Hungarian GP: Max Verstappen seals superb victory to close in further on second world title

Max Verstappen sealed a superb victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, rising from 10th to 1st, as he strengthened his grip on the world championship.

The Dutchman had been looking for damage limitation this weekend with Charles Leclerc up in third place on the grid but Ferrari botched their strategy once again with the Monegasque, whilst George Russell did not have the race pace to ultimately convert pole into the win, as he came third behind a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton.

Russell got an ideal getaway and managed to defend his lead into the first corner, with the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Leclerc also holding position ahead of Lando Norris.

Hamilton was one of the early winners from the start, meanwhile, as he rose from 7th to 5th, whilst the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez began their respective climbs up the field from P10 and P11.

Indeed, Max soon found himself up to 6th behind Lando and Lewis, with the title rivals from 2021 able to dispatch of the McLaren on lap 12, before Max then got the better of Hamilton over the course of the first set of stops.

Out in front, Russell held onto the lead through the first stops but Leclerc jumped Sainz, and was soon harrying the Mercedes man for the lead, something he would take on lap 31 with a fine move down the outside into turn 1.

Indeed, we were seeing some great racing, encapsulated by Daniel Ricciardo’s opportunistic double overtake of the two squabbling Alpines, and more great action was to follow in the second half of the Grand Prix as spots of rain hit the TV cameras.

The second set of stops provided more drama as Leclerc found himself on hard tyres, which he’d describe as poor but in much more expletive fashion.

Indeed, he soon found himself in the