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Verstappen leaves Hungary with smashed record - and trophy
Budapest: Max Verstappen was left with a broken trophy after Red Bull smashed a Formula 1 record at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Red Bull’s double world champion put the porcelain winner’s trophy down while preparing to spray champagne, but McLaren’s Lando Norris sent it tumbling off the top step when he bashed the ground to open his bottle.
Verstappen left, smiling, with the broken pink pot tucked under his arm.
“Sorry Max,” McLaren said on their Twitter feed.
“We’re gonna need some glue,” Red Bull replied, after a post declaring ’Record broken. Trophy broken” with a tick and embarrassed emoji.
“We can’t take you anywhere. Glad to have you up there with us though.”
Norris, who finished second, and Verstappen are good friends and they could joke about the trophy in the post-race press conference.
“I’m not sure,” said Norris bashfully when asked what happened, to laughter and despite the evidence being seen by millions around the world.
“Max just placed it too close to the edge. It fell over I guess. Not my problem, it’s his.”
Verstappen needed only a few seconds to stamp his authority on the race and get his seventh straight win of a crushingly dominant season.
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton started from pole position ahead of Verstappen, who muscled him out at the first corner and never looked back.
Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates on the podium. Credit:
Red Bull’s 12th straight win, including the final race of 2022, broke McLaren’s record for consecutive team wins set in 1988.
“That was so enjoyable to drive, 12 in a row that is unbelievable,” Verstappen said. “Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time.”
Verstappen is cruising toward a third straight F1 title. His ninth victory overall — complete with another bonus point for the fastest lap — means the 25-year-old Dutchman already leads his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez by 110 points.
Norris finished second for the second-straight race and Perez was third for a much-needed second podium in six races.
“If Max retires then maybe [we can win],” Norris joked. “We’re happy with the progress and to be where we are today, fighting for podiums. Our time will come later in the year.”
It’s hard to say how many wins Verstappen will already have if and when that times comes.
Verstappen’s career win total now stands at 44 — the same number as Hamilton’s car.
Hamilton started from pole for the first time since the penultimate race of 2021 in Saudi Arabia — which was also when he won his record-extending 103rd F1 race. He has not won since.
He felt he had a chance after an impressive drive in qualifying.
But Verstappen, who won from 10th here last year, overtook a sluggish Hamilton as they dived into the first turn.
“We had a really good start to I’m happy with that,” said Verstappen, who was involved in two heavy crashes with Hamilton during a dramatic 2021 season. “That corner was mine. Luckily it all worked out well.”
The McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri also jumped past Hamilton and dropped him down to fourth.
That is where he finished at the sinewy 4.4-kilometre Hungaroring track, one of the hardest in F1 for overtaking.
Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th for AlphaTauri on his F1 comeback and beat teammate Yuki Tsunoda in 15th.
Perez took some pressure off by padding out his lead in the standings over third-place Fernando Alonso to 32 points, while Hamilton’s now just six points adrift of the Spaniard.
After taking fourth place at Silverstone, the Australian rookie Piastri maintained his form with a solid fifth for an improving McLaren that has grabbed a healthy 58 points in two races.
Mercedes improved as the race progressed and temperatures cooled, allowing George Russell to surge past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz jnr to finish sixth.
Sainz was seventh ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc — who dropped a place with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane — while Alonso and his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10.
AP, Reuters