Mercedes led more laps of the Hungarian Grand Prix than the rest of the season combined – but it was a red-letter day for Max Verstappen who started 10th but survived a spin to secure one of his most impressive wins of the season ahead of the charging Lewis Hamilton.
A shower on the last lap threatened to spoil his party, but the Dutchman tiptoed around the track to take the chequered flag despite Hamilton's best efforts. But it was still a superb drive from the seven-time world champion, who took the fastest lap after starting seventh while pole-sitter George Russell had to settle for third.
As for Ferrari, it was another wretched day as both drivers failed to challenge for the podium. Charles Leclerc in particular had his race ruined by another tactical blunder, as they switched him on to hard tyres which he could not get working and it cost him a top-three finish.
Russell held the lead after the first few corners but was under intense pressure from the Ferraris who had fired up their tyres well. Hamilton and Verstappen also got off to a great start, as they gained two places each within just a few seconds.
It was a less positive situation for Alex Albon, who picked up damage in the early melee which forced him to pit on the first lap. It meant he fell even behind Pierre Gasly, who started from the pit lane after AlphaTauri made unsanctioned changes to his engine.
After a brief virtual safety car period, Russell got a jump on Sainz and Leclerc behind him to move more than two seconds clear and prevent the Ferraris from getting the benefit of DRS. The leaderboard made for great reading for British fans, with Russell, Norris and Hamilton all in the top five.
As the Mercedes man moved past his compatriot, though, the lurking Verstappen took advantage and also slipped by Norris and into fifth, before Sergio Perez also overtook. He was still ahead of the two Alpines, though, with Fernando Alonso growing ever more frustrated as he felt he was faster than team-mate Esteban Ocon ahead of him.
Norris was clearly struggling for pace as his tyres failed and so he became the first to pit for fresh rubber. Meanwhile, at the front Russell was losing ground to the chasing Ferraris and so the Silver Arrows pulled him in, and it proved to be a good call as Sainz came back out when he pitted a lap later after a slightly slow stop.
There was less good news for Mercedes with their other driver, though, as they delayed bringing Hamilton in for his own change of tyres. It meant Verstappen had four laps of undercut on new tyres and was several second ahead of the Brit by the time he came back out of the pit lane.
And once Leclerc was finally pulled in, the lead was Russell's again. But as the Monegasque emerged he was ahead of his team-mate and up to second, showing that overcuts are just as powerful as undercuts when perfectly timed.
Further back, McLaren enjoyed an eye-catching moment as Ocon emerged from the pits in front of his Alpine team-mate Alonso. As they squabbled for position, Daniel Ricciardo moved past both of them and yelled "let's f***ing go" over the radio as he celebrated moving past their midfield rivals.
As the race crept towards the halfway point, Russell completed a pretty poor lap which allowed the charging Leclerc to move within a second. With DRS now available to him, he was now in a prime position to move past the Mercedes and take the outright lead of the race.
And that's what he did, after a few attempts thwarted by the Brit. Eventually he was able to move around the outside under braking, quickly moving more than a second ahead and leaving Russell worried about Sainz closing behind.
As drops of rain began to fall on the track, Alpine's day went from bad to worse. Team chief Otmar Szafnauer said before the race that they were targeting the podium, but by lap 34 Alonso was behind both Aston Martins as Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel took advantage of their struggles.
Leclerc looked to be in a great position to go on to win the race but was forced to concede position to Verstappen, as he struggled to switch on his hard tyres after his second stop. It gave the Dutchman the lead briefly, but then he had a spin on a slightly damp part of the track to give the position straight back.
But it wasn't long until the Red Bull man was back in front as Leclerc still struggled with his tyres. Sainz and Hamilton were ahead of him on the road, but the de-facto lead of the race was his with the other two having completed one fewer pit stop.
Leclerc was eventually pulled in for a third time for new soft tyres after being overtaken by Russell. In truth, it was another Ferrari strategy blunder which cost the Monegasque the chance of winning this race.
Meanwhile the fastest driver on track at this point was Hamilton, who was more than a second a lap quicker than Sainz in front of him with both on soft tyres. For a while it looked as though he had to pace to challenge Verstappen at the end, but he was held up slightly by the Ferrari man and had to settle for second place, ahead of his Mercedes team-mate.
Full 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix result
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Fernando Alonso – Alpine
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Alexander Albon – Williams
- Nicholas Latifi – Williams
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
DNF: Valtteri Bottas
