Hungary GP Race Report

The breaking news at the Hungarian race event was not about the Formula 1 in Budapest at all but that Malaysia was going to host the Bahrain Grand Prix at the start of October; a strange mix of countries there.  Sepang is a notoriously hot circuit; Raikkonen famously got out of his broken Ferrari mid-race and went straight to get a Magnum out of the freezer.  It was hot in Hungary as well apparently but no one told us how hot.  With all the sunshine, thoughts were on the summer break which could not come soon enough for George Russell and if he felt that before the race, it would be even more welcome at the end.

Piastri was able to take the lead from his team mate off the start by the second turn and Verstappen was up to third.  Leclerc also lost out and was down to fifth.  Hadjar was seen darting out to the middle when the lights went out but it became apparent he had to do that to avoid Russell, whose anti-stall had kicked in and he went backwards down the grid to 20th.

I watched the Channel 4 highlights package for this event and none of the action further towards the back of the pack was shown, certainly not full screen, including Russell's overtaking manouevres to come back through.

Hamilton was the first of the lead runners to pit and came out in ninth.  It would be a race with unusual and changing tyre strategies.  Verstappen responded by pitting on the next lap but was overtaken. He then pulled out an amazing overtaking move to get past Lawson and Hamilton in swift succession.

It wouldn't be a race without Cadillac woes; Bottas' brakes caught fire again and he brought the car into the pit lane.  Piastri was about to box but had to stay out as the burning vehicle moved slowly in.  Norris had been waiting for his team mate to get out of his way and for some clean air for a long time and had been complaining on the radio.  Hadjar was in second and tried to hold the McLarens back when they came out from their pit stops, less so for his team mate Verstappen who was behind them.  I have a sneaky feeling that he may be retained for the whole of this season, possibly even for next year, unless he is Lawsoned.

With more complaints from Norris, McLaren bought in Piastri for another pit stop, giving him some clean air.  He was impeded by Sainz and the pair came together.  There seemed to be something wrong with the blue flag system at the track although surely team radio could have assisted the matter.  This gave Norris the chance to put in some quick laps and come out ahead of his team mate after his pit stop and was able to overtake Antonelli too.

Then Perez' Cadillac had a suspension failure, or something and retired.  There was no Safety Car needed but then Piastri's gearbox went on lap 56.   This was another retirement for him following two races at the beginning of the season where he didn't even start.  Stella didn't know whether to be thrilled for Norris (probably was) or upset for Piastri but he made the valid point that a "world champion doesn't have a car which stops on the track".  A Virtual Safety Car was called for and Norris and both Ferraris pitted.  Verstappen didn't which ultimately gifted him a podium finish.  Hamilton and Antonelli had a very close approach to the pit exit and Hamilton had to give the place back to his usurper. 

In the end, it was a relatively easy victory for Norris although it probably didn't feel like that for him.  Verstappen was second and Antonelli was third after Hamilton was given a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane (another reason Ferrari should not have brought him in for the final extra stop).  Leclerc had a very nowhere race.

Williams would have finished last if Bearman had not received a penalty and there is little comfort that they are only in that position because both Cadillacs retired.  It was even more of a kicker because Stroll finished 13th and Alonso 14th for Aston Martin although I don't know how it ended up in that order (perhaps Alonso wants more pay for next year and is buttering up to Lance's pop?).

Hadjar had a well-deserved sixth place and Russell ended up seventh (he was practically wearing his trunks and snorkel in the press pit).  Both Racing Bulls scored points and Hulkenberg scored his first points for Audi.  Those had the back have a big battle ahead not to be at the back by the end of the season (not that Cadillac have scored any points yet, maybe they will have a special do-or-die engine for Austin or Vegas?).  Those at the front have a battle to stay there.  My message to the pit lane is do as much as you can in the one week you allowed before the shut down and then rest and relax because the rest of the season is going to feel like an uphill battle, or I really hope it does.  Thanks 2006 Part 1.

If Norris had "over peformed" according to McLaren team principal Stella in Qualifying, the win must have been a Verstappen drive.  We are not labelling types of performance by drivers as well as the more usual "Ferraring things up".  I suppose we used to have Sargeant to describe a poor performance.  This vernacular charge is being led by Lee Mackenzie who said that Piastri must be "feeling a little bit Russell" at the end of the race, a very apt phrase.

Hungary GP Qualifying Report

Everyone was geeing up for their Summer holidays but there was still work to be done before they could go on vacation.  Aside from getting a place on the grid several teams had bought upgrades that needed testing IRL.

Hungary is a track with limits that need to be kept too and a gust of win or misplaced confidence can lead to lap times being deleted.  Sainz was the first person off the track in the first Qualifying session and his old team mate Leclerc followed him in losing that place.  Norris was fastest and seemed to have a quiet confidence in his ability to string together three good sectors.  Out went Bearman, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Perez and Bottas.  The Aston Martins have definitely secured the position of being faster than the Cadillacs with their upgrades and possibly the Williams too.

