Hungary GP: Lewis Hamilton rues misses winning chance but warns rivals Mercedes is closing the gap

Lewis Hamilton took second place again but believes he can win the Hungarian GP without qualifying DRS problems; George Russell finished third after taking the pole; Both Hamilton and Russell are confident Mercedes can challenge rivals after the summer break

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Lewis Hamilton is feeling really excited about the second half of the season after finishing in P2 and having the pace to compete with Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton believes he could have fought for the Hungarian GP win without qualifying problems but still praises Mercedes after his well-deserved second place and insists they are closing the gap on rivals mine.

Hamilton only started Saturday on Sunday after a DRS issue ruined his final round of qualifying, with teammate George Russell taking the pole.

But the seven-time champion still finished in second place behind Max Verstappen – who also made a brilliant comeback from 10th – and he believes he has enough pace to claim his first win of the season. this award.

Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “If we had got our laps yesterday, we would have been in the front row, and maybe it would have been a different result.”

“If the DRS were okay, we could have won.”

Hamilton got off to a strong start, going up two places in the first lap, before shortening his time and then unleashing lightning speed on soft tyres, edging past Carlos Sainz and Russell at the last minute.

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George Russell couldn’t hold back Lewis Hamilton for long, who has now been promoted to P2 at the Hungarian GP.

That leaves Hamilton in second place in a row, while he has five straight podiums – a clear sign of Mercedes’ progress after an unusually slow start to the season like so.

“We’ve figured something out and we can get a little closer and be able to compete with Ferraris,” Hamilton said. “I honestly think in a straight race we might not be that far behind Max.

“So I’m really excited for the second half of the season and proud of my team for not giving up.”

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Lewis Hamilton is flying over Carlos Sainz and is currently third!

He added: “I really want to acknowledge my team who have pushed and never given up in this difficult year so far.

“To be on the podium, to have both cars be on the podium twice, it’s been quite special for us and really unlucky for George today.

“The others still have a bit of an advantage but we are clearly closing the gap and this is just a great way to go into the break knowing we have this performance.

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Toto Wolff feels that we ‘lost Friday’ win’ with the tire selection but feels Lewis Hamilton’s hit was ‘unbelievable’ by finishing second in Hungary.

“Hopefully we can put some more into the second part of the season and start fighting the guys up front.”

Toto Wolff hailed Hamilton’s drive as “unbelievable” as the Mercedes boss said “he was a bit in the dark, nobody really saw where he was coming from and then all of a sudden he got in on the action. many times faster than leaders.”

“I think Lewis is in Budapest, it’s a success story and I think we lost the race because of him yesterday,” Wolff added.

Russell is confident that Mercedes is on the right track

Russell slipped back from pole to third on Sunday – with Mercedes reacting to their opponents’ stops – but remained content with his race.

“I think we did everything right for all the right reasons,” Russell said. “When sitting in the rain and soaking in the sun, everyone is soft on the surface, rubbing their hands together.

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George Russell drives the Ferrari during the first lap of the Hungarian GP with Alex Albon delivering the virtual safety car.

“Unfortunately, after about four laps we had a nice little lead, the rain stopped and that tire wasn’t the best tire to ride.

“We boxed pretty early on both legs, reacting to Max and reacting to Ferrari, and in the end, unfortunately, that affected us significantly when the rain returned and we used the kit. really old medium tire trying to prop Lewis on the new soft tyre.

“It’s a race, you can’t beat everything. We did everything right as a team.

“However, the pole position, P3 – a lot to be proud of.”

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George Russell believes there’s a lot to be proud of after Mercedes won another doubles podium in Hungary.

However, Russell believes Verstappen – who holds an 80-point title lead – and Red Bull “on the fly”.

“But, certainly we are making progress,” he added. “We were almost a minute behind the race win at the start of the season and lost 10 seconds in the last few races.

“If we can continue down that path, we’ll definitely be hunted.”