The Hamilton-Verstappen duel we’ve all been waiting for.
Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team produced a tale of redemption, after their messy weekend in Germany, to take a dramatic late victory at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen had continued his excellent recent form to pip both Mercedes drivers – Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas – for his first ever pole position on Saturday. He then just about survived with the lead intact to the first corner, despite running three-wide with Hamilton and Bottas, and from there it looked his race to lose on a track where it is notoriously difficult to overtake.
Behind him, the two Mercedes battled through the first few corners. Bottas did so clumsily though, locking up twice and then clipping his front wing first against the rear tyre of his teammate and then that of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Both escaped without punctures but Bottas’s wing was damaged to the extent that he was forced to pit for a replacement and would emerge in last place, with a long race ahead of him.
The top two of Verstappen and Hamilton steadily pulled away from the Ferrari pair; it becoming apparent fairly quickly that this was to be a two-horse race. At first there was something of stalemate but as Verstappen’s tyres began to fade, Hamilton closed up to the back of the Dutchman and forced Red Bull to pit him early on lap 25, as they feared a pit stop by Mercedes would produce an ‘under-cut’ and give Hamilton the lead. Mercedes stretched the championship-leader’s first stint as far as they could – for another six laps – with the hope of fresher tyres at the end of the race. Hamilton rejoined and immediately closed the gap; a six-second lead gone in just over three laps.
Thus ensued the duel that Formula 1 fans have been craving for a long time. Of course, the two drivers have battled for position on track before, but it has rarely been in closely-matched cars and, generally, Hamilton has been very cautious – looking at the bigger picture of his own title fights and knowing Verstappen’s tendency to take no prisoners. But here, it was different. Hamilton has a far more comfortable lead in the championship and, at this point, his closest competitor is arguably Verstappen. So he went for it. Specifically around the outside of the deceptively tight Turn Four, at 150 mph over a blind crest. He nearly pulled it off too but for a snap of oversteer which sent him wide into the run-off area.
The first four corners of that lap were captivating, with excellent attacking and defensive driving from the two. But now, it was the turn of the Mercedes strategy team to excel.
With no threat to their second place coming from behind, they decided to roll the dice and pit Hamilton for a set of medium tyres, hoping he could claw back the 20-second gap in the remaining 22 laps as Verstappen’s tyres aged. For a while, it looked overly ambitious, with the gap still at over 15 seconds seven laps later, but then Hamilton turned it on and Verstappen’s tyres faded badly; the gap suddenly decreasing by more than 1.5 seconds per lap. By the time Hamilton had reached the back of the Red Bull, there was little Verstappen could do to defend. There was to be no repeat of the dramatics from earlier and Hamilton neatly swept around the outside of Turn One with a little under four laps remaining and claimed his eighth victory of 2019.
A totally different race to the chaos in Germany but certainly still an enthralling one – plenty of action, interesting strategies and nail-biting tension at the front. Formula 1 enters its summer break on a high.
Ferrari Finish Third But Now Have the Third Quickest Car
Ferrari were always likely to struggle in Budapest but will be disappointed to have finished a full minute behind the leader. This was a track that in recent years has very much suited their car, with its downforce and speed through slow corners, but this year’s machine has almost the exact opposite traits. They now have a significant straight-line advantage but are somewhat hopeless in slow to mid-speed corners. And whilst Red Bull have made impressive progress in reducing the gap to Mercedes, Ferrari have faltered.
They were left to their own private race for the final step on the podium and it was Sebastian Vettel who used a similar strategy to Hamilton’s to catch and pass his younger teammate a couple of laps from the end. An impressive 39-lap stint on the medium tyres left the German able to switch to the softs for the remainder of the race and reel in Leclerc on similarly fading tyres to Verstappen’s at the front.
It was continuation of Vettel’s recent upturn in form and/or luck but he will be fully aware that there is a long way to go for the team. They found themselves with clearly the third quickest car this weekend. That is something that will provide some embarrassment at Maranello – this was supposed to be their year, remember? And Red Bull were supposed to be in a rebuilding phase as they acclimatised to a Honda engine.
