[Scarlet_Rider]

Daniel Ricciardo is back in a F1 car at the Hungaroring which is a high downforce circuit with very short straights giving it the feel of a karting track.

Checo crashed in FP1 and it is clear that he is currently under pressure, especially after Nyck de Vries was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo.

A dry race is currently being predicted with clear skies and temperatures tipping 30 degrees C.




Times (IST)




For some reason the track layout reminds me of a broken wine glass, but with a very short stem!





Sources:
https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2...y/Circuit.html
https://www.fia.com/news/f1-2023-hun...d-prix-preview

[corvus corax]

For some reason the track layout reminds me of a broken wine glass, but with a very short stem!

Reminds me of an anvil. More so since Checo got hammered today.

[Scarlet_Rider]

A great qualifying session yesterday and hoping for a similar race today!

The difference between VER and HAM was just 0.003s. RIC starting from a decent 13th considering his return back behind the wheel after a long time. Both Alfas are in the top ten! The first corner would be interesting with both McLarens starting from the second row. PER finally makes it to Q3 but starts 9th.

Starting Grid

1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3 Lando Norris, McLaren
4 Oscar Piastri, McLaren
5 Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
6 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
7 Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
8 Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
9 Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10 Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
11 Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
12 Esteban Ocon, Alpine
13 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
14 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
15 Pierre Gasly, Alpine
16 Alex Albon, Williams
17 Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
18 George Russell, Mercedes
19 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
20 Logan Sargeant, Williams

Source
https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-sta...an-grand-prix/

[libranof1987]

A very uneventful race, with some entertainment brought about by the McLaren and Merc twins. Good work by Perez to make it to the podium; I think he should work to maintain that vs. pushing himself as a competitor to Max.

Regarding Ferrari: wonder what's going through the two drivers' mind looking at how the team's performance at startegy is just terribly frustrating.

[supermax]

Quite an interesting race really. Couldn't help but feel for young Oscar Piastri, who I thought was short-changed with McLaren's pit strategy which quite clearly favored Lando Norris. Had he been pitted first, he'd have easily been able to hold track position over Lando. Zac claims that it was a purely a strategy call, but that seems a bit suspect. Was nice to see Perez fighting his way back through the order, and I was a bit disappointed that he ran out of steam before he could challenge Lando for P2, but even more relieved that he managed to hold onto P3, ahead of a charging Hamilton who found better balance as his Merc burned off more fuel.

[Turbohead]

Quite an eventful race honestly. There was something or the other happening at each stage. Absolutely glad that McLaren is back although not anywhere near Max and his RB19. Hopefully Lando wins his first race this season.

Great race from Alonso, Perez, Hamilton and Piastri. These guys ensured that there was something to watch in this race.

[benbsb29]

Great race from Perez, bringing in excitement like no other. Hamilton was unlucky not to claw back a podium finish, 1.4 seconds being the difference in the end. Another 2 laps and quite possibly he'd have Perez behind him, or so i feel.

End of the day, this race too was just another where Max takes the lead and then gets all the time in the world to think and plan his post-match activities with no one around for miles to disturb those thoughts.

[sanjayrozario]

An uneventful race in terms of who won. Max is driving at a different level. Even if someone competitive enough gets the second RB seat, yet, he won't be able to match Super Max.

I'm surprised with Aston Martin. Have they hired someone from Ferrari? Like Ferrari, they seemed to have engaged the reverse gear. I feel bad for the Ferrari drivers - always bogged down by poor strategy & clueless nincompoops, Xavi & Ricci. Soon, Sainz & Leclerc may ask for more salary (in lieu of strategists) stating that they'll decide their own strategies.

What a turnaround for McLaren. Good to see them on the podium though I feel for Piastri; he was clearly shortchanged by Mclaren who favoured Lando.

[ds.raikkonen]

At this pace of development, pretty sure Toto Wolff is going to cancel the deal with customer team McLaren. While the other customer AMR is struggling even with ALO at the wheel.

As expected, VER out-dragged and out-braked HAM into P1, though what was not expected was HAM being P4 by T2! Very poor start, he should have seen that dive bomb coming once he had qualified on pole on Sat. Then he would not have sat behind the McLarens and could have ended on the podium. But really happy that McLaren are back on podium finishes. This is what F1 needed in this era of utter dominance by VER and RBR. PER could overtake SAI even when he had DRS and was in the slip stream of the car ahead! Absolutely insane. Let's hope McLaren can win at least a single race to stop a complete RBR white wash of the 2023 season. VER will definitely aim for the 9 win streak record and smash it for good measure.

It's like watching Loeb in the Citroen all over again, only on tarmac!

[Hatari]

How McLaren have delivered probably the biggest mid season upgrade in the history of F1 is shocking and amazing. All credit to the now sacked James Key!?

Aston have gone the other way - mid season tire construction change has made it worse.

Other surprise were the Alpha's - hero to zero.

Where is all this up and down in performance coming from!?

Only consistent one is Williams, where you know it lacks downforce and will do well in high speed tracks, low drag spec.

[isotope729]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Regarding Ferrari: wonder what's going through the two drivers' mind looking at how the team's performance at startegy is just terribly frustrating.

Ferrari strategic blunders have been common for several years now. I have always felt they should eat their pride/ego, and focus on aggressive strategies. The conservative approach doesn't work when you don't have the fastest car. Look at Mercedes for example, for years they got away with conservative strategies because they could cover up their mistakes with their race pace.

