Hamilton dominates Hungarian Grand Prix as Verstappen takes repaired car to second

2020 Hungarian Grand Prix summary

19th July 2020, 15:5620th July 2020, 10:04 | Written by Keith Collantine

Lewis Hamilton scored his second win in as many weekends, controlling a Hungarian Grand Prix which began in difficult conditions.

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Rain before the start of the race meant almost the entire field took the start on intermediate tyres. The track dried out quickly, however, and within a few laps everyone had pitted for slicks.

Hamilton was never seriously threatened, pulling out a 20 second lead over the fight for second place. He then sacrificed that to make an extra pit stop, fit fresh tyres, and grab the bonus point for fastest lap.

The contest for second place was between Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen, whose mere presence in the race was the result of a significant achievement by his Red Bull mechanics, who speedily repaired his car after he crashed on his reconnaissance lap.

Verstappen rewarded their rapid work with an immaculate start which put him in the hunt for a podium position. But for the second race in a row he found himself under threat from Bottas as the final laps ticked down.

Bottas came around the last corner within DRS range of Verstappen, but not quite close enough to strike. The pair had to pick their way through traffic, but Verstappen held on for second place.

Lance Stroll brought his Racing Point home fourth, around 19 seconds ahead of Alexander Albon. However the finishing position of the second Red Bull is in doubt, as the team is under investigation for drying his grid spot before the race started, a violation of the rules.

Sebastian Vettel brought his Ferrari home in sixth place, while team mate Charles Leclerc lost the final point to Charles Leclerc after a long stint on hard tyres. The pair were separated by Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen, the latter benefitting from a gamble to switch to medium tyres on the formation lap.

Pierre Gasly was the race’s only retirement, coming to a smoky stop in the AlphaTauri pit due to what he called a “drivetrain” problem.

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2020 Hungarian Grand Prix reaction

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Keith Collantine

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147 comments on “Hamilton dominates Hungarian Grand Prix as Verstappen takes repaired car to second”

Carlos Medrano (@carlosmedrano)
19th July 2020, 16:00

Hamilton a class above all the drivers in top teams right now
1. mystic one (@mysticus)
  19th July 2020, 16:07
  
  what? are you serious? max was the driver of the race! he was behind lewis all race breathing down his neck, ham’s neck almost snapped from checking his mirrors to see where max could attack from :) max is the man to beat…
  1. Matt
    19th July 2020, 16:09
    
    What race did you watch?
  2. Tom
    19th July 2020, 16:13
    
    I think It was Max who nearly snapped his neck on the warm up lap…
    1. Tom
      19th July 2020, 16:16
      
      I think It was Max who nearly snapped his neck on the warm up lap…
  3. Edvaldo
    19th July 2020, 16:18
    
    good one!
  4. David (@davidjwest)
    19th July 2020, 16:21
    
    Max crashed in the formation lap, what a rookie.
  5. P
    19th July 2020, 16:38
    
    that’s a pretty long neck.
  6. DAllein (@)
    19th July 2020, 16:49
    
    What?!
    Max crashed on formation lap, drove unremarkable race, finished second just because Bottas botched his start and couldn’t make tyres work.
  7. Kribana (@krichelle)
    19th July 2020, 16:51
    
    I don’t understand this driver of the day for Verstappen. He crashed on the lap to the grid, almost destroying his whole car, and forces the mechanics to work on his car 18 minutes before the race. I cannot imagine the stress levels on those mechanics, but that is a massive job they did. Yes, I will not discredit him from overtaking 4 cars on his route to P2, and keeping Bottas behind. However, crashing on the lap to the grid is just ridiculous. Other drivers like Vettel and Magnussen had no mistakes today. A solid job from Vettel to get P6 and for Magnussen to get points after the pit stop on the formation lap.
    1. Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
      19th July 2020, 17:03
      
      @krichelle Vettel had no mistakes? I remember he run wide twice, allowing Albon to overtake him. Those are huge, point losing mistakes.
      1. Kribana (@krichelle)
        19th July 2020, 17:17
        
        I must have missed his running wide with Albon. I’ll have Hamilton or Magnussen for getting that strategy to work and scoring points.
    2. Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
      19th July 2020, 17:23
      
