Mercedes F1 chief issues DAMNING Verstappen verdict after Hamilton 'disappointment'

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has claimed that the Silver Arrows never believed they had the pace to beat Max Verstappen in Hungary, despite claiming pole position for the race.

Lewis Hamilton looked to be in a good position to fight for something special in the race after ending his pole position drought that spanned back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a mega lap on the Saturday.

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Unfortunately for Mercedes, the seven-time world champion got a terrible launch in the second phase, dropping a position to Verstappen into turn one before both McLaren drivers edged past.

Hamilton struggled to close in on the top three during the first half of the race and lost a position to Sergio Perez, but ended the grand prix strong, coming within a couple of laps of salvaging a podium finish.

Shovlin: We had no chance against Max

"Starting from P1 and not even making the podium is always going to be disappointing," Shovlin explained in the aftermath of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"We never believed we had the pace to beat Verstappen, but we could have been second had more gone our way.

"The opening lap wasn’t great for Lewis, dropping to fourth, but as the race went on our pace seemed to get better.

"At one point it looked like we’d be a distant fourth, but he did a good job closing Perez and Lando Norris down in the final stint.

"It was frustrating that we couldn’t get on the back of them sooner."

Mercedes' attention will now turn to the Belgian Grand Prix as they look to get back in front of McLaren and close the gap to Red Bull.

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