F1 | 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary

The F1 circus rolled into Budapest for the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix and it was business as usual as Max Verstappen took victory. But to go further than just the race result our summary covers the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Result for the big event and so much more.

This 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.

READ MORE:
2023 Latest Grand Prix Driver Ratings
2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Preview
Our 2023 F1 Calendar & Results

2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Result Main Race Summary

Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.

Setting the scene – The new qualifying rules of using a specified tyre in each Qualifying session has paid off with a reasonably mixed grid. Lewis Hamilton takes his first pole in a long time, breaking the Red Bull monopoly and seeing a first 1-2 with Max Verstappen since the infamous 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Talking of fast cars, and not that Tracey Chapman song, the McLarens continue their resurgence in third and fourth. Guanyu Zhou is the big surprise with fifth on the grid, with Bottas in seventh also surprising. No surprise was Sergio Perez continuing a terrible weekend by qualifying 9th after crashing on his second lap of the weekend. Oh, and Daniel Ricciardo? Out-qualified team mate Yuki Tsunoda and made Q2. Solid.

But the mixed up grid, with Verstappen not on pole gives this race some pre-race excitement for a change in 2023.

Oh, and it is bloody hot. Tyre care is top priority.

GRID (Starting Order) – HAM VER NOR PIA ZHO LEC BOT ALO PER HUL – RIC (13th)

Lap 1 – Lewis Hamilton gets away OK from pole position but Max Verstappen gets away better and sneaks up the inside into turn one. They go a little wide which leaves an opportunity for Oscar Piastri to steal second from Hamilton and Norris gets by as well. Bad news for pole sitter Hamilton, great news for McLaren. There’s some first corner shenanigans involving a very slow-starting Guanyu Zhou and the returning Daniel Ricciardo. Zhou basically hits Ricciardo up the arse like a distracted driver texting. And the Alpines….. Gasly pits for damage and retires. Esteban Ocon retires a lap later. Replays show they ran into each other at the first corner. That’ll be a good debrief. Carlos Sainz is the big mover up to 6th from 11th. 

ORDER – VER PIA NOR HAM LEC SAI ALO PER HUL STR

Lap 5 – It took a while to dissect those first lap replays. What a shame for Ricciardo fans. At the front Max Verstappen has already set a fastest lap and leads by a second and a half. Which means Piastri has some decent pace. Genuine one would say, and a reminder to all that there is more than one Australian in the race. 

Lap 6 – Fernando Alonso battling with Sergio Perez for 7th. Alonso doing everything he can to keep the Mexican behind him. And succeeding. For a number of laps. Ahead, Carlos Sainz’s aggressive tyre selection is being held up by his team mate. And as for the qualifying surprise in Alfa Romeo? They started 5th and 7th and are currently 12th (Bottas) and 16th (Zhou).

Lap 8 – Perez gets past Alonso for 7th. In lower rung news Guanyu Zhou gets a five second penalty for the first lap buffoonery.

Lap 10 – A bunch of midfielders pit for new tyres. That’s about 10 laps earlier than the pre-race stats suggested. A slice of luck for Daniel Ricciardo as Yuki Tsunoda’s pit stop sees a delay on one of the tyres.

ORDER – VER PIA NOR HAM LEC SAI PER ALO HUL RUS

Lap 12 – The recently pitted Valetteri Bottas sets fastest lap. It may be the only interesting thing he does this race, so worth a highlight. Zhou sets fastest lap a lap or so later. He’s been too interesting this race already.

Lap 14 – Logan Sargeant pits. His tyres suffering altitude sickness from being lower midfield. He rejoins last and car balance returns.

Lap 17  – Lewis Hamilton pits from fourth and gets out in front of 9th placed Daniel Ricciardo. Carlos Sainz pitted two laps earlier and is behind Ricciardo. Lando Norris pits on lap 18 and stays ahead of Hamilton and George Russell.

Lap 20 – Oscar Piastri pits from second and loses the net second place to his team mate Lando Norris who gives him the old undercut. Bot hare behind the yet-to-pit Red Bulls and Alonso.

ORDER – VER PER ALO NOR PIA RUS HAM SAI STR LEC

Lap 23 – Max Verstappen pits from the lead. He stays first, and has done his stint on Medium Tyres. Fans wanting any other result than Verstappen 1st will need to start working on their voodoo dolls right now.

Lap 25 – Sergio Perez pits from second and ends up 7th, becoming a Red Bull in a prancing horse sandwich. Sounds like something you could get from Ikea. Only George Russell in the top cars yet to pit. He’s on a different strategy because he was eliminated in a different part of qualifying to the rest of the top ten (Q1). 

ORDER – VER NOR PIA HAM RUS SAI PER LEC STR ALO

Lap 27 – Perez overtakes Carlos Sainz for 6th. A forceful move which probably saw one or both of them swear in Spanish. Charles Leclerc is looming behind now too for extra Sainz misery. Perez takes George Russell a lap later too.

Lap 32 – A quick check of The Ashes cricket shows that it is being delayed by rain. Perhaps we could swap weather conditions. Sergio Perez’s comeback drive from 9th on the grid is currently the highlight. Distracted by The Ashes non-play, we notice George Russell has pitted, and he has just set fastest lap. And it’s not even halfway yet. This race is going to be a struggle considering it has just shifted from Sunday to Monday in this part of the world.

