From the usual record-breaking Verstappen to the return of Hamilton and McLaren: let's discover the most curious and interesting statistics from the Hungarian GP.
Red Bull: Record-breaking Hungary for the team and for Max
- Verstappen, second in qualifying, ended his streak of 5 consecutive poles. Senna's record (8) thus remains intact.
- Verstappen's victory is only his second from P2 in Hungary in the last 12 years, after Hamilton in 2016.
- Perez, ninth at the start, reached Q3 for the first time after 5 races outside the top 10.
- Red Bull achieved its 12th consecutive victory, beating McLaren's record (11) in 1988.
- Verstappen became the fifth driver in history to win 5 races in a row, after Ascari, Schumacher, Vettel and Nico Rosberg). The absolute record belongs to Vettel (9): Verstappen could equal it at his home, in Zandvoort.
- Since the start of the 2022 season, Verstappen has won 24 races, the same as Fangio won in his career and one less than Clark and Lauda.
- Red Bull achieved its 250th podium, becoming the fifth team to reach this milestone after Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes.
- Verstappen set a new record for the most races finished in a row by a Red Bull driver: 30.
- Verstappen won his 44th race (Hamilton's number) on the weekend in which Hamilton took his first pole after 33 races (Verstappen's number before 1).
- This was the 11th race that Verstappen led from start to finish: equaled by Stewart and Schumacher.
- Verstappen is now the Red Bull driver with the most consecutive podiums ever (12). Beaten Vettel, who went on the podium in 11 races in a row on two occasions (Brazil 2010 – Great Britain 2011 and Germany-Brazil 2013).
- 110 points separate Verstappen from Perez in second place: this is the largest advantage after 11 rounds, beating Vettel's 2011 record (85 points over Bottas).
- After 11 races, Verstappen has the same points that Vettel accumulated throughout the season in 2012: in both cases, it is (most likely) the year of his third world championship.
- Perez's pitstop (1.90s) is the sixth fastest pitstop in history, 8 hundredths of a second slower than Verstappen's record in Brazil in 2019 (1.82s). The entire top 6 is Red Bull branded.
Classic Mercedes for sale: Two-faced Hungary
- The gap between Hamilton (P1) and Hulkenberg (P10) at the end of qualifying was exactly the same as that between Barrichello (P1) and Alonso (P10) at the 2003 Brazilian GP: 0.577 seconds. Both, therefore, represent the closest top 10 in history.
- Hamilton's ninth pole at the Hungaroring beats Senna's record at Imola and Schumacher at Suzuka, becoming the driver with the most poles at a single circuit. Paired with Senna and Schumacher there is always Lewis, at 8 on the Albert Park circuit.
- For Hamilton, the longest streak of races without pole in his career was thus interrupted: 33 from Jeddah 2021 to Hungary 2023.
- No one had ever recorded such a large time gap between the first pole and the most recent one as Hamilton: 16 years, 1 month and 13 days separate Canada 2007 from Hungary 2023. Raikkonen was beaten and his 15 years, 2 months and 4 days between Europa 2003 and Italy 2018.
- Despite having stopped dominating for three years now, Mercedes recorded its fourth pole in a row in Hungary: Hamilton's three (2020, 2021, 2023) are separated by Russell's only career pole (2022), with Verstappen (2019) the most recent non-Mercedes polesitter.
- The gap between Hamilton and Verstappen in qualifying (0.003s) is the smallest since Hockenheim 2010, when Vettel finished 2 thousandths ahead of Alonso. On both occasions, the winner started from second position.
- Russell (P18) was beaten by his teammate in qualifying in Hungary for the first time in his career.
- Fourth in the race, Hamilton does not reach the podium in Hungary for the first time since 2017.
- Starting 18th and finishing sixth, Russell gained 12 positions in the race: never so many in his career.
- For the third edition in a row, the driver who started 18th in Hungary scores points. This year it was Russell's turn, last year Vettel (tenth at the finish line) and in 2021 Latifi (seventh under the checkered flag).
McLaren: never this good for over 10 years
- Norris has qualified in the top 4 in 4 of the last 5 Grands Prix.
- With Piastri fourth, McLaren qualified with both cars in the top 4 for the second race in a row: this hadn't happened since 2012, when Hamilton started on pole in both Italy and Singapore and Button qualified second and fourth.
- Second at Silverstone and Budapest, Norris scores two consecutive podiums for the first time in his career, with the second coming at a circuit where he has never finished in the top 5 before
- This is the first two consecutive podiums for McLaren since USA-Brazil 2012.
Classic Ferrari for sale: the bad period continues in Hungary too
- With sixth place in qualifying, Leclerc has missed a top 5 start in 3 of the last 5 Grands Prix: this hasn't happened since the end of 2021.
- Sainz was eliminated in Q2 for the first time in 33 races: this hadn't happened since Jeddah 2021, which coincidentally also saw Hamilton's last pole before last weekend.
Alfa Romeo: so much wasted potential
- Bottas, seventh at the start, started from the top 10 for the tenth consecutive year in Hungary: it is his best run ever on any track.
- Zhou's fifth place in qualifying is his best result ever, improving his previous record (P4 at the 9 British and 2022 Italian GPs) by 2022 places.
Aston Martin: all uphill
- With Sainz's exit in Q2, Alonso remains the only driver to have always qualified in Q3 in 2023.
- Alonso's P9 is his worst result in Hungary since 2009 (retirement).
Alpine: never so bad in its history
- Ocon has not reached Q3 for 3 consecutive races: his worst streak for almost a year (he missed Q3 for 4 races in a row, from Belgium to Singapore).
- Gasly was eliminated in Q2 for the first time this season: it hasn't happened since the 2022 Brazilian GP.
- Alpine recorded two consecutive double withdrawals for the first time since 1999, when the team was still called Benetton. Also counting the other teams, this is the first time since 2015 (McLaren).
Alpha Tauri: Ricciardo lifts the mood
- Ricciardo (P13) brought AlphaTauri back to Q2 after a 3-race drought.
- Tsunoda was eliminated in Q1 for the fourth race in a row: this had never happened to him before in his career.
Williams: step back
- The gap between Zhou (P1) and Sargeant (P20) in Q1 is the second smallest gap in history, after Austria 2023.