      Well Kribana that is pre race so that doesn’t count really! If you can see what he can push out of that car is just amazing .. more then 70 seconds in front of his teammate Albon!
    3. Dex
      19th July 2020, 17:25
      
      They were a lap behind!
    4. SPIDERmaN (@spiderman)
      19th July 2020, 19:48
      
      this driver of the day thingy has become very useless ..and not worth the time it gets on media..iTS CLEAR Hamilton obliterated the entire field and performed a master class race ..not a single mistake all weekend..and yet the s9 called driver of the day vote goes to a guy who nearly missed the start by crushing his car on the formation lap..absolute balloony…
  8. olivier (@olivier)
    19th July 2020, 17:02
    
    Magnussen
  9. medman (@medman)
    19th July 2020, 17:27
    
    LOL… the Red Bull mechanics saved Verstappen’s day… without those mechanics Max is the bonehead who threw away a chance at a podium on the formation lap. Driver of the day should go to the mechanics, not Max.
  10. Rott
    19th July 2020, 18:08
    
    Max was beaten. Lol. The losers choose him to be DOTD to fill their void. Lol. Lol.
    
    Lewis fastest of all. Best driver. Full stop.
    1. Bart
      19th July 2020, 20:51
      
      Best car. By a wide margin. So?
  11. DeanR
    19th July 2020, 19:14
    
    Max crashed his car on an out lap to the grid! HOW, in any sane universe can a driver that stacks his car on the way to the grid be “Driver of the day”? Max always has good races to recover mistakes he has made. One day he will be a magnificent driver but that day isn’t yet.
    1. Bart
      19th July 2020, 22:26
      
      Imagine what the race would have looked like if you take out Verstappen. One big borefest with the 2 Mercedes drivers finishing first and second.
      If on the other hand you’d take away Lewis then it would still be a killer race.
      
      Lewis did great, could not have done better. Perfect. And boring.
      
      If driver of the day was automatically assigned to the driver that wins the race there’s no point in having it at all, right?
      Lewis won the race, deservedly, and got the laurels for it. Max made people sit on the edge of the chair.
      Therefore Lewis was the race winner and Max the man of the race.
  12. Colly
    19th July 2020, 19:18
    
    @mystic
    ROFL
    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
    Funniest comment of the day award to you!
  13. Colly
    19th July 2020, 19:20
    
    Mystic one, you do of course realise Hamilton did not have to push after the 1st corner of the 1st lap until he went for fastest lap in the last 3laps.
    He had a full pitstop and then about 10sec in hand over Max.
    Are you sure you watched today’s race??
    1. mystic one (@mysticus)
      19th July 2020, 22:00
      
      @colly i thought in your first comment you got the sarcasm? but reading your second comment… hmmm ok i ll throw myself under the bus :)
  14. grat
    19th July 2020, 22:16
    
    he was behind lewis all race breathing down his neck,
    
    Yeah, Verstappen was so close, Hamilton was able to stop for a new set of tires, and still finish nearly 9 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
    
    Hamilton didn’t even know Max was still in the race until about lap 15.
  15. MacLeod (@macleod)
    19th July 2020, 22:17
    
    silly comment Lewis controlled the whole race and Max couldn’t do anything about it!
  16. JohnH (@johnrkh)
    20th July 2020, 0:05
    
    @mysticus 🤣
    1. mystic one (@mysticus)
      20th July 2020, 1:37
      
      @johnrkh
      hope you got the sarcasm and wont lecture me about how fast lewis was :)
      1. JohnH (@johnrkh)
        20th July 2020, 2:29
        
        @johnrkh Yes and no :)
      2. JohnH (@johnrkh)
        20th July 2020, 2:30
        
        @mysticus
        Yes and no :)
2. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
  19th July 2020, 16:20
  
  So, a class above Bottas?
  1. Rott
    19th July 2020, 18:17
    
    At least Bottas has a win and he finished P2 last year.
    How many titles or even wins does max has?
    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      19th July 2020, 21:48
      
      They both have 8. But what does Max have to do with it? I think you missed my point
    2. Bart
      19th July 2020, 22:29
      
      You can best measure a drivers qualities by comparing them to their teammates.
      How many wins and championships do Valtteri’s and Max’s teammates have?
      1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
        19th July 2020, 22:32
        
        What does Max have to do with anything? I was making the point that Merc are the only top team right now
      2. Bart
        20th July 2020, 9:01
        
        @fullcoursecaution: You responded to my message, but I was just responding to @Rott who drew Max in.
3. Aldoid
  19th July 2020, 16:23
  
  All joking aside, I’ll always give Lewis his due credit when it comes to the rocket ship he’s driving. I’ve said it before & I’ll keep saying it no matter how reluctant some might be to accept it: these cars don’t develop in a vacuum. A month or two ago on Sky, Martin Brundle interviewed Toto & Lewis. Martin alluded to the fact that it was highly unlikely for them to turn up at the start of the season & not be on top of the car. Lewis said that’s exactly what happened at the start of 2019 when everyone thought Mercedes might have been sandbagging. Toto even went as far as to credit Lewis for the turnaround. He said when they brought the updates to the 2nd test, the car was no faster despite the data showing improved downforce. Lewis insisted on a setup/development path that in Toto’s words, the team “weren’t comfortable” taking. But in the end they trusted Lewis, the data showed (& the engineers accepted) the car was happier & following his direction the team went back to the drawing board with Lewis’ suggestions in mind. The rest is history.
  1. Gabriel (@naylamp)
    19th July 2020, 16:41
    
    so the same can be said about SCH, ALO, VET before him then, right?
    1. Aldoid
      19th July 2020, 16:50
      
      The same can always be said! It’s always been said! After 30+years of watching this sport, only lately have I seen the persistence of this ridiculous, stubborn opinion that this sort of dominating performance can be “just the car”. The darn things are tailored in development to the guys driving it. Concise, technical feedback has always been valued. The best drivers have to be able to work with the engineers to get the most out of their respective platforms, race by race. It’s no coincidence the best drivers end up in the best cars: the teams can hire anybody they want, but when the top seats are up for grabs it’s obvious which drivers get the call first.
      1. Gabriel (@naylamp)
        19th July 2020, 16:54
        
        fair enough then.
      2. Depailler
        19th July 2020, 17:49
        
        How do you explain Vateri Bottas then? Is he the second best driver in the world?
        
        Hamilton is clearly a fantastic driver. Most top drivers have the kind of development role he has in the team. They all provide feedback and help improve the car, however I accept he is good at that too.
        
        However I’d love to see Verstappen have a year in Merc, or even Alonso, Charles LC or even Norris.
      3. Aldoid
        19th July 2020, 18:23
        
        I never realized Bottas needed explaining. He’s good… on the best days he gives Lewis a run for his money. He fared very well vs Massa @ Williams, & Massa is a known quantity (lauded for giving excellent technical feedback & being a good developmental driver. Well known for doing the lion’s share of base setup work @ Ferrari alongside both Schumacher & Alonso) who acquitted himself very well despite spending most his career in the shadow of 2 drivers who would feature in almost anyone’s top 10 F1 driver list. Valtteri definitely made a step forward in performance after his 1st season, suggesting his input @ Mercedes has payed him dividends as well. But so far he’s no Lewis…
      4. mystic one (@mysticus)
        19th July 2020, 19:00
        
        @Depailler
        bottas is being coached by ham for a long time now… ham knows he is not too serious a threat to him, and explained he is sharing his data with him, and they talk about where to improve etc… and bottas does not really do any silly things in the name of competition to his team mate, like it was the case in rosberg days… ham stopped sharing his data with rosberg, and team shuffled the garage sides without consulting drivers first, and we know who benefitted from that… team in general of course… but atmosphere/harmony is more important in the team then individuals…
        in that respect, i like bottas, he drives his heart out, and drives with his brain and not emotions… you can always see the current harmony in lewis’ eyes!
4. Initially
  19th July 2020, 16:28
  
  Must suck to be an engineer at Mercedes to be honest. Never getting any credit for your amazing job designing the best Formula 1 car there ever was year in year out.
  1. Aldoid
    19th July 2020, 16:35
    
    I doubt it. The guy driving & winning races with it gives them all their due credit after every outing, without fail. (I’m sure their paychecks & bonuses go a long way to relieving any discomfort as well) Team Mercedes seems like an awesome place to work from where I sit.
  2. Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
    19th July 2020, 16:36
    
    It must suck being you, looking for praise everywhere. Most high performing individuals don’t need to be told they do a good job, engineers especially. Seeing data and results is enough. And even if they were looking for public credit, was there every a single time when Hamilton was on the podium and didn’t say how grateful he was to his team and engineers? You must be sleeping through all those moments.
  3. Rott
    19th July 2020, 18:10
    
    Must suck to be seeing Lewis and Mercedes winning everything. Bitterness from losers is boring. Yawn.
  4. mystic one (@mysticus)
    19th July 2020, 22:04
    
    lewis pretty sure thanx everyone in the team including the garage and also the factory almost every race he wins, and apologized to them when he doesnt win… probably means nothing to blind and the deaf…
5. DAllein (@)
  19th July 2020, 16:49
  
  Indeed
6. Grant
  20th July 2020, 9:43
  
  Without Penalties there’s no catching Lewis
Kribana (@krichelle)
19th July 2020, 16:01

Silly Bottas there. Codemasters need to drop his awareness stat a bit. I wonder if the stewards will consider investigating his start, and not to mention his pace.. I think Mercedes gave him the best chances to overtake Verstappen.
1. BasCB (@bascb)
  19th July 2020, 16:22
  
  Then again, maybe it was being TOO aware. He saw lights go out, reacted.Then he reacted quick enough again to stop in time to avoid a fals start @krichelle!
2. Yaru (@yaru)
  19th July 2020, 17:06
  
  He didnt move enough to be penalized I believe, which requires a certain margin shown by the sensor. I think something similar happened to Vettel last season or season before that.
  1. Kribana (@krichelle)
    19th July 2020, 17:37
    
    I believe, you can jump the start, provided that you are not moving physically and that you stay on your grid slot. I believe this was why Vettel avoided a penalty last year at Japan, when I thought, while watching at the race track screens, that it was a clear penalty.
    
    Just a clarification:
    
    In order for the start to be considered safe, these are needed:
    – To stay in your grid slot until the lights go out.
    – The wheels can move, but the car must not be travelling any physical distance prior to the lights going out.
    
    Therefore, you must stay in your grid slot without travelling distance to be considered safe?
3. Yaru (@yaru)
  19th July 2020, 17:30
  
  Looked up the Vettel
  
  https://www.racefans.net/2019/10/13/stewards-explain-why-vettel-avoided-a-jump-start-penalty/
  
  Seems that as long as you’re not moving during lights out and the movement was below a certain threshold, you’ll be fine.
They Did Their Best (@theydidtheirbest)
19th July 2020, 16:01

Great job from Lewis and just unbelievable work by those Red Bull mechanics getting Max’s car fixed, absolutely inspirational team effort.
1. LEMAYIAN (@lems)
  20th July 2020, 6:29
  
  @theydidtheirbest ,it was really amazing
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
19th July 2020, 16:03

Well done to Hamilton, a very good performance. Same for Verstappen who was able to make up for his mistake, he might have given the necessary boost to Red Bull before the next triple header. Still, I can’t get rid of the feeling that there’s something brewing in the Mercedes garage, Wolff’s annoyed reactions in the past few days and his expression after today’s victory weren’t exactly the marks of happiness.
1. Imre (@f1mre)
  19th July 2020, 16:09
  
  Merc may quit at the end of the season. (new Concorde agreement needed for 2021) That would make 2021 somewhat interesting. Other teams developing their cars, with Wolff GP having an early advantage, then fading later on. Like it’s predecessor, Brawn GP in 2009.
  1. Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
    19th July 2020, 16:39
    
    @f1mre 2020 car is probably fast enough to win 2021 without any more development. Someone will surely buy it if Mercedes decide to leave so Mercedes will definitely be on the grid, the only thing might change is the name.
    1. Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
      19th July 2020, 16:42
      
      Since Brackley and Brixworth operate pretty much as independent entities, you’re right – if Mercedes “pulls out”, the F1 team will remain and the change will be rather formal.
2. Rott
  19th July 2020, 18:12
  
  The team has won three races on a trot. And here are the usual dimwits with all sort of nonsense.
  Bitter bitter bitter snake.
  1. Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
    20th July 2020, 8:19
    
    I don’t see anyone being bitter, apart from one hysterical and oversensitive fan. Don’t worry, it’ll improve with age.
Olivier
19th July 2020, 16:04

Charles Leclerc beat his evil twin!
1. melanos
  19th July 2020, 16:58
  
  Or was it the other way around?
  1. olivier (@olivier)
    19th July 2020, 17:38
    
    He he he
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
19th July 2020, 16:04

Last lap was going to be exciting. Sky director decides that instead of showing racing, the audience should see the Red Bull engineers, in profile, staring at their screens. The Red Bull engineers are riveted watching the race whilst the audience is left to watch the engineers.
At other points of the coverage we would see a full length picture of the driver instead of the action. Show the pictures before the start. Spare us more full screen photos until after the race.
1. DaveW (@dmw)
  19th July 2020, 16:58
  
  Be grateful that with COVID we are spared looking at WAGs in the last laps instead of the action.
2. Adam
  19th July 2020, 17:00
  
  It isnt sky. Sky get a feed from f1
3. JC
  19th July 2020, 18:40
  
  That’s the F1 director – the same feed and graphics provided to all broadcasters worldwide
Jere (@jerejj)
19th July 2020, 16:05

A solid drive by Albon, although he should’ve got past the Ferraris quicker.
1. erikje
  19th July 2020, 16:14
  
  Almost lapped by his teammate that is…
  1. Tom
    19th July 2020, 16:24
    
    To be fair that’s a great performance for Albon…
    1. Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
      19th July 2020, 17:24
      
      lol :)
2. David BR (@david-br)
  19th July 2020, 16:22
  
  @jerejj What happened about the grid place drying trick?
  1. Jere (@jerejj)
    19th July 2020, 16:44
    
    @david-br The fairiest outcome would be a financial penalty for the team.
    1. Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
      19th July 2020, 17:10
      
      No the fairest outcome would be disqualification.
      
      Cheating deserves harsh penalties.
LEMAYIAN (@lems)
19th July 2020, 16:07

Lewis absolutely untouchable, and for Verstappen, take a bow man!!! What a very excellent race for him!!! Like the guy literally drove that RB16 to the ground!! That was an awesome race by those two, the cream of the field. Such a shame we wouldn’t see them in equal machinery battling each other.
1. Rott
  19th July 2020, 18:14
  
  Max drove it to the ground, kissed the barrier. Lol.
  Wonder when Lady Luck gonna run out.
  1. Mayrton
    19th July 2020, 19:57
    
    You mean the luck he has by driving for years in a car that can’t deliver him the World Title?
    1. F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
      19th July 2020, 20:21
      
      Maybe he should give the team some input that will help them improve the car?
  2. LEMAYIAN (@lems)
    20th July 2020, 6:30
    
    Rott, perhaps not so soon.
2. Robbie (@robbie)
  19th July 2020, 20:48
  
  @lems Agreed.
Aldoid
19th July 2020, 16:10

Valtteri dropped the ball at the start, though it sounds like the kind of mistake most of us might make. I wonder what the warning light was that he reacted to? Impressive job by RBR to get Max’s car ready in time & equally impressive from Max to repay their efforts with a well deserved 2nd place. Lewis & his Merc, in perfect harmony & a class of 1 at the moment.
1. Rodber
  19th July 2020, 16:24
  
  A jump start is a jump start.
  F1 needs to clean up the rule book and stop being a laughing stock. Every millimetre of movement prior to lights out is a cheat, and it’s not the first time for this guy.
  
