Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes that Max Verstappen was “absolutely supreme” at the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP. The Dutchman mounted an impressive recovery drive to win the race after a disastrous qualifying session forced him to start the race in P10.
Speaking to the media in a post-race interview, Horner said:
“Max was fantastic today. We had a little bit of an issue early on; the clutch wasn’t having quite as expected. But then it seemed to clear and then we could release him to really attack the cars ahead, and he was on fire, even with his spin.”
Max Verstappen’s victory in Hungary was his eighth of the season. It also allowed him to further extend his lead over championship rival Charles Leclerc by a whopping 80 points, on a day when Red Bull seemed to be on the back foot.
The Hungaroring was inherently suitable to Ferrari’s strengths. The Scuderia were expected to take an easy 1-2 finish, especially after a disastrous qualifying session relegated both the Red Bulls to P10 and P11.
The team from Milton Keynes, however, went on the offensive come race day, forcing Ferrari and Mercedes to abandon their preferred strategies. Furthermore, the team also adapted better than most to the rapidly changing track conditions.
This helped Verstappen scythe through the field with relative ease, even as his main rivals started going backwards. Despite a spin midway through the race, Verstappen’s pace was such that he managed to take victory by over 10 seconds from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari cannot stop Max Verstappen from defending F1 title if they continue sabotaging themselves
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes that nothing can stop Max Verstappen from successfully defending his F1 title. He claimed that Ferrari will be unable to carve into the Dutchman’s impressive lead in the standings, especially if they continue to blunder as they have done in the last few races.
Despite a looming threat from Mercedes after the summer break, Schumacher believes that Verstappen will have enough advantage in hand to claim his second title. Speaking to planetF1 following the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, the German said:
“Even if Mercedes starts to take Verstappen’s points at the front, nothing can happen to him as long as he is in front of Ferrari. That is why it is very unlikely, especially if Ferrari is ruining it for themselves with the pit stops and the tyres.”
Red Bull and Max Verstappen have a healthy lead over their respective championship rivals. Given their poor reliability earlier this season, however, grid penalties at more than one venue are inevitable since Verstappen will need to exceed his original PU allocation.
This might provide an opportunity for Ferrari to significantly claw back their deficit and pose a late threat to the title.
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