Five talking points from a hectic Hungarian GP

Verstappen looks unbeatable

A power “glitch” left Verstappen starting on the fifth row, but on a circuit where overtaking used to be considered nearly impossible the Dutchman put in a fantastic performance to turn his weekend around in a manner even he hadn’t expected. Starting on the soft Pirelli compound, he was up to sixth by lap seven and undercut Lewis Hamilton in the first round of pitstops after coming in early on lap 16. Following his second pit visit for another set of mediums on lap 39 he had little problem hunting down and passing Leclerc, who Ferrari had lumbered with the gripless hard compound.

But this performance wasn’t spotless. Out of Turn 13 on lap 41 Verstappen pirouetted, completing a perfect 360-degree spin that allowed Leclerc back ahead. Never mind – Max recovered, hunted down the Ferrari once more and passed it again on lap 45. Once Sainz and Hamilton came in for their second stops Verstappen inherited the lead and never lost it, to record the 28^th F1 victory of his career and surpass the tally of Sir Jackie Stewart. Better than that, he heads off for the holiday with a monumental 80-point lead in the standings over a deflated Leclerc. That second title is beginning to look like a foregone conclusion.

Ferrari’s latest nightmare

The decision to stick hard tyres on Leclerc’s Ferrari at his second stop left him powerless to defend at a crucial part of the race. Until then and a week after his painful spin and crash at Paul Ricard, Leclerc had looked ready to put that heartbreak behind him with a victory to at least give him reason to hope during his summer holiday. Having started third, he jumped team-mate Sainz in the first stops having run longer, then chased down leader Russell and took the lead on lap 31. Job done? Sadly not. As Verstappen loomed, then pitted for a second time, Ferrari responded by bringing in Leclerc – and sent him back out on rubber that proved hopeless on a grey day where rain threatened and even briefly fell before the chequered flag flew. By the time he switched to a set of softs it was too little, too late.

“I’m very, very disappointed obviously,” said Leclerc. “The pace was really good on the medium tyres, the second stint also [on mediums] everything was under control and then we decided to stop on the hards. I don’t exactly know what are the reasons behind this decision yet, we’ll speak with the team for me to understand. But clearly it wasn’t the right decision. I don’t exactly know what happened.”

Hamilton’s finishes second again

Things are definitely looking up for Mercedes. After George Russell’s shock first pole position on Saturday, the silver cars remained in contention on Sunday with Hamilton overcoming his young team-mate for another second place, just seven days after finishing runner-up in France. A long middle stint was key to the seven-time champion’s superb performance, which gave him a 13-lap tyre life advantage over Verstappen for the final stint. Rejoining fifth after taking on a set of softs, Leclerc’s second stop moved him up a place, he then chased down and passed Sainz, before pulling a sweet cutback pass out of Turn 1 on Russell. Hamilton ran out of laps to do anything about Verstappen ahead of him, but second place was still “epic”, with Russell also expressing satisfaction with third despite a first F1 win slipping away after a strong first stint at the front.

“There was potential for a win,” said Hamilton, limited to seventh on the grid after a DRS problem in qualifying. “If we had both been up there, we could have worked together with support strategy wise, but if we are able to take this pace in the second half we can fight with [Red Bull and Ferrari].

“To fight and battle with Ferrari for the first time, that’s huge. Red Bull are ahead. The fact Max spun and finished 10 seconds ahead says enough, but we’ve still made huge progress and so to have consistency and two double podiums in the last two races gives us great hope.”

Norris is best of the rest

As Sergio Perez finished ahead of Leclerc, Lando Norris followed up his impressive fourth on the grid with a fine best-of-the-rest seventh for McLaren, beating both Alpines as Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon came home eighth and ninth.

If only Daniel Ricciardo could have boosted the points tally of McLaren, which goes into the break four points down on Alpine in their battle for fourth in the constructors’ standings. The Australian looked briefly like his old self when he pulled a fantastic double pass on the Alpines – only to revert to recent type when on fresh hard tyres he ran into Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and earnt himself a deserved penalty. He finished 15^th.

Vettel makes his point after big announcement

Sebastian Vettel picked up the final point for tenth place on the weekend he announced he is to retire from F1 at season’s end. The four-time champion was understandably upset to qualify only 18^th as he failed to progress beyond Q1. He then survived a lap-one collision with Alex Albon’s Williams, before the right tyre strategy lifted him above team-mate Stroll in the closing stages to make his point. The dignity of a great champion remains intact as he faces what amounts to a farewell tour over the final autumn of his career.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.