'Crazy race' - Max Verstappen happy with shock win in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes are closing gap
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ByEurosport
Updated 31/07/2022 at 18:02 GMT
Max Verstappen fought back from 10th on the grid to win the Hungarian Grand Prix to extend his lead in the drivers championship. He says he did not expect to win the race. Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished second and third respectively with both drivers agreeing that the team is making great strides to close the gap on rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.
Verstappen overcomes 360 degrees spin and worst starting spot to win Hungary
Max Verstappen says he did not expect to win a "crazy" Hungarian Grand Prix after starting the race in 10th on the grid.
The Dutchman sealed his eighth victory of the F1 season and his 29th overall after skilfully moving his way up the grid to take first place.
After securing back-to-back wins, Verstappen has extended his Championship lead to 80 points over second-placed Charles Leclerc, but he admits he did not think he would top the podium at Hungaroring.
"I was at first hoping that I could get close to a podium," Verstappen told reporters.
"Very tricky conditions out there but we had a really good strategy. We were really reactive and always pitting at the right time.
"I thought we had some good out laps, and at the end – even with the 360 – we won the race.
"It was a crazy race and I’m of course very happy that we won it."
Lewis Hamilton completed a great recovery from seventh to finish in second. He says Mercedes are "closing the gap" on their rivals.
"I was definitely struggling at the beginning of the race," he said.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to catch the guys up but bit by bit, I was more comfortable with the balance and had a really good start as well.
"I really want to acknowledge my team who have pushed and never given up in this tough year so far.
"To be on the podium, for both cars to be on the podium twice, it is pretty special for us and really unlucky for George today.
"The others guys still have a bit of an edge but we are clearly closing the gap and this is just an amazing way to go into the break knowing that we have this performance.
"Hopefully we can bring some more into the second part of the season and starting fighting with the guys up front.
"I was hoping it was going to rain at the end so I could challenge Max but we ran out of laps.
"If we had had a bit of a better qualifying yesterday, if the DRS was ok we would have been in the run for the win but two seconds in a row I am really, really happy."
Hamilton's team-mate George Russell secured a career first pole position in qualifying on Saturday, but finished the race in third after struggling with tyre degradation.
The Brit agrees with Hamilton that Mercedes are "making progress".
"When it started spitting and we were on the soft tyres at the start I thought we were on," he said.
"Towards the end on the mediums with the slightly heavier rain I really struggled.
"Amazing job by the team. Pole position yesterday and a double podium - we're definitely making progress, so really proud of the work we've done."
Leclerc finished sixth and is now 80 points behind Verstappen in the drivers' standings. He overtook George Russell on lap 31, but pitted early for hard tyres.
He was twice overtaken by Verstappen before a spin prompted a third stop for soft tyres which meant he would not be able to finish any higher than sixth.
Leclerc criticised his team's strategy afterwards, calling it a "disaster".
"Everything was under control and for some reason," he said. "I don't know why, we went on the hards.
"I said on the radio I was comfortable on the medium and I wanted to go as long as possible on those tyres because the feeling was good. I don't know why we took a different decision.
"Honestly the pace on my side, I was pretty happy. The only thing is obviously everyone will remember the last part of the race where it was a disaster for me, especially with the hards.
"That's where I lost the race basically. I lost 20 seconds with the pit, another six seconds on five laps on the hard because I was just all over the place on the tyre.
"We'll speak about it inside the team and how to get better."
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