From Formula1.com
Verstappen dominates Hungarian GP to give Red Bull a record 12th successive win
Max Verstappen stormed to victory over Lando Norris and Sergio Perez with another commanding performance in the Hungarian Grand Prix, giving the reigning double world champion his seventh straight triumph and the Red Bull their 12th in a row – beating McLaren’s long-standing record.
Verstappen passed pole-sitting Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton at the start before settling into the lead and pulling clear of the chasing pack with aplomb, chalking up a lights-to-flag win that puts further distance between himself and team mate Perez in the drivers’ standings.
It means Red Bull continue their 100% winning run for the 2023 season, while setting a new outright milestone in terms of successive race wins, with their staggering tally now one clear of the 11 McLaren achieved with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost during the 1988 campaign.
Verstappen took the chequered flag comfortably clear of Norris, who dropped behind fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri early on but regained the place at the first round of pit stops, while Perez – one of only two drivers, along with George Russell, to go long in the first stint on hard tyres – rose from ninth to third with another strong recovery drive.
Hamilton’s hopes of turning his 104th pole into a 104th win were dashed at the start when he lost out to Verstappen, Piastri and Norris in quick succession, before that was compounded when he fell victim to Perez’s alternate strategy, but the seven-time champion at least salvaged fourth via a late move on the Australian rookie Piastri.
Charles Leclerc crossed the line in sixth position but dropped behind the other Mercedes of Russell – who battled his way from 18th – after the chequered flag when a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane was applied, with Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz coming home eighth.
Aston Martin ended an anonymous race weekend with a minor double points finish, Fernando Alonso the last driver to stay on the same lap as winner Verstappen in ninth and team mate Stroll finishing one tour down in 10th to round out the points.
Fresh from their recent points-scoring exploits, Alex Albon and Williams had to settle for 11th this time out, followed by the lead Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas in 12th after the Hinwil team’s high-flying qualifying display turned sour on race day through incidents and a general lack of pace.
Indeed, Zhou Guanyu’s fifth-place starting position became a lowly 16th on race day after he tried to make up for a slow getaway and ran into F1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo at the start, triggering a four-car collision that led to both Alpine drivers retiring from proceedings once again.
Ricciardo recovered to take 13th in his first race back since the 2022 season finale in Abu Dhabi, ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, AlphaTauri team mate Yuki Tsunoda, the aforementioned Zhou and final finisher Kevin Magnussen.
Williams rookie Logan Sargeant pulled into the pits after a late spin, with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly doing the same in the early stages due to the significant damage their cars picked up in the chaos sparked by Zhou.
With the penultimate round before the summer break completed, Verstappen now holds a 110-point lead over Perez in the 2023 title race, having also claimed the bonus point on offer for posting the fastest tour of the 70-lap encounter.
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Photo's: Formula 1 | Oracle Red Bull Racing | Max Verstappen
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