Red Bull breaks new records as Verstappen dominates in Budapest

Red Bull breaks new records as Verstappen dominates in Budapest: Analysis of the Hungarian Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit

There was much anticipation ahead of this weekend’s race in Hungary, not least if you were a Daniel Ricciardo fan. Having lost his seat at McLaren last year, the smiley Australian had never really lost popularity and was regularly seen at races in his role as the Red Bull reserve driver. So, there was delight amongst his fans with the announcement just after the British Grand Prix that he would replace Nyck de Vries with immediate effect at AlphaTauri. It’s fairly unusual to replace a driver mid-season, but Red Bull are known for their no-nonsense approach, so perhaps the decision to replace a driver in their junior team wasn’t much of a surprise. Either way, it was a big talking point ahead of the weekend.

Another major focus was whether McLaren could repeat their success of Silverstone, following an upgrade package which even the most optimistic fan could not have dreamed of. The team were playing down their chances, given that slower speed corners, which characterize the Hungaroring, are less suited to the McLaren. Mercedes were also in the spotlight, given a home podium for Hamilton last time out.

If qualifying was anything to go by, both Mercedes and McLaren had the potential to cause an upset. It would be fair to say that there have been few surprises when it has come to race winners and pole positions over the last few races, with the excitement for fans tending to come from the battles behind the reigning world champion. Saturday, however, did provide something of a shock as Lewis Hamilton put in a storming lap to take his first pole position since 2021. He took pole by just 0.003 seconds from Verstappen, his 104th in his career. He was so delighted with his performance that he said that it felt like his first. The pair of McLaren’s were not far behind, with Norris 0.08 seconds further back and Piastri just behind in fourth. It was also a positive start for Ricciardo, who outqualified his teammate in 13th, their highest start since Monaco.

Unfortunately, it was a poor start for Hamilton as the race got underway, as Verstappen overtook him into the first corner as did both McLarens. With tyre degradation high, it was an obvious two stop strategy, which most teams stuck to and the timing – as ever- would be crucial to protect track position on a circuit where overtaking is not straightforward.

The top five largely retained their positions for the first two stints, although Norris did manage to jump his teammate with a slightly earlier first stop. Meanwhile further back, Perez, who had started ninth, put in some great work through the field and by lap 40 was close to the top 4, just behind Hamilton and the two Mclarens with Verstappen dominating up front.

The final round of pit stops took place on lap 43, with Perez and Piastri the first of the top five to do so. By the time all the leaders had stopped on lap 51, it was Verstappen well in front, with Norris, followed by a charging Perez, then Piastri, with Hamilton just behind. Hamilton managed to jump Piastri on lap 57, but couldn’t quite get to Perez who was slowing towards the end of the race.