Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Max Verstappen turned the Hungarian Grand Prix with one lap-16 move on Lewis Hamilton, reclaiming the place Ferrari had won through the first pit-stop cycle and converting it into an unexpected second-place finish for Red Bull.
Hamilton had emerged ahead after the opening stops on lap 15, but the fight swung back almost immediately. As both cars cleared Liam Lawson at the end of the main straight a lap later, Verstappen sent his RB22 down the inside of Hamilton’s Ferrari at Turn 1 to retake the net podium position.
That pass defined Verstappen’s race. “I knew that that was my only opportunity as well,” Verstappen said after the finish. “When I saw the opportunity arise, I went for it.” He added that Red Bull’s braking strength was key: “We’re good on the brakes, so that helped, so it was all under control.”
The move carried extra weight because of what happened at the same corner in 2024. In that race, Verstappen tried a similar attack on Hamilton while they were battling for third, locked both front tyres, made contact and launched into a post-race controversy, even though the stewards ruled it a racing incident. This time there was no collision and no mess, just a clean recovery of track position at the first real chance.
It was striking enough that it was still the main talking point in the cooldown room. When the replay appeared on the TV for the top three finishers, Kimi Antonelli reacted with “Oh my God!” before adding, “It was like 2024!” as the drivers watched the overtake back.
Verstappen admitted the result itself had not looked likely before the race was settled. “I didn't expect to be on the podium today,” he said.
Hamilton did get back ahead later in the race on fresher tyres, but his afternoon then unraveled under the late Virtual Safety Car caused by Oscar Piastri’s gearbox failure on lap 56. A pit-lane speeding penalty wiped out Hamilton’s recovery and dropped him to fifth behind Charles Leclerc, while Verstappen held on to second behind race winner Lando Norris.