The traditinally quick teams had a tough time in the second session.  Hadjar spun out in his Red Bull right at the start, Antonelli was the only driver to have his lap time deleted and the Mercedes could only manage eighth and ninth.  Norris was fastest again so it seemed likely that someone else would stop sandbagging and take actual pole.  Lawson (who was having a horrible time), Gasly, Colapinto (or Colour Printer as the subtitles dubbed him), Bortoleto, Ocon and Alonso went out.  There was a little disappointment that Alonso could not get higher as their appeared to be promise there.

The Red Bulls saw a spin again in the final session, as Verstappen pirouetted right at the end.  Usually the track keeps improving all the way to the end of Qualifying but that seemed to fizzle out this time.  Norris took pole from the two Ferraris who just couldn't touch him.  Russell stopped on the track at turn one and was medium-level angry; there was a major water leak from his car.  I am surprise it was actually real and not just his own panicky sweat.  Norris set his time so late that Hamilton had already parked in the pole-winners spot and the sign had to be moved.  Hamilton had a hunch that he was going to be demoted down the grid for impeding someone during the last session and he had; Piastri had shaken his fist at him after he cut him up on a fast lap.  He would be moved back three places to fifth position.  Antonelli would also be give a three place grid penalty for failing to slow when there were Yellow Flags; I would have thought this dangerous behaviour warrented a higher punishment.

Pole is relatively important in Hungary but the field looked wide open for the race win; drivers from McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes or even Red Bull could take it. 

Hungary GP Race Report

Hamilton was particularly hard on himself following Qualifying; he said that Ferrari should replace him as the driver.  We would hear almost nothing from him during the race, then afterwards, he said that there was stuff going on in the background and that he still loved racing.  It was two downbeat interviews on the trot and it made me wonder if he would even see out the season.  Perhaps if Russell is booted out of Mercedes, he can follow him there.

As Brundle finished interviewing Jamie Dornan and Axl Rose, the Sky team got more excited as a little rain was now forecast for the race.  Tsunoda would be starting from the pit lane as he qualified so far down the grid, he would have the chance to make changes for this if needed.  In the event, there was no inclement weather.

LeClerc got away from pole very well and Norris's launch was great off the grid but then he fell back, losing two places to Russell and Alonso.  With the cooler temperatures, Russell was able to push towards Piastri as his Mercedes preferred the conditions.   Sparks flying, Norris used DRS to get fourth place from Alonso.  It turned out that Hulkenberg jumped the start and was awarded a five second penalty.

Norris was under pressure to overtake Russell and the engineers on the other side of the garage were looking for a way for Piastri to get past LeClerc.  Now there was discussion about whether tyres could be stretched to a one stop strategy.  If we couldn't discuss rain, we were sure as hell going to be discussing tyre strategy.

There were some early pit stops from teams like Williams then Verstappen made one.  Suddenly, Norris was radioed with a change of strategy but McLaren brought Piastri in quickly to undercut LeClerc.  Ferrari responded immediately and Mercedes too.  It was a great call by the Italian team as he was in the front already and they put in a two second stop.  He held the lead.

When the second stops came around, Piastri had checked out, all he wanted was to do was stay ahead of Norris.  Disappointingly, he didn't seem fussed about winning the race.  LeClerc, then Russell, pitted first and Piastri came in in response.  This left Norris, on a one stop strategy, in the lead.  It took until lap 51 of 70 for LeClerc to fully lose his grip on the race.  The McLarens' strategy had pushed them forwards but Ferrari hadn't been that shoddy.  Piastri overtook LeClerc for second place.  It would be a chase between the boys in papaya from that point on.

There was more anger from a Ferrari driver, this time directed at the team, as LeClerc was so insistent he could have done a better job than his engineers.  Russell was able, after a couple of goes, to get past him with eight laps to go.

With three laps to go, Piastri was chasing Norris down for the win.  There was a half second gap.  As we were watching to see what would happen, Gasly was awarded a five second penalty for an incident we didn't see with Sainz.  The world is fixated with the battle between Norris, who has waited patiently for his shot at the Driver's Championship and  Piastri, who has strode into F1 and clasped it.  

With one lap to go, Piastri, went for it into the corner at the end of the straight and locked up his tyres.  It was very close to contact; Russell would comment in the cool down room, he wished they would have T-boned.  He was reminded how the team go racing (i.e. without taking each other off).  The stewards weren't watching the race, they were busy handing out penalties, this time to LeClerc for driving erratically in front of Russell.

Overall, it was a good strategy call for Norris and he managed to make it work to claim victory ahead of his team mate and championship rival.

Russell in third had the fastest lap and  LeClerc remained in fourth despite the time deducted.  (He was told after the race that there was a problem with his chassis.  He was still angry).  After them there was Alonso, Bortoleto (highest finishing place of his career), Stroll, Lawson, Verstappen (barely mentioned apart from his little fracas with Hamilton) and Antonelli.  It was definitely a race where one driver in a team did very well and the other was struggling more.  Still they have the summer holiday now to dust themselves off and prepare for the second half of the season.  See you soon.

Old man Alonso, muscle problem with his back, special seat

Hungary GP Qualifying Report

The questions over Vasseur's future in F1 seem to be in the distant past; Ferrari think so as well, as they made a big song and dance about renewing his contract.  As he pointed out, they are second in the championship and couldn't do too much better.  No one mentioned Horner at all.

