Which Formula One driver made the most of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend?
It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Hungaroring.
Driver performance summary
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Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?
Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?
Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (0%)
- Robert Kubica (0%)
- George Russell (6%)
- Alexander Albon (0%)
- Daniil Kvyat (0%)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (0%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (4%)
- Lance Stroll (0%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Lando Norris (0%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (11%)
- Kevin Magnussen (1%)
- Romain Grosjean (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (1%)
- Max Verstappen (33%)
- Charles Leclerc (0%)
- Sebastian Vettel (1%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (42%)
Total Voters: 284
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2019 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix
- 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix Star Performers
- Verstappen can’t stop Hammertime
- Hamilton 10 wins away from Schumacher’s all-time victory record
- Paddock Diary: Hungarian Grand Prix day four
Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
John H (@john-h)
4th August 2019, 17:20
Verstappen will win. Russel, Kimi and Sainz though should have a shot at this. Small mention to Albon too for getting what could be a crucial point in the Renault battle.
faulty (@faulty)
4th August 2019, 20:17
Hamilton’s leading the poll. But to me, it was Russell thru and thru.
ajpennypacker (@ajpennypacker)
4th August 2019, 21:07
For me it was clearly Sainz. Beating a Red Bull in a straight fight (as “straight” as it can be Gasly driving it).
Max and Lewis were brilliant too, but I’m always more impressed by someone, from the midfield beating a leading car
Mariano (@mariano)
5th August 2019, 1:46
+ 1
The TV never showed the long battle between Sainz and Gasly nor the Sky commentators did mentioned it. It’s obvious that Crofty is always focused on Norris as if Sainz doesn’t exists.
Alonso (@alonshow)
5th August 2019, 15:12
You’re probably right. Voted Vers, but come to think about it, Sainz had more merit this time.
Mioki (@okif1)
5th August 2019, 21:21
+1
Agree on that. We were watching other fights on TV, but the fight for 5th was systematically ignored during the 38 laps of that fight. I really wonder why Sainz is lately systematically ignored by the Formula 1 TV. It also happened in Austria. He went from P19 to P8 and we never saw his awesome race on TV. They later on published a video in Formula1.com: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.watch-every-pass-from-carlos-sainzs-brilliant-drive-from-p19-to-p8.4OzUlKmWSscjXWbxKtKlII.html
There must be a reason why the TV signal is depriving us from those shows from Sainz.
Patrick (@paeschli)
6th August 2019, 21:15
Verstappen qualified on pole with the 2nd fastest car, pretty impressive.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
4th August 2019, 17:24
Has to be Hamilton! What an epic performance to make that strategy work. Mercedes said he’d be catching VER on the last lap over team radio… i.e. they weren’t sure it was going to work at all, but HAM made it happen.
Shout out to Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon as well. Sainz for beating a Redbull and finishing 5th again and Ocon for seeing his chances increase significantly today to get that second seat at Mercedes.
erikje
4th August 2019, 17:31
Its driver of the weekend!
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
4th August 2019, 18:40
Ok, let’s look at the whole weekend.
Verstappen had a very good qualifying, didn’t make any mistakes during the race and got 2nd place and FL.
Hamilton had a so-so qualifying, but still, only .2 of pole (and his teammate) isn’t exactly bad and then in the race he had the measure of Max during both stints and put a stonking last stint, shattering lap record after lap record to catch VER for the win.
I’d say it’s still Hamilton.
Oconomo
5th August 2019, 12:04
@jeffreyj
“he had the measure of Max during both stints” translates into “he was driving the best car”.
He ran wide twice, locked up, couldn’t pass Max (who didn’t make a single mistake) and only won on strategy.
I say it’s Max.
F1oSaurus (@)
4th August 2019, 19:41
erikje, Verstappen sets his car up gambling that a good Q3 result will net him the best result. This makes his car faster on the straights than Mercedes, but slower in corners which will cost him in tyre wear during the race. Hamilton goes for a setup that works better during the race and indeed i performs slightly worse in Q3.
In the end, Hamilton gets maximum points, Verstappen not. So best weekend for Hamilton.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
4th August 2019, 22:04
@f1osaurus That doesn’t really make sense. Almost always, running more downforce gives you a larger benefit in qualifying, as you can use DRS to offset some of the drag limitations. That’s the whole reason why Red Bull used to just run a super high-downforce configuration, then try to control the pace up front in the race. You wouldn’t run lower downforce if you wanted to maximize qualifying pace.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:28
@mashiat No, lower downforce is more important in Q3. However it causes more tyre wear and that is what killed Verstappen’s race.
Verstappen would not have made it to the end whatever strategy Hamilton used. Hamilton was much better able to manage his tyres.
oconomo
5th August 2019, 12:08
@f1osaurus
Please explain how you come to the conclusion Max set his car up for qualifying? (Which he never does btw)
Max was flying the entire race, finished a minute ahead of a Ferrari (with an extra pitstop), was capable of fending off a faster car for the majority of the race, lapped his teammate and only lost out due to a good call from Mercedes.
Litteraly nothing suggests he had his car set-up for qualifying.
Please explain how you came to your conclusion with factual arguments.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:29
oconomo lower downforce = better for Q3 = more tyre wear = worse for the race
Verstappen was beaten on tyre wear. He struggled way too early in the first stint and he wasn’t able to make it till the end on his hard tyres.
Hamilton was fine on tyres and would have beaten Verstappen on tyre wear no matter what strategy he used.
Asanator (@asanator)
6th August 2019, 13:31
@f1osaurus Errr no. There are too many variables which affect tyre wear for you to make that assumption. Just a change in track temperatures (which there certainly was) can move a teams car in or out of the ideal tyre operating window, never mind the plethora of other potential causes which could cause one cars tyres to wear or overheat relative to anothers.
F1oSaurus (@)
6th August 2019, 20:34
@asanator Well it’s one thing and also the major one. So yes.
Ajaxn
4th August 2019, 20:07
Agreed Hamilton.
Anyone else with his advantage going into the race, might have just settled for a finish. Anyone else might have simply have driven safetly brought the car home, not taken any chances. Instead Hamilton made it exciting.
I think Mercedes gave Bottas a chance to shine when he out qualified Hamilton. In the end all that did was give the advantage to Redbull. I doubt they’ll do that again.
Tango (@tango)
4th August 2019, 21:15
I love how both Verstappen and Hamilton go on a hunt when behind and hound down the leader in order to push for error, or strategic opening and pounce. This time was Ham’s turn to shine but you gotta love how both drivers’ mentallity give us great races
Pat (@patrick1972)
4th August 2019, 22:40
+1 it takes two to tango
Nikki (@nikkit)
5th August 2019, 8:56
@tango
Agreed. Verstappen has twice now bounced back from awful starts at Austria and Germany to go for the win and twice we’ve seen Mercedes make two strategy gambles that they had the faith in Hamilton to make work (Granted, Monaco was a gamble born out a strategy mistake, but he made it work in the end)
I do think that menatlly they are both very similar when under pressure and have put in some beautiful -and suprisingly succesful- drives this year.
Verstappen has defintely moved himself into the position of Hamiton’s main rival this year. Bottas 2.0 needs a system restore it seems and the ferrari drivers are either making two many mistakes or are beign let down by the car or startegy errors.
Whether Verstappen can beat Hamilton this year? I don’t think he will, this is still Lewis’s year, but he’s going to make him fight for it.
David BR (@david-br)
4th August 2019, 17:25
Difficult. Voted Verstappen as it’s for the weekend and he didn’t do anything but drive brilliantly in the race. Hamilton’s pressing and conversion of the win was a touch better than brilliant, but then he qualified third, not so epic.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
4th August 2019, 21:24
“…but then he qualified third, not so epic…” – by 0.2s and in a car set up for the race and not optimised for one-lap pace.
Number of points for pole: ZERO.
Number of points for race win: TWENTY FIVE.
The Championship is decided by who gets the most points, not the most poles. A “brilliant” drive would include tyre management.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
4th August 2019, 21:37
@gnosticbrian That backfires because Hamilton has 87 poles, so it’s clearly a big deal for him. In Hungary pole is half the job done. Max did nothing wrong this weekend. He just got beaten because Hamilton and Mercedes did everything right this weekend.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
4th August 2019, 21:46
“That backfires because Hamilton has 87 poles…” – a non sequitur.
Hamilton clearly setup his car this weekend for the race; Verstappen for qualy. Events show that Hamilton made the better choice.
That Hamilton has made pole on 87 previous occasions does not mean that all those poles were achieved in a car set up for one lap pace.
Oconomo
5th August 2019, 10:57
@GnosticBrian
So, despite having any evidence suggestion remotely that Max set up his car for qualifying, you make that argument?
Max was flying the entire race, finished a minute ahead of a Ferrari (with an extra overtake), was capable of fending off a faster car for the majority of the race and only lost out due to a good call from Mercedes.
Litteraly nothing suggests he had his car set-up for qualifying.
Please explain how you came to your conclusion with factual arguments.
F1oSaurus (@)
6th August 2019, 20:40
What more “evidence” than qualifying and the race do you need really?
AMG44 (@amg44)
4th August 2019, 17:29
What a strong season Sainz is having. He was never far off Max in their Toroo Rosso days. Massively impressed by ‘Mr Consistent’ Sainz. He may very well be more talented than Occon, Gasly, Ricc, Lec right now.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
4th August 2019, 18:13
@amg44 I’m really happy to see him doing so well too. He seems to have put aside inconsistencies and bar a slight edge in qualifying he tends to maximize his sundays, ending up high in the championship standings. And that goes for the whole McLaren team that I find operationally nearly error-free. Deserved 5th in front of a Red Bull on pure merit.
F1oSaurus (@)
4th August 2019, 20:47
@amg44 Was Sainz really any better than Norris though? Norris was incredibly unlucky with a very poorly executed pit stop which cost him 5 positions. He clawed back a few of those, but ultimately there is not much you can do to recover from that on this track. Norris ended up stuck at the back of the train of cars stuck behind Sainz.
TFLB (@tflb)
5th August 2019, 9:55
@f1osaurus Yes, he was. He got a better start and pulled steadily away from him in the first stint. Okay Norris had a bad stop but still would have finished behind.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:06
@tflb Sainz was most definitely NOT pulling away. Norris stayed arounf 2 seconds behind as they always do.
Sainz didn’t have a better start either, but Norris got blocked by Vettel.
So yes Sainz did happen to end up in front of Norris after the start, but that was really it.
Philip (@philipgb)
4th August 2019, 17:31
Gotta be Verstappen. Hamilton gave us a great race but that pole should have been his and he made a bit of a meal out of getting past Verstappen.
Verstappen gave a qualifying and race that makes you wonder if last year’s Toro Rosso could have been a race winner already.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
4th August 2019, 21:28
“…he made a bit of a meal out of getting past Verstappen…” – on a track where overtaking has always been described as “difficult”; really?
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
4th August 2019, 17:34
Wish I could change my vote and give it to Russell.
With the two in front clear of the rest and pushing all race long, I kind of forgot the superb weekend Russell had and would have liked to vote for him…
Asanator (@asanator)
6th August 2019, 13:48
Yeah, I voted for Russell, he had an outstanding weekend!
Ronald (@mosquito)
4th August 2019, 17:39
Sometimes you just want to vote for 2 guys. Verstappen for a flawless race and a perfect qualifying, but Hamilton for a perfect race and a less than perfect qualifying. In the end it’s the race that gives the points, so I gave it to Hamilton.
Hope to see more of these kinds of race in which the battle for first is going on until the final stages of the race.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
4th August 2019, 17:43
Kimi of course, no alternatives. That Sauber doen’t deserve to be in TOP-10 but somehow Kimi managed it. Plus making it to Q3. What a legend.
Islander
4th August 2019, 18:17
+1
Kept a fast charging Bottas behind him for 5 last laps of the race. Alfa versus the superior might of Mercedes!!!!
Kimi p7
Bottas p8
L G
4th August 2019, 22:12
@huhhii By that logic, Verstappen finished 2nd in a Red Bull that doesn’t deserve to be top 2. Sainz finished in 5th in a McLaren that doesn’t deserve to be top 5 either. Bottom line is, if the seats were switched, Raikkonen could not have managed what either Hamilton or Verstappen did.
Islander
6th August 2019, 9:45
…. lol Ham and Ver could not manage what Rai did when he was at his peak
Jere (@jerejj)
4th August 2019, 17:54
I voted for Max, but solely concerning the race, my DOTD is Lewis even though he wasn’t officially voted for that with honorable mentions to SAI, and ALB.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
4th August 2019, 17:56
Verstappen. Did the maximum that car is capable of throughout the whole weekend.
AMG44 (@amg44)
4th August 2019, 18:47
Redbull was capable of winning as he proved by getting pole position, leading for 90% of the race and setting the fastest lap (as well as winning 2 races out of the last 5). Redbull and Mercedes were pretty equal at this race.
Lewis made the difference.
Oconomo
5th August 2019, 11:00
@AMG44
Pretty equal, but Mercedes still being faster.
It was the car and the strategy that made the difference!
Alonso (@alonshow)
5th August 2019, 15:27
I’m surprised that Hamilton get DOTW here. He was outqualified by his teammate and he called the wrong strategy. He’s won the race for the team many times, but this time it was the team that won the race for him.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:12
@alonshow Hamilton simply set up his car for the race where Verstappen clearly went for Q3. In the end that gave Hamilton the win.
The team did not win Hamilton the race either. They simply provided another path to do so. Reality is though, Hamilton had a much better setup for the race and could manage his tyres a lot better. Verstappen would have run out of rubber just as well if Hamilton simply had stayed behind. Hamilton had fresher tyres and was more gentle with them. He’d had a massive tyre advantage at the end no matter what.
Alonso (@alonshow)
5th August 2019, 17:48
@f1osaurus: Not sure about that. Regarding quali, it does look like Hamilton had a race oriented setup, but that also seemed to be the case with Bottas. We can’t really know how their race pace compared because they spent most of the race in traffic. The only thing we know for sure is that Bottas qualified ahead.
About the fight with Verstappen it’s far from certain that Ham would have passed him by the end of the race had he not pitted. Actually, it looked more like the opposite was coming. When Hamilton got behind Verstappen on lap 34 his pace advantage was huge, about two seconds per lap. It looked like the pass was a given, but Verstappen still managed to stay ahead. Then Hamilton’s tyres started to degrade so quickly that a few laps later his pace advantage had all but disappeared. After that, chances are that both cars would have degraded tyres at roughly the same rate and, assuming Verstappen made no major mistakes, they would have kept position until the flag.
F1oSaurus (@)
6th August 2019, 20:42
@alonshow Verstappen ran out of tyres 6 or 7 laps before the end. That would have happened in both cases since he couldn’t cruise with Hamilton behind.
Hamilton already could go 6 laps longer in the first short stint and he would have been able to go longer in the second stint too. He would have easily made it to the end.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
4th August 2019, 18:15
Verstappen had a great weekend, but I gave it to Hamilton – not only for his superb drive in the last 15 laps, but also for his bravery in the first clash with Verstappen. I didn’t really expect him to try it, but there you go, for the lead into turn 4. Really courageous stuff.
Patrick (@anunaki)
4th August 2019, 18:32
He was so much faster on the hard tyres. He could only try it.
MacLeod (@macleod)
4th August 2019, 18:16
Not fair I want to vote for Max, Lewis and Carlos…we really need to vote for 1st place -3th place! Keith make it so!
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
4th August 2019, 18:43
Oooh! Yes, @keithcollantine, let us vote for our top 3 DOTW!
Alvaro (@marin)
4th August 2019, 20:48
Or let us rate each driver and you show the averages? I guess it would compete with RF’s Star Perfmorers/Strugglers =)
faulty (@faulty)
5th August 2019, 15:16
Agreed, first-past-the-post voting in sports media is almost as undemocratic as a rigged brexit vote, @keithcollantine . We want ranked voting.
