Piastri Claims Maiden Victory in Hungary
Image: McLaren F1
It was an extremely interesting Hungarian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri becoming Formula One’s 115th winner. However, it was overshadowed by a handful of controversies including the return of ‘Mad Max’ and a modern day rendition of ‘Multi 21’. Let’s get stuck in!
Qualifying
Image: Visa CashApp RB
Q1:
Rain plagued the F2 race just before qualifying but the shower stopped as soon as Q1 started. However the greasy conditions means drivers made mistakes and Sergio Perez was the first victim of the slippery surface, crashing into the barriers with just seven minutes to go.
The session was resumed with ever-changing conditions. Track evolution played a part in providing a thrilling end to the session, with Valtteri Bottas knocking out George Russell and Kevin Magnussen sending Perez to the drop zone.
George Russell:
“Yeah sorry about this session guys, it’s on me”
Both Alpine cars came home in P19 and P20, Guanyu Zhou, Russell, and Perez were also knocked out in Q1.
Q2:
The McLarens seemed to set the pace in the drying conditions but Verstappen did keep his Red Bull in contention, lapping very similar to the papaya cars.
Lewis Hamilton set a sub par lap time and was on the fringes of the knockout zone as the RB cars set great times. As Nico Hulkenberg crossed the line, Hamilton evaded elimination by just one hundredth of a second.
Both Williams, Haas cars, and Bottas were knocked out in Q2.
Q3:
Verstappen was already at a disadvantage due to a lack of a tow from his teammate, who started the race P16 on the grid.
Both Ferraris were pretty aggressive with their lap times but the superiority of the McLarens shone through as Norris put three tenths between himself and Verstappen to take provisional pole. At the end of the first runs, the rain started to fall again, forcing the drivers to go out immediately to avoid setting slower lap times.
Image: McLaren F1
Oscar Piastri challenged his teammate, coming within just 22 milliseconds, making it a McLaren front-row lockout. Just after Verstappen set his time, Yuki Tsunoda had a monumental crash, taking him out of contention. As the rain started to fall harder yet again, the cars only had enough time for one flying lap, except Verstappen, Sainz, Alonso, and Tsunoda.
It was a waste of time for the other drivers bar Daniel Ricciardo who set a quicker lap than his teammate, promoting him to P9.
Your top ten for qualifying at Hungary: Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton, Leclerc, Alonso, Stroll, Ricciardo, and Tsunoda.
2021 reborn
Image: F1 TV
The race was a classic show of Formula 1 madness. From Fernando Alonso’s furious team radios to tense inter-team battles, we were treated to a standard show of hectic motorsport. Nothing raised more eyebrows than Max Verstappen’s poor form this weekend, which he explained was the fault of the development team.
Max Verstappen:
"I refuse to believe [that you can't find more performance], then you get lazy”
‘Mad Max’ made a comeback as he collided with Lewis Hamilton, fighting for the final podium position. The collision sent Verstappen into the air, reminiscent of Hamilton’s coming together with Alonso at the 2022 Belgian GP.
The crash was very much Verstappen’s fault as he prematurely dove down the inside of the Mercedes in a desperate bid to gain P3.
The start of the race was equally chaotic for Verstappen as he was pushed off the track by Lando Norris as he went three-wide into the right Turn 1 hairpin. Verstappen didn’t seem his calculated self today.
His team radio messages constantly insulted the Red Bull team and got to the point where his race engineer had to calm him down.
It was as if the frustrated, immature Verstappen from earlier seasons came back.
Add to the equation an extremely underperforming Sergio Perez, Red Bull has a mountain of a task on its hands to maintain a grip on both championships.
Papaya Family troubles
Image: McLaren F1
Another driver that didn’t have their ideal Hungarian Grand Prix was Lando Norris, who leaves the racetrack with another missed opportunity.
Oscar Piastri became the first driver born in the 21st Century to win a Grand Prix and the first Aussie to win since Daniel Ricciardo, who took McLaren’s last 1-2. However, Piastri’s maiden victory was somewhat soured by mismanagement from McLaren where they had to swap Norris and Piastri around after a strategic miscommunication.
McLaren chief strategist Randy Singh took to the podium to lift the winning constructors trophy but many questions remain as to why McLaren allowed Norris to undercut Piastri.
This awkward team mistake led to Norris having to give Piastri the lead, which he was not happy about. Norris’ emotions spilt into the cooldown room, where he had a tense exchange of words with 104-time race winner Lewis Hamilton.
Whether McLaren will tread carefully moving forward will have to be seen. 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg offered McLaren team principal Andrea Stella a few words of advice on managing teammate rivalries.
Perez fights for his F1 future
Image: Red Bull Oracle Racing
Sergio Perez’s poor recent form has led to Red Bull considering a mid-season driver swap. Current candidates for the second Red Bull seat include both Cashapp RB drivers Tsunoda and Ricciardo and even Liam Lawson, who completed a test with Red Bull at Silverstone a few weeks ago.
Sergio Perez spun in qualifying, leaving the Mexican starting P16, which is not where a Red Bull should be. With six Q1 exits in eight races, many are now calling for Perez to be replaced.
With the added peril of an ever-dwindling constructor’s championship lead, can Red Bull afford to let a driver like Ricciardo get back in a Red Bull for half a season?
Verstappen’s comments about the technical direction of the team shocked the team. Christian Horner, who was transparent about the team’s current situation, gave his thoughts.
Christian Horner:
"That was probably Checo's strongest race since China, I would say. So, he should take some confidence out of the race. If he had qualified more in position, you could see he would have been in a much more competitive position"
Final race classification:
1 - Oscar PIASTRI
2 - Lando NORRIS
3 - Lewis HAMILTON
4 - Charles LECLERC
5 - Max VERSTAPPEN
6 - Carlos SAINZ
7 - Sergio PEREZ
8 - George RUSSELL
9 - Yuki TSUNODA
10 - Lance STROLL
11 - Fernando ALONSO
12 - Daniel RICCIARDO
13 - Nico HULKENBERG
14 - Alexander ALBON
15 - Kevin MAGNUSSEN
16 - Valtteri BOTTAS
17 - Logan SARGEANT
18 - Esteban OCON
19 - ZHOU Guanyu
DNF - Pierre GASLY
