Verstappen wins Hungarian GP as Red Bull set win record

Max Verstappen won Sunday's Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix to take Red Bull's record 12th consecutive victory.

After having surprisingly been beaten to pole position by old foe Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen out-dragged the Briton at the start to take the lead into Turn 1, and was never threatened thereafter as he controlled the race to win by over half a minute.

"It made my race a bit easier to have a good start and immediately go into the lead. Then basically you can just do your own pace. The car was very, very fast. From there onwards the car was very enjoyable to drive," said Verstappen.

"We could do basically whatever we wanted with the strategy. 12 [wins] in a row for the team is pretty incredible."

Behind Verstappen, Lando Norris finished second for the second race in a row to underline McLaren's recent return to form, with Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez recovering to finish third after having started only ninth.

Behind the top three, Hamilton failed to capitalise on his pole position, and finished the race in fourth place. Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri ran second in the early portion of the race, but ultimately faded to finish fifth.

Hamilton's teammate George Russell salvaged sixth after having started only 18th following a disastrous qualifying session, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who was hit with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz took eighth, ahead of the twin Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who rounded out the top ten.

Daniel Ricciardo finished outside the points in 13th on his comeback to F1, but the Australian at least finished ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who took 15th.

The only two retirements were the two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who both retired with damage incurred in a Lap 1 incident after Ricciardo was nudged by Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu.

Verstappen's seventh win in a row sees him extend his championship lead, and the Dutchman now has 281 points. Perez is second on 171, with Alonso third on 139 points.

In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull have won all 12 races so far in 2023 and are way out in front on 452 points. Mercedes are second on 223 points, with Aston Martin third on 184.

The next round of the 2023 F1 season is the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on July 30.