Last time out, Lewis Hamilton landed a huge victory at the British Grand Prix, closing the gap on World Championship leader Max Verstappen to just eight points, while his team Mercedes closed within four points of Red Bull in the Constructor’s Championship.
However, that doesn’t tell even a small part of what was a hugely dramatic race that saw the two main protagonists in the Driver’s Championship have their first real clash on track, with Verstappen coming off worst and forced to retire from the race in controversial circumstances.
This weekend, the driver’s will meet for the first time since that incident at Silverstone at the Hungaroring in Hungary and it is abundantly clear that Verstappen in particular wants his revenge for what happened a fortnight before.
Bet365 Sport is offering some good early betting on who will win the race on Sunday in Hungary and if you fancy a bet on the outcome, then why not head on over to the site for the latest pre-race odds and remember to check back over the weekend for a much wider selection of bets both pre-race and also In Play.
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Remember also that you can get a great range of betting on the Formula 1 season as a whole, and across each race weekend with BetRivers PA in the United States, with similar sites available from the same provider across other states that permit sports betting.
Before we take a closer look at this weekend’s race, let’s recap what happened last time out at what proved to be an exciting, and highly controversial British Grand Prix.
Hamilton Claims Controversial Win In Dramatic British Grand Prix
Before the British Grand Prix, Red Bull were very much in the ascendency in their battle with
Mercedes and similarly, Max Verstappen seemed to hold all the aces in his battle for top spot in the Driver’s Championship with Lewis Hamilton.
When Verstappen claimed pole position following the new Sprint Race qualifying session on Sunday, he looked well set to extend his already considerable lead in the driver’s Championship.
However, on the first lap of the race, Hamilton tried a risky overtaking manoeuvre at Copse, he and Verstappen tyres touched as the Dutchman cut across to take the corner, and their tyres touched, sending Verstappen into the tyre wall at speed.
It was a scary crash that, thankfully, he walked away from and after a check in hospital, without any major damage.
Hamilton received a 10-second stop and go penalty for the move, a punishment which Red Bull and Verstappen was unduly lenient. Especially when Hamilton reigned in leader Charles Leclerc over the final third of the race to pip the Ferrari driver to the win in dramatic fashion.
Watching Hamilton celebrate his win after the race, Verstappen Tweeted his disappointment with the penalty and Hamilton’s celebrations from hospital, stating:
Glad I’m ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on pic.twitter.com/iCrgyYWYkm
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 18, 2021
Hamilton’s subsequent race win cut the gap to Verstappen down to just eight points and the scene is now set for the two great rivals to go head to head over the rest of the season, with plenty of acrimony in place between the two.
All of which sets the scene very nicely for this weekend’s race in Hungary.
Hungarian Grand Prix Preview
The Hermann Tilke designed Hungaroring is not known as one of the most exciting tracks in
the F1 schedule with passing very difficult on track. As such, grid position, pit stops and race strategy can play a far more important role in deciding the outcome of the race compared to tracks where passing is a little easier.
Lewis Hamilton has a fine record on the track winning on the last three occasions the race was held and on eight occasions in total. That is double the number of wins of any other driver to have raced on the circuit since it was used in F1 once again in 1986, after a 50-year absence.
Max Verstappen has never won on the track and Red Bull’s last win came back in 2014, when Daniel Riccardo landed the victory.
The 70-lap race takes place over the 4.381km circuit and last year Lewis Hamilton finished first, almost nine seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with Valeri Bottas third.
Qualifying will revert to the single day qualifying 3-session format for this race, rather than the format used at Silverstone.
Given the lack of straights and the number of corners on the track, teams will likely opt for a set up with plenty of downforce, even if that means sacrificing straight line speed. A chassis which is reliable and which can deal with the high-levels of downforce generated is therefore a big advantage.
Track conditions for the race are likely to be hot with just one wet race in the history of the race, which came in 2006 when Jensen Button landed the victory.
Lewis Hamilton holds the lap record for the race with a time of 1.16.627, which was set in last year’s race.
Current Driver’s Standings – Top 5
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 185
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 177
- Lando Norris (McLaren) – 113
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 108
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 104
Current Constructor’s Standings – Top 5
- Red Bull – 289
- Mercedes – 285
- McLaren – 163
- Ferrari – 148
- Alphatauri Honda – 49
Hungarian Grand Prix – Race Prediction & Tips
The big question that many people want answered about this race is whether the animosity
between the two main rivals for the Driver’s Championship is going to carry over into this next race.
There has been plenty of evidence in the past where rivals have taken each other out in crucial situations, famous clashes involving Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, as well as Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill are amongst those that leap immediately to mind.
Whether this spat escalates into something further will likely be known by the end of Sunday’s race and it is abundantly clear that Max Verstappen is going to be hugely motivated going into this weekend as he looks to put right what he perceived as a dangerous and unsportsmanlike move in the last race.
Verstappen is no stranger to contact and has even taken out his own team mate before when battling for track position and so if the two main rivals are put together on the front row of the grid this weekend, as seems likely, then we could well see fireworks once again on the opening lap. Especially with track position so crucial in this race.
I can’t see Lewis Hamilton being quite so gung-ho in his attitude again after already having picked up penalty points for his clash with Verstappen in the last race and as such, I think Verstappen is the man to back here at 10/11 with bet365 to win the race outright. I’d expect Lando Norris to perhaps grab second with Hamilton coming in third.
