Hamilton cruises during eighth Hungarian victory
BUDAPEST, Hungary — 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 Sunday.
Hamilton’s latest victory from the 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.
“We’ve just been on point through the whole weekend,” Hamilton said, praising his team. “While I was on my own for the race it was a different kind of challenge.”
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 recordextending 90th career pole Saturday to match Schumacher’s record for seven poles on the 4.4kilometer (2.7-mile) track nestled among rolling hills outside of Budapest.
Afterward, Hamilton demanded more support from Formula One’s governing body and urged other drivers to make more of an effort in the fight against racism, after some drivers took a knee and others again did not in disorganized scenes before the race.
“There definitely is not enough support for it. From a driver’s point of view, well many people seem to be of the opinion they’ve done it (taken a knee) once and (are) not going to do it again. I don’t know their reasons for that opinion,” said Hamilton, F1’s only Black driver.