Lando enjoys a cracking race as Max wins and Lewis grins

As well as being dubbed a ‘rocketship’ by Verstappen and his rivals, the RB19 has been bomb-proof in its reliability. However, accidents do happen, which is how Max left Budapest with a smashed trophy (right). He would rather a bent trophy than a bent car, of course.

Blame lies at the door of Lando Norris, who repeated his brilliant British Grand Prix display with another second place for the renaissant McLaren. Lando banged his jeroboam of fizz on the rostrum to help it spray – something that’s becoming his trademark – and the knock caused the winner’s trophy to take a tumble, crashing onto the floor and breaking in half.

Norris looked shocked and, having doused Verstappen in sparkling Ferrari Trento, explained to the Dutchman what happened, full of apologies. Verstappen picked up the two pieces and laughed it off. The Englishman joked it was all Max’s misfortune.

According to Hungarian media, the handmade trophy wasn’t cheap. It took six months to produce at a cost of nearly £35,000. I should think some superglue would save it, but the company that manufactured it has vowed to craft another (provided someone pays).

Attila Simon, CEO of Herendi Porcelanmanufaktura Zrt, told Hungarian TV: ‘The teams will decide who is to blame but we will take on the joyful and heavy burden of making it again.’

Pole had eluded him for 33 races and Hamilton, who was frustrated by a poor start that saw Verstappen and the McLarens overtake him on the first lap as he went on to finish fourth, compared the delight of being fastest on Saturday to that of his first P1 in Montreal in 2007. The past 18 months have been the most barren period of his racing career, with Mercedes overshadowed by Red Bull this year and last.

‘I’ve lost my voice from shouting so much, it’s amazing, this feeling,’ said Hamilton after roaring down the radio to his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, congratulating each other and the team on an absolutely stellar lap – one of the best of his 104 poles. ‘When I heard Bono come on the radio, I had a huge grin on my face.’

It was the Briton’s ninth pole at the Hungaroring, adding another record to his hefty list 
of achievements.

Dan applies pressure after going Fer it

Sergio Perez, who qualified ninth, made a strong recovery to pick up the final podium place. But it was another poor Saturday performance that allowed a McLaren to finish between the two Red Bulls, not to mention an unforced error in practice that saw the Mexican spin.

With Daniel Ricciardo having returned to Alpha Tauri, Perez is under extra pressure. If Ricciardo can rediscover the mojo that earned him eight grand-prix wins, we could see him back in the senior Red Bull team. He qualified four places ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in Hungary and finished 13th despite getting punted up the rear into turn one.

The Australian has revealed it was a chat on a flight with Fernando Alonso that convinced him to take a step back from racing and rejoin Red Bull as their reserve driver, having got the boot from McLaren. Alonso himself took a two-year F1 hiatus but came back in 2021.

‘He said the break for him was one of the best things he ever did,’ said Ricciardo. ‘It got me thinking not to be too scared of [taking a sabbatical].’

MORE : Lando Norris sees the funny side of breaking Max Verstappen’s trophy