·
Max Verstappen recovers from pre-race crash to
come second
·
Pre-race anti-racism gestures in Hungary give
muddled message
There was, perhaps inevitably, a sense of deja
vu as Lewis Hamilton took another consummate
victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The world champion’s record
at the Hungaroring is unparalleled. On Sunday
he and his Mercedes team delivered again and this time with such overwhelming
superiority that it put a palpable chasm between them and their rivals just
three races into the season.
Hamilton took an untroubled win with another
flawless run from pole, enjoying a pace advantage married to perfect execution
that could not be matched. In
unusually cool temperatures for Budapest in
July, Hamilton barely appeared to break a sweat.
F1’s anti-racism stance in contrast was left
looking altogether more chaotic, an issue the sport must resolve. On the grid
most drivers were wearing “End
Racism” T-shirts, with Hamilton and the
majority also taking a knee before the national anthem. Yet it was a
disorganised affair once more, with some drivers
late or absent, and lacked a cohesive message.
Hamilton is expected to address it with F1 again before the British Grand Prix.
On track it is unfair to class such a drive as
routine but the level at which the 35-year-old Briton is now performing means
he makes races like this look easy. He
was aided on Sunday by a lack of competition
from across the grid, even from his teammate Valtteri Bottas who was third.
Hamilton now leads
the world championship race with 63 points, in front of Bottas on 58. Yet there
was drama behind Hamilton, not least for Max Verstappen who remarkably took second place despite crashing his
Red Bull on the way to the grid.
Hamilton insisted that his team were reaping
the rewards of their effort and commitment. “We are working our arse off,” he
said. “We are going to continue to
do that. Would I like more of a battle from
other teams? Absolutely. But it was a flawless effort from the team this
weekend. In all areas we really delivered. It is difficult to compete against
when you are bringing that 100%.”
The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff,
bluntly summed up the advantage they are enjoying. “The car and its engine are
a bit of a beast, just what we needed,” he said. “It is a car the drivers like,
it has good driveability, lots of power and lots of downforce.”
Hamilton enjoys racing in Budapest, as well he
might. He has won the last three in a row here, is the race’s most successful
driver and with his eighth victory in Hungary he has also matched Michael
Schumacher’s record, scored at Magny Cours, of the most victories at the same
circuit. This 86th career win also now puts him just five shy of Schumacher’s
record. On this form it must be expected that he will surpass the German this
season.
He delivered the calm, controlled performance
from pole to flag that has defined much of his success. Having opened up a gap
from the off he was unchallenged throughout, relentlessly building a lead that
was insurmountable even by the midway point. The numbers are daunting: three
seconds clear by the end of lap one, he went on to lead by margins of up to 26
seconds – a country mile.
Verstappen’s afternoon was an altogether more
testing affair. Red Bull were enduring a difficult
weekend in Budapest and he gave them a further headache before the race had
begun. The Dutchman went off, locking up on a damp track on his lap driving to
the grid 20 minutes before the off, hitting the barriers and damaging his
suspension. The team worked furiously to repair the damage and he was able to
start the race. They did a superb job: Verstappen made amends with an
impressive drive to take second from seventh on the grid.
He was rightly thankful to his team. “They did
an amazing job,” he said. “I was fired up to get back in the car and show them
the effort was not for nothing. It was a crazy 10 to 12 minutes.”
He was, however, never in the fight for the
lead. Mercedes have issued a definitive statement that they are in a league of
their own this season. Dominant in Austria with its quick corners, they proved
equally at home on the slow to medium-paced turns of the Hungaroring. Their
strength across both types of circuit and the margin of advantage they have
over their rivals is ominous indeed.
Certainly Ferrari have reached only the
foothills of the mountain they have to climb. Hopeful of an improvement in form
in Hungary, they were disappointed. Sebastian Vettel was sixth and will not have
enjoyed being lapped by Hamilton with 12 laps to go. The team put Charle
Leclerc on to the wrong tyres early in the race with the Monegasque coming home
in 11th.
Bottas, second on the grid, made what appeared
to be a jump start in reacting to a light on his dash and in checking it went
backwards to sixth. He was not penalised for the start but the day belonged to
his teammate. At the death Hamilton had enough in hand to take a stop for the
soft tyre to se al off the point for fastest lap, an indication of how
seriously he is taking gaining every point toward securing his seventh title.
On this form he is well on the way, Hamilton
was once more untouchable. He and Mercedes have grabbed the championship by the
scruff of the neck in this opening triple-header of meetings. Wresting it from
them will be a tough task indeed.
Red Bull faced an investigation by the stewards
because they had “artificially dried the grid box” of Alexander Albon’s car by
using the engine cooling air of their leaf blowers, a possible contravention of
the rules stating no part of the track could be dried, but the stewards took no
further action. Albon finished in fifth.
Lance Stroll was fourth for Racing Point with
his teammate Sergio Pérez seventh, in front of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Kevin Magnussen was ninth for Haas, with Carlos Sainz taking 10th for McLaren.
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