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Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix and extended his championship lead again after a Ferrari strategy blunder cost Charles Leclerc another victory.
Verstappen started 10th but made strong progress in the opening stint to run fifth after 15 laps in time of the first pit stop window, when he undercut his way past Lewis Hamilton into fourth and within striking distance of the podium.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field pole-getter George Russell’s lead came under siege from the Ferrari drivers, with Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc.
Continue reading on RACERNicholas Latifi took a shock top spot in a soaking-wet final practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Latifi took the unlikely accolade with his final lap of the hour, when the previously saturated track was at its driest after a long break from the rain.
Running had been suspended for a little over five minutes to clear Sebastian Vettel’s crashed Aston Martin from the barriers at Turn 10 after aquaplaning on entry, sending his rear-right corner into the wall.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to the top spot in second practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Leclerc guided his Ferrari to the top of the order with a best time of 1m18.445s with a fresh set of softs, pipping Norris by 0.217s.
The Monegasque’s only blip for the day was an engine complaint that forced him back to his garage late in the hour, but he was released without problem shortly afterwards — albeit after striking a jack while trying to leave his garage.
Norris’s best time had come slightly earlier in the session, the Briton being one of the first to lap on low fuel, and the lap proved quick enough to split the Ferrari drivers when time expired on the session, with Carlos Sainz a further 0.014s down in third.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz topped a busy first practice for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
Ferrari’s SF-75 is expected to be the strongest car at the downforce-sensitive Hungaroring given its season-long cornering and acceleration advantage over the field, and Sainz put it to good use for a time of 1m 18.750s, beating Verstappen’s best effort by 0.13s. It was Sainz’s second hot lap on the one set of soft tires, hinting at greater reserves of pace.
Charles Leclerc was third and 0.289s slower than his teammate.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen dominated qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix but Carlos Sainz will start from pole after an intriguing Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen, title rival Charles Leclerc and five other drivers started qualifying carrying heavy grid penalties for power unit changes that will send them to the back of the grid.
The battle for pole therefore came down to a fight between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, but neither was on Verstappen’s level. The Dutchman beat his would-be rivals by 0.6s with his first lap. It was a large enough margin that he didn’t bother to set a second time.
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