The Dutchman won his ninth Grand Prix of the year on Sunday at the Hungaroring in Budapest ahead of Lando Norris and Sergio Pérez. Not varnished, the French stopped their machines on the first lap.
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The tit for tat response of the reigning world champion. Deprived of pole position by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Max Verstappen won on Sunday July 23 at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Second on the grid, the Dutchman took control from the start while the Briton fell behind the two McLarens. 70 circuit loops in the lead later, the Red Bull driver ended his Sunday ride with a ninth victory of the season in his pocket (out of eleven races), the twelfth in a row for his team, a record.
Max Verstappen probably had time to observe the battle for the podium in his mirrors. Second about ten laps from the end, Lando Norris (McLaren) saw his lead over Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) shrink as his tires deteriorated. But the Mexican, under pressure at the same time by Lewis Hamilton, never managed to overtake him, finally settling for the third step on the box.
The Alpine shipwreck
For their part, the French from Alpine had a dark afternoon on the Hungaroring. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were forced to cut their entry engines after a collision at the first corner. Hit by Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), himself hit by Guanyu Zhou (Alpha Romeo), the car of the first climbed that of the second, causing significant damage to both cars.
“My seat broke in two with the impact, it was violent. [Cet incident] is the consequence of going so far, in the package, because everyone takes a lot of risks to get into the points”commented Esteban Ocon, “disgusted” at the microphone of Canal+ while the two teammates had achieved the 12th and 15th qualifying times on Saturday.
“It’s more than unfortunate to find ourselves arrested in the first roundadded Pierre Gasly. Things don’t line up for us. We will have to quickly stop this series of events that is happening to us at the moment.. This is the third double abandonment of the tricolor team this season, the second consecutive after Silverstone.