Red Bull did not see Verstappen win coming: 'Simulations showed P3'

Hannah Schmitz didn't think it would be possible for Red Bull Racing to win the Hungarian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen had to start from tenth, while Sergio Perez had to start from P11 in Budapest. Simulations predicted that there would be no more than a third place finish, but Sunday afternoon went very differently. The choice to start on softs worked out great.

"Starting P10 is not something we were expecting," Schmitz admitted candidly to Sky Sports. Starting from fifth on the grid, Verstappen and Red Bull's strategists faced a tough challenge. "I was thinking we'd just get onto the podium, P3, P4 was the best thing coming out of the simulation."

In the end, Verstappen still proved to cross the line first, thanks to a clever strategy. "It was extremely exciting. It wasn't until the end of the race when I thought 'oh we could win this'. It felt all the sweeter from when we started," said Schmitz, who did not let Verstappen start on the hard tyre at the Hungaroring. "I, one of the classic strategies to do is start on the hard tyre and go much longer. Particularly with overtaking being difficult in Hungary. That was our plan." In the end, however, it became the softs.

Softs and no hard tyres

Why then is the big question. "We had also talked pre race about if the conditions are damp and cool, and that we could consider the soft tyre as the alternative because that might be better in those conditions. In the laps to the grid, both drivers were very vocal about having hardly any grip even though they were already on the soft tyres. The race engineers said we don't think the hards are a good idea."

What followed was a long discussion in which team boss Christian Horner also joined. Together they decided to go for softs. The fact that there was rain near the track also played a role. If there had been rain, Verstappen and Perez would have had no grip at all on the hard tyres.