Originally Posted by supermax

Quite an interesting race really. Couldn't help but feel for young Oscar Piastri, who I thought was short-changed with McLaren's pit strategy which quite clearly favored Lando Norris. Had he been pitted first, he'd have easily been able to hold track position over Lando. Zac claims that it was a purely a strategy call, but that seems a bit suspect.

I was hoping that McLaren will double stack both Lando and Oscar at the first pitstop but they didn't. However, considering how fast Lando was vs Oscar I don't doubt them that they pitted Lando first and favoured him over Oscar for strategy. When Oscar will be faster then it would be tough as he will still be their #2 driver. I will gladly enjoy a Rosberg vs Hamilton scenario at McLaren, as it would be terrific.

Originally Posted by sanjayrozario

I'm surprised with Aston Martin. Have they hired someone from Ferrari? Like Ferrari, they seemed to have engaged the reverse gear. I feel bad for the Ferrari drivers - always bogged down by poor strategy & clueless nincompoops, Xavi & Ricci. Soon, Sainz & Leclerc may ask for more salary (in lieu of strategists) stating that they'll decide their own strategies.

What a turnaround for McLaren. Good to see them on the podium though I feel for Piastri; he was clearly shortchanged by Mclaren who favoured Lando.

Aston Martin couldn't sustain their car development with the cost cap I believe, and works out better for them if their main focus is on 2024 as they get more wind tunnel and CFD time. I would be very surprised if they sustain their car development in 2023. It doesn't help that McLaren brought a huge upgrade package that made them faster than AM and Mercedes.

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

At this pace of development, pretty sure Toto Wolff is going to cancel the deal with customer team McLaren. While the other customer AMR is struggling even with ALO at the wheel.

As expected, VER out-dragged and out-braked HAM into P1, though what was not expected was HAM being P4 by T2! Very poor start, he should have seen that dive bomb coming once he had qualified on pole on Sat. Then he would not have sat behind the McLarens and could have ended on the podium. But really happy that McLaren are back on podium finishes. This is what F1 needed in this era of utter dominance by VER and RBR. PER could overtake SAI even when he had DRS and was in the slip stream of the car ahead! Absolutely insane. Let's hope McLaren can win at least a single race to stop a complete RBR white wash of the 2023 season. VER will definitely aim for the 9 win streak record and smash it for good measure.

It's like watching Loeb in the Citroen all over again, only on tarmac!

Mercedes already lost Aston Martin to Honda for 2026 (which incidentally McLaren were probably eyeing for per rumours) so I don't think they will drop McLaren. VER had the inside but the dirty line to Turn 1, and Hamilton didn't or couldn't cover him off. I'm pretty sure VER didn't dive bomb, although he did get Hamilton to go wide, which opened the door for both Lando and Oscar.

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by isotope729

VER had the inside but the dirty line to Turn 1, and Hamilton didn't or couldn't cover him off. I'm pretty sure VER didn't dive bomb, although he did get Hamilton to go wide, which opened the door for both Lando and Oscar.

True VER did not have to dive bomb as his start was good enough! HAM tried to squeeze him but he was already along side. Else would have been a situation similar to when Barrichello tried to pass MSC in 2010 and almost got squeezed into the pit wall!

Knowing VER and his bold moves down the inside at the start (2021 Spain/France/Abu Dhabi), it would not have been wise for HAM to cover him off as he needed the points/podium more than VER.

It's like Lorenzo at his peak when nobody, not even great riders Marquez/Pedrosa/Rossi could match him, he could simply make the Yamaha stick down the inside and pull off almost impossible looking maneuvers.

[OrangeCar]

It was uneventful, i.e., boring race as far as I was concerned. Right after the first two corners, once Hamilton dropped to 4th, race became uninteresting. With the car Lewis has, there was no way he could claw back the top position. And with McLaren being super fast with their upgrades, there was no way Lewis could attack Lando. So, with Lewis not in contention, and no other major individual races at any spot on the grid, it was a forgettable one. What surprised me was Oscar, and how he lost out of the podium finish, but Lando was better able to manage his race. But not too shabby for a rookie. Makes me wonder if had Riccardo still continued at McLaren, would he have been able to do what Oscar did, or improve upon it?

Funnily, the biggest incident from the race was Lando breaking Max's trophy on the podium!

[isotope729]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

True VER did not have to dive bomb as his start was good enough! HAM tried to squeeze him but he was already along side. Else would have been a situation similar to when Barrichello tried to pass MSC in 2010 and almost got squeezed into the pit wall!

Knowing VER and his bold moves down the inside at the start (2021 Spain/France/Abu Dhabi), it would not have been wise for HAM to cover him off as he needed the points/podium more than VER.

It's like Lorenzo at his peak when nobody, not even great riders Marquez/Pedrosa/Rossi could match him, he could simply make the Yamaha stick down the inside and pull off almost impossible looking maneuvers.

Yeah, The Michael had an equally good start to squeeze Barichello. Verstappen has openly stated that he doesn't do any aggressive moves since he now has a rocket ship. In 2021 though he had to since he had a slower car.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by isotope729

Yeah, The Michael had an equally good start to squeeze Barichello. Verstappen has openly stated that he doesn't do any aggressive moves since he now has a rocket ship. In 2021 though he had to since he had a slower car.

The MSC 'squeeze' not on the start -it was towards the end of the race that Rubens was overtaking him.