Hamilton labels his incident with Verstappen "hair-raising" while Russell wants cleans weekends
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton did not have the pace to compete against the McLarens or the Red Bull of Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but he was in fighting spirit and defended brilliantly against the Dutchman in their long battle for P3.
Lewis Hamilton had a rather eventful race in Mogyoród. The Briton was briefly battling with the McLaren of Lando Norris for third through the opening corners, before settling for fourth.
He undercut Verstappen twice to grab third, defending with everything he had to keep the faster Red Bull at bay. The two made contact late on, but Hamilton was able to continue to grab his third podium of the season.
"Firstly, a huge congratulations to McLaren on the one-two and Oscar (Piastri) on his maiden victory. They were incredibly strong today and deserved the result. Oscar has been doing a fantastic job ever since he got into F1, been very consistent, and it was only a matter of time before he got a win.
"The team has done a great job to continue making progress with our car. We knew we didn’t have the speed of Oscar or Lando (Norris) today, but we were able to secure the final spot on the podium. It was a challenge at times to keep Verstappen behind whilst also making the tyres last.
"Our battle at the end was a little hair-raising but that’s motor racing. I’m really happy to be back on the podium and for another solid points haul. We now head to Spa looking to finish the first half of the season on a high."
His team-mate George Russell endured a disastrous result in qualifying, ending up only in P17. It was particularly frustrating for the two-time F1 race winner as he was displaying impressive pace all through the Budapest race weekend.
Mercedes put Russell on the hard compound for his first stint, with the Briton completing a long opening stint to climb back into the points. However, he was undercut by the Red Bull of Sergio Perez in the second round of stops, and took eighth.
"Congratulations to Oscar on his victory today. McLaren have been really strong, and he’s been driving really well so it is well deserved.
"We knew after yesterday’s issues in qualifying that we were likely aiming for ‘best of the rest’ today. We struggle a little more in these very hot conditions, so we weren’t quite able to achieve that.
"The Red Bull of Sergio Perez was quicker than we expected but we gave it a good go to get ahead of him. Getting P8 and fastest lap was still a solid recovery.
"We can also take the positives of the team being on the podium five races in a row. We have made consistent steps forward and the car has been performing much better in recent Grands Prix. Lewis drove a great race today and showed what the car was capable of.
"It is very close at the front between several teams now. We know we need to maximise every opportunity we have and execute clean weekends to score good points. We will be looking to do that starting next week in Spa," noted Russell.
