Leclerc wins from 10th as Ferrari wobbles again: Hungarian GP as it happened

He dropped out of contention when Ferrari fitted him with hard tyres — which other drivers were struggling with — leaving him to drop down the running order as his rivals avoided the troublesome compound.

It was an unpredictable race as Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all looked capable of winning at some stage, and the threat of rain also loomed overhead.

But Max Verstappen’s pace made the difference, despite one error in the race where he spun.

Lando Norris finished seventh, followed by both Alpines, whose race was also hampered by using the hard tyres. The final point went to Sebastian Vettel on the weekend he announced his retirement.

Here’s how the race played out:

With drizzle in the air, Russell pulled away in the lead on soft tyres, but was forced onto the defensive straight away, having to close down a medium-tyred Carlos Sainz move around the outside of Turn 1.

Hamilton was trying to do the same on Norris in fourth, having started seventh and passed the Alpines, but the McLaren left him no room and he ran off the track, retaining his position.

Russell takes the lead from pole

DPPI

Perez also passed both Alpines briefly at the start by launching himself down the outside of Turn 1 from 11th on the grid, but both Ocon and Alonso regained their places, and then Verstappen moved past him to take eighth.

Further back, a clash between Alex Albon and Sebastian Vettel forced the Williams to pit with front wing damage, and the debris triggered a virtual safety car on lap 2.

Russell led the restart on lap 3, from Sainz and Leclerc (both on medium tyres), Norris (soft), Hamilton, Ocon, Alonso (mediums), Verstappen and Perez (soft).

Fernando Alonso found himself defending again in Hungary as Verstappen was harrying him on lap 4

The Dutchman got past at Turn 4 on lap 5, as Alonso started off line after squirming over the kerb on the exit to Turn 3.

Verstappen moved up to put the pressure on Ocon, as Perez drove up to Alonso’s rear wing. There were battles aplenty on the midfield, as Ricciardo looked for a way past tenth-placed Magnussen, running alongside for several corners.

Verstappen sneaked through on the inside of Turn 1 on lap 7 under braking, putting him sixth and 10sec behind the leader.

Albon contact triggered VSC to remove debris

DPPI

Perez was past Alonso two corners later, pulling past Alonso on the outside, giving him the inside in Turn 3.

He took seventh place from Ocon on lap 9, with Hamilton next in the sights of the Red Bull duo.

Russell led from Sainz by 2.5sec on lap 10; the Ferraris seemingly biding their time until Russell’s soft tyres started to give up the ghost.

Ten seconds behind the leading trio was Norris, also on softs and just ahead of Hamilton on medium tyres. He was closing in on the McLaren after his team told him that the soft-tyred runners were showing the first signs of wear.

Hamilton was 0.5sec behind on lap 11, with Verstappen breathing down his neck 0.5sec behind.

The battle was over on lap 12, as Hamilton went down the inside of Norris at Turn 1, Verstappen following him through for fifth. Perez then passed the ailing Norris on lap 13.

Norris was called in on lap 15 as he lapped 5sec off the leaders and, more pertinent, the Alpines behind.

Russell came in at the end of lap 16, stopping for medium tyres, as all the frontrunners would. He exited alongside Fernando Alonso, who fought tenaciously through the first three corners as the Mercedes tyres came up to temperature.

Verstappen was in on the same lap too, dropping down to eighth.

Lap 17 saw Sainz in for a slow 3.7sec stop, leaving Leclerc in the lead. The Spaniard couldn’t take advantage and came out sixth ahead of Alonso – with Russell already past Ocon in fourth place.

Sainz passed Ocon on lap 19 as Perez emerged from his stop in tenth, sandwiched between the Alfa Romeos of Bottas ahead and Zhou behind, three places and 12sec behind his team-mate.

Verstappen was lethal on the undercut

Getty Images

It was Hamilton’s turn for a tyre change at end of lap 19 and he dropped behind Verstappen, coming out in seventh and 7sec behind. His team-mate, meanwhile, was just 5sec off third-placed Sainz.

Leclerc pitted at the end of lap 21 with a 18sec gap over Carlos Sainz and he came out more than a second ahead after a series of fast laps saw him get past his team-mate with the overcut.

Russell was 2.4sec up the road, but that gap was closing as Leclerc set a fastest lap of the race, cutting the margin by more than half a second.

Esteban Ocon was one of the last to pit — stopping from sixth to fit hard tyres, as his team-mate did. He emerged into a battle between Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo for tenth, got straight into fighting the Spaniard and allowed Ricciardo to escape up the road.

Leclerc had closed to within 0.5sec of Russell by lap 27, forcing Russell on the defensive, with Sainz 3sec further behind, 2.2sec ahead of Verstappen.

A wobble from Russell in Turn 1 gave Verstappen a run round the outside of the Mercedes at Turn 2 on lap 28. That didn’t come off, as Russell fended off the Ferrari with precise positioning.

