Red Bull's Max Verstappen storms back from 10th place start to win Hungarian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen sealed his eighth victory of the 2022 Formula One season and the 28th of his career, as the Championship leader made up nine places to secure a famous win at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest to further extend his lead in the driver's standings.

Verstappen, who started the race in 10th place after a power unit issue in qualifying, had it all to do to make up the positions on track to be able to fight for the victory. Lewis Hamilton also had a poor showing on the Saturday, and started in P7.

George Russell started the race on pole position for the first time in his career after a great effort in qualifying, and the Mercedes driver got off to a good start. The Briton remained out in front at the end of the first lap, despite the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc behind doing all they could to get past.

Russell maintained the gap ahead of Sainz in second all the way until lap 17, when Mercedes decided to call him in for a set of medium tyres. Ferrari responded by pitting Sainz a lap later.

Leclerc was the quicker Ferrari despite being in P3 before the first set of pit stops, but the Monegasque driver got the overcut on his teammate on lap 21, as he emerged behind Russell but ahead of Sainz after he changed his tyres.

The Ferrari driver eventually closed the gap to Russell, and after some hard laps of racing between the two, Leclerc made the overtake on the Mercedes man into turn one to take the lead of the Grand Prix on Lap 31.

Verstappen continued to lurk in the background, and got the undercut on Lewis Hamilton in the first stint to move up to fourth place. At the halfway point, the race was far from over.

Then on Lap 40, Ferrari opted to call in race leader Charles Leclerc in for a set of harder tyres, despite both Alpine cars struggling with getting the compound up to temperature earlier in the race. This strategy call effectively cost Leclerc the victory, as a lap later, Verstappen got past the Ferrari to move up into P3. Shortly before that overtake, the Red Bull had got past Russell with the undercut after his second pit stop.

Lewis Hamilton took the lead, with Carlos Sainz sitting behind him after the second round of pit stops, as both had opted not to come in for a tyre change.

Despite Verstappen getting past Leclerc for track position, a lap later, the Red Bull driver made an uncharacteristic error, as he spun the car into the penultimate corner. That saw Leclerc get back past the Dutchman, but three laps later, Verstappen was back ahead of his championship rival, as he continued to struggle on the harder tyres.

With 17 laps remaining, Lewis Hamilton came into the pits for a set of softer tyres, as he looked to do a podium charge on the faster compound in his final stint. With Sainz also pitting beforehand, it meant that after starting 10th, Verstappen had the lead of the race.

Ferrari acknowledged that their previous strategy call for Leclerc was the wrong decision, and they boxed their No.1 driver again on lap 55 for a set of soft tyres, which cost the Monegasque driver a shot at the podium as he emerged back out in sixth.

Hamilton, now on the soft tyres, made a late charge and got up into second place with five laps remaining after making overtakes on both Sainz and Russell.

The gap to Verstappen ahead of him, however, was ten seconds, and with not much left to go until the chequered flag, the Mercedes driver was not able to catch him.

Verstappen took the flag to seal back-to-back victories, and his 28th in Formula One, as the Dutchman extended his Championship lead to a whopping 80 points over Leclerc.

Hamilton completed a great recovery drive from 7th to finish in P2 and set the fastest lap, and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell may be wondering what could have been, as he finished in third to round off the podium at the Hungaroring.

There is no argument to be had about who the driver of the day was this afternoon at the Hungaroring, as Verstappen showed fantastic pace to come back through the field. His team also have to take huge credit for the result, as the gamble to pit early at the end of his second stint was a huge reason why the Dutchman made up crucial places on track.

Verstappen now holds an almost unassailable lead in the driver's championship, and he will now go into the summer break in a very comfortable position ahead of the next race in Spa Francorchamps in a month's time.

LAP 17/70 - Sainz has closed the gap to Russell to just under a second. Ferrari go for the dummy, and call Sainz into the pits, which he does not do. That makes Mercedes call Russell in for a change in tyres, so let's see if the Ferrari can get the undercut. Sainz pits a lap later, but he emerges behind Russell. The undercut has not worked! Russell is in P4, Sainz is now in P6, crucially behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

LAP 21/70 - LECLERC PITS! Leclerc comes in for a set of mediums. However, he emerges back out behind George Russell in P2, but crucially, the overcut has partially worked, as the Monegasque driver is now ahead of his team-mate Carlos Sainz.

LAP 31/70 - LECLERC TAKES THE LEAD! - That is a key moment in this race! Leclerc finally makes the move on Russell into turn one! He dives down the outside, with the help of DRS, and then has the inside line going into turn two. A brilliant move, and Leclerc can now kick on and try to pull out a gap.

LAP 40/70 - LECLERC IS NOW ON HARDS! - In response to Red Bull, both Leclerc and Russell box the following lap. However, Ferrari make a very bold call and fit a set of harder compound tyres onto Leclerc's car. That is despite the problems that the Alpine drivers had getting the tyres up to temperature! Russell also emerges back out behind Verstappen, so the Red Bull driver now has the undercut.

LAP 41/70 - VERSTAPPEN OVERTAKES LECLERC! - Verstappen has punished Ferrari's call to fit the harder compound onto Leclerc, as he uses DRS to get past him into the inside of turn 1! Leclerc is understandably fuming on the team radio.

LAP 42/70 - VERSTAPPEN SPINS INTO PENULTIMATE CORNER! - What a moment! Verstappen almost bins it into the second to last corner, and has a spin! That means Leclerc gets back in front of him! The Red Bull driver quickly recovers from it, and is back defending Perez and Russell down the main straight! A rare mistake from the Dutchman!

LAP 45/70 - VERSTAPPEN GETS BACK PAST LECLERC - And then, it is as you were. Three laps after Verstappen's spin, he's back past Leclerc into turn two, as Leclerc looks like a sitting duck with the harder tyres, meaning the Ferrari driver simply cannot defend the move! Verstappen is now up to P3, behind Sainz and Hamilton.

LAP 53/70 - VERSTAPPEN LEADS! - Max Verstappen finally has the lead of this race! Lewis Hamilton pits from the lead and fits the softer compound tyres for the last part of this race, and emerges back out in P5. What a win this would be for the Dutchman if he can hold on with his medium compound tyres.

LAP 63/70 - HAMILTON GETS PAST SAINZ - Hamilton makes the most of DRS and gets past Sainz down the main straight. The Briton is up into P3!

LAP 65/70 - HAMILTON GETS PAST RUSSELL! - Lewis Hamilton does the switchback into turn 2, and gets past Russell and is up into P2! He has five laps to make up the ten seconds to Verstappen out in front.

LAP 24/70 - DOUBLE OVERTAKE! - What a manoeuvre by Daniel Ricciardo into turn 3! He sent it there, with the postage stamp! Esteban Ocon, who emerges back out in front of both Alonso and Ricciardo in P10 after his pit stop, is immediately under pressure from both, and moves to the outside into turn 3 to defend. That leaves the door open for Ricciardo on the inside, and the McLaren manages to get past both Alpines with one move! Very opportunistic overtake, and the best of the race so far!