Refocused Lewis ties feat
Hamilton takes c'ship lead after 8th win in Hungary, needs 5 victories to match Schumi
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Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, winner and runner-up respectively at yesterday's Hungarian Grand Prix, spraying each with champagne on the podium as third-placed Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas gets ready to join in the fun.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
BUDAPEST • A masterful Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix in dominant style and for a record eighth time yesterday to wrest the Formula One championship lead from Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Max Verstappen took second place for Red Bull, with the Dutchman winning the "Drive of the Day" award despite crashing on the way to the starting grid in early drama that had his mechanics scrambling to fix the damage before the start.
Bottas, now five points behind Hamilton after three races, finished a close third after battling back from a botched start off the front row.
Hamilton's 86th career victory from his 90th pole position left the six-time world champion five short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91 wins.
The Briton also equalled Schumacher's mark of winning a grand prix eight times, something the Ferrari great achieved in France from 1994 to 2006.
"Round one had multiple different punches that I wasn't perhaps ready for, but I refocused and the last two (races) have been fantastic," Hamilton, who also collected a bonus point for the fastest lap yesterday, said of the season so far.
"This weekend, we've just been on point throughout so we need to try and keep this up."
The 35-year-old, winner of the maiden Steiermark Grand Prix the weekend before and fourth in the season opener, now has two victories for the season and three in a row in Hungary, with the next two races on home soil at Silverstone.
Like his previous two races, he also "took a knee" and wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt at the Hungaroring to protest police brutality in the US and racial injustice.
Equally pleased was Verstappen, who hailed his team's mechanics as they won their own race against the clock, giving him a car to drive from seventh place on the grid as he almost had a zero to hero comeback.
"I thought I was not going to race, so to be second is like a victory for me," the 22-year-old Dutchman said.
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HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1hr 36min 12.473sec * fastest lap
2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull +8.702sec
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes +9.452
4 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point +57.579
5 Alex Albon (Tha) Red Bull +1min 18.316sec
6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari +1 lap
7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point +1 lap
8 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault +1 lap
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas +1 lap
10 Carlos Sainz (Esp) McLaren +1 lap
SELECTED
11 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari
DRIVERS' STANDINGS
1 Hamilton 63pts
2 Bottas 58
3 Verstappen 33
4 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 26
5 Albon 22
CONSTRUCTORS' STANDINGS
1 Mercedes 121pts
2 Red Bull 55
3 McLaren 40
4 Racing Point 40
5 Ferrari 27
Canadian Lance Stroll finished fourth for Racing Point, with Alex Albon fifth for Red Bull in another turn-up for the team who appeared to be struggling in qualification, while Alpha Tauri's French driver Pierre Gasly was the only retirement of the race.
REUTERS
