Verstappen cruises to Hungarian GP victory ahead of Norris

Max Verstappen has taken victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, dominating the race from start to finish.

With his unchallenged victory, Red Bull has set a new record for the most consecutive race wins in F1 history at 12, which stretches back to last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Verstappen started the race from second place on the grid with 2021 title rival Lewis Hamilton ahead of him on pole position.

READ MORE: F1 2023 Hungarian GP – Race Results

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Much noise was made in the build-up to the race about the run into the first corner – however both kept it clean.

Verstappen got the better launch off the line and moved ahead of Hamilton into Turn 1, who soon found himself in fourth place as the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris moved ahead.

Piastri snuck up the inside of Hamilton at Turn 1 while Norris managed to find his way past the Mercedes driver at the following corner, demoting the pole-sitter off the podium.

Further back, both Alpine drivers were sent into retirement when they were victims of a mistake for Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu. Zhou, one of the stars of qualifying as he finished in P5, stalled momentarily on the line.

As he got up to speed, he locked up on the run into the first corner and tipped into Daniel Ricciardo, who in turn was forced into Esteban Ocon. Ocon then collided with team-mate Gasly and both suffered terminal damage.

In the battle for the podium, Hamilton became the first driver to pit on lap 17, swapping his Medium tyres for a set of Hards. 

On the following lap, Norris followed his compatriot into the pits to cover off a potential undercut, and easily cleared Hamilton when he re-joined the circuit.

However, he also found himself in front of Piastri when the rookie made a pit stop on the following lap, while both had a sizeable lead over Hamilton, who questioned over team radio how he had lost so much time.

Up front, Verstappen was cruising and made his first pit stop on lap 23, and was followed in by team-mate Sergio Perez a couple of laps later.

Perez’s recovery race began to take shape as he emerged on a set of Mediums, having started on the Hards, while his rivals around him were equipped with harder tyres. In the first handful of laps following his pit stop, he moved in front of Carlos Sainz and George Russell for fifth place.

Drivers then settled into a rhythm as the second pit stop phase played out, with Perez still catching those occupying the podium. The Mexican soon found himself behind Piastri, who was hopeful of securing his maiden podium in F1.

However, Perez moved ahead of Piastri at Turn 1 on lap 47, and try as he might to get back ahead at the following corner, Perez held onto the position when Piastri was squeezed onto the grass.

10 laps later, Piastri found himself looking in his mirrors once again as Hamilton closed in. The seven-time World Champion successfully moved ahead to take fourth on the road.

In the final laps of the grand prix, Perez closed in on Norris for second place – at one point, it appeared that he would be on his tail by the end of the race. However, Norris managed to hang on to secure McLaren’s first back-to-back podium since 2012.

Perez was third, but came under pressure from Hamilton behind in the late stages, who unleashed rapid pace from the W14 in the final laps. Piastri crossed the line in fifth.

George Russell made a late charge and ended the grand prix in sixth place, making a late overtake on Carlos Sainz and benefitting from a time penalty for Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc classified in seventh ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz, while the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll crossed the line at the bottom of the top 10 to take the final points on offer.