There was a little chance of rain for Qualifying; there were some grey clouds nearby.  A few drivers dropped their wheels into the gravel, bringing it onto the track.  So it was slippy for one reason or another.  At least gravel can be swept off the track.  It was Piastri who sent the most debris onto the track but was able to put together good enough lap times to finish the first session in first.  Alonso was in second, then Hadjar, Norris in fourth.  It wasn't looking good for his championship hopes.  Out went Tsunoda (last of the Bulls team), Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Albon.  The Williams put in three runs and Sainz was able to get up to 8th; not a strong track for the team.

In the second session, there was a tiny drizzle over Turn 6 and possibly Turn 1 too.  There was a mini panic by the teams but much more excitement in the commentary cabin.  This time, Norris was fastest and impressively so but Piastri was hot on his heels.  Stroll was third and the Newey effect was clearly at play with the Aston Martins.  Out went Antonelli, Bearman, Hamilton, Sainz and Colapinto.  Both Racing Bulls and a Sauber were through.

In the final push, pole could have been anybody's.  The McLarens no longer had the lead; the Aston Martins were gunning for them.  LeClerc came out of nowhere to put in the quickest time and then had to wait and see if anyone would beat him.  No one could manage it.  They finished LeClerc, Piastri, Norris, Russell (whose car worked it's tyres better on the cooling track), Alonso, Stroll, Bortoleto, Verstappen, Lawson and Hadjar (who didn't set a time).  The Ferrari driver couldn't believe it but his team mate out in 13th would be even more bewildered.

All in all, it set up a great race with several drivers looking punchy.

Hungary GP Race Report

Going to the grid, Norris, the pole sitter, had a gremlin with his throttle.  It was a mechanical problem and tricky to fix on the grid.  Luckily, it was fixed and he headed into the race on an equal footing to the others.

Everyone got off the starting grid well.  McLaren will need to question their strategy, allowing their drivers to race from the start allowed Verstappen to draw alongside them and they went into the corner three abreast.  Verstappen was run off the track and pushed back in front of Norris.  Norris had lost his first place to Piastri, Verstappen and Hamilton.  He was quickly back past the Mercedes and on the radio to complain about the Red Bull.  The McLarens battling each other had allowed Verstappen to get a slip stream from them.  He was persuaded finally to give the place back.

There were some pit stops.  There was talk of undercuts and overcuts.  Verstappen moaned about his car, which is what he does when he is not in a clear and confident lead.

By the half point, Ricciardo had stopped twice and was running at the back, Albon was complaining as Williams flip-flopped between strategies, Russel had got to seventh and Piastri was holding the lead.

Hamilton had a good battle with his old nemesis Verstappen, with Hamilton holding third place.

McLaren were struggling to persuade Norris to give first place back to Piastri; he replied to his engineer that they should have pitted Piastri before him.  It seemed that they had agreed a team situation based on whoever entered the first corner first, which seems silly and liked they didn't learn anything from the bad old Red Bull days of Vettel and Webber.

It was all kicking off in the last ten laps.  Norris continued his battle with the team; making some very harsh comments.  Behind them Verstappen was trying to battle forwards and took a big risk going down the inside of Hamilton and up and over his car and off.  Verstappen had also been complaining bitterly about every choice his team had made.  JB, his engineer, told him that he wouldn't discuss it over the radio as it was "childish".  The stewards decided it was a racing incident.

The McLaren team radio got incredibly cringe-worthy and with two laps to go, he slowed down dramatically and let Piastri through to first place.  The team also needs to learn from how Red Bull handled things over the radio.

The audience was voted Piastri as Driver of the Day; there is clearly a lot of world wide support for team orders.  He didn't sound very emotional over the radio; pre-arranged race wins aren't the most satisfying.

Hamilton took third, ahead of the Ferraris of LeClerc behind him and Sainz in sixth; how will he reflect on his 2025 team switch over the summer break.  Verstappen held fifth.  Perez made it up to seventh and Russell up to eighth.  Tsunoda and Stroll completed the top ten, just ahead of the their team mates.

The most enjoyable thing about this race was the team radio.  Verstappen continues to blame his team when they cannot deliver the perfect car from him.  He does this much more than anyone else ever did.  Hamilton could throw his toys out of the pram and LeClerc will tell Ferrari when they have let him down and usually they have.

Rosberg was probably the best person to host the post-race interview, as he is relentlessly upbeat and more focused on his performance and appearance than what the drivers are saying.  Hamilton did most of the talking in the cool down room.

Hungary GP Qualifying Report

With one week to go until the Summer break, the silly season was in full force.  It didn't feel like there was much more to say after Sir Lewis announced his departure from Mercedes to Ferrari.  However, Perez' Red Bull seat was being intensely discussed.  Bearman and Ocon look likely to be the next Haas line-up, with Magnussen having to look at Sargeant's Williams' seat.  Hulkenberg is off to Sauber/Audi (Saudi??) but his team mate is not yet confirmed.  

To more immediate problems, the weather was throwing itself about.  The pit lane was flooded earlier in the week, followed by 35 degree, or higher, heat for the Free Practice sessions.  As Qualifying began it started to rain again though and set-up for these conditions had not been explored.

