Hungarian GP: Verstappen flies from P10 to victory in Budapest

Max Verstappen produced a brilliant drive to win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Dutchman flew through the field from 10th on the grid, had the ideal strategy and even recovered from a spin en route to his eighth win of the season.

Likewise, Lewis Hamilton got the tyre calls right as a blistering final stint on the soft compound moved him up to second as polesitter George Russell made it two Mercedes’ on the podium.

Race Review

A good start for Russell from pole to retain the lead ahead of the two Ferraris as Lewis Hamilton moves up from seventh to fifth on the opening lap.

The two Red Bulls each gain two places to run eighth and ninth for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Behind, contact involving Sebastian Vettel and Alex Albon caused a Virtual Safety Car to clear debris at Turn 2.

A threat of rain saw a mix of tyre strategies as Russell choose soft tyres versus the Ferraris on the medium compound.

Verstappen was another to choose the red-striped rubber and used his extra grip to pass both Alpines in quick succession before chasing down Hamilton for fifth.

Both would overtake Lando Norris in consecutive corners as the soft tyres began to struggle.

The McLaren driver was then the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop, dropping him down the field.

At the front, the two Ferraris began to close in on Russell for the lead, with Mercedes pitting the Briton for fresh mediums.

Red Bull also stopped Verstappen on the same lap, enabling the Dutchman to undercut Hamilton into fourth place.

Ferrari responded to Mercedes with Sainz but kept Leclerc out, with the Monegasque overcutting his teammate into second place.

Further down, the two Alpines opted to go for a one-stop strategy but a battle between Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso allowed Daniel Ricciardo to jump ahead of both drivers through Turns 2 and 3.

After his pit stop, Leclerc quickly closed in on Russell with George just repelling a first attack at Turn 2.

But Charles wouldn’t be denied as he made a bold move on the Mercedes with DRS into Turn 1 to take the lead!

Next on the move would be Verstappen who made an early second pit-stop to undercut Sainz ahead.

That triggered Leclerc and Russell to pit, but the Red Bull driver jumped the Mercedes before making a great pass on Leclerc into Turn 1.

A spin for Max at Turn 13 on the same lap allowed the Ferrari back through, but he simply caught and re-passed Charles again into the first corner.

A slow second stop for Sainz dropped him down to fourth ahead of Hamilton in fifth.

Ferrari’s decision to put Leclerc on hard tyres backfired as Russell then passed for second with the Monegasque stopping for a third time for soft tyres.

In the closing laps, the battle was on between Sainz and the two Mercedes’ for the final podium places.

And it was Hamilton who made the decisive moves first on the Ferrari for third and then on teammate Russell for second place.

Out front, it was a masterful race from Verstappen who took the chequered flag ahead of the two Silver Arrows.

Sainz was fourth ahead of Perez and Leclerc in sixth after another frustrating race.

Lando Norris had a lonely run in seventh for McLaren leading the two Alpines of Alonso and Ocon in eighth and ninth.

Sebastian Vettel completed the top 10 for Aston Martin.

Full results from the Hungarian GP can be seen below: