Hakkinen: "There wasn't enough time for Bottas to catch up with Verstappen."

The whole weekend the balance was not there in the RB16 of Max Verstappen. Still the Dutchman managed to get a strong P2 with his seventh starting position. Just before the race the Dutchman broke his wing and later he took advantage of the bad start of Valtteri Bottas. Mika Hakkinen looks back.

Verstappen drove a good race on Sunday, after the Dutchman was a bit disappointing the whole weekend. The big cause that Verstappen wasn't on top of it was the RB16 that didn't cooperate. This turned out to be especially true when in his first lap to the grid Verstappen couldn't control the car anymore and drove his nose off against the wall.

A very fast repair of the Red Bull Racing mechanics saved the Dutchman's race. Hakkinen writes about this in his column on Unibet: "We often talk about how important teamwork is in F1. Verstappen owes it to his Red Bull mechanics that he finished second in Hungary. Not only because of the normally fast pit stops but also because of the quick repair of his front wing".

Bottas ran out of time for P2

The Dutchman's P2 was not only due to his mechanics. The poor start of Valtteri Bottas also ensured that Max Verstappen was able to drive away quickly. It was less than a second in the final lap between Verstappen and Bottas' Mercedes. Hakkinen says about this:

"Bottas made a small mistake, but it made for a busy afternoon for the Finn. First overtaking Charles Leclerc, then the two Haas cars, then the impressive fast Racing Point of Lance Stroll and then coming to Verstappen for second place".

"There was just not enough time left in the end to catch the Red Bull from Verstappen. There was less than a second left between the drivers."