Max Verstappen second fastest at the Hungarian GP: 'Feels like a victory'

Published on 19 July 2020 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen came in second fastest at the Hungarian GP. Max’ race seemed over before it even started when he damaged his car running into the barriers during his outlap to the grid on a wet track. After a heroic feat by the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing mechanics, the car was repaired just in time for the start of the race. Max had a great start getting off the line from seventh and moved up to P3 exiting the first corner. After the drivers switched to the regular racing tyres, Max was running second fastest and never relinquished that position. Hamilton quite dominantly took the victory home while Bottas took the flag in third place, behind of Verstappen.

After the race, a more than happy Max had the following to say: “I ended up in the barriers in my outlap on the way to the grid, that was of course not how I wanted it to begin anyway. The mechanics did an amazing job to fix the car. It was just finished on time, the car felt like brand new again. I don’t know how they did it, but it was incredible. So I am very pleased to pay them back with a second place.”

Verstappen got magnificently off the line and moved up from seventh all the way to third: “The first lap was very crucial, says Verstappen. “From there on we had the right call and good pace. We just kept doing our own thing and to be able to split the two Mercedes is good for us.”

Towards the end of the race Bottas came very close to Verstappen, but it never boiled down to a real attack from the Finn. On the question when was he sure that he was able to keep Bottas behind of him, Max replies: “You never know. I was just trying to do my own pace and I could see he was catching me like a second a lap. But of course following here is quite tricky. When he was within a second-and-a-half it was more difficult for him. In the last lap we also had traffic ahead of us and that didn’t make it easy for me on the old tyres. I managed to hang on and stay ahead of Bottas so I am very happy with second. I thought I was not going to race so second feels like a victory today.”

Even before the race gets underway, the Heavens opened up on the Hungaroring. On a wet track, Max slips off in his outlap, on his way to the grid, into the barriers. With a damaged front wing and front wheel suspension, Verstappen is told to head to the grid. Upon arrival there his Red Bull mechanics waste no time and get their heads down to get the car back in ship shape. The men perform a great feat by repairing the RB16 in about fifteen minutes, making it possible for Max to still be able to go racing from the seventh spot. Max sincerely expresses his gratitude towards his mechanics by saying: “Great job guys, this is unbelievable. Thank you very much.”

At the start of the race, all the drivers are on the intermediates with the exception of the Haas’ drivers. After the formation lap, they pit for regular racing tyres. Max gets well off the line, starting from seventh, as he exits Turn one in third place. Hamilton manages to hold on to his lead while Stroll trails him.

On lap three, Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas, who both lost quite many places, head in to the pits to get regular racing tyres. One lap later, Hamilton and Stroll follow suit. This puts Max in the lead of the race. The following lap, he also heads in to change his intermediate tyres for the medium compound.

After a flawless stop, Max rejoins in second. Well over seven seconds ahead of him is leader of the pack, Hamilton. Kevin Magnussen’s gamble to start on the regular compound tyres has been a good call, as the Haas-driver is now running in third.

On lap sixteen, Pierre Gasly is forced to park his AlphaTauri in the pits due to technical issues. Rendering the Frenchman the first dropout of the race. At that moment, Stroll overtakes Magnussen to claim the third spot. One lap later, Bottas also overtakes the Dane.

The rain is a constant threat, but apart from a few drops, the clouds blow over. On lap 37, Max does his second pitstop. The Dutchman changes to the harder compound tyre and manages to keep his second place. Bottas’ undercut worked out well as he is able to overtake Stroll for the third spot after the pit stops.

Nicholas Latifi spins on lap 43, but the Williams-driver is able to continue on unscathed. Meanwhile, Bottas, now on the medium compound tyre, is clearly gaining on Verstappen. The Finn is however not able to launch an attack on the Dutchman. Bottas does another stop on lap 50 for the hard compound tyre and rejoins some 20 seconds behind of Max.

On his new hard tyres, Bottas is quickly gaining on Verstappen. With still three laps to go, Alexander Albon overtakes Sebastian Vettel for the fifth spot. At the same time, Hamilton pits once again for a set of scrubbed softs just to be able to get the fastest lap time. He takes the chequered flag and also the extra point for the fastest lap time. Verstappen comes in second, closely followed by Bottas, Which makes this the second podium finish for Verstappen this season. Max moves up to the third spot in the championship standings. This is also his 33rd podium in his Formula 1-career.

Lance Stroll comes in fourth for Racing Point, while Aexander Albon managed to claw his way back from P13 on the grid all the way to fifth. Vettel finishes sixth fastest, while Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz round out the top ten.

Results Grand Prix Hungary: