Max Verstappen & Red Bull break 35-year-old F1 record with Hungarian GP win

Red Bull have won a record-breaking 12 consecutive races courtesy of Max Verstappen’s victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

It was another routine win for Verstappen who passed pole-sitter Sir Lewis Hamilton at the start and never looked back, winning by over 33 seconds.

Following his heroics at Silverstone, McLaren’s Lando Norris finished runner-up for the second race running, with the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez completing the podium after holding off Hamilton in the closing laps.

12 wins in a row surpasses McLaren’s record set in 1988 by the legendary duo of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Red Bull’s run stretches back to the 2022 finale in Abu Dhabi, with championship leader Verstappen claiming 10 of the victories, and with the RB19 still unbeaten in 2023 it is a record they are likely to extend.

Speaking on the radio to Verstappen, team principal Christian Horner said: ‘Well done mate. That is win 44 for you, 12 in a row and that is history. A fantastic performance.’

‘What an unbelievable rocketship that was today. That was so enjoyable to drive. Unbelievable. Well done guys,’ the Dutchman responded.

‘Everyone can be really proud of that achievement. Thank you. This is so enjoyable to drive. Unbelievable. I was really enjoying that last stint.’

Post-race, the 25-year-old added: ‘Finally we had a really good start, so very happy with that. We’ve been working on that quite a bit to really try to get the good bite. Then I knew when I had the inside that that corner was mine.   

‘It was just late on the brakes, heavy car, so luckily it all worked out well, and from there onwards I could do my race, and today the car was really, really quick.

‘I think over one-lap this weekend was a bit of a struggle, but maybe it was a good thing for today. The car was good on any tyre, we could look after the tyre wear, and basically that’s why we could create such a big gap.

Having also secured the fastest lap bonus point, Verstappen has extended his championship lead over Perez to 110 points at the halfway stage of the season.

‘We got close to P2. Unfortunately we got through a lot of backmarkers,’ the Mexican said post-race.

‘The track was unbelievably dirty off line, so in the last laps I had some pick-up going through the backmarkers, and that meant that I lost a few seconds. I recovered towards the end but it was just too late.

‘I think overall it was a great strategy by the team and we managed to have an excellent result. I think this sort of performance, these sort of days do help, and from now on I just look forward to basically being on the podium every single weekend, so let’s keep it up.’

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