Max Verstappen bounced back from a spin and his worst starting position of the season to win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday to increase his gap over Charles Leclerc in the Formula One title hunt.
The reigning world champion’s eighth win of the season allowed him to widen his lead over Leclerc to 80 points going into the mid-season break.
Mercedes managed to get its two single-seaters to the podium for the second race in a row. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished second after starting seventh. His teammate George Russell, who took pole, came in third.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was fourth in another disastrous day for Ferrari in terms of strategy management. Leclerc was sixth, one place behind Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull.
Verstappen has 28 wins in his career.
“Who would have imagined waking up today thinking about this kind of result?” Verstappen said over the team radio.
The Dutchman qualified 10th due to a power issue on Saturday, and then spun 360 degrees in the race on Sunday.
“Incredible Max, the best thing you’ve ever done,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “Fantastic”.
Leclerc paid dearly for switching to hard tires on his second refueling, forcing him to make a third stop to race on softs.