Russell defended stoutly from Leclerc

DPPI

While Leclerc could poke his nose alongside Russell’s rear wheels, thanks to the two DRS zones at the start of the lap, he couldn’t make the move stick… until lap 31 when he surged around the outside into Turn 1, got the car stopped and turned, then shut the door on the Mercedes.

Leclerc had pulled out a 1.5 gap by lap 32, with Sainz 1.2sec behind the Mercedes and Verstappen 2.2sec behind Sainz and 5.5sec ahead of a closing Lewis Hamilton.

The Dutchman was one of many drivers to report more drizzle, but the forecast was for no more rain — Yuki Tsunoda still managed to spin, however, and dropped to last.

Sainz was within DRS range of Russell on lap 35, as Verstappen observed the developing fight from just 1.5sec behind.

Sebastian Vettel pursued Ocon for tenth place on lap 37. The Alpines dropped out of the fight with McLaren and were lapping 1sec a lap slower on hard tyres.

Norris reported “extremely slippery” conditions on lap 38 as spots of rain appeared on camera lenses, while Russell said that he was struggling with his rear medium tyres.

Vettel moved into the points past Ocon on lap 39, when Red Bull called Verstappen in for his second stop and another set of medium tyres.

The championship leader had been within 1sec of Sainz, and dropped to sixth behind Perez.

Leclerc pitted from the lead for hard tyres immediately to avoid being jumped by a flying Verstappen, while Russell followed him in and fitted mediums.

Leclerc struggled on the hard tyre

DPPI

Leclerc came out in third, 16sec behind Hamilton and less than a second in front of Verstappen, with Russell sixth just behind Perez.

The hard-tyred Leclerc had little defence for his title rival, who pulled level on the main straight — Leclerc leaving the minimum amount of room — and then pulled away.

“The tyres are ****” said the Ferrari driver.

But there would be more drama at the Hungaroring, as Verstappen spun coming out of Turn 13 on lap 41, opposite the pitlane entry. He dropped behind Leclerc, but held on to fourth from Perez. As he got back up to speed, this left Verstappen’s team-mate vulnerable to Russell, and the Mercedes driver was past into fifth.

It was a limited reprieve for Leclerc, who couldn’t maintain a gap on his hard tyres. Verstappen was within DRS range on lap 44 and cruised past Leclerc on lap 45, pulling alongside on the outside of Turn 1, then cutting inside and powering away towards the next corner.

By now he was 13sec behind Sainz and Hamilton who were yet to stop.

Sainz handed the lead to Hamilton at the end of lap 47, as he pitted for soft tyres and avoided the hard compound that his team-mate continued to struggle with — lapping slower than Hamilton on his old medium tyres.

Further down the field, Ricciardo punted Stroll off the track as he ran wide while the Aston Martin driver tried to pass on the outside for 11th place. Ricciardo received a 5sec penalty, while Stroll recovered and got past the McLaren on lap 50.

Ricciardo hits Stroll

DPPI

Russell was next to challenge Leclerc on lap 51, which became a battle for second place as Hamilton pitted for soft tyres, coming out in fifth, 10sec behind Perez.

The Mercedes driver passed Leclerc on lap 54, getting the drive (and DRS assistance) up the main straight, and completing the move on the exit of Turn 1, leaving him 8.3sec behind Verstappen.

Leclerc was headed in the other direction; his hard-tyre misery ended at the end of the same lap as he pitted for soft tyres. The former race leader came out on sixth and 8sec behind fifth-placed Perez.

Hamilton was on a charge, setting the fastest lap on lap 57 to close within 4sec of third-placed Sainz, and he was within range on lap 62; his tyres four laps newer than Sainz’s softs.

The Mercedes was past the Ferrari on the main straight on lap 63, well before the first corners, and Hamilton headed straight for the rear of his team-mate’s car.

The two cars were running nose to tail on lap 64 without any team orders apparent. However, Hamilton employed the switchback at Turn 1 on lap 65 to take second place, with Verstappen almost 11sec ahead on the lead — but with rain still threatening.

Leclerc’s day got worse on lap 68 when his pursuit of Perez was frozen by a virtual safety car, employed to recover the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, which had ground to a halt.

The rain did arrive on lap 69 as the virtual safety car ended, and the lap times dropped with the chequered flag in sight.

Verstappen maintained the lead though ahead of Hamilton and Russell, with Sainz and Perez keeping in front of a disgruntled Charles Leclerc.

2022 Hungarian Grand Prix race results Position Driver Team Time Points 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 70 laps 25 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +7.834sec *19 3 George Russell Mercedes +12.337sec 15 4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +14.579sec 12 5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +15.688sec 10 6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +16.047sec 8 7 Lando Norris McLaren +1min 18.300sec 6 8 Fernando Alonso Alpine +1 lap 4 9 Esteban Ocon Alpine +1 lap 2 10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +1 lap 1 11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap 12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +1 lap 13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1 lap 14 Mick Schumacher Haas +1 lap 15 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1 lap 16 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap 17 Alex Albon Williams +1 lap 18 Nicholas Latifi Williams +1 lap 19 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +2 laps 20 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +5 laps

*Includes additional point for fastest lap