F1: Max Verstappen battled a 360 spin, his clutch to win ‘crazy’ Hungarian GP

Max Verstappen, after winning the Hungarian GP, said that he battled a 360 spin, ‘a lot of guys’ and tricky conditions during the 70 laps in Mogyoród. The Red Bull, who started 10th, managed to deliver a brilliant drive and extend his lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to 80 points. 

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Verstappen has 258 points and the Monaco driver trails at 178. He struggled with grip then complained of having “no power … nothing works” in qualifying. The reigning world champion could manage only 10th. 

However, on the race day, with no assistance from the safety car coming in, Verstappen and Red Bull had a ‘very good’ strategy. The racer undercut Leclerc for quicker tires. Ferrari made a mistake in choosing the more durable hard tires for the latter.

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But moments later, Max Verstappen had a scare. His Red Bull lost grip and spun on track, allowing Sainz to take the lead from Hamilton. Leclerc passed Verstappen, only to lose position soon after because Verstappen had faster tires.

“It was very tricky conditions out there but we had a really good strategy,” Verstappen said. “We were really reactive, always pitting at the right time. Even with the 360 we still won.”

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“Up there with your best,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. 

Verstappen admitted that he was struggling with his clutch. However, the race was fun, he added. 

“I was struggling with the shifts and the clutch and we had to change a few things around that to basically not burn the clutch and that costed a bit of performance and so that caught me out a bit on that corner. I was battling a lot of guys and it was a lot of fun out there. It was a crazy race but of course very happy we won it.”