  Meanwhile, RAI has the book thrown at him and more for a minor error of being just a touch out of position, gaining him nothing. Time penalty plus penalty point. Jeez. Sports adjudicating at its very worst.
  1. Aldoid
    19th July 2020, 16:32
    
    I wasn’t defending the jump, just that I understood the reason for it. Bottas said he reacted to a light on his dash… I’m saying most people might make the same kind of mistake, not trying to trivialize the infraction or imply he shouldn’t have been penalised. I personally feel it warranted some sort of penalty. The stewarding has been horrendous lately.
    1. Rodber
      19th July 2020, 17:11
      
      No criticism of you intended, Aldoid. Just the stewards. I wonder if Derek Warwick was among them today….
  2. DaveW (@dmw)
    19th July 2020, 17:16
    
    Apparently you have a .2s window before lights out and you have to still be in your box. But a rolling start should be a stop and go penalty. Letting people do a rolling start is absurd.
  3. Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
    19th July 2020, 17:27
    
    Vettel last year didn’t get penalty as well last year I believe in Japan when he jumped the lights .. the rules are very clear .. if you don’t pass the sensor in the box then a movement is allowed. Otherwise they should change the rule!
  4. Yaru (@yaru)
    19th July 2020, 17:31
    
    Not a jump start according to the rules, as seen with Vettel last year:
    
    https://www.racefans.net/2019/10/13/stewards-explain-why-vettel-avoided-a-jump-start-penalty/
Adam (@rocketpanda)
19th July 2020, 16:11

The title – both of them, should not be this easily predicted after only three races. For six years.

What are the other teams doing? Surely there’s something else they could invest their millions in than to drive around getting lapped by the Mercedes on a sunday drive. Why invest so much money to never improve?
1. Yaru (@yaru)
  19th July 2020, 17:10
  
  Its called not being good enough. Mercedes are just better than Ferrari and RB. Have been for all of the hybrid era.
  
  Money helps of course, Merc Ferrari and RB won’t be anywhere near as good without their money. But among the teams with money, Merc makes it count the most
2. Rott
  19th July 2020, 18:16
  
  What you whining about? You want the racing to be rigged? Why don’t you play f1 game and spare this bitterness.
3. F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
  19th July 2020, 20:35
  
  @rocketpanda, Well at least 2017 and 2018 there could have been another winner. OK it didn’t happen, but it’s also not like the WDC was known after the first 3 races.
  
  2017, Vettel was in the lead of the WDC race for most of the season. Only when he blundered at Singapore throwing away an easy win and letting Hamilton take a win he should never have been able to get, did Vettel’s season completely unravel.
  
  2018 Same deal more or less. It went quite even until Vettel blundered at Germany throwing away an easy win and let Hamilton take a win he should never have been able to get, when also then Vettel’s season completely unraveled.
4. David (@davidjwest)
  19th July 2020, 21:18
  
  Ferrari had the best car in 2017 and a competitive car in 2018 so it’s hardly been Mercedes dominating for 6 years – at least it wouldn’t have been had a certain driver stepped up to the challenge.
5. Mayrton
  20th July 2020, 7:41
  
  Indeed, it is starting to look like the Tour de France.. two races in and we know the winner
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
19th July 2020, 16:15

HAM’s tire changers got progressively worse as the race went on. Other teams are changing tires in under 3 seconds and some under 2.5. HAM’s last change was 3.6. This could be an issue at some point if Red Bull gets their stuff together.
1. Imre (@f1mre)
  19th July 2020, 16:16
  
  They have almost two years to fix this “issue”…
2. Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
  19th July 2020, 16:18
  
  There was no pressure on Hamilton, they took it easy with the last stop. No point of hurrying when your driver has 28 second advantage over the second car and opts for the quickest compound.
  1. Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
    19th July 2020, 16:42
    
    @pironitheprovocateur not 28sec, maybe 4 or 5 sec margin but still I agree. They should take their time and avoid all risk. Risk if for those who must take it to get anywhere, not Ham.
  2. DaveW (@dmw)
    19th July 2020, 17:14
    
    The left rear guy didn’t look like he was just taking it easy. You could see from him slapping his gun in frustration as the car went away that it was not right. From his reaction I was afraid Hamilton’s wheel would fall off in turn one.
    1. DeanR
      20th July 2020, 11:45
      
      No, he drives for a proper team now not maclaren.
3. Mashiat (@mashiat)
  19th July 2020, 17:49
  
  @jimfromus Did it occur to you that perhaps the slow stop was a deliberate attempt to mitigate any risks?
erikje
19th July 2020, 16:16

Great to dedicate his podium to his mechanics repairing his “stupid mistake”, honest and fair.
1. Rodber
  19th July 2020, 17:55
  
