Ferrari, however, may consider the holiday canceled and consider simply packing up to call it a day at the Scuderia after a dismal display at the Hungaroring left Verstappen with one hand on the title. In an afternoon of exciting upsets, Hungary was important on many levels. For Verstappen, his victory was a triumph. What had started with the expectation of damage limitation resulted in a massive run from 10th on the grid as he and his Red Bull team pulled off an absolute coup. Mercedes in turn posted their best performance of the year, while in stark contrast Ferrari dominated, from the top of the race to fourth and sixth place for Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen’s touch and judgment to move through the field was unquestionable and Red Bull’s race management and strategy dictates were executed to perfection. So much so that the world champion was even moved and referred to the inexplicable decision that had cost Ferrari so dearly. “No one expected this,” he said. “We had to stay calm and make all the right calls. We made a few passes, pitted at the right time and put the right tires on the car. That was the most important thing today.” The Dutchman had to make repeated passes, but so confident, so dominant is he now that he almost seemed to play with the opponent, Leclerc the unfortunate mouse, which he let out of his clutches but only for seconds. Verstappen spun mid-race to lose a place to Leclerc he had just taken, only to settle and pass him once again within several laps before going on to take an eighth win of the season from 13 meetings. It was a blow to Leclerc’s championship hopes. Verstappen’s lead over the Monegasque driver is now 80 points, a seemingly insurmountable advantage with nine races remaining. At Mercedes, while victory remains a long way off, the pleasure from it was palpable. They scored second and third last time out in France, but here they did it with their car proving it could really challenge. Enough, indeed, to move Hamilton from seventh to second and for him and teammate Russell to third, to finish ahead of both Ferrari and Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull, which was fifth . Their car, a mercurial beast this year, is a handful to set up, balance and get into the operating window. This weekend, right up to qualifying, she guarded her performance with sad satanism. On Saturday they found the sweet spot as Russell took pole and on Sunday the car was faster and more manageable than it has been all year. Hamilton believes a victory is indeed possible. “This weekend there was a chance for a win,” he said. “If we can get that space in the second half of the season, we can start to fight. This is the first time we have been able to fight with Ferrari. That’s huge for us.” There was also, like Red Bull, proper pit wall decision-making. Control, calm and order at the front, but, at the back, a confused mess from Ferrari. Sainz and Leclerc had started from second and third place, the race was surely to be dictated to them. It started promisingly, their pace was self-evident and after the first few pitstops, Leclerc took the lead with a bold move, braking slowly around the outside of Russell at turn one. So far so good, victory seemed to be within his grasp, but they fell once again. At his second stop they fitted the slower, harder tires for Leclerc, so he could make it to the end without another stop, waiting for the tire to come up to speed with track time. This was a catastrophic miscalculation. Those in his wake stuck with the faster, medium tires and ate him up in no time. First Verstappen overtook, had a spin with clutch trouble, before passing again. Then Russell also found him a sitting duck. The indignation emanating from Leclerc’s cockpit danced in the air like a heatwave. Ferrari were forced to pit him again for soft tyres, but the damage was done and he exited in sixth, from which he was unable to return. Leclerc was just as confused as the rest as to why the team opted for the hard tires and bemoaned Ferrari’s failures. “A match like this is disappointing and we have to get better overall,” he said. “It’s always a feeling that something is going on whether it’s reliability, mistakes or whatever. Team principal Mattia Binotto said they had been misled by the tire’s performance data. Verstappen, Hamilton and Russell confirmed that the use of hard tires was not even considered by their teams. A summer break of licking their wounds and some serious self-examination awaits you. The Scuderia had struck boldly in their own direction, one that led to a blind alley where they had been stolen away by Red Bull. Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon eighth and ninth for Alpine and Sebastian Vettel 10th for Aston Martin.
