‘Crazy’: Mad Max stunner rocks Ferrari after ANOTHER ‘unbelievable’ F1 ‘disaster’

“When we woke up this morning, who would have thought we’d win this race?” said the Dutchman.

With Russell on pole and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Leclerc second and third on the grid, pre-race predictions made the Italian team favorites to take control and win with relative ease as the Red Bulls were the 10th and 11th.

But a combination of poor tire management, slow pit stops and questionable strategy saw them finish fifth and sixth, behind Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, who started 11th, after looking likely winners.

“I was hoping I could get close to a podium, but it was very difficult,” Verstappen said.

Max Verstappen escapes with the championship. Source: AFP

“But we had a very good strategy, we were very reactive, always at the right time.” Hamilton, who started seventh, was looking to add to his record eight Hungarian victories, recorded his fifth consecutive podium and second consecutive position.

“I was definitely struggling at first, but I gradually got more comfortable with the balance,” she said.

“I had a really good start so I want to acknowledge my team. We’ve had a tough year and for both cars to be on the podium is an amazing way to go into the summer break.

“The others have an advantage, but we are clearly closing the gap. Hopefully, we can bring more in the second half of the season and start to fight with them.”

It was an up-and-down race for Daniel Ricciardo, who executed an impressive double-overtake on both Alpines and shouted “let’s go to hell”, but had his race ruined after an incident with Lance Stroll.

Ricciardo made contact with the Aston Martin and was given a five-second penalty for causing the collision. He also struggled on the harder tire and continued to slide through the field, eventually finishing in 15th place.

His teammate Lando Norris finished seventh.

– ‘I was confused’ –

Russell, who led for 30 laps, said he had a strong first stint but struggled on the medium compound tires and lost heat in the final laps.

“But it’s been an incredible job by the team to have pole position and a double podium, we’re definitely making progress. I’m very proud of the work done by everyone.”

Both Sainz and Leclerc were dismayed by their results.

“I felt very strong and very comfortable with the media,” said Leclerc, who led the race and looked likely to win before a pit stop to unexpectedly switch to hard tyres.

“I wanted to stay out and I don’t know why they called me. It confused me.

“I lost the race with the hard tires and I don’t know why. We need to talk about this within the team.”

He added: “Honestly, the pace on my side, I was quite happy, the only thing is that everyone will remember the last part of the race where it was a disaster for me, especially the hard one, that’s why I lost the race basically..”

Sainz said he felt it was slower than expected.

“It is what it is,” he said. “We fought as a team and with the lower temperatures the track changed and the car and tires didn’t work.

“We have to analyze this to see what we did wrong and, after the summer holidays, come back with a better package. We have to talk about it within the team to do better.” Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto defended the team’s decisions.

“We didn’t get the performance we expected and the car didn’t perform well in the cooler conditions,” he said. “It is the first time this season.

“Today we didn’t have an advantage. We thought we could do it, but it didn’t turn out the way we hoped. Sometimes, we can make mistakes, but I fully support the team.”

HUNGARY GRAND PRIX RESULTS

1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1h 39m 35.912s