Lewis claimed his 81st win in Formula One after a late move on Max Verstappen after converting to a two-stop strategy and completing a dramatic chase for the win. He secured his seventh victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, equalling the Canadian Grand Prix as his most successful race for wins. Valtteri was forced into an early pit stop for a front nose change after contact on lap one and battled back to P8.
Today's race was the 300th led by Mercedes-Benz power. Lewis (250 points) leads the Championship by 62 points from Valtteri (188 points) in P2. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (438 points) lead Ferrari (288 points) by 150 points in the Constructors' Championship.
James Vowles, Motorsport Strategy Director, accepted the Constructors' trophy for the team.
Toto Wolff: What an unbelievable comeback. This is why we love the sport, you are holding onto moments like this, where it's an unexpected result and this is why it feels so great. We didn't think it would go this way but the strategy team did so well and made great calls. There was a specific point in the race where we weren't sure if Lewis would catch Max, but he got his head down and once the Red Bull was in sight, we knew he'd pounce. An incredible drive and a great result to head into the summer break with. On Valtteri's side, it was a disappointing day. He was so pumped for the race and his Qualifying performance was great. But, the first lap didn't go well and from there it was tough for him to fight back through the field. It has been a fantastic first half of the season, with 10 wins from 12 races. We will use the break to recharge our batteries - and hopefully return even stronger in Spa.
Andrew Shovlin: A fantastic win and a great way to finish for the summer break. The race didn't start the way we'd hoped. Valtteri suffered front wing damage when Charles cut across him at turn three. We couldn't really run for long in that condition without risk of a bigger issue so we decided to stop for hard tyres and a new wing but from that point on, it was just a case of salvaging what we could with Valtteri. There's no way we would have managed to take the Hard tyres to the end of the race with Valtteri so we converted to see if we could overtake on fresher rubber. It was a shame not to have recovered more with Valtteri, but this is such a difficult track to try and recover positions on. We had more decisions to make with Lewis and the race against Verstappen was made more difficult by only having one car at the front. In the first stint there wasn't really an opportunity to get by but keeping at Max's pace was not too difficult and Lewis was able to keep his tyres in good condition. By staying close we managed to force them into stopping earlier than they would have liked and that ultimately created the opportunity to go for the two-stop. We weren't sure whether it would work or not; it's always a bit of a gamble but we thought there was a risk of them running out of tyres and it did at least prevent Max from being able to manage his tyres as he might have liked. Lewis did a great job in the final stint, to pull back a full pitstop gap is never easy but he managed it brilliantly and made a really nice clean overtake. This hasn't been the easiest pair of back to back races, Hockenheim was really tough on the team but it's great for everyone to be able to go into the summer break with a win.
Scuderia Ferrari picked up its eleventh podium of the season thanks to a third place finish for Sebastian Vettel in today's Hungarian Grand Prix, held at the Hungaroring. Charles Leclerc came home fourth right behind his team-mate, the two drivers having run different tyre strategies.
The two SF90s got away cleanly when the lights went out and, on the short uphill straight prior to turn 4, Charles made the most of the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to pass the Finn and move up to third. The two cars touched at this point and Sebastian also got past.
Charles was third until lap 27, when he pitted, as his Mediums were degrading significantly at that point. He took on Hards with the aim of going all the way to the chequered flag. As for Sebastian, he managed to complete 39 laps on the Mediums and that meant, unlike his team-mate, he was able to take on Soft tyres at his one and only stop.
From then on, the German did an excellent job of managing his tyres in the opening lap of this stint and towards the end of the race, so that he closed down a gap of almost 20 seconds to Charles. Sebastian caught up to him with four laps remaining, overtaking him next time round. This is Sebastian's sixth podium of the year. The championship now takes its usual summer break before the action resumes with the Belgian Grand Prix on 1st September.
Mattia Binotto Team Principal: "We can't take satisfaction from today's result, when what was mainly to blame was a lack of aero downforce, which at the moment penalises us even more in the race than in qualifying. The hot conditions did not help and actually caused us more problems in terms of reduced grip levels.