  Actually it turned out a blessing in disguise, the car was so much better after the repair :)
  
  Was it all intentional??? I mean, they managed to do what could not have been done in Parc ferme.
  Watch the replay: Max was very careful how he hit the barrier….
  1. MacLeod (@macleod)
    19th July 2020, 22:24
    
    I am sure he didn’t want to hit the barrier! 1 snap and end of your race!
2. Rott
  19th July 2020, 18:20
  
  After almost 5 years in the sport, Max still making rookie mistakes.
  DOTD awarded is a total insult to this sport.
  1. Matn
    19th July 2020, 18:39
    
    How long ago was it when Lewis decided to crash in Q1 again…?
    Brasil 2017
    1. F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
      19th July 2020, 20:40
      
      Verstappen has had a lot of crashes during or before quali yes, but that’s under at least some pressure to set a fast lap.
    2. DeanR
      20th July 2020, 11:46
      
      Q1 is a competitive session. The run to the grid… not so much.
  2. Marty C (@mpgc)
    19th July 2020, 19:25
    
    Surely a mistake. May be taking to much risk. But not a rookie mistake. He was trying to find alternative lines in the wet for the first lap. And that was needed because of the bad starting position.
    1. Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
      20th July 2020, 6:05
      
      @mpgc Verstappen keeps making too many mistakes, even 6 years in now.
      
      He has talent, no doubt, but I’m not convinced he’s championship material over a whole season. He might be in the future, but man after 6 years I’m not sure it will ever go away.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
19th July 2020, 16:18

How big was LEC’s mistake last week now? Clearly Ferrari’s changes that should have been tested during last week’s race are not in the correct direction. Ferrari is a whole week behind in getting their cars dialed in.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
19th July 2020, 16:18

Red Bulls Mechanics won today. Simple as that.
Niefer (@niefer)
19th July 2020, 16:19

Last year Verstappen had pace to win and Hamilton caught him all the same. This year there was no way he’d finish second, yet Bottas managed to allow him so.
1. lucifer (@lucifer)
  19th July 2020, 16:34
  
  I have no words for bottas
  1. Alex
    19th July 2020, 17:19
    
    Yeah agree. If you put Hamilton in Bottas position with 10 laps to go I have no doubt he would have got the job done and passed Verstappen. Bottas simply isn’t in the league of great drivers. I can’t help but feel that Mercedes is wasted on him. The sad thing is that his second rate driving is depriving us of the only chance of a drivers championship battle.
    1. Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
      19th July 2020, 17:28
      
      Yes is agree .. better get Russell as teammate for Lewis .. more talented then Valtteri and probably at this already faster then him!
2. Rott
  19th July 2020, 18:21
  
  Tyres must have been well past the best.
3. F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
  19th July 2020, 20:43
  
  @niefer Last year Verstappen cracked under the pressure and ran out of tyres 8 laps before the end of the race. This year his tyres werent even near critical so he çould keep up the pace.
  
  The difference is in Verstappen dropping the ball last year. It’s not Bottas’ fault that overtaking is almost impossible at this track.
  1. Search
    20th July 2020, 9:24
    
    Your anti-Max troll campaign is getting rather boring… go play with your Lego…
Edvaldo
19th July 2020, 16:23

I wonder what Bottas expects when he is on the last lap on the last DRS zone of the race and doesn’t attempt anything.
Even Stroll tried something on Ricciardo on the last race and he, again, does nothing. Just like Bahrein’18 with Vettel on extremely worn tyres.

This shyness on wheel-to-wheel racing is irritating. This guy wouldn’t achieve anything on a non-DRS era.
1. Gabriel (@naylamp)
  19th July 2020, 16:46
  
  that’s the difference between champions and the rest.
  1. Alex
    19th July 2020, 17:21
    
    If Bottas wins the drivers championship it’ll be a travesty as the only way that will happen is if Lewis has reliability issues
    1. Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
      19th July 2020, 17:29
      
      Not gonna happen!
Philip (@philipgb)
19th July 2020, 16:26

Today was an example of why top drivers like Hamilton, Verstappen, and even Vettel are so in demand. Having the second best car today did Racing Point a fat lot of good.