Having put in a good first lap, better than Verstappen, Sargeant ran off the track, rattled along and went into the wall.  Just as Verstappen was complaining about tyre temperatures and being told by the team to stop talking over the radio about it, the rain started coming down again and caught his team mate out.  It was a biggish hit into the wall and Perez had to go to the medical centre.  Despite renewing his contract, this did nothing to stop the questions about his future.  As the session had been stopped and the track was no longer dry, once restarted the drivers were unlikely to find a quicker time and the bottom five drivers would probably be out.  Ricciardo had been having trouble with his brakes and was in danger.  

Despite doom predicted for those at the bottom, those drivers came out and the track was drier, hotter and quicker.  Ricciardo went fastest.  Out went Perez (predictably), then Russell (big scalp, hero to zero etc.), Zhou, Ocon and Gasly (a major mistake not sending either driver out by Alpine).  You have to be in it to win it.  I don't know why Russell both apologised and then discussed why the team didn't fuel the car for the whole session.

Most of the second session was fairly boring then all the bottom teams came out for a second push.  Hamilton was lucky not to be out but scraped through in tenth.  The Williams cars were too soon out and got pushed down into 13th and 14th as the track got quicker.  Hulkenberg was 11th, then Bottas, with Magnussen in 15th.  Sargeant blamed the traffic.

Once again, rain fell in the final session.  Teams had put in a quick lap already and Norris was sat in pole position.   Cars came out early for their final attempt.  Drivers were putting in quick laps in an effort to beat the clouds but then a yellow flag and then the session was stopped as Tsunoda had a big off, scooping through bollards, into the wall and over the grass.  Again, it was large enough that the medical car came out.

There was 2 minutes and 13 seconds to put in a suit for pole and 7 cars took the opportunity.  Piastri had been instructed not to go too slowly away from his position in the front of the queue; as the McLarens were then 1st and 2nd, they wanted to hold everyone up but without incurring any penalties.  Tsunoda wasn't able to go out again and Verstappen and Alonso chose not to, perhaps because they only had old tyres left.  Sainz did not get round to the start line in time and went into the pits.  Norris and several others aborted their laps. Ricciardo was the only person to better their time and took 9th.  Ahead of him was Stroll, Alonso, LeClerc, Hamilton, Sainz, Verstappen, with the McLarens taking the front row.  Norris was happy with his pole position.

If the weather is like this tomorrow, it will be a great race.  If teams mess up their strategies like today, it will be a great race.  If the McLarens are allowed to battle each other, it will be a great race.

Hungary GP Race Report

Obviously, it was going to be a win for Verstappen so we had to look further back for any interest.

It was a clean start at the front of the grid, with Verstappen making an easy inside corner pass into and out of turn 1.  Hamilton is unused to making pole position starts.  Piastri took his team mate and Hamilton to take second position with Norris putting Hamilton in 4th.  Behind them Zhou nudged Ricciardo into one Alpine who tagged the next, which didn't bring out a Safety Car but the Yellow Flag briefly.  Ocon and Gasly were both retired straight away.  Zhou received a penalty.  The impact split Ocon's seat in half and the Frenchman had to go to the medical centre to have his back checked.

Sainz caught up to his team mate quickly from further back on the grid but was on soft tyres.  Russell made up several places from the back of the grid.  Perez will regret only qualifying in 9th position, as he had to try and get past strong-defender Alonso (obviously he has such a great car that it wasn't too many laps looking at the Spaniard's bahookey).

Albon took an early pit stop on Lap 9, to put on the hard tyres and came out in last place.  It seems a desperate strategy from Williams but other teams reacted.  As the laps went by, Sainz figured out his own pit strategy, still behind LeClerc.  That is until Ferrari had a slow stop, 9.8 months, and LeClerc came out in 11th.    The McLarens took their pit stops one after the other.  Norris built a healthy gap to Hamilton and got a free stop and tried the undercut on Piastri, which worked despite Piastri being served a 2.0 second pit stop.

Hamilton was left flustered behind the McLarens, with some tentative use of the engine restrictions.  His team mate, Russell, kindly let him through as it would be several laps until he pitted.  When he did he was in 14th behind the early stopper Albon who was in 11th.  Returnee Ricciardo continued to pootle about in last place.  Perez had to put in the overtake moves to move up the grid and prove his worth as a driver.

As Hamilton was told to "lift and coast", he was still able to defend against Perez.  Red Bull bought him in for a pit stop as well and he came in at the same time as Piastri.  This was the moment that McLaren found an awful pit stop in their tool box and threw that spanner into the works, whilst Red Bull managed 1.9 seconds.  LeClerc had a ding dong over the radio with his team about strategy or lack of. Alonso then had a poor pit stop.  Perez continued his progress towards the podium.  LeClerc was given a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.  A lot of the action happened in the pit stops, which hasn't shaped a race in many seasons.

Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren dominated the top 10, then Ferrari.  The Aston Martins finished 9th and 10th taking the last of the points places.  It no longer looks like Alonso is challenging for a podium at every race.  We can only hope that next year's car is being prepared and it will be a doozy - especially as they have poached everyone apart from Adrian Newey to build it.  Albon continues to shine in his Williams, finishing 11th but failing to get any points this time.  Ricciardo finally fininshed where he started, in 13th place, two places ahead of his team mate.  This must count as a good restart to his racing career?  Verstappen described his car as a "rocket ship", which is fairly accurate and Norris was delighted to finish second.

