Max Verstappen put in a stellar drive from 10th on the grid and survived a mid-race spin scare to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Mercedes also had an excellent race, securing back-to-back double podiums. It goes to show that Mercedes is ready to take the fight to Red Bull and Ferrari at the front.
Ferrari had an absolute disaster of a race, finishing 4th and 6th after another massive blunder with the strategy. This was another potential race win thrown by Ferrari as their deficit in both the championships grew.
Here are the driver ratings for the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
CLASSIFIED DRIVERS
Max Verstappen: It was not a perfect weekend for the Dutchman but he produced a sensational drive to win the race on Sunday where he was just in a class of his own.
Starting from 10th after his qualifying woes, Verstappen kept out of trouble at the start. He clearly picked his way through the mid-field runners and was soon behind the leading pack.
A perfectly executed undercut strategy saw him jump ahead of Hamilton and Sainz. On fresher tyres, he passed Leclerc to move up into the lead. A spin saw him relinquish his lead to Leclerc but he passed the Monegasque with utter ease the second time around as well. He then controlled the race and crossed the chequered flag 7.8 secs ahead. It was a mature race that saw him blunt Ferrari’s fightback hopes. (9.5)
Lewis Hamilton: The Briton was left distraught on Saturday when a DRS issue on the final run saw a potential front row slip away.
Starting seventh, Hamilton quickly cleared the Alpines at the start and on softs in the final stint overtook Sainz and Russell to get a fifth straight podium finish.
His incredible run in recent races shows that he has still got it in him and maybe his first win of the season is not that far away. (9.5)
George Russell: Russell put in a sublime lap in qualifying to get his first pole position ahead of the Ferrari’s.
On race day, Russell got a good getaway and kept Carlos Sainz at bay. While the pace was not there for the win, Russell passed a struggling Leclerc to bag another podium.
A solid drive from Mr. Consistency who kept his top-5 record and surely deserves to be at the front. (9)
Carlos Sainz: Sainz was frustrated after he was pipped to pole by Russell in the dying stages of qualifying. On Sunday, he stuck behind Russell for the opening stint. An attempt to overcut to the Mercedes failed due to a slow pit stop and he dropped down to third.
Sainz then switched onto the softs for the final stint but was overtaken by Russell and ended up 4th. Overall, an average race from the Spaniards. (7.5)
Sergio Perez: Perez had a shock Q2 elimination and lined up 11th ahead of his teammate Verstappen. While Verstappen went on to win the race, Perez has to settle for 5th.
The Mexican was looking to challenge for the podium before a late Virtual Safety Car (VSC) hampered his charge.
Though Perez has been off form recently, he will be looking to bounce back after the summer break. (7)
Charles Leclerc: Hungary looked like another win that slipped away for Leclerc and co. However, this was in no way his fault.
Starting P3, Leclerc showed strong pace in the first stint and he overcut Sainz before passing Russell for the lead. A comfortable but important victory looked to be in his sights.
However, the decision to put on the hards backfired massively as Leclerc tumbled down the order before eventually ending up in 6th.
A frustrating weekend for the Monegasque who can see the championship falling away from his reach. (8.5)
Lando Norris: The Brit had a strong qualifying and lined up on the second row. Norris then got a good start in the race and held off Lewis Hamilton in the opening stages.
However, when Hamilton and Verstappen passed him on lap 11, he knew he just had to keep the Alpines behind.
A pretty lonely but solid race saw him finish 62 seconds behind the Ferrari in 7th. Norris was disappointed after not benefiting from the second row but nonetheless, it was a decent race from the McLaren lad. (8)
Fernando Alonso: Nando put his Alpine on the third row after a good qualifying. After being passed by Lewis Hamilton and the charging Bulls of Verstappen and Perez, he was left down in 9th.
Alpine tried to make a bold one-stop strategy work, but it did not work out. While the birthday boy did score some points in 8th, things could have been much better. (7.5)
Esteban Ocon: Like Alonso, Ocon was not happy with the one-stopper as he was not satisfied with the end result. 46 laps on the hard dented his chances of finishing any higher.
While replicating last year’s high was unlikely, Ocon would have expected better than 9th. (7)
Sebastian Vettel: Two-time race winner at Hungaroring sent shockwaves in the paddock after he announced his retirement from the sport after the end of the season.
On race day, Vettel put a strong recovery drive from P18 to P10. He said P9 was possible if he had a few more corners on the last lap to overtake Ocon. (7.5)
Lance Stroll: Starting P14 after a dismal qualifying, Stroll made amends on Sunday and was running in the points.
A less-than-ideal final run on the softs as well as a contact with Ricciardo meant Stroll could do no better than 11th. (7.5)
Pierre Gasly: The Frenchman started from the pit lane after taking a new power unit. Gasly rose through the field on the back of some incredible overtakes and ended an impressive P12. (7)
Zhou Guanyu: Zhou started the weekend positively, putting his Alfa Romeo in Q2. His race, however, was not good as he struggled on lap 1 and lost places.
Alfa tried the ambitious one-stopper but it did not work as Zhou had to pit again for softs, compromising his chances to move up the field. (6.5)
Mick Schumacher: Schumacher made an excellent start from 15th to 11th. He looked competitive in the first stint as he climbed up to eight.
The switch to hard tyres didn’t work as Schumacher dropped down to 14th in the end. (7)
Daniel Ricciardo: The summary of Aussie’s race was that it started with contact and ended with a time penalty.
Ricciardo was squeezed by the Alpine’s at the start which led to a contact with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. He tried to regain some places and pulled of the highlight overtake of the race — an audacious double overtake on the Alpine’s.
However, that was his only high of the race as contact with Stroll got him a 5-second time penalty. He ended up a disconsolate P15. (5.5)
Kevin Magnussen: The Dane had the upgraded VF-22 under him this weekend but the performance gap between him and teammate Mick Schumacher was not much.
Magnussen made a typically feisty start, moving up to P10. A contact with Ricciardo damaged his front wing forcing him to make an early stop.
He struggled to make headway with the hards before pitting for the mediums. A switch to softs under VSC conditions saw him come home in P16. (6)
Alex Albon: It was an subpar weekend for Albon as he struggled in the Williams. He lost his front wing after contact with Lance Stroll at the start.
With no pace in the Williams to make headway, Albon plodded at the back and finished seventeenth. (6)
Nicholas Latifi: Latifi had a rollercoaster of a weekend. He was astonishingly P1 in a wet FP3. A purple first sector in qualifying could not save him from a Q1 elimination.
His contact with Vettel in the opening laps left him with front wing damage. He nursed the damage to cross the line in P18. (5)
Yuki Tsunoda: It was a weekend to forget for the Japanese as he suffered a Q1 elimination. The race day was no better as he struggled with a lack of grip. He ended up last of the runners. (4)
Did Not Finish
Valtteri Bottas: The Finn was the only non-finishing car of the race as he retired due to a fuel system failure.
He lost places due to a poor start but recovered and was looking to get some points until his unfortunate retirement. (6.5)
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