Lewis Hamilton will head into Formula One’s summer break with a 62-point championship advantage after his victory in Hungary on Sunday.
The Mercedes driver overtook Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with three laps remaining to claim his eighth win from 12 rounds this year.
Here, PA looks at five things we learned from Sunday’s eventful race at the Hungaroring.
1. Hamilton shows why Verstappen’s still the apprentice
2. Bottas’ future under the spotlight… again
A nightmare start to the #HungarianGP for Valtteri Bottas
He collided with his team mate, Lewis Hamilton, AND Charles Leclerc on Lap 1 ?#F1 ?? pic.twitter.com/9rvDTZwL84
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 4, 2019
Hamilton’s march to victory allowed him to move 62 points clear of Valtteri Bottas after the latter took the chequered flag in eighth. Bottas has impressed over one lap this season, beating Hamilton to second place on the grid. Yet his hard work in qualifying was undone following a sloppy start, tagging the rear of Hamilton’s car before damaging his front wing in a coming together with Charles Leclerc. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff will now decide over the summer break whether to retain Bottas or promote reserve driver Esteban Ocon. After crashing out in Germany, an accident which provoked a furious reaction from Wolff, and his disappointing show in Budapest, Bottas has done little to help his cause, but Hamilton enjoys having the unassuming Finn as his team-mate and that will play a significant role in Wolff’s thought process.
3. Vettel admits he has not been good enough
4. Horner ups the ante on Gasly
Horner didn’t hold back in his assessment of Pierre Gasly’s sixth-place finish in Hungary. “We shouldn’t be racing Saubers and McLarens,” Horner said of the Frenchman, who finished a lap down on team-mate Verstappen. “We desperately need to see him realising more potential from the car.” Gasly is 118 points behind Verstappen and has just five more points than McLaren driver Carlos Sainz in the standings.
5. Sainz delivers for improving McLaren
Second consecutive P5. That deserves a(nother) song @Carlossainz55 #HungarianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/yjNMZaJRn6
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 4, 2019
One wonders if Red Bull regret allowing Sainz to leave their driver programme? The Spaniard, who raced alongside Verstappen at Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso, before he was sent to Renault and then allowed to join McLaren, has impressed in his maiden season for the rejuvenated British team. Sainz finished fifth in Hungary and has already scored more points (58) than Fernando Alonso managed in any of his final four years with McLaren.