We were promised a safety car to spice up proceedings but none came.  Hopefully it will rain in Belgium; it's been a very rainy summer so far so I would feel cheated if a little wet weather didn't shake things up at the last race before the break.

Hungary GP Qualifying Report

Because things can't stay the same in F1, their were new tyre regulations for Qualifying.  Hard tyres must be worn in the first session, medium in the second and soft in the third.

It was also very hot in Hungary and this was going to affect how the cars run.  Out in the first session was Albon, Tsunoda, Russell (both a victim and a cause of traffic), Magnussen (new baby, sleepless nights) and Sargeant (a very shoddy lap).  This meant that Toto did some fist-banging and Ricciardo would definitely out-qualify his team mate at his first race back.

In the next session, LeClerc knocked his team mate out of Qualifying.  The story of dominant team mates continued with Ocon ahead of nowhere man Gasly, Alonso was through and Stroll out in 14th and Ricciardo out at last in 13th but still several places ahead of Tsunoda.

Perez had made it through to the final Qualifying session for the first time in ages and, with Ricciardo potentially now nipping at his heels, needed a good result.  Hamilton could not believe it as he took pole (throwing shade on Russell) ahead of Verstappen.  Has the Dutchman been taking fore-granted his premier position this season?  Norris (who was disappointed) and Piastri were on the next row.  Then Zhou (for once ahead of his team mate) and LeClerc (ouch for Ferrari), then Bottas and Alonso (Aston Martin have lost their early promise), then Perez and Hulkenberg.  Is 9th position enough for the Mexican to prove himself?  Surely, he will scythe through the grid tomorrow, however, apart from the Alpha Romeos, I think it will be trickier with some contenders who are bringing significant upgrades every event.

Did the change in tyre rules make a difference?  I don't think so.  Perhaps Williams could have thrown on some softs and got higher up the grid.  If anything I think this rule change benefits the stronger teams.  I'm sure Verstappen will win the race but there is a very tasty battle for 2nd.

Hungary GP Race Report

Another day in Hungary and another set of weather conditions; the race was set to be windy and cold with several drivers locking up wheels and driving off the track on the way to the grid.  Finally it was announced that heavy rain was expected, so all predictions were off.

Vestappen and Perez were very slow to take their place in the formation lap.  Russell's youth showed when he failed to back the pack up in response to this.

Hamilton complained of a vibration in his brakes on the grid.  Getting his reason for not besting his team mate in early, although as it turned out the race would come to him.  Russell made a good start from pole and held his position, then, suddenly, there was a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 2 to clear debris on the track from a collision between Albon and Vettel.  With new engines in their motors, the Red Bulls flew past the Alpines afterwards.  They kept on moving up the grid, with Norris going backwards.  On Lap 21, we heard some very sweary radio from Verstappen.  Possibly with some engine trouble, it was hard to hear.  He was told to try "Fail 20", yesterday it was "Fail 21".  The Alpines had fought off the grid and continued to fight as they circled the track.  It didn't benefit the team, as Ricciardo earned a few pennies of his salary, taking both cars in the same corner.  The race continued and half way through, after a few botched pit stops, LeClerc mounted his attack on race leader Russell.  You could see the Ferrari was quicker and Russell played every card he held.  Finally, all the DRS and battery boosts aligned and LeClerc was passed and into first place.

Next came the second round of pit stops.  The Red Bulls went early and Mercedes went later, which led to Crofty saying: "The race leader is now in 6th".  Ferrari surprised everyone apart from me by putting on hard tyres when they had not run well for anyone else.  I wasn't surprised because it's exactly what Ferrari would do; putting the hard tyres on or losing them or trying their new chocolate compound.  Never matter, Verstappen overtook LeClerc but then spun and lost the place back, with Russell taking advantage of a surprised Perez behind his team mate.  Inevitably Verstappen did get back past LeClerc.  Brundle kept telling us how Ferrari have a mistake with the tyres.  Verstappen announced a new hip hop sensation "Little Drizzles".  Was the heavy rain here at last?

Further down the pack, Ricciardo locked up his tyres and nudged Stroll, sending him spinning and earning himself a 5 second penalty.   It's like he's composing the longest resignation letter ever.

For quite a while, Hamilton led the race but he was out by himself and we didn't see much of him.  He'll be happy with that on the records for this year though.  The hard tyres on the Ferrari made even the struggling Mercedes look good as Russell overtook LeClerc.  Hamilton was able to carve his way past Perez and Sainz and LeClerc found himself in 6th.  With 3 laps to go, Alonso was told that there would be rain on the last lap.  Next, Bottas retired at the side of the track and brought out a Virtual Safety Car.

In the end, it looked like an easy first place for Verstappen and I couldn't really tell you how he ended up there.  Red Bull were happily surprised with their win.  LeClerc will be wondering what he has to do to catch a break and whether his team are with him or against him.  Luckily he has a nice long holiday now to ponder this.  There's a seat going at Aston Martin.

There was lots of action during the race but were was the helmet cam?  It was back in abundance prior to the race but nothing during the race.  What a shame.

