Verstappen won in Hungary and it was too much for Hamilton and McLaren

Again, Max Verstappen. They changed the tires in the middle of the season, in the previous race, and this could give wings to McLaren and Mercedes in the chasing group. But it wasn’t enough to make a Red Bull consistently outperform the championship leader behind the wheel. Max Verstappen won the Hungarian F1 GP ahead of Lando Noris (2nd) and ‘Checo Pérez (3rd). The Dutchman achieved his 7th F1 win in a row, his best streak in F1, equaling Alberto Ascari’s 7 in a row (between Belgium 1952 and Argentina 1953), Michael Schumacher (between Europe and Hungary in 2004) and Nico Rosberg (between Mexico 2015 and Russia 2016). This is an example of a large domain that seems to have no end.

HUNGARY F1 GP 2023 FINAL RESULTS

CLASSIFICATION OF F1 WORLD CUP 2023 AFTER HUNGARY GP

Max makes the most of a car that perfectly suits his aggressive driving style. With him on board, the Red Bull flies. It’s an airplane. His 9 victories out of 11 possible, including the two achieved by Pérez at the start, made Red Bull equal the best start to a team championship in the entire history of McLaren 1988 and, counting the victory in Abu Dhabi last year, Red Bull won 12 races in a row, an absolute record. The data speaks for itself. The same happened this Sunday in a Grand Prix where more emotion was expected than what happened in the end.

Those who saw this Sunday should appreciate more what Fernando Alonso did at the start of the course, the only one capable of talking about Red Bull’s victories in Monaco. This time, in unwalled Monaco, with Hamilton starting from pole position, the Englishman, despite a slower pace, could try to put pressure on the Dutchman. For this, it was very important to execute a perfect race and the beginning took on a more central role. If he keeps the first position, Lewis could expand on the Magyar track as Alonso did to the Englishman in 2021 at the wheel of a slower Alpine.

To do this, he has to take risks. I had to embroider it and be aggressive. Many doubted whether the two would make it through the first corner unscathed due to their massive rivalry and the many precedents that exist between the two. But Hamilton deprived the viewer of that battle, even though there was a preliminary fight. The Englishman was deflated at minute 0. It was a mistake and Max took the lead. From there, the Dutchman congratulated everyone and went to victory single-handedly, without a rival, without opposition or pressure from anything.

The question remained whether McLaren could try. Piastri surprised everyone with a big start, going from 4th to 2nd passing Norris and Hamilton with a great outside of the 7-time champion at turn 2. But the Australian rookie was never able to put the reigning king in trouble. McLaren tried a counteroffensive with an ‘undercut’ in the pits between its pilots. Norris was 2nd, but it was too late. He no longer hopes to catch Max and he has to prioritize looking in the mirrors. ‘Checo’ Pérez, who started 9th, was flying with great returns, passing his rivals one by one very aggressively and without hesitation. With the best car, he performed again on Sunday. But in the end, he was unable to catch Lando, who added another good second place finish 25″ behind Max. Verstappen seemed to take the lead in changing the lead in the chasing area, without Fernando squeezing for a mistake.

Alonso, 9th

It was not the best weekend for the Spanish riders. No more in their cars. Aston Martin arrives in Hungary with optimism. The Hungaroring is one of the tracks that the green team has marked with red since the beginning of the course because it has to adapt perfectly to their car. But the Silverstone car is no better than many of its rivals, which have evolved. It has gone from being the second best car, to see how McLaren and Mercedes will pass it. So does the Ferrari, though less so. Aston Martin has built its car for less and others have taken advantage of its greater factory muscle. To the stagnation in the evolution and improvement of its rivals, we must add the change of the tire casings in the middle of the season, a change that harmed the Silverstone car.

So, from dreaming of Alonso’s 33rd victory, it became a harsh reality on Saturday with Fernando’s 8th place in qualifying. And in the race, the Spaniard, despite trying his best, could not do more than finish in 9th place. He got a place at the start and maximized his car’s performance, but he was unable to stop ‘Checo’ Pérez (3rd), with a superior car, and George Russell (7th), making a full comeback with a good strategy.

Sainz, 8th

Carlos Sainz finished 8th. He made a good start starting in 11th position. He gained 6 places in the first few meters to be in 6th position behind Charles Leclerc. But the team’s strategy was misunderstood. The Spaniard started on soft rubber and could have chosen a different approach than Charles. But when he got behind the Monegasque, they didn’t prioritize him and he couldn’t take advantage of his best starting rubber to attack hard. However, in the pit stops, the Ferrari beat Leclerc’s stop, losing a valuable second at the gun change, leaving Charles behind. At the second stop of the two, they reversed the loss on Charles, stopping him ahead of Sainz despite the fact that Carlos was ahead.

So, Leclerc dropped his own teammate in the pits and Charles regained his place, but he did so by exceeding the pit lane speed limit and earning a 5 second penalty. Neither the Monegasque nor the Spaniard could stop Pérez or Russell and in the end, Sainz finished 5″ 7 behind Charles, who did not allow him to take advantage of his teammate’s penalty to gain a place. Leclerc was 7th and Sainz 8th. There was nothing to do for a Ferrari that continued to suffer on rubber circuits with high temperatures. It suffered on a fast track, a McLa in Hungary and a Silverstone.