"I was hoping I could get close to the podium"- Max Verstappen credits Red Bull's 'strategy' after winning 2022 F1 Hungarian GP

Max Verstappen won the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, extending his championship lead with a dominant drive. The Dutchman started the race in P10 but quickly made his way through the field, taking advantage of Ferrari's poor strategic calls.

The Red Bull driver was joined by the two Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, taking second and third place respectively. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen's main rival this year, could only manage a P6 finish after Ferrari unexpectedly put on hard compound tires on the Monegasque's car. The Scuderia's poor strategic call allowed the Dutchman to demonstrate his championship-winning pace, taking his 28th career win. Meanwhile, Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race, finishing the race in P2 despite having started P7 on the grid due to a DRS issue on Saturday.

Speaking to David Coulthard in parc fermé after the race, Verstappen said:

“I was at first hoping that I could get close to a podium, but very tricky conditions out there but we had a really good strategy. We were really reactive and always pitting at the right time, I thought we had some good out laps, and at the end – even with the 360 – we won the race. It was a crazy race and I’m of course very happy that we won it.”

Max Verstappen currently leads Charles Leclerc by 80-points in the drivers' standings as F1 heads into its summer break.

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Max Verstappen hoped his power failure issues were solvable ahead of the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP main race

After a random power failure at the end of Saturday's Q3, Max Verstappen was wary of his chances of fighting the front runners in the main race. His RB18, however, performed at its usual high, helping the Dutchman not only challenge for a podium but eventually win the race itself.

As reported by F1.com, Verstappen spoke in a post-qualifying media interaction, saying:

“We made some changes which were very positive, so a lot of guys here and back at the factory were analysing a lot of stuff, and I think they understood and that’s of course very promising and very good. The car was a lot nicer to drive today but we couldn’t really show it in Q3 because of the power issue. I still don’t know what it is. I need to talk to the team, but I hope everything is fixable.”

The driver did, however, have one scary moment towards the end of the race, where he spun while managing a clutch slip issue. With an excellent recovery, the driver managed to keep his head down and take yet another victory in 2022.

With Verstappen's lead over Charles Leclerc increasing at the end of yet another GP, fans of the Scuderia team are starting to question its strategic calls as the championship goes into its second half.