Here’s the snap report on today’s race.
World Championship Standings after Hungarian Grand Prix
Drivers: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 63pts
2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 58
3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 33
4 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 26
5 Alexander Albon (Tha) Red Bull 22
6 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 22
7 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 18
8 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 18
9 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 14
10 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 9
11 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 8
12 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 6
13 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Renault 4
14 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 2
15 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 2
16 Daniil Kyvat (Rus) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1
17 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 0
18 Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 0
19 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 0
20 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 0
Manufacturers: 1 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team 121pts
2 Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 55
3 McLarenF1 Team 40
4 BWT Racing Point F1 Team 40
5 Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 27
6 Renault DP World F1 Team 12
7 Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 7
8 Haas F1 F1 Team 2
9 Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 2
10 Williams Racing 0
Updated
Here’s the race positions.
🏁 TOP 10 - END OF RACE 🏁
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
1 HAM 📸
2 VER
3 BOT
4 STR
5 ALB
6 VET
7 PER
8 RIC
9 MAG
10 SAI#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kM8mLw0Kxc
CLASSIFICATION ⏱️
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
Back-to-back wins for @LewisHamilton - and he takes top spot in the driver standings after Round 3 🏆#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/25A5hfLDZI
Updated
A woebegone Valtteri Bottas speaks.
It was a bad race for me. Starting second but I lost it at the start. It was a light in my dash. I had to do the start again..it lost me places. It was pretty close with Max but it was still good points.
A most relieved Max Verstappen speaks
It was not how I wanted it. The mechanics did an amazing job to fix the care. To pay them back with second place was very crucial. To split the two Mercedes cars was good for us. It was good, it handled like new. It was working like normal. I could see he [Bottas] was catching I thought I was not gong to race so to to be second feels like a victory.
Lewis Hamilton speaks
Huge congratulations to everyone back home. Even more in the engine department. Honestly, it was one of my favourite races to race, even though I was out on my own. We had great pace. We had great pit stops, great strategy. Right at the end it was great to get on fresh tyres. We need to try and keep this up.
Updated
My learned colleague reminds me that Sainz and Leclerc will have to use the same Ferrari car next season. “For pandemic cost-saving reasons, next year’s cars will all be the same. So Ferrari drivers can’t really think in terms of a faster car for next season, only improvements to this car.”
Because of the coronavirus outbreak the design of the cars has been frozen for next season to keep costs down. The SF1000 is the car they take into 2021; almost two years of racing are at stake.
Updated
Hamilton takes the plaudits in front of the empty stands and gives his teammates the elbow greeting.
W I N N E R !@LewisHamilton makes it back-to-back wins 🏆🏆
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
Max Verstappen comes home in second with Valtteri Bottas taking the final podium spot 👏
#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/KzKkX1zxnn
Max Verstappen is very happy. “You guys are legends,” he tells his Red Bull team. When he stacked his car in the preliminaries he looked done for the day but their speedy work saved the day.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Hungarian GP for the eighth time!
He takes the lead in the championship, with Verstappen in second and Bottas in third. “Fantastic effort this weekend, guys,” he says but it seemed effortless for him.
s
Updated
70/70 DRS engaged for Bottas as he tries to take Verstappen but he can’t get close enough. The Red Bull will split the Mercedes pair and give Hamilton a clear lead in the championship.
69/70 Hamilton flying but he has traffic to contend with but, yes, he has his fastest lap! Mission accomplished. Bottas is fighting hard but Verstappen is determined to hold him off.
68/70 Bottas can see Verstappen. It’s going to be close over the final three laps between these two.
67/70 Albon overtakes Vettel and is in fifth. Bottas sets a fastest lap. He is within three seconds of Vertsappen. Will Hamilton get the run at the fastest lap?
66/70 Will Bottas get past Verstappen? That looks unlikely, lessening the need for Hamilton to gain a fastest lap. But hang on, there’s five seconds. Here comes Hamilton into the pits. It wasn’t he quickest but he comes out in front.
65/70 Bottas still has the fastest lap. Hamilton will not have long to try and take it off him. “The balance is all over the place,” says an audibly distressed Leclerc.
64/70 Hamilton’s gap up to almost 25 seconds. And he is closing on Lance Stroll. He will get his wish and use the soft tyres, then no, the hard? He was supposed to come in for a pit. “What is going on, he says?” “I don’t know, says the pit,” before giving him extra time to come in.
62/70 Sainz overtakes Leclerc at last. “I am really struggling,” says Leclerc. It’s been a hard afternoon for the junior Ferrari partner.
61/70 Hamilton is asked to come in. There is some discussion over tyres. Eventually, he deigns to what the garage ask him to do. Hard tyres v soft? Bottas set the fastest lap on hard.
