Max Verstappen rallied from tenth in the Hungarian Grand Prix race to win and extend his lead in the drivers’ world championship to 80 points over Charles Leclerc before the summer break.
The Dutchman benefited from a very good strategy that saw him avoid using the harder tyre, which was having a lot of trouble getting into the correct operating window due to the low temperatures. That caused them to decide to modify the plan they wanted to follow, but Ferrari, on the contrary, ruined their options by mounting that compound with Charles Leclerc, who eventually fell to sixth place.
Asked by Motorsport.com about the importance of relying on the pit wall, Verstappen stated that it was “incredibly important if you want to fight for the world championship” and cited the role of Hannah Schmitz , the Austrian team’s chief strategy officer.
“You can’t afford too many mistakes,” said the leader of the drivers’ standings. “Of course, it is very difficult to always make the right decision, but I think we have very good boys and girls in the team.”
“Today, I think that Hannah [Schmitz], she was very calm, she is very good,” assured the reigning Formula 1 world champion.
Ferrari claimed after the race that it had no chance of winning in Hungary due to its adaptation problems with the tires and the colder temperatures, as Carlos Sainz fell out of contention for the podium despite avoiding the hard ones.
Verstappen was unsure Red Bull had a pace advantage over Ferrari, saying it was “choosing the right tires at the right time” that saw him win the race.
“We know that our car is, in general, fast, but I think that throughout the test, Ferrari was also fast, they just made a wrong decision with the hard ones,” he explained. “There are still a lot of things that we can look at, that we can do better.”
“I think the race itself was, of course, very good. To start tenth and win at a track like this is a great thing, but there are things we will look into,” he said. “There’s always something we could have done better at, but I’m very happy.”
Do you want to read our news before anyone else and for free? Follow us here on our Telegram channel and you won’t miss a thing. All the information, at your fingertips!