Lap 42 – Our quick power nap was interrupted by Charles Leclerc complaining via radio about his team’s strategy calls. You’d wonder if he has a pre-prepared script. Meanwhile, further ahead Perez and Hamilton really battling for 4th position.It gets pretty close.

Lap 43 – Oscar Piastri has pit from third. Perez pits from fifth. Red Bull’s pit stop for Perez is quicker than a sneeze at 1.9 seconds. Both exit pits behind the Ferraris. Although Leclerc pits a lap later. Norris a lap after that. Can Piastri undercut him this time? No. Sainz pits the next lap, Ends up behind Leclerc. 

ORDER – VER HAM NOR PIA PER RUS LEC SAI ALO STR

Lap 48 – Sergio Perez takes Oscar Piastri for 4th. The stewards have noted the move though, as Perez kind-of pushed Piastri onto the dirt.

Lap 53 – Where’s the race updates you ask? Well, the TV is showing Albon v Bottas for 11th. Nuff said.

Lap 58 – In another piece of English v Australia sporting rivalry going the English way, Lewis Hamilton overtakes Piastri for 4th. 

Lap 64  – Max Verstappen is 25 seconds in front of second placed Lando Norris. Perez is closing on Lando Norris to sort out a Red Bull 1-2. A win would see them hold the record outright from most team wins in a row.

Lap 65 – George Russell takes 7th from Carlos Sainz despite the Ferrari driver driving like a drunk down the main straight with his swerving.

Lap 69 – So Sergio Perez’s charge to second has become a defence of third. Lewis Hamilton is catching him quickly but is running out of laps. Or lap, since the race is only 7- laps long.

Last lap – Max Verstappen wins with ease, untouched by rivals for the millionth time this season. Talking of millions, Red Bull have now broken the record for most consecutive team wins. They took that from McLaren (1988) who had another strong weekend – Lando Norris second and Oscar Piastri 5th. Good form from Lewis Hamilton means at least the battles fro second will be tight for the rest of the season.

FINAL ORDER – VER NOR PER HAM PIA LEC RUS SAI ALO STR

Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).

These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.

THE GREAT-EST –  MAX VERSTAPPEN

On a track that wasn’t meant to suit the Red Bulls, he did all right. Relegated to only second on the grid, he took the lead early and drove off into the sunset.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

LEWIS HAMILTON – Took pole position for the first time in seasons, and drove well at a track where he has had a lot of success.

MCLARENS – That British Grand Prix pace has remained, and they are at least the third quickest car right now, if not second. Both drivers did an outstanding job is qualifying and race, with a second consecutive podium for Lando Norris and loads more points for Piastri.

GEORGE RUSSELL – Decent recovery drive from 18th to 8th, and ran much higher on the alternative strategy for a long time.

DANIEL RICCIARDO – Steady and solid progress on his return to F1. The Alpha Tauri is pretty slow, but Ricciardo did well. Beat his team mate, but didn’t score points. This time.

THE GRAPE-EST – ALPINE

Qualifying 12th and 15th wasn’t too bad. Until you get involved in first corner shenanigans and both cars are out within two laps. How grape.

DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS

SERGIO PEREZ – His great race result and drive may have saved face, but he left plenty of face in the barrier on Friday when he crashed on a wet track on his second lap at the race where he was under massive scrutiny after Daniel Ricciardo’s return. Qualifying 9th didn’t help either. The car should be second minimum in every session. It isn’t, so although his race here was great, his qualifying has cost fans a chance at a feisty intra-team championship battle.

CHARLES LECLERC – Busted for speeding in the pit lane, and penalised which ruined his race before his team got the chance to. You could probably group the Ferraris together for dropping to fourth fastest car, at best.

HAAS – Never before has a team gone so missing on race day.

THE 50-50 – GUANYU ZHOU

CHEERS – For the outstanding 5th place on the grid.

JEERS – For stuffing the start and wrecking his and Daniel Ricciardo’s race.

Was it a good race, loads of action, tense, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest.

We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.

SEASON IMPORTANCE –  5 / 10

More of the same wins from Red Bull which have become the staple diet of the 2023 season. The trial on specific tyres in qualifying seems to have worked, hence the score of five. A matter of when not if Max wins the title.

ON TRACK ACTION – 5/10

There were a few moves here and there throughout the race towards the front, but overall it was pretty dull. Sergio Perez’s move up the ladder was the highlight.

ENDING 5 / 10

With Sergio Perez on a crusade to make up lost time, he produced a few decent overtaking moves. Russell annoying Ferraris was also slightly fun. And could Daniel Ricciardo stay ahead of Yuki Tsunoda? Well, yes was the answer.

OVERALL RATING 15 / 30

An OK middling race of a little racing, a few charges from lower grid slots thanks to the new qualifying tyre restrictions. But still a Max Verstappen out in front and rarely challenged.

2023 SEASON RATINGS SO FAR

Want to know what we thought of previous races? Or which ones to to back and watch? 

R1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – 15/30
R2 – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – 10/30
R3 – Australian Grand Prix – 23/30
R4 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix – 8/30
R5 – Miami Grand Prix – 20/30
R6 – Monaco Grand Prix – 23/30
R7 – Spanish Grand Prix – 15/30
R8 – Canadian Grand Prix – 12/30
R9 – Austrian Grand Prix – 18/30
R10 – British Grand Prix – 15/30

2023 F1 Season Power Rankings

Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.

Who not check out last season: Our 2022 F1 Season Driver Ratings