Updated
60/70 Sainz and Leclerc battle for tenth but the young Spaniard is held off. They will both hope for a better Ferrari car next season.
59/70 Bottas is closing a little on Verstappen who got stuck in traffic. Are Mercedes getting ready for a pit for Hamilton? Not as yet.
58/70 Bottas still has that fastest lap. But he is 10/11 seconds short of Verstappen. Hamilton has a pit stop in hand.
57/70 Hamilton has lapped much of the field, and his next target is Vettel in fifth. Don’t doubt that this is dominant.
Updated
56/70 The front three less of procession than it looked. It may depend on the state of Verstappen’s car. Mercedes have been made to think.
55/70 Hamilton told over the radio to step it up so he can have a new set of tyres, and perhaps he can set a fastest lap with them too, and thus take the championship lead.
54/70 Hamilton may have one pit left, but may not need it. “The tyres don’t feel great,” he says. The pit will be a risk with Verstappen 22 seconds behind. Touch and go.
53/70 It has been busy in the pit lanes. Stroll pits and comes out ahead of Vettel to hold fourth.
FASTEST PIT STOPS 🧑🔧⏱️
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
The pit crews have been mega busy so far
And Williams and Red Bull have been 🔥#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/bHnATJfP7U
52/70 Sainz closes on Leclerc. These two will be teammates next season so some pride to play for. Bottas sets a fastest lap again.
51/70 The battle for tenth is an underpowered Sainz trying to take on Leclerc, who is struggling and has had an unhappy race with the decisions made on rubberwear.
50/70 Bottas pits, puts on a compound tyre. Bottas has a pit on both Verstappen and Stroll and 20 laps to get into second.
49/70 Still questions being asked about Albon’s dry start. There is talk of disqualification. That will have to wait for after the race, and perhaps later in the evening.
48/70 Bottas right on Verstappen’s tail but then dropped back a bit. Magnussen is now having to hold off Leclerc.
47/70 Verstappen getting a bit panicked over how close Bottas is getting to him. The complaint, as it was with Albon, is that the Red Bull doesn’t have enough power.
46/70 Should Bottas get up to second and land the fastest lap, then he and Hamilton will be joint-leaders heading to Silverstone. Bottas is currently the man in possession of the fastest lap.
Updated
45/70 Ricciardo pits and drops back but immediately overtakes Leclerc. Vettel is up to fifth with Albon behind him.
43/70: Red Bull in lumber? Were they drying the tarmac under Alex Albon’s car at the start. This is against the rules. They have to report to the stewards post-race.
Updated
42/70 Rain in nine laps is the latest word. Latifi, in the Williams, has dropped off the track and into the bunker. He comes out gingerly. He span into the sand. He’s last in the race.
41/70: Bottas took a second from Verstappen. Hamilton is told to go easy on his front left by the pits. He’s got 19 seconds on Verstappen. Sainz pits and is in 11th.
40/70 Magnussen, once in third, has dropped into tenth. Still, it was fun while it lasted.
39/70 Bottas is screaming into Verstappen. A Mercedes 1-2 looks an inevitability.
38/70 Hamilton pits and goes on the medium compound. No dramas for the leader. He’s got 20 seconds on Verstappen after both have pitted.
37/70 Verstappen is pitting as Bottas is flying up on his tail. Verstappen keeps second. Bottas has just set a fastest lap.
Updated
36/70 Albon pits to go on hard tyres. Red Bull don’t believe in the rain. Leclerc is up to 11th. Albon and Vettel will now fight it out for 9th.
35/70 Hamilton is 19 seconds clear. Too easy. Verstappen has been told there is not going to be rain. Hamilton is saying he can see rain.
34/70 Ricciardo makes his way past Grosjean to take eighth. Bottas pits and drops into fourth. It’s hard tyres he’s chosen. Looks like the hard tyres are the order of the day.
33/70 Vettel’s hard tyres give him extra pace and he gets a fastest lap. Leclerc takes Norris at last. Ferrari on the rise but have Everest to climb.
32/70 At the back of the grid, Norris refuses to be bullied by Leclerc and holds off the Monegasque with a show of strength.
Updated
31/70 Vettel goes into the pits and goes on hard tyres, taking a gamble on whether the rain has any effect. Verstappen makes a complaint about his left front. Vettel is down in 12th while Perez overtakes Grosjean and goes into seventh.
30/70 Hamilton sets a fastest lap. Vettel is chasing Grojean down but Ferrari are not on the same planet as Mercedes.
