Formula 1

Hungarian GP: Verstappen storms to victory as Red Bull set win record

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Max Verstappen was unstoppable as he stormed to victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman took the lead from polesitter Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 and didn't look back as he led every lap at the Hungaroring.

Lando Norris delivered another epic drive to finish second for McLaren, beating Sergio Perez, who moved up from ninth to third in the second Red Bull.

Race Review

At the start, Verstappen and Hamilton ran side-by-side approaching Turn 1, with the Red Bull taking the lead after easing the Mercedes wide.

HunGP Start

Oscar Piastri took advantage to move up to second for McLaren before Lando Norris passed Hamilton around the outside at Turn 2 to claim third.

Further back, a bold move from Pierre Gasly led to contact with Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon at the first corner, forcing both drivers out of the race.

Daniel Ricciardo got caught up in the incident and dropped to the back of the field, with a very slow-starting Zhou Guanyu also involved.

After a brilliant qualifying, Alfa Romeo's race further unravelled as Valtteri Bottas dropped outside the top 10.

Starting 18th, George Russell made a strong start for Mercedes, Sergio Perez also gained two places up from P9 to P7.

By Lap 10, several in the midfield began to make their first pit stops as teams opted for a variety of tyre strategies.

The medium compound was prevalent at the front, with Verstappen gradually pulling away from Piastri in second.

Carlos Sainz triggered the first pit-stop phase among the leaders, but disaster struck for Charles Leclerc as a faulty wheel gun cost the Monegasque multiple seconds.

By pitting one lap earlier, Norris was able to undercut teammate Piastri into a net second place as the two McLarens extended their advantage over Hamilton.

Verstappen was able to run five and six laps longer than the Papaya machines and retained the lead after making his first stop on to hard tyres.

Perez ran second briefly before pitting for mediums on the alternate strategy.

The Red Bull driver emerged behind Sainz and Russell but used his fresher tyres to pass both in consecutive laps, narrowly avoiding contact with the Mercedes through Turn 3.

Next in Sergio's sights was Hamilton in fourth, the seven-time world champion also closing on Piastri for the final podium place.

This coincided with the second round of pit stops for the leaders, with Perez and the two McLarens stopping first.

After the stop, the pace of the Red Bull was too much as Checo passed Piastri with a robust overtake through Turns 1 and 2.

The stewards noted the move after the McLaren was pushed onto the grass but decided no investigation was needed.

Hamilton stayed out longer on his middle stint, dropping to fifth after his second stop, but had fresher tyres than those ahead for the run to the finish.

Ahead, Verstappen's Sunday stroll continued with a healthy lead over Norris following his final stop, including a blistering 1m20.5s to set the fastest lap.

Mercedes' strategy worked as Hamilton caught and passed Piastri for fourth, though he could nothing about the trio ahead.

Instead, the focus was on the fight for P2 as Perez chased down Lando, but traffic worked in the Briton's favour as he kept the Red Bull at bay.

Hamilton had to settle for fourth ahead of Piastri. Leclerc followed but a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane dropped him to sixth behind Russell in sixth.

Sainz was eighth as Fernando Alonso led Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll to round out the top 10.

At the front, however, there was no stopping Verstappen who claimed victory by 33 seconds to give Red Bull a record 12th consecutive win, surpassing the 11 set by McLaren in 1988.

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