Formula 1 Racing

Verstappen spins and wins from 10th on grid as Ferrari pair finish off the podium · RaceFans

Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Hungaroring, 2022

Max Verstappen recovered from 10th on the grid to win the Hungarian Grand Prix despite a mid-race spin as Ferrari failed to finish on the podium.

Verstappen successfully undercut Carlos Sainz Jnr and George Russell on his final pit stop, before passing Charles Leclerc twice on-track to take the lead of the race. Lewis Hamilton passed Russell late in the race to take second, with Russell completing another double podium for Mercedes.

Sainz finished fourth, while Leclerc fell to sixth place after pitting for soft tyres inside the final 20 laps.

After earlier rain had left the circuit wet, the track was dry as the field prepared for the formation lap. However, it began to spit lightly with rain over the grid in the minutes before the green lights, only inflating the tension prior to the start.

Russell opted to start on the soft tyres, while the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc chose the medium tyres for the first stint. When the lights went out, Russell kept ahead of Sainz but the Ferrari made a look for the lead around the outside of turn one. However, Russell held firm to retain the lead.

In the pack, Sebastian Vettel and Alex Albon made contact through turn two, causing damage to the Williams’ front wing and leaving debris on the circuit. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to allow the debris to be cleared, while Albon was shown the black-and-orange mechanical flag, obliging him to pit for repairs and dropping him to the very back.

The green flag was shown shortly after, with Russell safely out of DRS range of the Ferraris behind. Further back, Kevin Magnussen was called into the pits having also received a black-and-orange flag for front wing endplate damage which was sustained through contact with Daniel Ricciardo at the start.

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Having started from 10th and 11th on the grid, the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez began to make progress through the field on their soft tyres, passing both Alpines of Estaban Ocon and Fernando Alonso to move into sixth and seventh.

On lap 12, Hamilton used DRS along the pit straight to take fourth place off Lando Norris into turn one, with Verstappen quickly following the Mercedes by the McLaren and into fifth. The next lap, Norris lost a third spot when he was passed by Perez on the approach to turn one.

With Norris losing pace, McLaren opted to pit him for medium tyres at the end of lap 14. Out front, Russell was beginning to struggle with rear tyre wear and slowly fell…

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