Verstappen rebuffs Bottas as Hamilton runs clear
As Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas annexed the front row of the Hungarian GP grid under balmy skies in qualifying at the Hungaroring, followed by the controversial Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez, all the auguries suggested the race would furnish the first Mercedes-powered 1-2-3-4 since Brazil in 2014. As it happened, a passing belt of rain shortly before the grid assembled put paid to any predictions – apart, perhaps, from the sheer dominance of an on-form Hamilton.
Just 0.107s separated the two Mercedes drivers in qualifying as Hamilton went fastest in his first Q3 run, then faster still to thwart an improvement by Bottas on his second. Behind, a chasm yawned – nearly a second to the Racing Points, which in turn had over two tenths in hand over the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull only seventh. This was Ferrari’s best qualifying of the year so far as the Red Bulls were beset by balance problems in slow corners. Max then made what had been a tricky weekend worse by crashing on his way to the grid, requiring a new front wing and left-front pushrod.
Come the start, though, it was Verstappen who surged forward as many of the field made heavy weather of hooking up Pirelli’s intermediate rubber on a slippery track. Hamilton got away well enough into a lead he would only surrender in the pits, while Bottas dropped to seventh, a legacy of pre-empting the start and then stamping on the brakes, triggering the car’s anti-stall. He would later say he had been distracted by a flashing light on his steering wheel.
As Pérez also lost ground to wheelspin it was Stroll who ran second to Hamilton, followed by Verstappen, Vettel and Leclerc, but it was clear the track was drying. Both Haas cars had pitted from the tail of the grid for medium slicks at the end of the formation lap.
Leclerc and Bottas were the first of the leading group to pit on lap two, followed by the majority of the others the next time around, while Red Bull left Verstappen circulating until lap four. This enabled Max to leapfrog Stroll for second and, crucially, emerge from the pits ahead of the two Haas drivers which then became a roadblock for the chasing pack.
Bottas had to fight his way past the Ferraris and both Haas cars, then undercut Stroll after pitting for new medium tyres on lap 33, before trying to close the large gap to Verstappen. Having cruised to within striking distance, Bottas stopped again on lap 49.
Despite the advantage of fresher rubber, which enabled Valtteri to set the fastest lap in his helterskelter pursuit of Verstappen, Bottas couldn’t get close enough to make a pass during the final laps. Hamilton, meanwhile, stretched so far ahead that he was able to claim a ‘free’ pitstop for soft-compound tyres and deny Bottas the extra point for fastest lap.