With Bottas messing up his start they should have taken 2nd and 3rd. Instead they’ve wasted the potential of their car in all three races so far.
1. Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
  19th July 2020, 16:46
  
  @philipgb Good point. Stroll is probably at his limit of capability. Perez seemed sick this weekend. If Stroll got that high and Perez is normally 0.5sec ahead of him you have to wonder where healthy Perez would be and even more worryingly to think where Max, Ric, Ham or Lec would be if they were driving that car.
  1. Edvaldo
    19th July 2020, 16:55
    
    we can only hope it isn’t Covid.
    1. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      19th July 2020, 17:45
      
      Sounded like he had the two-bob-bits.
      1. pSynrg (@psynrg)
        19th July 2020, 17:59
        
        @jackisthestig Nah, that’s just the hyrbid era power units…
2. DaveW (@dmw)
  19th July 2020, 17:03
  
  Pérez had his start stuffed up by Bottas blocking the road and then traffic, that is, Ferraris. But it’s true that having a verstappen or Hamilton in your car does seem to matter.
  1. Alex
    19th July 2020, 17:23
    
    I’d actually love to see Hamilton in a RP as opposed to a Merc just to see what would happen.
    1. Philip (@philipgb)
      19th July 2020, 18:10
      
      He’s won the Hungarian GP without the fastest car a couple of times
      
      I’d wager both this week and last week victory in the Racing Point would have been odds on with Hamilton in the car provided there wasn’t also his equivalent still in the Mercedes
    2. Rott
      19th July 2020, 18:25
      
      We have seen Lewis able to fight with dogs of a cars during his career. If the others are so good, Abd the6 wan5 it bad, they should take the fight to him.
      
      It’s irresponsible “fanism” to keep pondering this and that about arguably one of the best ever in this sport.
DAllein (@)
19th July 2020, 16:52

Indeed masterclass from Lewis.
From first laps down to the last one.
AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
19th July 2020, 16:54

So both Ferraris and a red bull got lapped today on a track which is supposed to suit their car (apparently). Spa and Monza should be fun.
1. DaveW (@dmw)
  19th July 2020, 17:06
  
  Looking at the speed trap data here oh man. Ferrari might have to just take off their rear wings lol.
2. Arnoud van Houwelingen (@kavu)
  19th July 2020, 17:31
  
  Technically Albon didn’t get lapped because of the last pitstop of Lewis!
mrfill (@mrfill)
19th July 2020, 18:30

David Croft’s finest moment, as Gasly retired again… “I’m not sure what the French is for deja vu”
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
19th July 2020, 18:58

Magisterial by Lewis! That was a grand chelem, right?
1. chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
  19th July 2020, 19:15
  
  @freelittlebirds Unfortunately not as Max stayed out for an extra lap before pitting for slicks so he led one lap.
  1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    20th July 2020, 2:12
    
    Shame, he deserved one for it!
bob (@riptide)
19th July 2020, 20:51

Pole in MotoGP and F1. Win in MotoGP and F1. Good weekend for Petronas.
Robbie (@robbie)
19th July 2020, 21:01

So enjoyed seeing Max take second that was like a win. And seeing Stroll do as well as he did, not to mention qualifying and finishing ahead of Perez. Will be interesting to see what he takes from this and if he can start to equal or better Perez. Methinks not quite yet but this is a good start. Enjoyed seeing SV better CL, and seeing how high up AA made it, with both RBR drivers having gained the most places over the race. Not all of it was pretty, but several drivers can feel relieved to have gotten through this one and ending up where they did, given how their Fridays and Saturdays went. And the variable conditions.
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
19th July 2020, 21:50

These highlights are all you need:
https://youtu.be/oVXFXyZ0bzY
MikeV
20th July 2020, 1:44

I had a good laugh at Max too. But in all seriousness, his ability to find grip isn’t accidental. He pushes his car far harder than (imo) anyone else on the grid, parade lap included.
He’s seriously outperforming the car to get these results for RB.
Par for the course.
Jon (@johns23)
20th July 2020, 2:54

Lucky Verstappen is around, he’s the only one making it interesting. Lewis and Mercedes just doing what they do best, well done