F1 Recap: Hungarian Grand Prix
Competition is what makes a race exciting, and Max Verstappen's recent dominance has brought a lack of excitement to the paddock over the past few seasons. However, McLaren has proved to the world that they are once again on the rise with strong results over the last few races. This week, the boys in orange brought the heat as pressure caused drama further back in the pack.
It was clear in qualifying that McLaren had the speed advantage, with Lando Norris leading the way in pole position and Oscar Piastri right behind in second. Max Verstappen secured third, with Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc following behind. The reigning champion seemed to be feeling the pressure as the cars lined up, and with all five lights out, the race began.
Both McLarens had a good start, and Max's Red Bull had the speed down the outside to put pressure on Norris, the leader. Oscar also had a strong start and squeezed his teammate, demanding the inside line to the first corner. Frustrated at his third-place start, Max overshot the first corner, overtaking Norris outside track limits. This bold move also forced Norris wide into turn one, giving the chasing Hamilton the opportunity to close the gap and take third.
Soon after, Norris reclaimed his position from Hamilton and started questioning Verstappen's off-track overtake. After an investigation, the McLaren team now led the top five, with Piastri in the lead, followed by Norris, Verstappen in third, Hamilton in fourth, and Leclerc in fifth for the Ferrari team.
Once settled, the race came down to strategy, which would haunt Norris later in the race. Hamilton came in for an early pit stop on lap 17, forcing his competitors to consider swapping for harder compounds earlier. The undercut proved beneficial for Hamilton, as the first rounds of pit stops gained him a position, knocking Verstappen out of the top three.
Piastri was under pressure as he led the race around the halfway point, pushing for faster lap times. However, his car became unsettled at the apex of turn 11 on lap 33. Fortunately for the Aussie, he saved his car from the barrier, but he ended up running wide off the track.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was approaching his former rival, Verstappen. After a bit of back and forth, Hamilton got the better of Max as the Red Bull ran wide, opening the door for Lewis to secure the position. At this point, the radio chatter revealed Verstappen's frustration with the car and his competitors, a sentiment he would continue to express throughout the race.
On lap 41, Hamilton made another early pit stop, and Charles Leclerc followed him in an attempt to undercut Verstappen. Piastri came in on lap 46 for his last set of tyres, and Norris followed shortly after on lap 48. Lando undercut his teammate for the lead of the race and was met with team orders to return the position to Oscar, which wasn’t well received.
Lando continued to power ahead, appearing to disobey team orders for the time being. A late stop by Verstappen saw him fall to fifth, and shortly after, he let his team know what he thought about their strategy over the team radio.
Lap 55 saw a message to Lando to save his tyres and give the lead back to Oscar, which was poorly received, all while Verstappen aggressively hunted down Leclerc. Lap 57 saw Max's Red Bull return to fourth, and he now had his sights set on Hamilton.
McLaren seemed determined to force Lando back to second and resorted to using phrases such as “I know you'll do the right thing” to win the leader over. It was again met with no response. Meanwhile, a frustrated Max Verstappen closed the gap on Hamilton.
On lap 63, Verstappen bet his race on a deep drive down the inside of Lewis Hamilton, an arguably reckless move that resulted in a collision with the former world champion mid-corner. Fortunately, no real damage occurred to the vehicles, despite the Red Bull briefly flexing its undercarriage to the crowd. Hamilton managed to hold his position, while Verstappen failed to make the overtake stick. Following an outburst from Max, his race engineer simply responded: "I'm not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We will let the stewards do their thing," followed by “It's childish on the radio, childish.”
In the closing laps of the Hungarian Grand Prix, more radio drama was heard in Lando's helmet as the team resorted to saying, “The way to win a championship is not by yourself. It's with the team. You're going to need Oscar, and you're going to need the team." This appeared to be the last straw for Lando, as he handed over the position to his teammate with three laps to go for what can be considered a rather shallow victory.
The Hungarian Grand Prix results are as follows:
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
- Nico Hülkenberg, Haas
- Alex Albon, Williams
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Logan Sargeant, Williams
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine (DNF)
The Hungarian Grand Prix will leave a lasting impression, but it's unlikely to be a positive one. Tempers were high, daring decisions were made, and the victor secured his first win, but not in the way he likely dreamed. It was an entertaining race with outstanding battles, but driver behaviour will likely be the topic of discussion ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
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