BUDAPEST — Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was unstoppable during the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.
The victory marked the seventh straight win for the reigning Formula 1 champion and the 12th consecutive victory for the Red Bull Racing team. Verstappen now has 44 career wins in F1 competition.Â
“We had the struggle over one lap all weekend in qualifying, but I think that means it was the right call for the race. If I had a choice between the two, I would pick my race performance every time but we will always make changes and keep trying to improve the car,” Verstappen said. “I think people forget a little bit that to win 12 races in a row is extremely hard but I hope it doesn’t stop there.
“We have to keep going and I will always try to challenge myself.”
The 25-year-old soared into the lead and past polesitter Lewis Hamilton on lap one after starting on the front row.Â
While drivers jostled for position behind him, Verstappen cruised out front and put a comfortable gap between himself and the remaining field. At the finish line, he was 33.731 seconds ahead of McLaren driver and runner-up Lando Norris.
Sergio Perez finished third, putting a second Red Bull Racing driver on the podium in Budapest.Â
Hamilton kept pace towards the front of the pack and finished fourth.
“As the stints progressed, the car started to become more driveable, and the final stint was much better. The pace we had at the end was very strong and if we had had that throughout, we would have had a much better day,” Hamilton said. “We still have a lot of work to do to beat Red Bull in a Grand Prix, but we will keep pushing.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri completed the top five.Â
Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th in his first race back to Formula 1 with AlphaTauri.
“The whole weekend has been good and to come back, really feel all the things I’ve missed in the last 12 months. I can’t ask for more on the first weekend and it gives me confidence,” Ricciardo said. “I’ll learn from the mistakes I made to get better and better, and I made little mental notes, which I will share with the team. Overall though, there are a lot of things to be happy about.”