Updated
29/70 The weather is coming, and the rain will last five minutes. Could that be decisive? Bottas seems to have lost a fraction on Stroll.
28/70 Leclerc taking on Norris as he tries to make his way back into the field. Ferrari ij the doldrums.
27/70 Leclerc has a long way to come back. Bottas and Stroll is on with Stroll saying his tyres are giving out. The talk now is when to make the stop for tyres.
26/70 Stroll against Bottas is the battle now, and for third. Hamilton has lapped Lando Norris and Leclerc in 14th and 15th. This is brutal from him.
25/70 Vettel says his front left is a problem, just as Verstappen and Hamilton have done. These conditions are wearing.
24/70 Hamilton still jumpy about his engine. There’s a technical discussion taking place with the garage. He’s also worried about his left-front tyre. Bottas, meanwhile, seems to have escaped punishment for his dodgy start.
23/70 Here’s what happened to Gasly. The rain is light and the latest word is the major storm may actually miss the track.
LAP 18/70
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
Smoke coming from Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri - and he becomes the first driver to retire from the race 😬#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/VA9rPihsVd
22/70 Lewis Hamilton is blazing away on medium tyres and setting another fastest lap.
21/70 Perez and Ricciardo are off Leclerc, who is now asking to come in. “My front left is dead,” he says. He comes in and drops down to 15th.
20/70 Leclerc is complaining about his tyres. “Are we sure the rain is coming?”
LAP 16/70
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
Stand by - rain is forecast in the next few minutes! 👀🍿#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/X0X2ZecLSj
19/70 Actually. Vettel is still behind Leclerc. They are both wasting each other’s time there before the German makes his way through.
18/70 “Give me more power,” begs Albon, deep in that battle with Leclerc and Vettel. The battle for seventh, that it. Bottas is past Magnussen, who is now clinging on to points. And Leclerc is passed by both Albon and Vettel. His tyres were wrong for that battle.
Updated
17/70 Pierre Gasly is out. His engine was on fire and the pits were filled with the smell of burning oil.
16/70 Magnussen’s dream ride in third has come to a close. Lance Stroll has cruised past him.
15/70 Albon and Leclerc again at it but Leclerc closes the gap twice. It is really difficult to get past anyone here. Vettel is now off the back of Albon for a Ferrari/Red Bull sandwich.
14/70 Leclerc and Albon are involved in a scrap. Leclerc speeds away from the Red Bull, who has to be favoured to get his way eventually.
13/70 Lewis Hamilton is confused. He thought Verstappen was out of the race after that pre-match prang but now finds that the Red Bull is his closest challenger.
12/70 Hamilton has now set a fastest lap. Bottas carves past Grosjean. It’s all swinging Mercedes’ way. Vettel is back in ninth after his chaotic pit a few laps back.
Updated
11/70 Hamilton has over nine seconds on Verstappen. Already, this race is firmly in his grasp.
10/70 Leclerc tells his team “these tyres are rubbish”. Bottas at last gets past Leclerc. Ferrari having another bad race so far? Yes, looks like it.
Updated
9/70 Magnussen of the Haas team may have a nosebleed in third. Lance Stroll in on his tail. Hamilton seems a bit jumpy about his engine.
8/70 Bottas tries to overtake Leclerc but then a puddle cools his tyres and he will have to sit back in seventh.
7/70 Bottas looks like he will have to face for the music for jumping the start. The stewards are wise to him. Kimi Raikkonen, who began the day on the back of the grid, has been dropped five seconds for being in the wrong place on the grid.
6/70 Kevin Magnusson is in third off the back of Verstappen. Leclerc and Bottas are in sixth and seventh. Verstappen on the tail of Hamilton and has just set a fastest lap.
5/70 Here’s what happened to Bottas. Hamilton is back in the lead, and now Vertsappen is second.
LAP 1/70
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
Bottas fluffs his lines at the start and drops down to P6 😬
Stroll up to P2 and Verstappen up to P3 #HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/1Tr9HGSU8s
4/70 Hamilton goes into the pits and Verstappen now leads. Vettel goes into the pits and gets lost in traffic. Disaster for Ferrari. The leaders all seem to be changing into slicks. Hamilton back in fourth now.
3/70 Bottas goes into the pits change tyres, and so does Leclerc. Vettel, in fourth, is being told to do the same. Hamilton is seven seconds clear.
2/70 The stewards may have to have a look at Bottas’ start. Ferrari started well off the grid but Verstappen was the big winner. Bottas looks to be heading into the pits.
1/70 Hamilton sitting pretty already - 3.1 seconds clear. George Russell has dropped far back in the field.
Updated
And away we go...
