How Verstappen's class made the difference for Red Bull in Hungary

Max Verstappen and Red Bull had plenty of issues with starts in 2026, but in Hungary Verstappen once again launched excellently off the grid, just as he did in Belgium. Charles Leclerc’s start wasn’t good, allowing Verstappen to immediately gain a position. Verstappen chose the inside, Lewis Hamilton the outside. Hamilton had a bit more grip on the soft tire, but couldn’t get past Verstappen, who made his car extremely wide. While defending, there was brief contact between Hamilton’s front wing and Verstappen’s rear tire; luckily for Verstappen, it didn’t cause a puncture.

In the first few laps that followed, it was very clear Hamilton’s Ferrari had much more pace than Verstappen. Still, passing the Red Bull driver wasn’t easy. Hamilton was on his gearbox heading into the final corner, but ultimately came up short in Turns 1 and 3 to seriously threaten Verstappen for P3.

On lap 14 Hamilton had had enough. After repeatedly reporting that Verstappen was too slow, Ferrari pitted him for the undercut. Hamilton rejoined in traffic behind Arvid Lindblad, but passed him immediately. Verstappen was called in straight away as well, but it proved too late. Verstappen rejoined behind Hamilton and looked to have lost his position.

That was without accounting for Verstappen’s exceptional class when it comes to attacking. After showcasing an excellent display of defending, Verstappen completely surprised Hamilton with an overtake into Turn 1. Hamilton passed Liam Lawson, but was then caught out by Verstappen diving down the inside to pass them both. A brilliant move that restored Verstappen’s net P3.

When Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris also pitted from P1 and P2 respectively, Verstappen latched back on. With Isack Hadjar still out ahead of the McLarens on old tires, Red Bull hoped the Frenchman could hold them up, but on the worn set Hadjar had no chance. Verstappen didn’t have the pace to follow the McLarens on merit, so his focus shifted fully back to defending P3 from Hamilton.

In the phase after the first pit stops, the balance of power shifted. Verstappen didn’t have the McLarens’ pace on the hard tire, but he was pulling away from Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Hamilton was even brought in early for a three-stop strategy. Even with that pace, though, Hamilton wasn’t fast enough - nor was Leclerc.

Out of nowhere, a new challenger to Verstappen emerged: Kimi Antonelli. The Italian had run a fairly anonymous race in P6 up to lap 38, but in stint one he went the longest of all the frontrunners. The championship leader thus looked like the only one on course for a two-stop strategy, posing a serious threat to Verstappen’s P3.

On lap 41, Verstappen pitted for the second of his planned three stops. He bolted on a set of softs, just keeping Leclerc behind. The fight for P3, however, was with Antonelli, who at that moment was running P1 on hard tires.

After a few laps, Verstappen came on the radio complaining and asking whether there was evidence the soft tire would last. Gianpiero Lambiase said yes, but Verstappen had his doubts about the tires, which he said already felt f*cked.

On lap 54, Antonelli gave up his second place for his second stop. The Italian switched to hards for the final 16 laps, rejoining in sixth. At that point Verstappen was still behind Hamilton, closing in little by little each lap toward Hamilton in P3.

Suddenly Piastri also came into play for Hamilton. After feeling short-changed by McLaren during the pit stops, the Australian’s pace completely disappeared. Just as Hamilton and Verstappen were about to catch him, Piastri ground to a halt with a gearbox issue. That turned the fight between Hamilton, Verstappen, and Antonelli into a battle for second place.

The VSC that followed for the stricken Piastri was used by Norris and Ferrari to pit for fresh softs. Verstappen stayed out on his used softs, inheriting P2 with a lead of over nine seconds on Hamilton on new tires. Hamilton, however, had to hand that position back to Antonelli because he was behind Antonelli at pit exit during the VSC.

Antonelli and Hamilton were indeed faster than Verstappen, but they tangled too much with each other and with backmarkers to fully close the gap. As a result, Verstappen held on for P2 and thus his fourth podium of the season.

Once again, Verstappen clearly made the difference for Red Bull . In Hungary, the RB22 was clearly slower than McLaren, Ferrari, and even Mercedes. Through stout defending and, above all, phenomenal attacking, Verstappen fought his way into a podium position - and never let it go. Red Bull didn’t deserve a podium in Hungary; Verstappen certainly did.