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The 2023 F1 Hungarian GP ended with Max Verstappen's commanding win as the Dutch driver won his seventh race in a row. Much was said on Saturday after his run of consecutive poles was ended by Lewis Hamilton. Even the Mercedes driver himself had made a few questionable claims about Red Bull's loss of qualifying speed.
Come race day, as soon as the lights went out, Verstappen got the lead and never looked back. We had Lando Norris in P2 and Sergio Perez in P3 as pole position winner Hamilton could not even secure a podium.
After an interesting 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, what were some of the key takeaways? Let's take a look.
#1 Max Verstappen is rewriting what dominance means in F1
Since the start of the 2022 F1 season, Max Verstappen has won 24 races. There are legends in F1 that have won fewer races in their entire careers! Of course, this has to do with the fact that the number of races has increased quite a bit over the last few years. Having said that, we cannot discard the 'Verstappen factor' here.
We've seen similar or maybe even bigger dominance in F1 from Mercedes and even Red Bull in the past. Their packages have been more all-rounded and that has helped them win a bunch. None of them were able to put together a 12-race win streak.
This tenacious driver loves racing and that has been his DNA since he began. We're going to see Max Verstappen break records this season and we're already looking at him rewrite what dominance means in F1.
#2 Lewis Hamilton cost himself a podium in the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP
After a spectacular pole position on Saturday, the start of the race is where Lewis Hamilton cost himself a podium. The Mercedes might not be the best car on the grid but it's no slouch regardless of what Toto Wolff and Lewis continue to claim.
At the end of the very first lap of the race, Lewis was fourth and had lost three positions. Had he not lost the positions to the McLaren duo it's hard to imagine him losing out to them.
In terms of pace, both Mercedes and McLaren were neck and neck and it's fair to say Lewis cost himself a podium with that poor start.
#3 Lando Norris is a superstar while Oscar Piastri showed a rare vulnerability
Lando Norris has once again achieved what the car was able to. This is something that not many can say about their performance every race weekend. Norris is one of the drivers that can as he picked up his second P2 in a row.
The way the McLaren driver is performing, his transition to the front has been seamless. We have a new superstar in Norris now as he continues to pick up these podiums and score big.
Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, seemed to drop his shoulders a bit once Norris jumped him after the first pitstop. The Australian is quick and very competitive but this is something he might have to work on.
#4 Aston Martin and Ferrari need a lot of soul-searching after the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP
Ferrari once again underperformed in a car that could have potentially finished ahead of Oscar Piastri as well.
There's a lot of long-term optimism around Ferrari with Fred Vasseur on a hiring spree. The on-track performance does not yield much in terms of optimism.
Aston Martin seems lost and while Alonso is placing the blame on the new restructured tires, we might have to wait and see what's going in that team.
#5 Alpine is having a season from hell
This was the second race in a row where Alpine had a double DNF. Both drivers were innocent passengers as Guanyu Zhou's misjudged braking point ruined their race.
Since McLaren's new upgrade package was introduced in Austria, Alpine has not looked good. If the season continues to unravel as it did at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, Otmar's position might be in danger.
#6 Daniel Ricciardo shined away from the spotlight
Daniel Ricciardo had all the spotlight at the start of the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP race weekend. As the weekend progressed, the spotlight descended as the Australian went about his business.
After his first weekend though, Ricciardo has already done what Nyck de Vries was unable to i.e. finish ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.
The 2023 F1 Hungarian GP saw him outqualify and outrace Yuki and if this is what Ricciardo can do without preparation, the rest of the season is going to be exciting.
#7 Alfa Romeo needs to take a look at the driver lineup
A P5 qualifying was a vindication of sorts for Guanyu Zhou as the Chinese driver's credentials do get questioned time and again in F1.
Come race day, Zhou did what he has done far too many times in his racing career. He messed up the start of the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, caused a collision and a double DNF for Alpine, and put himself out of contention.
Bottas also had a bad start and did not score points. This was just another case of Alfa Romeo leaving points on the table when they were just there for the taking.
The 2023 F1 Hungarian GP showed that the team needs a rethink on its drivers for the next season.
#8 George Russell is starting to become the forgotten man at Mercedes
After the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, George Russell is now 43 points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton. That is just not acceptable for a driver that was touted to be the successor at Mercedes. This season was supposed to be the one where Russell evolved and showed everyone why Toto Wolff had trust in him in the first place.
That is just not happening right now. The qualifying debacle was partly Mercedes' fault but even before that Rsussel had found it hard to keep up with Hamilton. Russell is starting to become the forgotten man at Mercedes and that is never desirable.
#9 The regulations are closing the field but the lack of championship fight will hurt F1
The regulations and their restrictive nature have surely played a role when it comes to closing the field. We can see it often in qualifying where Max Verstappen has been forced to dig deep to secure that pole position. Having said that, the gap during the races is still pronounced.
The Red Bull is in a different league and it is quite easy to see how big an advantage it enjoys. While there is certainly action behind the race leader and the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP had a lot of it, the lack of action for the win is going to hurt the sport a little.
Through no fault of their own, Verstappen and Red Bull's tenacious nature does put off the fans hoping for a battle for the win.
#10 Nico Hulkenberg does not get enough credit for his scintillating qualifying pace
Nico Hulkenberg once again dominated teammate Kevin Magnussen at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP qualifying. The German has been in spectacular form in qualifying and pulling off single lap pace that his teammate has no hope of catching.
Unfortunately, the poor race pace of the Haas has limited Hulk's exposure to the front of the grid and hence kept him hidden from the limelight more often than not.
The driver has the biggest average gap to his teammate in qualifying (even bigger than Verstappen's) and has been turning a few heads this season because of that.
