Max Verstappen overtakes Lewis Hamilton on opening lap before claiming seventh consecutive win and giving Red Bull record 12th win in a row; Lando Norris second for McLaren as Sergio Perez completes podium after starting ninth; Hamilton fourth but lost three positions on opening lap
Sunday 23 July 2023 17:29, UK
Max Verstappen delivered Red Bull an F1 record 12th consecutive Grand Prix win as he cruised to victory at the Hungarian GP after passing Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap.
Verstappen got an excellent start from P2 on the grid to draw alongside the pole-sitting Hamilton and claim the lead going into Turn One.
The championship leader was never threatened after that as he cruised home by 33 seconds for a seventh consecutive win which also meant Red Bull became the first team to win a dozen races in row.
Lando Norris claimed another second place for McLaren, while Sergio Perez pulled off a number of aggressive overtakes in the other Red Bull to finish third after starting ninth.
Perez had to hold off a charging Hamilton in the closing stages as the Mercedes finally came alive again on lower fuel, but the seven-time world champion had to settle for fourth on a difficult afternoon where he lost three positions on the opening lap.
Oscar Piastri was fifth, with his and Norris' results helping McLaren strengthen their grip on P5 in the Constructors' Championship after Alpine suffered another double DNF after Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon collided as a result of some first-corner pinball on the opening lap.
George Russell made an excellent recovery from 18th on the grid to finish sixth, promoted a position after Charles Leclerc dropped a place to seventh due to a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Carlos Sainz was unable to progress after a brilliant start had lifted him from P11 to P6 and finished eighth in the second Ferrari, ahead of the two Aston Martins as Fernando Alonso led home Lance Stroll.
Daniel Ricciardo recovered from opening lap contact to finish 13th in his first race for AlphaTauri, two places ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Hungarian GP result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
4) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
6) George Russell, Mercedes
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
8) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
9) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
10) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
Verstappen and Hamilton were lining up on the front row together for the first time since their 2021 title decider in Abu Dhabi, and as in that race it was the driver starting from P2 who got the better start.
Despite being on the dirty side of the grid, Verstappen was immediately able to get alongside Hamilton and then overtake his former title rival at Turn One while narrowly avoiding contact.
With Hamilton pushed slightly wide, the equally fast starting Piastri from P4 was able to also get ahead of the Mercedes driver before the second McLaren of Norris overtook the pole sitter on the opening lap as well.
But neither McLaren could put any pressure on Verstappen who was twice able to pit as he retained his lead and claimed another victory and fastest lap to extend his championship lead to 110 points.
The victory saw Red Bull move ahead of McLaren's 1988 record of 11 consecutive wins, set by Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
"For the team 12 wins in a row is just incredible," Verstappen said.
"What we've been going through the last two years is unbelievable and hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time."
Verstappen joins Sebastian Vettel, Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg as the only drivers to claim seven consecutive wins.
Instead of challenging the leader, the McLarens would instead have their attentions on Perez in the other Red Bull.
The Mexican produced a very strong recovery drive as he charged through the field from ninth on the grid through a mixture of overtakes and strategy.
Alonso was passed in the opening laps before Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle said Perez was "getting his elbows out" as he first overtook Sainz for P6 on lap 27 and then duelled with Russell a lap later to claim P5.
The undercut enabled Perez to get ahead of Hamilton and a 1.9s pit stop by Red Bull put him right on the back of Piastri's McLaren as they pitted at the same time, before hard racing between the pair saw Perez overtake the Australian at Turn One and the McLaren edging onto the grass as he fought back at Turn Two.
Perez started to become a threat for Norris, but in the closing laps it would be Hamilton who the Mexican had to focus on, but he was able to hold onto third place by 1.5s.
Hamilton's hopes of turning his 104th pole position into a 104th win and ending a victory drought which dates back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP were over by the first corner, and he cut a largely exasperated figure after that.
The 38-year-old was frequently on the radio after his first pit stop questioning how the McLaren cars had built up a sizeable advantage, but eventually pace came to his W14 in the closing laps as the fuel burnt off.
With 14 laps remaining he was able to reclaim fourth place from Piastri and began to reel in Perez as another podium finish became a possibility before running out of laps to set up an overtake opportunity.
"I had a bit of wheelspin, and then obviously Max was on the inside and he ran me wide, and I got done by the two McLarens," Hamilton said.
"Then after that I just didn't have the pace to keep up with the guys. The balance of the car was pretty awful on that first stint.
"But I'm going to take the positives from yesterday. It was an amazing effort from the team to get to where we were and to beat everybody in qualifying was really spectacular for us."
Team-mate Russell meanwhile delivered a fine recovery drive in the other Mercedes.
Russell was able to make the most of the Turn One chaos - which saw the slow-starting Zhou Guanyu, in fifth, knock Ricciardo into the two Alpines - to move up to 13th from 18th on the opening lap.
And a late pass on Sainz opened the opportunity to close up to Leclerc and take advantage of the Ferrari driver's penalty.
Russell told Sky Sports F1: "P6 was beyond expectations. The strategists were quoting P11 before the race and P7 if we maximised everything.
"Here we are in P6 ahead of both Ferraris, who started 12 positions ahead of us."
Leclerc's demotion was another frustration for the Monegasque who had a terrible first pit stop - being stationary for nearly 10 seconds - before questioning why Ferrari would not let him overtake team-mate Sainz and then braking too late on his entry to the pit lane, earning himself the five-second penalty.
Next up is the Belgian GP, the final race before F1's summer break - watch all sessions of the Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from July 28-30. Stream the Belgian GP and more with NOW for £21 a month.