Patrick (@anunaki)
4th August 2019, 18:36
I voted for Max. Pole position and almost winning it in the 2nd fastest car. Brilliant!!
Hugh (@hugh11)
4th August 2019, 19:07
Verstappen. Pole position in a seemingly slower car, not really much he could do on the one stopper with those tyres, but him and Hamilton both evidently drove superbly to be so far ahead of the Ferrari’s and their teammates (of course we don’t know what would’ve happened with Bottas, but yeah, even when he did get some clear air he looked slower).
Hamilton was excellent in the race but was beaten by his teammate in qualifying. Same situation with Sainz.
Shoutouts to Raikkonen and Russell, probably 2nd and 3rd for me.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
4th August 2019, 19:13
Hamilton of course. Who else? He is together with Vettel the better driver of formula 1 today.
Patrick (@anunaki)
4th August 2019, 19:16
To call Lewis and Vettel the better drivers of F1 today, you really forget someone. Yellow bird is clearly among them
oconomo
5th August 2019, 12:31
@jorge-lardone
Lol, still trying to came across as a sore and miserable human being, no?
You did it!
Dean
6th August 2019, 7:58
Still acting like a specimen, no? You did it.
Oconomo
6th August 2019, 10:33
@Dean
Thanks xD
I’ll keep up the good work!
F1oSaurus (@)
4th August 2019, 19:50
Has to be Hamilton. That stint at the end was epic.
Verstappen took the gamble on a Q3 setup. Probably knowing he would suffer during the race with that setup, but obviously overtaking on Hungaroring is pretty much impossible between equal machinery.
Hamilton took the gamble on a better race setup which would mean less performance in Q3, but better performance and less tyre wear during the race. This turned out to be the better strategy for the weekend (again). Although Hamilton was lucky Bottas fell away after the start. If he’d ended up bottled up behind a slow going Bottas his race would probably have been over too.
Not many could have pulled off that 2-stop strategy, but Hamilton is one of the few who can and he did it brilliantly.
Ajaxn
4th August 2019, 20:12
Good point.
Verstappen’s best chance of wining would have been Lewis and Bottas slugging it out for position, wearing their tires and brakes on a circuit which isn’t easy to over take on. Some how Hamilton with the same engine got by Bottas. Its unfortunate that Bottas had a chunk taken out of him by the ‘slower’ Ferrari.
Patrick (@anunaki)
4th August 2019, 20:24
Well how many times you get a free pit stop from P2 when racing another team?
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:15
@anunaki Quite often really, but who cares? Hamilton managed his tyres a lot better than Verstappen. That was ultimately key.
Verstappen styarted struggling on his tyres very early in the first stint. He would have come up way short on the second stint no matter what.
Hamilton would have had the same tyre advantage at the end even if he’d continued on the hard tyres.
Patrick (@anunaki)
5th August 2019, 17:34
Indeed he would. Max had to ask way more from his car and tyres than Lewis. That’s the advantage of having a better car
F1oSaurus (@)
6th August 2019, 20:45
@anunaki They have the same tyres and they were driving the same speed. So what more does he need to “ask”?
Verstappen just couldn’t make his strategy work. Hamilton did and that won him the race.
Patrick (@anunaki)
8th August 2019, 9:43
Max had less grip, so to be able to run the same speed he need to ask more from his tyres.
I don’t see why this is difficult for people to understand. It’s generally known in the paddock the Mercedes is a quicker car.
oconomo
5th August 2019, 12:19
@f1osaurus
Driving the fastest car really helps.
And as I mentioned above: Explain your logic claiming Max set his car up for qualifying?
Max did nothing wrong, the entire weekend, and only lost out to a faster car helped by a great call.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:18
oconomo Well it didn’t help Verstappen now did it?
Verstappen was faster than both Hamilton and Bottas on the straights. So he set very little wing, which is great for Q3, but in the end it killed his tyres and therefore lost him the race.