Hungary GP Qualifying Report

With heavy rain for FP3, Latifi took his Williams around the track fastest.  Could the team translate this into a superb qualifying result in the dry?  Though thick, dark clouds loomed.  Everything this week has been overshadowed with Vettel's news that he has created an Instagram account.  And used it to announce his retirement at the end of the season.  LeClerc wishes that were true.  Vettel's retirement post didn't divert the media's attention from his crashing out in the dry, from the lead, last weekend.

With the track evolving as the session went on, every car was out at the end of the first Qualifying session.  Fernando "wily old fox" Alonso backed everybody up to try and make the most of it.  Despite lots of potential, there were no surprises for the drivers leaving the Qualifying: Tsunoda, Albon, pensioner Vettel, Gasly and Latifi.  Williams and Alpha Tauri just haven't brought it again this season.  Latifi swearing all the way back to the pits for a mistake at the end of the lap which cost him dearly.  Gasly had a lap deleted.

With 4 minutes to go in the second Qualifying session, Perez felt drops of rain.  There was no one interesting in the bottom 5 any way, so it really didn't matter.  It can only have been a couple of drops though as Ocon and Bottas then put in a quick lap each and knocked out Perez.  The Mexican had already been having a rocky session with a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits and then having it re-instated.  He felt he was blocked by Magnussen on his fast lap.

On to the final session and Red Bull's bad luck continued with Verstappen losing power in the final run. The reliability issues that bounce between Ferrari and Red Bull has landed in Austria.  Sainz looked good for pole.  His team mate couldn't beat him.  Then, out of nowhere, Russell took it, with his team mate Hamilton ending the session with a DRS problem in the pits.  Norris scored 4th, 5 places ahead of his team mate Ricciardo.

Russell was first to acknowledge that beating the Ferraris in the race was unlikely and Hamilton was pretty dejected that it wasn't him taking the pole when it was a possibility for the team (and by team, he usually means him).

Hungary GP Race Report

From extreme heat in Hungary, the race started with drizzle.  Always a situation to make a grand prix fan get excited for the race.

We all thought Bottas had ruined the race on turn 1, lap 1 with a very old school style pile-up.  Breaking too late, he tagged Norris who went into Verstappen and he shunts Perez.  You could say he completely sabotaged Red Bull's race.  This took out LeClerc, Stroll, Perez and  Bottas, sent Norris and Verstappen to the end of the pack and brought out the safety car, followed by a red flag.  A real humdinger of an incident.  Bottas sat at the side of the track, refusing to go back to the pits like a toddler who knows they are in real trouble.  I haven't seen anything like it in a decade.

The red flag then completely mitigated the length of the exciting period of rain.  As the drivers went round for the standing start, Russell predicted that all the drivers would box for slick tires as the track was now dry.  This led to the crazy image of Hamilton alone on the grid as all the other cars were in the pit lane.  They would have to wait for him to pass the pit lane exit before they come out.  With Russell in the Williams being first so taking second place!  We were wrong, the race was just getting started and Bottas had not killed the party.

Hamilton came in the next lap, putting Ocon in the lead.  Something went wrong with Russell's Williams and every driver overtook him so he ended in 7th (turns out it was a steward's call as he undertook in the pit lane).  The late call for the Mercedes meant that Hamilton was plum last and very far back.  This set up a Verstappen and Hamilton tangle in the future, although Verstappen had a severely damaged car.  One of the racers (unnamed on BBC Five Live podcast) predicted that Verstappen would take Hamilton out during this race.  I waited for the lap to come round...it never did as it was all sorted out by pitstops and backmarkers.

Hamilton couldn't blame his team for this as it was his call not to come in.

With Russell now in 7th, his team mate was 3rd and in a podium position.  Ever the gentlemen (well just out of short trousers and possibly still in Huggies Drynites), he radioed in to his team to tell them to prioritise Nicky as he had such a good position.

In the midst of all this Raikkonen was unsafely released in the pit lane into Mazepin's car.  Having avoided the first lap calamity, the Russian was out of the race.  At least he didn't have far to walk back.  The Finn was given a 10 second penalty.  I think Kimi will quit this year as he will be tired with constant Steward's interventions.

The action was still coming, Hamilton could not get passed the cars in front of him and, barely a quarter of the way into the race, Verstappen was battling Mick Schumacher for 1 point and 10th place.  Lap 20 out of 70, saw Hamilton take an early pit stop, covered off by Verstappen and Ricciardo (Don't know why McLaren thought he was in the mix?).  The undercut worked and Hamilton was ahead of both of them.  Which is probably fair given he has the best and least damaged car running.

For the first time ever, we were shown footage of a Haas battling with a Williams and the overtake.  A topsy turvy race for sure.  Ricciardo and Verstappen following Russell soon after. 

The director was flicking from the race at the front, Ocon vs. Vettel, and Hamilton and Verstappen's progress through the pack.  Vettel suffered a shocking 3.3 second pitstop (0.3 seconds longer than needed).  Ocon covered him off and this put Alonso in the lead.  The old champions to the fore.  Ocon's pit stop was 1 second shorter than Vettel's and he maintained his lead, the undercut being lost.

