Max Verstappen started the Hungarian GP from P2 to win the outing, in what was a thoroughly one-sided race. The Red Bull ace, however, feels that his victory at the Hungaroring was rare, despite him dominating the entire season so far, and winning seven consecutive races.
Verstappen did not have a great start to the Hungarian GP weekend. He struggled in the free practice sessions, and that continued when he took to the track for qualifying. The new qualifying format, in particular, didn’t really suit the Dutchman, who ended up losing pole position to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton snatched P1 away from Verstappen on his final flying lap- by just a 0.003-second margin. This led to several people predicting a tough race for Verstappen. Hamilton looked more motivated than ever to win his first race since 2021, and there was an outside chance of Lando Norris spoiling his race too.
In the end, however, Verstappen ended up dominating the race yet again. He finished more than 33 seconds ahead of second-placed Norris. Despite this domination, the 25-year-old feels that his win in Hungary was “rare”.
Max Verstappen on why his Hungarian GP heroics were rare
Verstappen seemed particularly relaxed ahead of the race in Hungary, even though he wasn’t starting from the pole position. When the lights went out, it was clear why he was so clam, as he passed Hamilton with ease after just one turn. Since then, no other driver came close to threatening him for the win, and even by his incredibly high standards, Verstappen had a very comfortable afternoon.
According to the Dutch driver, having a perfect weekend like that is exceedingly rare. A race where nothing goes wrong, everything goes your way, and the car too, feels unstoppable.
“There were weekends when the gap was probably a bit smaller than we would have liked,” said Verstappen as per Speedcafe. “But then we had a few weekends where we also surprised ourselves and had a really good race.”
“They are very rare, days like this, that it’s that good. Last year, Spa, for example, was probably pretty similar. but then I had to start from the back [14th], so yeah, very rare.”
Interestingly, the next race of the 2023 season will see Verstappen and Co. head to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP. As for Verstappen, he will be hoping for a repeat of next year, but only in terms of race pace.
Verstappen hoping to dominate the Belgian GP again
Last year, Verstappen took a penalty for exceeding his power-unit components that forced him to start at the back of the grid in Belgium. However, because multiple drivers took a penalty along with him, he started the race in Spa from P14 on the grid, right next to Charles Leclerc.
However, whereas Leclerc struggled for pace, Verstappen went on to lead the Grand Prix rather comfortably, within just 10 laps. It was a race that was as true testament to Red Bull’s power and dominance.
This year, Verstappen will be hoping for the same come race day. On the other hand, there could be some interesting twists this weekend, with Spa set to host the third F1 Sprint of the 2023 season.