Hamilton would have beaten Verstappen without 2-stopping as well. Clearly Verstappen wasn’t able to finish the race on the strategy he had. Hamilton would have been able to do so. With enough rubber to spare.
oconom
6th August 2019, 10:20
@f1osaurus
Verstappen was beaten by a better car with better tire management. Max always sets up his car with a little wing to compensate for the lack of horsepower.
You’re realy suggesting that the second fastest driver to ever finish the Hungarian grand prix did it with a car set up for qualifying? That would make Verstappen by default the greatest driver ever.
Oconomo
6th August 2019, 10:34
And faster on the straights….in Hungary…..oooh, sounds like a genius set up choice to get pole in Hungary, just ask the Ferrari’s.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
4th August 2019, 20:50
Who voted Gasly? You’ve got to be kidding….
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
4th August 2019, 21:29
Mts Gasly is entitled to her opinion…
Mariano (@mariano)
5th August 2019, 1:49
lol
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
4th August 2019, 21:30
Hard choice, Max or Lewis. In the end I picked Lewis because of the way he drove the final 20 laps.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
4th August 2019, 21:48
George!
BoRa (@bnwllc3)
4th August 2019, 22:20
There was some real solid performances whole weekend. Russel for example, missed Q2 by a very tiny margin. Sainz also did a very decent job through the race. Hamilton and Verstappen both drove a brilliant race and real lead fighting show they put on. So, DOTW should be one of them, don’t care who.
The most heartbreaking DOTW was Leclerc. Giving way to Vettel so easily was a disappointment for me. At least he should have given some harder moments to Vettel to keep the last podium spot.
The Skeptic (@)
4th August 2019, 23:06
Hamilton’s race was awesome, but qualifying was a bit short of his usual standards.
Verstappen’s qualifying was awesome, but his race pace was surprisingly not as awesome. He couldn’t get away from Hamilton in the first stint, and eventually had to succumb.
Sainz stands out as a man who extracted the near maximum from the car in qualifying, and then placed the car above it’s expected level during the race.
To me George Russell was another who outperformed the car.
oconomo
5th August 2019, 12:36
@theskeptic
“He couldn’t get away from Hamilton in the first stint, and eventually had to succumb.”
Because the Mercedes is still the faster car and Hamilton should have been on pole.
“but his race pace was surprisingly not as awesome”
Euhm, did you actually watch the race? He, and Lewis, basically lapped every car on track, and probably would have lapped the Ferrari’s had they not made another stop.
In other words: His race pace was (as usual) phenomenal, just like Lewis his pace.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:20
@theskeptic
That is also a matter of setup choice. Verstappen set up his car to perform well in Q3. Hamilton more towards the race. This caused Verstappen to have higher tyre wear and Hamilton to be able to eek out more laps out of the same tyres.
This tyre wear difference is what ultimately decided the race. Verstappen ran out of tyres well before the end of the race while Hamilton cold also have made that 1-stop work.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
4th August 2019, 23:13
I didn’t vote, both Verstappen and Hamilton drove very well and so did Sainz and Russell, again Vettell put in a good effort.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:33
@johnrkh Vettel put in a good effort? He ended up having the slightly better strategy compared to Leclerc yes, but he was over a minute down from Hamilton. How is that “good” in a Ferrari?
JohnH (@johnrkh)
5th August 2019, 22:16
@f1osaurus Yes but he himself drove well to get on the podium.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
4th August 2019, 23:44
Surely Gasly won’t see out the season at Red Bull. Certainly not next year. It’s one thing to be a solid number 2, it’s quite a different thing to finish more than a lap down on your team mate and consistently the last of the top 6 when your team mate is fighting for podiums.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
5th August 2019, 3:03
@tommy-c RB don’t really have anyone else.
I watched the post race paddock interviews, the one with Bottas was sad. The body language his tone and general demeanour was one of a beaten man. A man who knows he has just lost his last chance.
Jon (@johns23)
5th August 2019, 3:43
Fantastic weekend for Max even if he did loose out in the end to Lewis. No-one in equal machinery against Max and Lewis are going to get close from now on. They’re both on another level
James (@knewman)
5th August 2019, 3:59
I kinda hate to vote for Hamilton considering how whiny and pessimistic he was over the radio. Pulled it out in the end though.
