The Austrian Grand Prix represented the halfway point of the 2022 Formula 1 season. But the Hungarian GP retaining its pre-summer break spot and the mental reset it offers was why Max Verstappen’s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, told him as he crossed the finish line last Sunday: “what a drive – what a way to finish the first half of the year”.
That call came after the Red Bull driver had pulled off something of a shock win, which says more about the previous overtaking challenge at the Hungaroring for a driver that had started 10th – as was the case for Verstappen. Nevertheless, both he and Red Bull were brilliant last Sunday to claim an eighth win of the campaign from that grid spot.
