
Red Bull missed out on a podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix after a late collision that ended Max Verstappen’s hopes of challenging for a top 3 position.
The Dutchman had been in a fight with Lewis Hamilton when contact with seven laps to go briefly sent Verstappen airborne and while he did escape damage that required an extra pit-stop or to retire the car, Verstappen could only finish in 5th position.
Meanwhile, his team-mate Sergio Perez was able to gain places after crashing in qualifying, with the Mexican finishing in 7th position from 16th on the grid.
The results mean Red Bull maintain their lead in the championships but do see a slight reduction in both fields.
Verstappen remains in the lead of Driver’s Championship, with the reigning World Champion now on 265 points after 13 races. He holds a 76 point lead on second place Lando Norris.
Meanwhile, Perez has 124 points, though he drops behind Hamilton and is now 7th in the championship. He is one point behind Hamilton and 8 ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
After a chaotic qualifying that featured two red flags and finished half an hour late, Verstappen had started behind the two McLarens on the front row.
At the start, the Dutchman immediately tried to challenge into turn one but was forced wide and came back on ahead of Norris on track.
A few laps later, however, Verstappen was forced to give track position back to Norris and when they swapped, the Dutchman was unable to match the McLaren’s lap times.
An early stop for Hamilton saw Verstappen undercut as he returned to the track behind the Mercedes, and after a multi-lap battle, he stayed there before the second round of pit stops.
Verstappen would then be further undercut by Charles Leclerc, which put him back out into 5th position.
The Dutchman would make his way past Leclerc but after getting involved in a fight with Hamilton, there would be a big moment on lap 63 when Verstappen tried to make a pass on Hamilton and the two made contact.
The impact briefly sent Verstappen airborne before he came back on track behind Leclerc. He was able to carry on without making a pit-stop, but the lack of pace meant he was unable to catch Leclerc or Hamilton ahead and had to settle for a fifth place finish.
Meanwhile, Perez had started 16th after crashing in qualifying, meaning he started at the back for the second race in a row after crashing in qualifying for the previous round in Silverstone two weeks ago.
The Mexican initially lost track position to Russell, who had also started further back due to a misjudgement in qualifying. As the race progressed, the two were filtered up the order, with the two starting on hard tyres and able to push longer into the race than others who made early stops.
Perez was able to pull an undercut on Russell and made necessary overtakes in order to help his way up the order, with seventh preserved when Russell made a later pit-stop. The Mercedes came close but was unable to pass.
Red Bull’s recent return means they have now won none of the last three races, which is the first time they have failed to win three straight races since 2021.
The team will look to avoid stretching that to four at the next round, which will see the F1 grid head to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend in the last race before the summer break.