BUDAPEST, Hungary (AFP) – Lewis Hamilton equaled one of Michael Schumacher’s many records on Sunday when he delivered a classic drive to become the first driver to complete a hat-trick of Hungarian Grand Prix victories.
The defending six-time champion, who won at the Hungaroring in 2018 and 2019, enlarged his overall total of Hungarian triumphs to eight, drawing level with Schumacher’s eight wins at the French Grand Prix, the most by any driver at a single race venue.
Driving with exemplary concentration and aplomb, Hamilton controlled a tactical race from lights to flag, making light of changing conditions to deliver his 86th win, five short of Schumacher’s record total of 91.
It was Hamilton’s second win this season, following victory at the Styrian Grand Prix a week earlier, and lifted him to the top of the drivers’ championship by a single point ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas who won the opening Austrian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen was a remarkable second for Red Bull after his crew repaired severe damage to his car’s suspension on the grid caused when the Dutchman had crashed before the start. He held off a late attack by Bottas to stay second by fractions of a second.
Bottas came home a frustrated third, just meters behind, but ahead of Lance Stroll’s Racing Point, Alex Albon in the second Red Bull and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari.
Sergio Perez was seventh in the second ‘pink Mercedes’ Racing Point ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Renault, Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Carlos Sainz of McLaren.
After an intense burst of pre-race drama, in which Verstappen crashed on his final lap to join the grid and a seemingly rushed ‘end racism’ gesture by many of the drivers, Hamilton was coolness personified.
Starting from the 90th pole of his career, he pulled clear to lead by three seconds on the opening lap, ahead of Stroll and Verstappen, all of them running on intermediate tyres in the tricky conditions.
Bottas jumped the start and was then bogged down and fell to sixth.
The champion pitted for slicks at the end of the second lap returning in fourth and was back on top by lap five with the two Haas cars of Magnussen and Grosjean in pursuit after a well-judged switch from wets to slicks.