At least the races after the summer break will present an opportunity for the Scuderia, with Spa and Monza both heavily reliant on straight-line speed. And oh how the Tifosi could do with a victory at home right now…
Pressure Mounts on Bottas and Gasly
With ‘silly season’ in full swing and lots of rumours swirling regarding their seats, both Bottas and Pierre Gasly could have done with a solid race heading into the summer break. But neither managed one.
Toto Wolff has now openly admitted that it is a straight choice between Bottas and Esteban Ocon – the Mercedes reserve driver, waiting in the wings after missing out on a seat this year – and that the Mercedes management will be using the summer to weigh up their options. But the Finn made a less-than-compelling case in Hungary. Fortunate not to wreck both Mercedes cars’ races with that early contact, he certainly damaged his own and then did a somewhat average job of working his way through the field, eventually being held behind Kimi Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo for an underwhelming eighth place finish.
His mental state after that mistake in Germany was dicussed; did that play a part in his sloppy performance on Sunday? Either way, that would appear to be his championship hopes all but over. Potentially his Mercedes career too.
Meanwhile, at Red Bull, Gasly is a driver under even more pressure. He has been given more time than probably any other driver in Red Bull’s history when performing so badly but now, after once again being lapped by his teammate and failing to pass a McLaren, is that time up?
Helmut Marko had announced very recently that Gasly would stay on for the remainder of the season but there was a pointed shift in the comments made by both himself and team principal Christian Horner after this race. Horner stating that “we shouldn’t be racing Saubers [sic] and McLarens”. The issue being that Gasly’s lack of performance noticeably cost them this weekend – a driver closer to Verstappen’s level should have been within 20 seconds of Hamilton and would then have prevented the strategy that won Mercedes the race.
With Red Bull now legitimately challenging Ferrari for second in the Constructors’ Championship, every point counts. And Gasly is not providing many unfortunately.
Sainz and McLaren Continue to Impress
Speaking of the McLarens, the fact is that they are racing with Gasly…and winning. Once again, they punched above their weight, running comfortably in fifth and sixth until Lando Norris was again unlucky with a slow pit stop, on a track that they thought might cause them problems. Norris recovered well through the field to earn a couple of points at least in ninth, whilst Carlos Sainz finished fifth for the second successive race and is now only five points behind Gasly in the standings.
McLaren have thoroughly embarrassed Renault – comfortably outperforming them with their own engine and doing so in a season where the French team were aiming to close the gap to the top three. And, after struggling with the Renault car somewhat last year, Sainz is really showing his quality and consistency in 2019. It’s worth remembering that he generally matched Verstappen in their year together at Toro Rosso.
A word also for Williams, who seem to have had something of a breakthrough with their understanding of their car, and particularly George Russell. The young Briton narrowly missed out on claiming a spot in Q2 – a feat which would have seemed unthinkable prior to the weekend – and then finished ahead of Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi on legitimate pace on Sunday. In doing so, he is ensuring that his name is at least mentioned in regards to that Mercedes seat, even if Toto Wolff – probably correctly – thinks it is a little early for him.
The Hungarian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Surely the upward curve of increasingly dramatic races can’t continue?! Well, the curve maybe didn’t continue upwards but I wouldn’t say it went particularly downwards either.
Can Bottas mentally recover from his costly crash in Germany? A good performance on Saturday but come Sunday, it would appear maybe not.
Will his performance last race prove to be a turning point for Vettel? Quite possibly. Time will tell but it was another better weekend for him.
Can Verstappen continue his good form and head into the summer break as an outsider for the title? He certainly continued his good form. The title looks maybe a taller order than it did prior to Sunday but he’s an outside bet nonetheless.
Will we get the Pierre Gasly from Silverstone or Hockenheim? Turns out it was specifically the Gasly from Austria – getting stuck behind a McLaren and lapped by Verstappen.
