Victorious Hamilton equals Schumacher

BUDAPEST:FORMULA One champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix for the eighth time to equal Michael Schumacher’s single-venue record and take the championship lead on Sunday.

Hamilton’s latest victory from pole position was as comfortable as the nearly nine-second margin over second-place Max Verstappen suggested. The British driver’s 86th GP win moved him just five behind the German great Schumacher’s F1 record of 91.

Schumacher won the French GP eight times when it was held at Magny-cours.

Hamilton first won here in 2007 and his first success with Mercedes also came at the Hungaroring track in 2013, the year after replacing Schumacher on the Silver Arrows team.

Verstappen drove superbly to hold off Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who finished less than one second behind him in third to relinquish the championship lead after three races.

Hamilton took a record-extending 90th career pole on Saturday to match Schumacher’s record for seven poles on the 4.4-km track nestled among rolling hills outside of Budapest.

He made a clean start but Bottas made a poor one from second and was overtaken by Lance Stroll starting third; the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, and Verstappen from seventh.

Red Bull only just managed to get Verstappen’s car on the grid for the start. About 20 minutes earlier, he damaged the front wing when going over a kerb and sliding into the barriers on a warm-up lap.