George Russell and Mercedes failed to convert their first pole position of the season at the 2022 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix into victory, although unfortunately for Ferrari, neither were Carlos Sainz or Charles Leclerc, who started just behind the Briton, who climbed to the top of the podium.
Max Verstappen, who started tenth, achieved a great comeback thanks to his driving and also to Red Bull’s strategy. Not even a spin after his first overtaking of Leclerc for the virtual lead of the race, prevented the current world leader from crossing the checkered flag in first position with more than seven seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who managed to win the heading to his partner and the two Ferraris.
Russell was unable to hold off attacks from his team-mate towards the end of the race on newer, softer tyres, losing out on second place but finishing third, taking Mercedes ‘ second consecutive double podium finish in 2022.
The Maranello debacle was confirmed with Sainz finishing fourth and Leclerc sixth, behind Sergio Pérez after an erroneous strategy by Ferrari that forced him to make one more stop than expected. A dismal result after placing his two drivers in the top three in the standings and seeing how his closest rival, who started from tenth position, came back to victory with relative ease.
Behind the great favorites, Lando Norris was the first of the rest, in seventh place, ahead of the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon who opted for a strategy of two stops, instead of making three like the vast majority of their rivals. Sebastian Vettel, at the wheel of his Aston Martin, completed the points zone.
F1 Hungarian GP 2022 Race Results
| Cla | No. | Pilot | Equipment | laps | Distance |
| 1Â | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 70 | – |
| 2Â | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 70 | -7.834 |
| 3Â | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 70 | -12.337 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | ferrari | 70 | -14,579 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 70 | -15,688 |
| 6Â | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 70 | -16.047 |
| 7Â | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 70 | -1’18.300 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 69 | +1 |
| 9Â | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 69 | +1 |
| 10Â | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 69 | +1 |
| 11Â | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 69 | +1 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 69 | +1 |
| 13 | twenty four | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 69 | +1 |
| 14 | 47 | Mike Schumacher | haas | 69 | +1 |
| fifteen | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 69 | +1 |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 69 | +1 |
| 17 | 23 | Alexander Albon | williams | 69 | +1 |
| 18Â | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 69 | +1 |
| 19 | twenty two | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 68 | +2 |
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 65 | DNF |
Photo de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Full F1 Hungarian GP 2022 Race Summary
With the tarmac still dry but with a serious threat of rain, the Hungarian Grand Prix race in Hungary kicked off and Russell held on to pole position despite Sainz’s attack at the first corner. In turn, Leclerc had to fend off Norris to keep the last podium position.
Behind, Hamilton rose to fifth place, ahead of the two Alpine drivers. The two Red Bulls each gained two positions, with Verstappen eighth and Pérez ninth.
Before the end of the first lap and despite the lack of serious incidents, a VSC was activated that lasted until the middle of lap three to clear the track after a contact between Alexander Albon and Sebastian Vettel.
Once the race was relaunched, the medium tires of Sainz and Leclerc began to roll faster than the soft ones of a Russell, who had managed to open a gap of more than two seconds on the first lap, although they were still outside the DRS.
On lap 5, Verstappen passed Alonso after several pushes and moved up to seventh, until two laps later he also passed Ocon for sixth, thus continuing his comeback to the top positions. The Mexican from Red Bull would do the same a few laps later.
Hamilton and Verstappen, dust on the podium en Hungaroring
On lap 10 of the Hungarian GP, the positions began to stabilise, with the drivers on soft tires saving rubber to avoid having to stop too early. In the lead, nobody was in the DRS zone, and the first ones who could fight for position were Hamilton and Verstappen, both on the lookout for Norris, who was in fourth place, ten seconds behind the Ferraris.
Early on lap 12, Norris lost position to both and allowed both the Briton and Dutchman to inch closer to the contention for a podium currently held by Russell, Sainz and Leclerc, in that same order.
With clear air, Hamilton and Verstappen began to improve their pace, but at the same moment, Sainz and Leclerc did the same to put Russell’s lead in trouble, while the Monegasque radioed for more speed from the Spanish car.
First pit stops and moves at the head of the race
First to enter was a Lando Norris who had already lost a lot of pace on his softs after his battles with faster cars, dropping to 14th, ahead of Ricciardo and Vettel who had also pitted, all on new medium compounds. .
On lap 17, Russell pitted and shook off some well-worn softs, leaving the lead in the hands of Sainz, followed by Leclerc in the DRS zone.
The Spanish driver did the same one lap later to take advantage of Russell’s bad stop, but Ferrari’s pit stop was not good either and he went out on the track with another set of midfielders but behind the Mercedes, with Ocon interspersed in the middle, although it didn’t take long to get rid of Alpine’s. At that time, Leclerc stayed on track making personal fastest laps in first position.
