verstappen was already planning his Summer holidays. Also, it’s worth quickly mentioning Daniel Ricciardo drove a fantastic final stint to climb back into P13 whilst Logan Sargeant spun with about 2 Laps to go.
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out two 10’s for this race and the first one is obviously for Max Verstappen. There’s really not much that I can say about Max other than he’s probably going to have a 9.3 average on my mid-season driver rankings. The other driver I’ve given out a 10 to is Lando Norris who once again did a brilliant job to finish P2 in his McLaren. It’s definitely fair to say that McLaren and Lando are back! I also thought Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton, and George Russell had good days.
Drivers who had a Shocker
In total, I’ve given out two 1’s for this race and the first one is unfortunately for Zhou Guanyu. Zhou pulled out one of the best Qualifying performances of the entire season yesterday, but he got a horrible, horrible start and then took out Daniel Ricciardo which resulted in both of the Alpine’s being forced to retire. The other driver I’ve given out a 1 to is Kevin Magnussen and I feel like I write this nearly every week. K-Mag is not extracting any sort of performance out of his Haas and I’d be interested to hear what Guenther Steiner has to say about his veteran driver. I also thought Logan Sargeant ruined his day with an unnecessary spin at the end whilst Yuki Tsunoda will feel rightly disappointed that he’s been beaten by his new teammate.
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10 (FL)
Lando Norris: 10
Sergio Perez: 8
Lewis Hamilton: 8
Oscar Piastri: 7
George Russell: 8
Charles Leclerc: 5
Carlos Sainz: 5
Fernando Alonso: 5
Lance Stroll: 5
Alex Albon: 7
Valtteri Bottas: 6
Daniel Ricciardo: 7
Nico Hulkenberg: 4
Yuki Tsunoda: 3
Zhou Guanyu: 1
Kevin Magnussen: 1
Logan Sargeant: 2 (DNF)
Esteban Ocon: - (DNF)
Pierre Gasly: - (DNF)
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