Lewis Hamilton can look forward to next month’s double header in his native Britain from the top of the Formula One standings after yet another record-breaking demonstration of strength.
The Mercedes driver ruled Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix from pole, and set the fastest lap as well because his dominance was so big that he could afford an extra pit stop for super fast tyres.
En route to a record-equalling eighth victory at one circuit he even lapped both Ferraris.
“Untouchably dominant,” “insatiable,” and “imperial” were how some of the newspapers in Europe described his performance.
Hamilton matched former great Michael Schumacher, who did it in France, with eight wins at one race; and with now 86 grands prix victories is just five shy of the German who he also match on seven world titles this year.
“What an incredible race,” Hamilton said. “Honestly, that was one of my favourites that I’ve raced, even though I was on my own for the majority, it’s a very different kind of challenge and I was pushing hard out there — particularly for the fastest lap at the end.”
Hamilton moved five points past Bottas at the top of the standings as the Finn failed to get past Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and had to settle for third instead of what should have been another one-two for utterly dominant Mercedes.
“Everything has just been on point throughout the weekend, so we need to try and keep it up,” Hamilton said.
Mercedes motor sport chief Toto Wolff struck a similar note, saying:
“The car seems to be in a good place but to maintain it, we know we need to keep working hard and adding performance.”
At least as remarkable as Hamilton’s win was the performance of Verstappen and his team.
The Dutchman rose from seventh on the grid to second on the podium even though he hit the barriers on his way to the grid, forcing a frantic 15-minute repair job by the mechanics.
And with teammate Alex Albon rallying from 13th on the grid to fifth Red Bull could be rather satisfied with a weekend in Budapest which at first had not looked good.
“This podium is definitely dedicated to my mechanics.
“I thought the race was over before it had even started,” Verstappen said. “To be second here between the two dominant Mercedes cars is an unbelievable result.”
Ferrari have a fortnight to improve matters as F1 takes a breather after three race weekends in a row before heading to Silverstone for August 2 and 9 races behind closed doors. But it will be a tough ask for them as Hamilton would be all the more keen to win on his home turf.