John Richards (@legardforpresident)
5th August 2019, 4:18
My first comment here on RaceFans. Voted for Verstappen. His start for me, made the race. If he hadn’t gotten that perfect get away and kept the Mercedes of Hamilton behind, it’s pretty obvious Lewis would have scampered off into the distance. Verstappen’s composure when Hamilton tried to dummy him on the outside of T4/5 was absolutely divine and really showed how he’s grown as a driver. Lewis was my close 2nd. He was mighty. Delivered the goods as promised. No fuss.
Mackie
5th August 2019, 6:39
Al those people who says that Lewis had the car on a race setup at Quali, do you work at Mercedes F1 team?
Mabey Max had one hell of a q3 quali lap and did better than the car is.
Merc showed ( for the first time, because of Max en the RB) there full race speed and full potentional.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
5th August 2019, 8:07
‘Clearly Hamilton set his car up for the race, not the quali’. Can I have some of that Kool-Aid you’re all drinking?
Some people on here are hilarious. Whenever Hamilton gets a pole, every single one of you will be emphasising how it is the Driver of the WEEKEND. Now that he hasn’t but still wins… he still leads this poll! I mean, sake…
Anyway, it’s Russell.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:23
@hahostolze Yes it is quite clear. Verstappen had so little downforce that he actually was faster than both Mercedes cars on all the straights.
So yes that means he can set a great Q3 lap, but it also means his tyre wear will be horrendous. Verstappen ran out of tyres well before the end of the race, so … yeah.
Reality is that Hamilton made the best choice for Q3. Even though it didn’t give him pole, it did help him win the race. Which is ultimately what the weekend is all about. The points you receive.
GeeMac (@geemac)
5th August 2019, 8:39
It’s driver of the weekend folks…Hamilton was outqualified by Bottas so regardless of how good his race was you have to discount him. Same goes for Sainz. IT has to probably be Verstappen, he did nothing wrong all weekend.
F1oSaurus (@)
5th August 2019, 17:25
@geemac It’s driver of the WEEKEND. So if Verstappen puts on so little downforce just to win pole in Q3 and then loses the race because he has so little downforce that he’s eating up his tyres much too fast.
Both Saturday and Sunday matter, but if you aim all on winning on Saturday and then therefore lose on Sunday, you still lost the WEEKEND since the race is where the points are handed out.
GeeMac (@geemac)
6th August 2019, 9:33
@f1osaurus In the hybrid era a car being on pole that isn’t a Mercedes or Ferrari is a remarkable thing…I’m not holding Red Bull’s strategy for quali against them, particularly given how important pole is in Hungary. In the race, Mercedes rolled the dice on strategy and it paid off, that doesn’t take anything away from the quality of Verstapen’s performance all weekend.
F1oSaurus (@)
6th August 2019, 20:37
@geemac Ricciardo had already 3 pole positions.
Mercedes didn’t roll any dice. Verstappen didn’t manage his tyres properly and couldn’t make it to the end on his strategy. Clearly Hamilton could have, but Mercedes opted to try something else. Either way, Hamilton would have won on a 1-stop strategy too.
Robbie (@robbie)
5th August 2019, 12:00
Max for me. His first pole position and forced Merc into a big gamble of a strategy. Huge kudos to Max and RBR for doing more with less. Suddenly Marko’s pre-season prediction of 5 wins doesn’t seem so bold after all. Two wins and a race where Max was in with a shout and the only other competition for LH. Amazing stuff for RBR with only half a season with Honda so far.
Oconomo
5th August 2019, 12:17
@f1osaurus
Driving the fastest car really helps.
And as I mentioned above: Explain your logic claiming Max set his car up for qualifying?
Esploratore (@esploratore)
6th August 2019, 4:32
Clear verstappen, he did all he had to to try and win this, never gave up, hamilton had a bad qualifying and only won because he had a little faster car and a better strategy, that’s the most important point I think, if red bull had 2 competitive drivers he wouldn’t have.