The first 3 races of F1 2020 took place in 3 consecutive weeks in July. After 2 races in Austria, F1 arrived in Hungary – the lush land of Lewis Hamilton. During the qualifying session on Saturday, the two Mercedes drivers secured the first two starting positions, while the unexpected third and fourth positions belonged to the two Racing Boy drivers with Mercedes engines. The fifth and sixth positions went to the two Ferrari drivers.
The heavy rain just before the race caused constant changes in the teams’ strategies. Most of the drivers started with intermediate tires, except for the two Haas drivers. However, the strategy quickly had to change. The early tire change caused significant position changes, except for Hamilton who remained in the lead.
Leading for most of the race, Hamilton not only demonstrated superior strength but also had better tire management than his opponents. With only four laps remaining, victory was within Hamilton’s grasp, allowing him to pit for a red tire with the goal of achieving the fastest lap. The reigning champion made no mistakes, securing a full 26 points from Hungaroring.
Hamilton secures his second consecutive victory and his eighth in Hungary.
Since pitting to change from intermediate to dry tires, Aston Martin’s Max Verstappen secured second place and defended it against strong competition from Mercedes’ Bottas. Moreover, the “Driver of the Race” award went to Max Verstappen, not Hamilton. The Red Bull Aston Martin driver had an accident on the way to the starting line. Verstappen started in seventh place but finished an impressive second.
Mercedes’ other driver, Bottas, started in second place but after a poor start, he fell back significantly. Although Bottas made a strong effort afterwards, he still finished in third place overall. With 15 points, Bottas was surpassed by his teammate Hamilton in the championship race. Hamilton now has 63 points after 3 races, Bottas sits in second place with 58 points, and Verstappen climbed to third place with 33 points.
After a successful qualifying day, the two Racing Boy drivers could only finish in fourth and seventh places despite their efforts. In between these two drivers were Albon from Aston Martin Red Bull and Vettel from Ferrari. Vettel’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, had an unsuccessful race and finished in 11th place, scoring no points in this race.
With this easy victory, Hamilton has now won in Hungary for the eighth time, matching Michael Schumacher’s record of most wins in a single race. The German legend won eight races in the French GP, in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2006.
After the third race, the drivers will have a two-week break before heading to race 4 in England on August 2nd.
Hoang Huy (Forum.autodaily.vn)
