Verstappen recovery seals victory in Hungarian GP

After a disastrous Formula 1 qualifying session saw Max Verstappen have to settle for 10th on the grid, the Red Bull driver mounted a magnificent comeback to win in Hungary.

George Russell was the surprise starter in pole position after a good run on Saturday in Hungaroring, and he got off to a fine start in Sunday's race too.

The British driver led until lap 31 when Charles Leclerc caught him on the outside of turn one to take the lead.

Strategy mattered

As has been the story this year for Ferrari, strategy made the difference for all the wrong reasons as Red Bull got it right and Verstappen was able to skip past Russell and Leclerc to take first place.

Having battled with the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to climb up the positions, he almost let his lead go almost immediately as he span turning, but corrected just in time.

His DRS eventually set him apart and saw him power away from Leclerc, who remained on hard tyres and struggled to maintain his early pace.

The fastest lap actually came from Lewis Hamilton, who caught up and made ground late on in the race.

It made for a nervy ending for Verstappen, up against his old enemy, though a virtual safety car heading into the penultimate lap eased some of the pressure.

One hand on the championship

In the end the Mercedes was just not fast enough to catch the Red Bull, with Verstappen leading Hamilton by just over eight seconds as the rain started to fall in the final lap.

This race was Verstappen's eighth win and 10th podium of the season, allowing him to extend his lead over Leclerc in the overall rankings as the Frenchman eventually finished sixth.