Verstappen shows he can win from pretty much anywhere
While Charles Leclerc's season was coming apart at the seams, and Lewis Hamilton was taking meagre comfort from crumbs wherever he could, Max Verstappen's season continued to get better and better. Perhaps the most emphatic proof of his dominance in 2022 came in the last race before the summer break, the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.
The championship battle had already reached the stage where Verstappen could pretty much cruise to his second consecutive title. But that wasn't enough for Max, who simply wanted to keep on winning races. It didn't look like Hungary would be one of them, after he made a mistake in the final round of qualifying that was compounded by power problems with the RB18 forcing a precautionary overnight power unit change. It left him starting the race from tenth on the grid - far from ideal at the tight, twisty and dusty Hungaroring.
Anyone else might have simply decided that this was not his day, and be content with a quiet Sunday afternoon drive in the country. But not Verstappen. He seemed almost affronted that things hadn't gone his way, and duly set out to put the situation right. Starting on soft tyres, he picked up two places when the lights went out and then swatted aside both Alpines moments later, and then dodged direct combat with Lewis Hamilton by undercutting the Mercedes on pit lane.
He'd just taken the effective lead of the race from Charles Leclerc when he made a rare mistake and spun off. After a quick 360 degree he quickly caught back up to Leclerc again and retook the position - it was almost like he'd done it for laughs, to show his rivals what he could do no matter what the day threw at him. If anyone still thought they had any remaining chance of catching Verstappen in the second half of the season, his famous victory in Hungary squelched such absurd hubris on the spot.
