Max Verstappen wins Hungarian GP

MOGYOROD (HUNGARY): Red Bull’s Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen (1:39:35.912) won the Hungarian GP from 10th on the starting grid on Sunday as Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc suffered another strategy nightmare.

Lewis Hamilton (+7.834 seconds) finished second for Mercedes with teammate George Russell (+12.337 seconds), on pole position for the first time, third in a repeat of the previous race in France.

Reigning champion Verstappen (258 points) now has a massive 80-point lead – more than three races – over the second-placed Leclerc (178 points) after 13 of 22 races. The Ferrari driver (+16.047 seconds) led for a while in the race, but ended up sixth as his tyre strategy unravelled.

“Amazing result. Who would have thought when we woke up that we were going to win the race?” Verstappen said over the team radio after taking the chequered flag in tricky conditions at the Hungaroring. The win was Verstappen’s eighth of the season and 28th of his career.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (+14.579 seconds) finished fourth while Sergio Perez (+15.688 seconds) came fifth for Red Bull.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel (behind by more than a lap), who announced on Thursday his retirement at the end of the season, took the final point for Aston Martin.