Hamilton and Pérez also made their stops and both started behind Max Verstappen, in virtual fourth position, as Esteban Ocon was ahead, who seemed to be extending the life of his medium tyres, just like Alonso.
When Leclerc pitted on lap 21, Russell had already shaved off enough time in clean air and regained the lead, although he managed to win second place from his teammate, a Sainz who was severely handicapped by Leclerc’s poor pit stop. Ferrari and fell to third place.
Alonso, unlike the rest of the drivers, pitted on lap 22 and instead of mounting a new set of mediums, he put on the harder compound, hoping to finish the race on that tyre, the same strategy as Ocon copied several laps later. Both got into a fight and Ricciardo took advantage of it to make a double overtaking that left long faces on the wall of the French team.
Leclerc steals first place from Russell and Verstappen closes in on the podium
The Monegasque Ferrari driver, already in second position, began to lap consistently faster than Russell, closing in on him until he entered the DRS zone for the first time on lap 27. Sainz, in turn, lost almost three seconds with Leclerc, while Verstappen inched up behind.
On lap 31 and after several failed attempts that allowed Sainz and Verstappen to close in on the fight for victory, the Monegasque overtook Russell at the end of the main straight and moved into first position, quickly opening a gap and taking the Briton out of the race. the DRS area.
Several laps later, the Spanish Ferrari driver also managed to get into the DRS zone with Russell, while Verstappen reduced his gap to the podium to less than two seconds. In turn, some drops began to fall on the Hungaroring track.
Battling for the last points positions, the Alpines were struggling on the harder tires and the Aston Martins were trying to take advantage of it, with Stroll and Vettel overtaking both Ocon and Alonso, who dropped to 11th and 12th. Meanwhile, Tsunoda, who was in last position, caused a brief yellow card after a spin at the chicane.
Verstappen gets into the fight for victory after the second pit stop
On lap 38 and after seeing how the Spanish driver failed to overtake Russell with the DRS, Verstappen got so close to Sainz that he even placed himself in the DRS zone, something that before the start of the race was almost a dream for the Dutchman. .
One lap later, the Red Bull pitted with 32 laps still to go and mounted another midrange game, undercutting Sainz.
On lap 40, Leclerc also made his second pit stop and rode a new set of hardballs and started third behind Sainz and Hamilton who had yet to stop. At the same time, Russell also made his second pit stop and lost position with Verstappen, who got into the fight for victory.
On the next lap, the Dutchman surprised Leclerc and with his new media and took the virtual lead from the Monegasque, but on the following lap, Verstappen spun at turn 13 and lost position to Leclerc again at a critical moment and chaotic part of the race in which Pérez acted as his squire to prevent Russell from doing the same thing as the Ferrari man.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton remained on the track in the first two positions, waiting for a threat of rain that seemed not to come, although they were losing a lot of ground with the drivers who had already made the second stop.
On lap 45, Verstappen returned to the attack and overtook Leclerc without much trouble, becoming the virtual leader and setting the fastest lap of the race, which would soon be stolen by his teammate, Checo Pérez.
Sainz – Hamilton to the pits with a different strategy and Verstappen takes the lead
On lap 48, Sainz made his second stop and, again, the Ferrari mechanics failed, further complicating the Grand Prix for a Spanish driver who returned to the track on soft tires with 22 laps to go in fifth position, behind Russell.
Meanwhile, the two Alpines returned to the points zone after the stops of their rivals who went to three, with Alonso eighth and Ocon ninth, behind Norris.
On lap number 52, Hamilton also made his final pit stop and returned to tarmac on new softs, nine seconds behind Sainz and five ahead of Pérez in fifth place. In this way, Verstappen was placed leader of the race for the first time after having started from tenth place.
On lap 55 and after losing second position to Russell and seeing how Sainz, Hamilton and Pérez were much faster, Ferrari called Leclerc into the pits to take away some hard ones that weren’t working and he went out on the track sixth on soft with 16 to go. laps.
Hamilton, on new softs, set the fastest lap of the race on lap 58 and gradually closed in on Carlos Sainz, who was unable to close the gap to Russell, in the fight for second place.
With seven laps to go, Hamilton overtook a Sainz who was unable to find the rhythm and, just two laps later, also managed to pass his teammate in the fight for second place.
With two laps to go, Valtteri Bottas parked his car at one of the loopholes on the track due to an engine problem and caused a VSC that finally resumed the race one lap before the checkered flag.
On that last lap, the alarms went off with the presence of rain, but everyone managed to maintain their positions and Verstappen crossed the finish line in first position, ahead of Hamilton and Russell, who achieved the second consecutive Mercedes double podium.