We watched Alonso hold Hamilton up, the first driver to really take the fight to him this race.  Is it surprising that Lewis made such a come back from last place?  Even though no one can overtake at Hungary?  (I disagree).  With such a good car, that avoided all damage in Lap 1, not at all.  When Alonso finally locked up, Hamilton slipped through.  He made short work then of taking Sainz.  Hamilton took the podium place.  There was 9 seconds and 4 laps left now for Hamilton to take 2nd...or 1st.  We waited with baited breath and no, it was third place for him.  Vettel back on the podium and Ocon taking his maiden victory.

Would Ocon have won if Alonso had not done such a good job of holding Hamilton up?  Lewis complained about the Spaniard's deft work, however as Alonso basically did what Hamilton did to Vertappen last race...hah.  Fernando did get Driver of the Day though.  Ricciardo's awful season continues as he finished outside the points with 6 cars out (5 if you don't count Mazepin, which I don't).  Finished 11th basically means he finished 16th.

Clearly all drivers are filmed reacting to winning prior to the season starting, to put up on the big screens straight away at the end of a race.  We got to see Ocon's today, I wonder what Alonso did and Latifi and Raikkonen?  And...and.

Ultimately the real joy of the race comes when you look a little further down the grid.  5 points for Williams with 8th and 9th position.  Surprisingly Latifi ahead of Russell, perhaps Nicky will get the Mercedes seat??  I suppose Benetton winning again is enjoyable too.  Even Vettel finishing second is rather something...it gives Alonso and Raikkonen hope for their futures.

I can't remember the last time 6 drivers retired from a race, let alone by lap 5.

In other points to note, Vettel should be commended for wearing not only his Pride rainbow helmet but also T-shirt and mask on the grid, protesting against recent legislation in Hungary.

So, with Brundle at Silverstone, Sky viewers were treated to Rosberg in the commentary box.  And what a race for your rookie commentary (at least in English and as far as I know).  He did a good job although Crofty did the lion's share of actually speaking.  There were also a lot of throws to Karun and Ted.

Post-script: Vettel stopped on track...why?  Because he'd run out of fuel.  This means that the FIA could not collect the litre of fuel required for testing.  So he was disqualified.  Hamilton took second and Sainz third, the race never seems to end these days.

Hungary Qualifying Report

Firstly, no F1 coverage this weekend is complete without saying "Happy 40th Birthday" to Fernando Alonso, I'm sure most of us thought, "Isn't he already 40?".  Along with, "He must dye his hair".  And that's the kind of insightful commentary you come here for.

Mick Schumacher kindly crashed his car in the morning's practice and was unable to participate in Qualifying, giving other drivers the chance to get through to Q2 or even 3....oh no, sorry, he drives a Haas.  Did Papa Mazepin slip him a few Euros...

There were no real surprises in the first session of Qualifying, although Russell failed to get through for the first time this season.  It was a scrappy lap though.

In the second session, Sainz brought out the red flag to halt the running, "I crashed.  I'm sorry".  It was driver error, he kept the engine running and got going to get back to the pits, the race director brought out the red flag, possibly prematurely, before his front wing fell off and his front tires went over and the whole car was stuck.  This track is a Ferrari track, so a major setback for the team.

Raikkonen managed 13th, which I would say shows that experience and track knowledge is valuable here, Vettel and Alonso also running well.  A huge mistake cost Ricciardo entry to the final session and he starts 11th.

The final session played out as expected.  The Mercedes were dominant and were placed first and second with the Red Bulls failing to get Perez across the line in time to put in a final quick lap (yet he still starts 4th, so no change really).  Gasly in P5 is impressive though.  Pierre must be pleased that he made it back to the Red Bull B Team that is Alpha Tauri after his stint at Red Bull and not in crime scene recreation like Alex Albon (who had to replicate Verstappen's track position to make a (failed) point to the stewards).

My final thoughts of Rosberg as a commentator to follow tomorrow.

Race predictions are: Hamilton for the win, Bottas for the surprise win (arf arf) and Gasly for the very surprising win.

Hungary GP - "sorry I doubted that strategy"

After the race in Germany, Hungary was always going to disappoint but we got off to a promising start with Verstappen claiming his first pole.

As I was in London, I was watching the highlights, which I find confusing as time speeds up and slows down.  Before I knew it, it was half way through the race and Verstappen and Hamilton were having a great battle.

On lap 40, Vettel had a poor pit stop, no change to his position though, so not really exciting.

With six laps to go, Verstappen radioed to his team that: "the tyres are dead".  He'd led the whole race and then DRS gave it to Hamilton.

The main debate was over whether to do one or two stops.  And that was only about the Red Bulls and the Mercedes...we barely saw the Ferraris.

Still Verstappen was happy with P2...sigh.

Hungary GP - Results

These results reflect the post-race adjudications at the German GP.

1. Evel Marque - 664*
2. PickedInAHurry - 647*
3. The Hope Fulls - 640*
4. BottHaas - 609*
5. Je suis Charlie - 560
6. Jack the Lad - 479
7. The Pitstop Princess - 476
8. Hippy F1 - 429*
9. Francesco Bernoulli - 328*
10. Ferrari Rocher - 312

* Home track played

Hungary GP - "nice drive"

Martin Brundle falls ill; Paul Di Resta is promoted.  Felipe Massa falls ill; Paul Di Resta is promoted.  Paul Di Resta is promoted; Anthony Davidson is promoted.