"Sebastian did a good job of managing the tyres in the first stint, thus lengthening it, which meant he could fit the softs and run with them to the chequered flag. However, we have to understand why Charles' tyres wore so much and fix for the coming races. We pitted him, as his rears were very used and there was nothing else we could do.
From a track on which we knew we would struggle, we still head home with the same number of points of our closer rivals.
"Next week we will continue to work on analysing data and preparing for the next two races in Spa and Monza, however, before then we have the summer break which will be good for the entire team, that has really worked so hard over the past few months."
Christian Horner: "It was frustrating the way that things panned out today. Max did everything we asked of him, he made the start and controlled the race in the opening laps. We needed to pit earlier to cover Lewis, who pitted six laps later and Mercedes had great pace today. They pushed, pushed, pushed and we were able to protect and defend. Max and Lewis were so far ahead of the field with 22 laps to go that Mercedes rolled the strategic dice and pitted Lewis for new medium tyres. If we had pitted to cover we would have conceded track position so our bed was made to get to the end of the race. Congratulations to Mercedes and Lewis today, they were able to get the lead with three or four laps to go, at which point we had nothing to lose but bolt on a new set of softs and take the fastest lap. With Pierre, he lost places on the first lap but was able to recover through strategy back up to P6. Second and sixth position feels slightly frustrating on a day that promised more but nonetheless we achieved P2, pole position and fastest lap. Max has closed the gap to Valtteri in the Drivers' Championship and the whole Team now heads into a well-earned summer break with real performance on the car in the last few races."
Renault F1 Team finished a long and largely uneventful Hungarian Grand Prix just shy of the points. Nico Hulkenberg claimed twelfth while Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line fourteenth.
Starting from eleventh on the grid, Nico progressed into the top ten in the first part of the race through a long opening stint on the Pirelli Medium tyres. Despite suffering from power loss, he kept a train of cars behind him until his sole pit stop on lap 36. Re-joining in P15, he progressed back to his eventual finish.
Daniel started from the rear of the grid on Pirelli Hard rubber following a strategic change of Power Unit elements. On a track that is notorious for its difficulty to overtake Daniel moved through the field with ease and was challenging the top 10 before his pit stop on lap 46. He made several bold moves in the closing stages of the race to claim fourteenth.
Daniel started from P20 on the Pirelli Hard tyres and stopped on lap 46 for a set of Softs. Nico started P11 on the Medium tyres and also switched to the Soft compound on lap 36.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "A poor result today with both cars outside of the top 10. With Nico we were targeting points, but with an engine having to run in safe mode and a very modest advantage over the Soft tyre starters, we could not make our strategy really work. Daniel ran a good race, but starting last is always going to be a challenge at a track like Budapest. He still managed to gain several positions and had a good fight with Magnussen until the last corner, showing that he is a fighter who does not surrender. His attitude on track must be an inspiration for us as we head towards the summer break, with a first half of the season well below our objectives."
Rich Energy Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen brought home a 13th-place finish in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, the 12th round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship at Hungaroring in Budapest, while teammate Romain Grosjean retired 19 laps from the finish with a water pressure issue.
Magnussen started the race from 14th on his set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and dropped a pair of positions on the opening lap around the 4.381-kilometer (2.722-mile), 14-turn circuit. He made that set of mediums last the first 39 laps of today's 70-lap race, climbing as high as 11th when he finally pitted for a set of Red soft tires that would carry him to the finish. He resumed in 15th, just ahead of Grosjean, and displayed some heady driving in holding off the challenges of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo in defending 14th place shortly thereafter. Magnussen picked up one more position before the checkered flag.
Grosjean, meanwhile, started ninth on a set of soft tires and held that relative position until pitting on lap 19 for a set of White hard rubber. He was struggling to keep pace some 20 laps later and was called into the pits after completing 49 laps. The team diagnosed the problem as a water pressure issue that could not be remedied.
With today's results, Rich Energy Haas F1 Team sits ninth in the constructors' championship with 26 points, five behind eighth-place Racing Point and 25 ahead of 10th-place Williams.
Nine races remain on the 2019 Formula One schedule as team embark on their annual summer break, with the next event coming in four weeks - the Belgian Grand Prix Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at Circuit Spa-Francorchamps.