Hamilton sounded nervy about his engine starving but he goes clear. Bottas dropped back. Strong is in second, Verstappen is in third. Bottas may have jumped the start and run into trouble.
Updated
Here we go on the parade lap, with the engines making one hell of a racket. The talk is of tyres that fit the conditions. There have been a combination of approaches within the 20 cars. Kyvat, at the back of the grid, has requested a change back to slicks.
Updated
Those Red Bull mechanics are still hard at work on Verstappen’s car but seem to have sorted him. Let’s see how he gets on but his has been a less than ideal preparation. The rain has stopped and there is blue sky on the horizon, but that won’t stop the track being slippery and wet.
Updated
Lewis Hamilton speaks: “Numbers are irrelevant when it comes to doing the job. We didn’t know whether it would rain but it’s now a real tall order today wherever you are in the grid. It’s going to require an hour-and-a-half of intense focus.”
It’s race against time for the Red Bull mechanics to get Verstappen’s car shipshape and lively for the race. Meanwhile, the drivers, in a combination of Black Lives Matter and End racism t-shirts stand for the Hungarian national anthem, a rather bombastic ditty (aren’t they all). Not all of them are wearing masks, with Bottas noticeably not doing so. Hamilton takes a knee, but the collective gesture lacks the cohesion we saw in Austria.
Updated
Hello there, Max Verstappen crashes into the barrier on his parade lap and looks to have damaged a front wing, the suspension and a wheel. Oh dear. A new nose cone and a new front wing required. The Red Bull mechanics are shunting him into position but it may well be the end before even the beginning. Panic in the ranks.
The cars are making their way out of the garages and into what looks a damp track as they have a few practice laps round. It’s also the most difficult to overtake on save for Monaco. That also makes for exciting fare.
From this week’s Classic YouTube.
5) They’re rattling through the races now Formula 1 has returned, and this weekend we’re at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The race was first run in 1936 but it made history when the 1986 edition was the first held in the old Eastern Bloc. Nelson Piquet took the victory, pipping Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell to top place on the podium. In recent times it has been dominated by Lewis Hamilton, who first won in Hungary in 2007 and became the most successful driver in the circuit’s history with his seventh win in the race last year.
Ian Spencer makes a salient point: “Hamilton may be the best driver in the wet, but are Merc the best wet weather tacticians? And of course, sometimes rain is just a lottery, and tactics have little to do with it.”
Here’s the top ten in the drivers’ championship after last week’s Styrian GP.
1 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 43
2 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 37
3 Lando Norris (McLaren) 26
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 18
5 Sergio Perez (Racing Point) 16
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 15
7 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari) 13
8 Alexander Albon (Red Bull) 12
9 Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) 6
10 Lance Stroll (Racing Point) 6
Updated
Those were the days....
Getting the perfect soundbite for Texaco Havoline, 1976. pic.twitter.com/Ho0Wds5i8B
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) July 18, 2020
Lewis Hamilton looked imperious in qualifying and appears typically confident.
My 90th pole position! And my 7th pole position in Hungary 🤘🏾🔥 Those qualifying laps felt great. I’m focused as ever for tomorrow. Still feels strange not having you guys there cheering us on but I hope you’re all staying safe. Sending you all positive vibes 🙏🏾 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/RGxcPXmuU0
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 18, 2020
The rain has come, and looks likely to be a key factor in today’s racing.
The umbrellas are out at the Hungaroring ☔️
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
And Seb has got the sound guy's back 👊#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/mKHK62ymr2
The start time is 2.10pm UK time by the way. It’s not just the Hungaroring that is suffering gathering clouds. Ferrari are something of a mess.
This has been an F1 season like no other, barring one thing, the dominance of Mercedes. Valteri Bottas leads after two races but Lewis Hamilton is not far behind him and on pole at the Hungaroring, one of his favourite tracks. His seventh pole in Hungary matched the track record held by Michael Schumacher and he became the first driver to reach 90 poles. A ten-race season, for that is what the season is scheduled to be, looks likely to bring a seventh world title, and you can forget an asterisk against that. One of the further indicators of Mercedes’ dominance is that Racing Point are in the third and fourth positions behind Hamilton and Bottas, through Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez in a car modelled on Mercedes in 2019.
The weather is also wet, which may be ideal for Hamilton, the best driver in those conditions, but that adds a variable which may add to the excitement.
It's race day - again! 🙌
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
Here's how the grid looks ahead of Sunday's race at the Hungaroring 🚦#Hungaroring 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/n5qPgtCjCp
It was a wet @FIAFormula3 Race 2 earlier on Sunday 🌧
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2020
And showers are forecast for the rest of the day...#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/9AB7UdKVCT