Not the only promotions this race...McLaren locked out the fourth row in qualifying!

At the start of the race, Ricciardo radioed in: "someone hit me".  Yes, your team mate.  Crofty observed of the start: "Di Resta let everyone get away ahead of him."  How kind.  Soon after, Renault are on the radio to Hulkenberg: "Jo is slower than you".  He was very kind not to reply.  Why hadn't we heard from Hamilton?  His radio was broken, a mercy to all.   Kimi "leave me alone" Raikkonen was all over team radio too.

Team orders were out in force this weekend, although no one labelled them as such.   Both Mercedes and Renault played them, with Ferrari choosing not to.  Although would Raikkonen have his contract renewed if he overtook Vettel?  (Mr PSP wonders.)

With eight laps to go Di Resta retired.  Having never driven the car before.  This begs the question, why Williams didn't employ their test driver?  Or give their reserve driver track time before?

As the procession was nearly over, a couple of interesting points arose.  Was Hamilton going to give third place back to Bottas as promised?  He did.  Who would score fastest lap?  Alonso!

What have we learnt from this race weekend?  That Raikkonen's Finnish fans all speak English.

Hungary GP - Results

1. Two World Champions, two future World Champions and, um, two other guys - 708*
2. No Vices Now - 685*
3. Bernie is a Hobbit - 634*
4. Evel Marque - 629*
5= Hoping for an Indian Summer - 585
5= Torque of the Devil - 585
7. The Pitstop Princess - 580
8. Moneyball - 574
9. Even more hopeful - 563*
10. Jenson's Whinging Legacy - 517
11. BOT-RAI-PER - 453*
12. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 447
13. Burn After Racing - 443
14. Hippy F1 - 401*
15. Slightly Slower Racing - 383

*Home track played

Hungary GP - "I appreciate all the hard work"

Sunny skies

Most interesting start in a while - yes, they all got away cleanly but it gave you the impression that it was going to be a good race
"Kimi for president" banner - also the highest FF1 points scorer this race

Too rainy for qualifying

Unauthorised radio communications - was the penalty for Button ridiculous?  Yes
Coulthard - "It's a bit of a landmark to see McLaren overtaking Williams in terms of performance."  Boo.
Teenage whining - "Kimi is going over the track limits".  How could Verstappen see?
Massa's race
Dabbing - very popular in my primary school...
"Not possible to pass on this track" - Rosberg.  Sour grapes.

Hungary GP - Results

1. Weak End of Bernie - 685*
2. The Pitstop Princess - 650
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 633*
4. Hippy F1 - 615*
5. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 588*
6. Halo, it's me - 583
7. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name - 573*
8. BogOffBernie - 564*
9. Three teams, one dream - 559*
10. The Hopefuls - 492*
11. No Vices Now - 432
12. The Maranello Marvels - 415
13. British Racing Green - 383*
14. Marian's Marvels - 356
15. Indianan Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 290
16. Put out to Pastor - 185

*Home track played

Hungary GP - "*Italian* *French*"

Exciting Race

Pushing the car - very old skool and against the rules - but shows the right spirit
Excellent overtake - Ricciardo on Bottas
All happening in the pit lane - Grosjean's unsafe release, Hamilton's long stop, lots of speeding
Hamilton's magic engine button - the other drivers don't stand a chance
Kvyat - first podium - and don't forget Verstappen finishing just off the podium
Points for McLaren - at last
Kvyat never gave up - just like a Furchester

Or the "best drivers on the planet" making lots of mistakes?

Jules Bianchi - nothing expresses grief like a hash tag
Stopping short on the grid - Massa gets Williams' race off to a poor start
Blaming Rosberg - Hamilton's response to running off on Lap 1
Excellent overtake - Ricciardo on Bottas
Perez crashing - day after day
Switching it off and on again - Ferrari's response to Raikkonen's loss of power
Scary front wing failures - poor Hulkenberg
Being too pushy at the restart - Hamilton locks up, gets a drive through penalty and then apologises!!!
Puncturing other drivers - Kvyat to Bottas and Ricciardo to Rosberg - booo.  *Chants* Penalty penalty.
Maldonado - seems to be up to his old tricks
"Why are the clapping ladies wearing life jackets?": Go Fast and Prosper - commentary always welcome
Angry pizza? - Arrivabene might need a translator
Honey badger? - refers to Ricciardo apparently

Hungary GP - Results

1. Teutonic Titans, Titanic Twits - 883
2. DC's Tighty Whiteys - 874
3. HamBerg from McCedes drive through please - 873
4. Sharks have no bones :) - 782
5. Double Mercedes is boring! - 694
6. The F1 Flumps - 660
7. Baby on Board - 646
8. Mike and the Mechanics - 638
9. Lots of Trouble Usually Serious - 624
10. Go Fast and Prosper - 610
11. Muppet Racing - 579
12. Hippy F1 - 559
13. The Hopefuls - 500
14. I blame Clarkson - 475
15. The Pitstop Princess - 458
16. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 425
17. The Very Good Value - 419
18. Baby Pitstop's Change Crew - 412
19. I Monza Brink of Insanity - 404
20. No Vices Now - 403
21. Juan Angus Fangio C.I. - 333
22. 10CC - 286