Five talking points from the Hungarian GP

But while Hamilton was supreme, the weather threw in a tricky variable that left Max Verstappen facing an unexpected challenge to “redeem himself”, as his boss Christian Horner put it – and Max did so, quite beautifully. The top two in the Hungarian Grand Prix are currently operating at a higher level than anyone else on the Formula 1 grid right now, even if there is a worrying chasm of performance between their respective cars.

Hamilton and Verstappen a cut above

“You guys are legends, thank you so much,” said Max Verstappen to his Red Bull mechanics on the radio after beating Valtteri Bottas to second place on Sunday. He certainly owes them a drink or three after sensationally crashing his car during a reconnaissance lap on the way to the grid, damaging his front-left suspension and wing. Verstappen thought he was out for the day after being caught out by the wet track at turn five, but his mechanics set to work on the grid, changing a pushrod in record time and with seconds to spare to keep him in the race. From there, Max went to work to repay them.

His start from seventh on the grid, after what had been a surprisingly difficult weekend for Red Bull, was stunning, as a wise choice to take the outside line around turn one helped catapult him up to third, behind Lance Stroll’s Racing Point. Verstappen was soon into second, and while there was never any question of him catching and passing Hamilton, he belied his earlier silly error by calmly fending off Bottas’s closing Mercedes. It’s arguable whether any other driver could have come between the black cars, on a day when Hamilton was so dominant he had time for an extra pitstop late in the race to bolt on a set of soft tyres and grab the extra point for fastest lap.

Lewis now heads for the Silverstone double-header in the lead of the world championship for the first time this year, five points ahead of Bottas and already 30 ahead of Verstappen, who has risen to a distant third.

Familiar failings from Bottas

Depressingly for Red Bull, it already appears Bottas is the only driver who stands between Hamilton and a seventh world championship, such is the might of the W11. But the Finn was struggling to smile beneath his face mask on Sunday afternoon after what he correctly judged a “bad race” despite his podium finish. That impressive defeat of Hamilton in round one at the Austrian Grand Prix just three Sundays ago already seems ancient history. Shades of 2019 when he started so strongly, only for his title challenge to drift away? He needs to prove otherwise at Silverstone.

The Hungarian GP started terribly for Bottas when he appeared to jump the start from the front row. As he explained later, he was watching the red lights on his dash, which went out earlier than those on the gantry. Luckily, he realised his mistake and braked before he’d overshot his grid slot, avoiding a penalty, but the mistimed start was punishment enough as he dropped down the order in the rush to turn one. Later on, he agreed with a team gamble to switch him to fresh hard-compound tyres with just over 20 laps to run, in the hope he would close the gap it would create to Verstappen and take second place before the end. It didn’t work out, Bottas closing right up on the last lap, but falling short of the time he needed to make a move. You couldn’t help thinking Hamilton would have pulled off the feat, if he was set such a challenge. In fact, he was and did – just last year, when he caught and passed Verstappen to win after a stop, at the very same circuit…

Vettel: one eye on the ‘Pink Mercedes’

Sebastian Vettel might have been one of the few rivals to Racing Point that didn’t feel too aggrieved at the pace of the so-called ‘Pink Mercedes’ at the Hungaroring. After all the speculation about Vettel’s potential future at the team that will become Aston Martin next year, he watched Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez take up the second row in qualifying as best of the rest behind the (official) Mercedes, which they then converted into a double points score on Sunday. Stroll was particularly impressive, outperforming Perez and taking a well-earned fourth place just at a time when awkward questions have started to fly about just how safe his seat should be, despite his father owning the team.

On the face of current form, Vettel could do worse than join the Silverstone-based team next year – although for a second race in succession Racing Point has been the subject of a protest by Renault over its car’s similarity to last year’s Mercedes. A verdict on the thorny matter should come before the British GP, which takes place the weekend after next.

After a difficult time in both Austrian races, Vettel raced well for Ferrari in Hungary and also outshone his own team-mate Charles Leclerc, who struggled home 11^th. Sixth on the road behind Alex Albon was, according to Vettel, about right for the team’s current level. He finished just ahead of Perez, who he might replace in 2021, if the rumours are on the money.

Haas makes its point – just

An inspired decision to pit both Haas cars on the formation lap, switching Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean respectively from full wet tyres and intermediates to slicks, unexpectedly pushed the pair to heady heights in Hungary. Once everyone had stopped for their own slicks in the early laps, Magnussen rose as high as third with Grosjean riding shotgun, until inevitably they slipped back. But while Grosjean dropped to 15^th by the chequered flag, Magnussen clung dearly on to a points-scoring ninth, behind Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault but ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr.’s McLaren in 10^th.

But Haas was then penalised because it was the team and not the drivers that made the call to pit, breaking a regulation that states “a driver must drive the car alone and unaided”. A 10-second penalty for each driver pushed Grosjean back to 16^th and Magnussen to 10^th, behind Sainz. But at least the Dane was still awarded a championship point, and at this end of the grid every single one is likely to count, as Haas faces a tight battle with Williams and Alfa Romeo, with millions of dollars at stake for each position lost or gained. This one point could make all the difference – but then again, the same goes for the one Haas lost through its penalty, too.

Tough days for Albon and Norris

Red Bull number two Alex Albon was left fuming after being sent out in traffic during qualifying, but acquitted himself well in the race to rise from 13^th on the grid to fifth. A stewards’ inquiry into his team illegally blow-drying his starting slot threatened to undermine his efforts, but fortunately for the Thai driver his crew were cleared of wrongdoing.

As for Lando Norris, who started the weekend third in the world championship following his heroics in Austria, he started one place ahead of McLaren team-mate Sainz but bemoaned a poor start from which he never truly recovered. Norris finished 13^th, while George Russell was powerless to maintain his great qualifying effort for Williams and slipped from 12^th on the grid to 18^th at the flag. Both will be optimistic for better outcomes at their twin home races at Silverstone, even if they will miss out on the usual boost of being cheered on by a partisan crowd.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.