Max Verstappen credited the strategy calls of his Red Bull team after he drove from 10th on the grid to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion started on the fifth row of the grid on the soft tyres and pitted twice for mediums, rising up the order despite spinning during the race. He passed closest championship rival Charles Leclerc twice on track to eventually claim the race lead, which he never relinquished.Having started from the middle of the grid, Verstappen said he had not expected to have been in contention for the win heading into Sunday’s race.
“I was, of course, hoping that I could get close to a podium, but very tricky conditions out there,” Verstappen said.
“I think we had a really good strategy. We were really reactive and always pitting at the right time. I think we had some good out laps. And then at the end, even with a 360 [degrees spin], we won the race.”
Verstappen lost control of his Red Bull after his final pit stop on the exit of turn 13. He managed to continue after dropping one place to Leclerc, which he later regained.
“I was struggling a bit with the shifts and the clutch and we had to change a few things around that to not basically burn the clutch and that cost a bit of performance and I think that caught me out out of that corner,” Verstappen explained. “But luckily I could do a 360, so I [only] lost one spot.”
With Ferrari having only finished in fourth and sixth position for Carlos Sainz Jnr and Lelcerc respectively, Verstappen’s win extended his championship advantage to a comfortable margin of 80 points heading into the summer break.
“It was a crazy race and of course very happy that we won it,” said Verstappen.
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2022 Hungarian Grand Prix
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Edvaldo
31st July 2022, 16:51
He is too polite to thank Ferrari for their “really good strategy” lol
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
31st July 2022, 17:08
Most important strategy call they made was on the way to the grid. They were supposed to start on the hards, but having trouble heating up even the softs, they changed their strategy entirely. That’s pretty impressive.
Moi
31st July 2022, 20:09
Indeed, coming up with a well thought out strategy is one thing, but being able as a team to change it at a moments notice and make it work is another level entirely.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
31st July 2022, 17:11
As usual their strategy was great. Aggressive and proactive but S-M-M was always the way to go. I’m surprised how few teams went this way. You have flexibility and get rid off the least favourable tyre early on without having to compromise later in the race as Hamilton, both Ferraris and Alpines had.
If was really only Hamiltons brillant pace that made the M-M-S strategy look like a viable option. But in reality they could have won the race had they started on softs…
ssa
1st August 2022, 0:43
I don’t think so. Soft tires are more effective on lighter fuel load because the loads put through the tires are lower and they can last longer. Actually, M-M-S was stronger than S-M-M imo.
Jere (@jerejj)
31st July 2022, 17:22
Good strategy indeed.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
31st July 2022, 20:01
It was, but one can’t jump so many places in a clean race purely on strategy. VER would have finished like at least 30sec ahead of 2nd place if it wasn’t for the Quali problems.
Biker56 (@biker56)
31st July 2022, 21:35
Sweary arrogant entitled potty mouth in practice + qualifying, started race 10th, spins the car, and wins race by 10 seconds. The clearly preferred number 1 driver, clearly in the best car, no talent needed or used. Boring boring boring.
Good racing elsewhere though.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
1st August 2022, 0:44
Ofc wasn’t a flawless weekend for verstappen, I’m guessing red bull had a significant margin on ferrari\merc this race, even accounting for ferrari’s bad strategy.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
1st August 2022, 0:44
But even so, if you look at perez’s race, that car advantage wasn’t so clear there.