Lewis dominates in Hungary and teamwork pays off for Red Bull: BIC analysis of the Hungarian Grand Prix

Mercedes sponsors could be forgiven for being a little put out after yet another dominant display from Hamilton, with F1’s TV director paying little attention to the number 44 as it sailed into the distance from pole to clinch a commanding victory. For the second race in a row, Hamilton dominated from pole to clinch his 86th victory, just five short of overtaking the great Michael Schumacher in F1’s all-time winners list.

There was plenty of drama before the race even started, with rain in the build up to the race meaning that most of the cars started on intermediate tyres, with few willing to take a gamble on the slicks with a damp, but swiftly drying track. It was all too much for the flying Dutchman, Max Verstappen, who managed to put his Red Bull into a tyre wall before the race even started. He did manage to coax his car onto the starting grid, where his mechanics frantically sought to repair his front suspension in just 15 minutes before lights out. Normally that would be two weeks on Tuesday at your local garage. A hugely impressive effort from his team was rewarded with a second place podium, with Verstappen showing why many see him as a future world champion. Following the race, Verstappen said it felt like a win for the team given the circumstances, and you can easily understand why.

With four Mercedes-powered cars taking up the top four slots on the grid, many felt it would be a procession from the start. However, Bottas’ bungled start meant that he spent most of the race making up time through slower runners on a track which is notoriously difficult to overtake on. He eventually took the final podium spot in third.

Similar to the Styrian Grand Prix, it was the midfield which provided much of the focus throughout the race. The two Racing points yet again showed their pace, although Perez suffered from a slow start, ultimately finishing seventh, when really he would have expected to be in the top five. His teammate Stroll managed an impressive fourth. Yet again the Ferrari’s struggled and in what the Tifosi will have seen as a symbolic moment, Hamilton managed to lap both Leclerc and Vettel. This will have only added to the pressure on a team which is simply not used to having to accept a place in the midfield scrap for points.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Haas gathered their first points of the season after some early clever tyre choices, Ricciardo was eighth and Carlos Saintz scraped a point for McLaren

Such was Hamilton’s dominance in this race, that he even managed a ‘free’ pit stop with a handful of laps to go at the end, with a new set of tyres enabling him to set the fastest lap of the race earning him a bonus point in the championship. Whilst some might say that such dominance does not make for an exciting season, sometimes you just have to sit back and admire greatness. Hamilton will surely overtake the great Michael Schumacher to become the most successful driver in F1’s history by the end of the season.  F1 is celebrating 70 years of its World Championship and we should count ourselves incredibly fortunate to be living in an era of the sport where such brilliance is being delivered week in, week out.

After three back-to-back races, F1 takes a well-earned week off before a trip to Silverstone for another double header. Again, F1 should be congratulated for being able to showcase the sport to fans across the world in such a responsible manner. Its meticulous planning and execution of racing in this biosecure ‘bubble’ is occasionally an unusual spectacle, but it doesn’t take anything away for the millions of fans watching the sport around the world.