BUDAPEST: Max Verstappen cruised to another majestic victory on Sunday, reeling off a record 12th straight win for Red Bull as he dominated the Hungarian Grand Prix with a textbook drive from lights to flag.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was runner-up for the second straight race, but 33.731 seconds behind at the chequered flag on a hot afternoon at the Hungaroring.

Verstappen’s team mate and closest title rival Sergio Perez had to settle for third after starting ninth and chasing Norris in the closing stages before the Briton built up more of a buffer.

Verstappen grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and remained in control for his seventh successive victory, his ninth in 11 races this year and the 44th of his career.

More significantly, it was Red Bull’s 12th consecutive win, breaking a 35-year-old record they had shared with McLaren, who won 11 straight races in 1988 with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna as their driver pair.

Verstappen’s seventh straight win stretched the double world champion’s lead over Perez to 110 points in the championship.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, who started the race from a record 104th pole position, was outpaced at the start and finished fourth for Mercedes ahead of Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc, however, took a five-second penalty, and was ‘passed’ by George Russell in the second Mercedes with Carlos Sainz finishing eighth in the second Ferrari ahead of the Aston Martin paid two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023