Hamilton takes his record 200th podium after 'hair-raising' duel in Hungary with Verstappen

BUDAPEST (AP) — Lewis Hamilton added to his Formula One milestones by becoming the only driver to stand on a winners’ podium for the 200th time after his third-place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The seven-time world champion extended his record podium haul following a classic Hamilton drive that featured a scintillating duel with rival Max Verstappen.

The jousting between the two best drivers of their generation ended with Verstappen’s Red Bull momentarily going airborne after they made contact late in the race. Verstappen had been battling for several laps to get into third position.

“The close battle we had at the end was a bit hair-raising but that’s motor racing,” the 39-year-old Hamilton said.

“I saw him coming from a long way back and he was able to brake a lot later than me, but he sent it up the inside, I stayed still and he clipped the wheel and went over, so I think a racing incident.”

Race stewards investigated the incident but decided no action was necessary after “no driver was predominantly to blame.”

Hamilton had already fended off Verstappen's repeated overtake attempts. The Red Bull driver finished fifth after Charles Leclerc took advantage of his run-in with Hamilton to slip ahead into fourth.

Verstappen had a difficult drive, bickering over his team radio about what he considered a poor strategy, either regarding tire choice or pit-stop timing.

“Today was a rough race for us so naturally that frustrated me as I want things to be better,” he said. “I don’t think we were fast enough. We unfortunately just didn’t have the pace and the strategy wasn’t working for us today.

“I need to look back at what happened with Lewis, but I committed to the move and I don’t think I braked too late, but we collided.”

Hamilton got his winning groove back at the British GP two weeks ago, taking his record victory tally to 104. That triumph at Silverstone ended a winning drought that dated back to the second-to-last race of 2021. It also made him the first driver to win nine times at the same track.

His world titles are only matched by Michael Schumacher, who is second all-time in podiums at 155.

Hamilton is enjoying his best run with Mercedes since Verstappen took his place as F1’s dominant driver and won the last three titles.

Even so, Hamilton has said he has no regrets over his move to Ferrari next year. He still wants to finish out his 12th and final season with Mercedes in the best possible fashion.

“For us, the team have done a great job at pushing this car ... we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens or of the Red Bulls but we were just able to hold,” he said about Sunday's performance.

Hamilton also had praise for McLaren, where he made his F1 start and won his first title in 2008, after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris completed a one-two for their team in Budapest. It was Piastri’s first win in F1.

“A huge congratulations to McLaren for the one-two,” Hamilton said. “They are my old original family. I am really glad to see you old boys back up front.”

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