Brilliant Strategy Call Gives Lewis Hamilton The Win At Hungarian GP

• Max Verstappen scored his maiden pole position in Hungary to make him F1’s 100th pole sitter.
• With 20 laps remaining, a race-long game of strategies played out between Verstappen and Hamiton, with the latter winning thanks to a brilliant call from the team.
• Hamilton now has 81 wins in his racing career, 10 away from beating Schumacher’s record.
• Vettel finished a distant third - a weekend to forget for Ferrari. Verstappen inches closer to title fight.

The story of 2019 has officially been a tale of two-halves. Some mediocre run of races have been complimented with absolute bangers in Austria, the UK and Germany. This incredible run of good races continued in Hungary as well with Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton taking a hard-fought win from Red Bull Honda’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finishing in a distant 3rd. 

On Saturday, Formula 1 saw the addition of a new name to the pole sitter list as Max Verstappen became the 100th pole sitter in the sport’s history to lineup at the front of a race. He was followed by Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and 3rd spot, respectively. After showing some promising pace in the free practise sessions earlier, the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel braced for a difficult afternoon in 4th and 5th place. 

Verstappen got off the line well this time, unlike his slow start at the rain-soaked German GP a week ago. Hamilton sneaked past his teammate to take 2nd, Bottas suffered multiple brake lockups and then dropped back to 5th after sustaining front-wing damage after contact with Leclerc’s left rear wheel - he had to pit early to replace the wing, dropping to dead last in the race. The Ferrari boys were 3rd and 4th and the midfield got through Lap 1 fairly clean with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz in 6th, Lando Norris in 7th and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikonnen in 8th. Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly continued his poor form dropping down to 9th place.  

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The race quickly became a two-horse affair between Verstappen and Hamilton, with the Ferraris not able to match their pace. It turned out to be a game of chess between the two drivers as well as the two teams, especially after the first round of pit stops. Part one of the game was when Hamilton slashed a 5 second gap within 2 laps and pressurised Verstappen with a bold move around the outside of Turn 4. Hamilton had to concede the place as Max held his ground, the former also had to deal with rising brake temperature after having followed the Red Bull around the hot Hungaroring circuit. 

At one point, Hamilton’s charge seemed all but over but Mercedes played a strategic gamble and pitted Hamilton for a second time with fresh medium compound tires for a 20-lap hunting stint to the flag. It initially looked like Hamilton wouldn’t be able to catch Verstappen, but as the laps went on, Verstappen’s hard tyres faded and Hamilton began gaining on him. 

With 3 laps to go, Hamilton successfully snatched the lead from Verstappen, who could not fight back, and took a well-earned 7th Hungarian GP win. Such was the intensity of their battle that they finished more than a minute ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in 3rd and 4th. Ferrari have a lot of work to do to bridge the pace gap by the time the summer break comes to an end.

Lower down the field, Carlos Sainz continued his strong form with a 5th place finish for McLaren, ahead of Pierre Gasly and the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikonnen in 7th, Bottas a disappointing 8th, Norris 9th and Alexander Albon in 10th.

Lower down the midfield, it was a rather quiet affair with both Renault drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo finishing a disappointing 12th and 14th; Renault has lost further ground to McLaren in the constructor’s championship. Haas continued to suffer with race pace with Kevin Magnussen finishing 13th, while Romain Grosjean retired with a water pump issue. A major talking point this weekend was how well Williams driver George Russell did throughout the weekend, raising hopes that the languishing manufacturer could return to competitive form soon. 

With this result, Hamilton is only 10 wins away from beating the all-time record of 91 race wins set by Michael Schumacher. Max Verstappen’s 2nd place finish has put him as an outsider for the title race - only 7 points off Bottas. Mercedes continue to hold a comfortable lead over the rest in the constructor’s standings. 

Formula One will return after a 3-week summer break. The Belgian Grand Prix will be held at the brilliant Spa-Francorchamps circuit between August 30-September 01. Will Red Bull and Max Verstappen continue to chip away at Mercedes’ and Hamilton’s advantage? Can Ferrari bounce back and salvage some good points in the races to follow? Stay tuned for a comprehensive coverage on ZigWheels.com.

Image Source- Formula One