Guenther Steiner: "It was a pretty tough race for us. In the end though we showed some fight with some other midfield teams. A lot is in these tires, which makes these races so unpredictable, and weird almost. Kevin (Magnussen) put up a good fight, and unfortunately Romain (Grosjean), his tires just died on him, then we had an issue with his water pressure. At the end, it's a difficult situation to be, in dealing with these tires and getting them to work. We will keep on trying until something changes."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "It's been another very strong weekend for the team. It was a very impressive drive from Carlos after a great start. He kept Gasly behind him all through the second part of the race and didn't miss a beat to secure P5. Lando was unlucky. He was set up for a higher finish before a problem with the left-rear wheel gun cost him two positions in the pit-stop and left him exposed to Bottas at the end.
"Very hard work over the last month - both at the track and back at the MTC - is paying off. We were clearly the fourth-fastest team, and scoring another 12 vital points locks us into fourth place in the Constructors' Championship. Every single member of the team can take heart from that going into the summer break. The next job is for everyone to recharge their batteries and come back even stronger in Spa."
Otmar Szafnauer: "It was always going to be hard work considering our starting positions, but we gave it everything and came close to scoring a point with Sergio. The move from Albon was very firm and there was significant contact involved, which affected Sergio's car late in the race. For Lance, we had to react to the cars around us early on, which forced a pit stop earlier than anticipated. We had to react to Giovinazzi pitting, but Russell pitted on the same lap as Lance and we remained stuck behind him. We moved to a two-stop race to see if we could make the fresh tyres work for us in the final part of the race, but ultimately we ran out of laps. It's disappointing to leave Budapest empty-handed, but we will come back refreshed after the break, determined to have a much stronger second half of the season."
Six points - this is our haul as we leave Hungary behind us and, with it, the first part of our 2019 season. Six points, courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen's composed drive at the Hungaroring, a drive in which he showed pace and resilience, withstanding pressure to bring home a good result. Six like the laps in which Kimi had to fend off the attacks of a fresh-tyred Valtteri Bottas and his Mercedes.
Six can also be, in many senses, be a grade for our season so far. Pass mark, but with margin for improvement: a satisfactory score, but knowing full well we want so much more when we return. There is so much potential in the team, a potential we will need to fully unlock after the break.
For now, time for holidays. A time to recharge our batteries, regroup and come back stronger. Nine races separate us from the end of the season, nine chances to score points in what is turning out to be a furiously close battle in the midfield. The break will be a much-needed time for bodies and minds to recover: but no matter how enjoyable a holiday can be, we know we will miss racing and we will be looking forward to the next Grand Prix.
At least, we won't be away for six weeks.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "It's been very much a race of two halves for the team. Kimi did really well to drive a clean race and resist pressure from Bottas in the last few laps. Seventh was all we could hope for today so we can be satisfied with these points. As for Antonio, starting in P17 meant he was always going to struggle on this track, and an issue with his first set of tyres meant he didn't get the chance to make any progress in the race."
Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer): "We had quite an eventful race today with the team managing to score a point, which we are happy with. We think this was the maximum possible given where we started. Both drivers lost some positions during the first lap which made our life more difficult, although a train quickly formed up behind Grosjean. Overtaking is tough here, especially when the cars are in a DRS train, so we decided to pit Daniil earlier in the race trying to undercut those cars ahead and stay in front of the Haas, who had pitted two laps before. Unfortunately, we had a slow pitstop and we came out just behind. Daniil was soon able to overtake but then he spent the rest of the race behind Perez, finding it impossible to pass him. He was managing the tyres for a part of the stint but, after trying to attack Perez for P10 at the end, they simply ran out of life. We stayed out longer with Alex in the first stint to try to cover all eventualities and, although he came out behind Daniil after his stop, his fresher tyres allowed him to attack towards the end and pass Perez for P10. We head into the summer break maintaining our 5th position in the Championship, which is a great achievement for the team. I want to thank the whole team in Faenza, Bicester, Honda and the drivers for their dedication and hard work in the first half of the season - enjoy the two weeks break to find new energy and come back after the shutdown ready to continue the fight!"
