Mercedes strategy helps Hamilton overhaul Verstappen for Hungary win
Lewis Hamilton stole victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix with four laps left after a strategy switch from his Mercedes Formula 1 team defeated long-time race leader Max Verstappen
Hamilton swapped to a two-stop strategy in a bid to use fresh tyres to mount a late attack on Red Bull driver Verstappen.
Verstappen held on until the start of lap 67 of 70, when Hamilton used DRS to attack on the outside into the first corner and Verstappen's "dead" tyres left him powerless in defence on the inside.
A switch to soft tyres for the final three laps allowed Verstappen to at least score a bonus point for fastest lap, as Ferrari's lead driver Sebastian Vettel completed the podium - more than a minute behind Hamilton.
Verstappen held onto the lead at the start as fellow front-row man Valtteri Bottas locked up attacking on the outside and he made light side-by-side contact with Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, who was further to the outside of the left-hander.
Bottas then had to defend from Hamilton into Turn 2 but locked up again, allowing Hamilton to cut back and sweep by around the outside into Turn 3 - compromising Bottas as they made slight contact and letting Charles Leclerc nip ahead in his Ferrari.
Leclerc also made contact with Bottas in the process and the Mercedes driver's front wing was broken by this touch, which proved too problematic to continue with beyond lap five, triggering an early pitstop and wrecking Bottas's race.
At the front, Verstapen quickly established a two-second advantage but Hamilton fought back and was almost inside DRS range when Verstappen - complaining about losing grip - pitted on lap 25.
Mercedes opted to extend Hamilton's stint six laps beyond Verstappen's, which dropped him 5.8s behind when he rejoined but Hamilton's pace on fresh tyres rapidly eliminated the gap.
He had DRS to attack Verstappen within five laps of rejoining, causing Verstappen to defend slightly into Turn 1 just as the race ticked past mid-distance.
Hamilton then took to the outside at Turn 2 but ran wide, slightly onto the run-off, which allowed Verstappen breathing space.
A much more aggressive Hamilton attack followed as they ran side-by-side into Turn 1 lapping Daniel Ricciardo, with Hamilton moving to the again outside for Turn 2.
Hamilton attempted to pass Verstappen on the outside of the fast Turn 4 left-hander but had to abort the move and take to the run-off.
Verstappen requested more engine power in his bid to keep Hamilton out of DRS range but Hamilton was also suffering with brake wear, meaning another attack was not forthcoming.
But Mercedes then rolled the dice by stopping Hamilton again on lap 48, a move Red Bull opted not to cover - giving Hamilton 20 laps to attack a 20-second gap to Verstappen on fresh tyres.
With six laps to go, and Hamilton just 5.5s behind, Verstappen reported his tyres were "dead", and two laps later Hamilton was within DRS range.
He breezed by on the outside into the first corner with superior grip and braking performance, and with Verstappen unable to finish the race on his wrecked rubber the Red Bull dived into the pits for his own fresh tyres and he went on to comfortably set the fastest lap.
Leclerc looked set to complete the podium after an anonymous race from Ferrari, which swiftly faded from the lead battle in the early stages and never looked like recovering. But
Vettel switched to "Plan C", which meant a long final stint on softs and a tall task to make up the time he lost to Leclerc by extending his first stint.
With just under three laps left, Vettel caught Leclerc and dived inside at Turn 1 with an aggressive move to wrest the final podium place.
Carlos Sainz Jr took advantage of Bottas's strife and a bad start for Pierre Gasly to steal fifth for McLaren, also jumping his team-mate Lando Norris on the opening lap.
Sainz ran in that position throughout the grand prix and then withstood pressure from Gasly in the other Red Bull to finish fifth for the second race in a row.
Norris could have completed a five-six result for McLaren but a problem with the left-rear meant a slow pitstop and that dropped him behind Gasly and the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen.
He was too far behind to catch or pressure Raikkonen, who matched his best result of the season with seventh.
Bottas's recovery was limited to eighth place, passing Norris late on, despite Mercedes at one point predicting he could make it back to sixth.
Toro Rosso driver Alex Albon caught and passed team-mate Daniil Kvyat and the Racing Point of Sergio Perez in the final third of the grand prix to complete the top 10 and bag another point.
Romain Grosjean was the race's only retirement.
The Haas driver ran inside the top 10 early on but slipped back after a long first stint did not pay off, and his car was wheeled into the garage with a water pressure problem with more than 20 laps remaining.
Race result
Pos | Driver | Car | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 70 | 1h35m03.796s |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda | 70 | 17.796s |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 70 | 1m01.433s |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 70 | 1m05.250s |
5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren/Renault | 69 | 1 Lap |
6 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull/Honda | 69 | 1 Lap |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 69 | 1 Lap |
8 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 69 | 1 Lap |
9 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Renault | 69 | 1 Lap |
10 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso/Honda | 69 | 1 Lap |
11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point/Mercedes | 69 | 1 Lap |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 69 | 1 Lap |
13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 69 | 1 Lap |
14 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 69 | 1 Lap |
15 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Honda | 68 | 2 Laps |
16 | George Russell | Williams/Mercedes | 68 | 2 Laps |
17 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point/Mercedes | 68 | 2 Laps |
18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 68 | 2 Laps |
19 | Robert Kubica | Williams/Mercedes | 67 | 3 Laps |
- | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 49 | Water leak |
Drivers' championship
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 250 |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 188 |
3 | Max Verstappen | 181 |
4 | Sebastian Vettel | 156 |
5 | Charles Leclerc | 132 |
6 | Pierre Gasly | 63 |
7 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | 58 |
8 | Kimi Raikkonen | 31 |
9 | Daniil Kvyat | 27 |
10 | Lando Norris | 24 |
11 | Daniel Ricciardo | 22 |
12 | Lance Stroll | 18 |
13 | Kevin Magnussen | 18 |
14 | Nico Hulkenberg | 17 |
15 | Alexander Albon | 16 |
16 | Sergio Perez | 13 |
17 | Romain Grosjean | 8 |
18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 1 |
19 | Robert Kubica | 1 |
20 | George Russell | 0 |
Constructors' championship
Pos | Constructor | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Mercedes | 438 |
2 | Ferrari | 288 |
3 | Red Bull/Honda | 244 |
4 | McLaren/Renault | 82 |
5 | Toro Rosso/Honda | 43 |
6 | Renault | 39 |
7 | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 32 |
8 | Racing Point/Mercedes | 31 |
9 | Haas/Ferrari | 26 |
10 | Williams/Mercedes | 1 |
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