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Today we had another very exciting Formula 1 race in front of a big crowd with so many fans who came to Budapest, which shows how much interest the fans have for Formula 1. We didn't show very good pace from the beginning of the weekend onwards, so we started the race from P12 and P13. However, during the race our performance was quite good, but we probably called Daniil in for the pit stop a bit too early and, as a consequence, in the final few laps he suffered with his tyres like a few other drivers around him. Despite this, he still drove a very good race. As for Alex, we called him in seven laps later than Daniil and this helped him to attack at the end of the race, which allowed him to overtake Perez and score a point. It was fantastic to see how Daniil and Alex raced each other - we didn't want to give any order from the pit wall and we decided to let them race - this is what people want to see from the grandstands and on TV. They fought each other fairly and it was good racing. I think this was the maximum result we could achieve today, so we have to work very hard to close the gap to our direct competitors and I think we will achieve this in the second half of the season. Thanks to the whole team, the complete working group, for the big effort they put in the first half of the year. Now we will have two weeks of holidays to come back with fully charged batteries for the rest of the season."
Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director): "Alex produced a strong race from 12th on the grid to get a valuable point. Given the team's performance over the whole weekend, realistically this was the best result we could expect. Although we have the summer break, we do have a few more days of work and we will be pushing as hard as ever, in order to improve over the remaining races this season."
George Russell finished 16th and Robert Kubica 19th in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Both drivers started on the hard Pirelli tyre, George 15th and Robert 19th on the grid. George ran a one-stop race, pitting on lap 17 for the hard Pirelli tyre. Robert also pitted once during the race, on lap 20 for the hard Pirelli tyre.
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer: The lack of high fuel running earlier in the weekend, and the warmer conditions today meant that the optimum strategy wasn't completely clear. Indeed, the battle at the front between Max and Lewis shows how close the strategies were. We opted to complete an aggressive one-stop strategy, pitting George to cover the Alfa Romeo and allowing him to race Stroll to the end. Robert had a slightly shorter final stint but had to contend with multiple blue flags. Both drivers managed their tyres well, with George able to hold Stroll off on much newer tyres.
We still need to work on the car pace, but we have seen some improvements this weekend and we can now enjoy the shutdown period before returning to tackle the very different challenges offered by Spa and Monza.
After some fantastic wheel-to-wheel racing, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton passed Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win the Hungarian Grand Prix with four laps to go, following a second pit stop late in the race to gain an advantage from fresher P Zero Yellow medium tyres. Hamilton, who started third on the grid, caught up with Verstappen again - who claimed a first pole yesterday - after his second stop to reprise their duel and ensure a spectacular finish.
Both Verstappen and Hamilton began the race on what appeared to be identical one-stop medium-hard strategies, with Hamilton making his first stop six laps later than Verstappen. Having failed to get past Verstappen, Mercedes then opted to pit Hamilton for a second stop back onto mediums, which proved to be the winning strategy.
After being passed by Hamilton, Verstappen also made a final stop onto the soft tyre in the closing stages, claiming the extra championship point for fastest lap.
The race was run at a frenetic pace: the leading duo were able to make their first stops without losing position to the third and fourth placed cars. The fastest race lap was also more than three seconds faster than the equivalent time from last year.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel finished third with another alternative strategy: a long first stint on the medium, followed by a shorter final stint on the soft.
The top six on the grid all started on the medium tyre, with McLaren's Carlos Sainz the highest-placed driver to start on soft, from seventh on the grid. The Spaniard finished fifth in the race after stopping once, from the soft to the hard.
A wide variety of tyre tactics were seen throughout the race, with five very different strategies in the top five.
Mario Isola: "This was a really exciting grand prix with a big divergence of strategies, which kept us guessing all the way to the final laps! Mercedes took a bold call to pit Hamilton again but it proved to be the right decision: even though the race was very nearly a one-stopper for both Hamilton and Max Verstappen. After mixed conditions in free practice and qualifying today was dry and warm: this almost certainly contributed to the unpredictable race outcome, as nobody really had any reliable long run data on the tyres in these conditions. Despite these demanding circumstances, all three compounds stood up extremely well to the challenge, with all of them contributing strongly to the entertaining race action."
