Hungary Grand Prix

Two weeks after the exciting battle between Hamilton and Norris at Silverstone, and a lot has happened:

• DEV was dropped by AlphaTauri and Daniel Ricciardo has taken his place
• New tyre rules start this weekend: everyone has to use the hard compound in Q1, medium in Q2 and softs in Q3
• “Alpine have announced that Laurent Rossi will no longer hold the role of CEO at the company and F1 team – with Philippe Krief set to succeed him as CEO of the Alpine brand.” [F1]

Free Practice:

1. FP1: RUS (1:38.795), PIA, STR, NOR, ALO
   PER put his Red Bull in the tyre wall just 4 minutes in to the session [video], fuelling rumours that he and RIC might swap seats soon
   Light rain got heavier and only a few drivers decided to go out on intermediate tyres
   SAI spun (on inters) and beached his Ferrari, causing another red flag
   7 drivers didn’t set a lap time
2. FP2: LEC (1:17.686), NOR, GAS, TSU, OCO
   The rain has stopped so everyone put in a few laps
   PER had a big lockup into Turn 1
   OCO complained that TSU was unsafely released into his path (although there was never any real danger)
   Not long after that Alpine released OCO into the path of LEC
   Are Red Bull sandbagging?
3. FP3: HAM (1:17.811), VER, PER, HUL, NOR
   An uneventful session as teams save tyres ahead of Quali with its new constraint on which compounds they can run

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Air temperature 33°C; track 45°C
PER 1:19.292
BOT 1:18.818
(VER P2)
MAG has his first lap time deleted for exceeding track limits
BOT 1:18.775
VER 1:18.658
5mins left; bottom 5 are LEC, STR, HUL, SAR, MAG
PER 1:18.360
ZHO 1:18.143
LEC P3, relegating HAM to P16
STR P7, SAI P16
Only now is HAM leaving the pits – he’s cutting it fine
SAI P4, ALB P16
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are RIC, HAM, SAR, HUL, MAG
RIC P12, RUS P16
MAG P18
HUL P8, NOR P16
HAM P7, ALB P16
NOR P10, ALB P16
RUS P18
Back of the grid: ALB, TSU, RUS, MAG, SAR
Replay of RUS about to start his final flying lap; he was hanging back to open a gap but a couple of cars passed him – so much for the “gentlemen’s agreement” where they hold position. I can see why NOR, for example, passed RUS because he wanted to keep the temps and start his lap before the chequered flag

Incident involving BOT and STR will be investigated – BOT lost time on his final lap because of all the drivers crawling through the last couple of turns

Qualifying session 2
Everyone will run on medium compound tyres
PER 1:17.675
VER 1:17.296 … but it’s deleted
NOR 1:17.328
5mins left; bottom 5 are BOT, RIC, GAS, STR, VER
VER P2, OCO P11
Only NOR remains in the pits
STR P13
RIC P11
(HAM P2)
BOT P4, LEC P11
GAS P13
OCO P11
LEC P6, SAI P11
GAS’ time is deleted; he returns to P15
Middle of the grid: SAI, OCO, RIC, STR, GAS

Top 10 shootout is between NOR, HAM, VER, BOT, PIA, LEC, HUL, PER, ZHO and ALO

Qualifying session 3
PER waits at the pit exit
PER 1:17.142
HUL P2
NOR 1:16.904
ALO P2
ZHO P5
BOT P4
LEC P4
PIA P7
VER 1:16.612
HAM P2
Order after the first run: VER, HAM, NOR, ALO, PER, LEC, BOT, HUL, PIA, ZHO
ZHO’s lap time was deleted
PER P5
LEC P4
ALO P5
PIA P4
NOR P2
ZHO P5
BOT P7
HAM 1:6.609

Provisional grid: HAM, VER, NOR, PIA, ZHO, LEC, BOT, ALO, PER, HUL, SAI, OCO, RIC, STR, GAS, ALB, TSU, RUS, MAG, SAR
HAM sets the record for the most pole positions at a single circuit (9 times)

Race

Air temperature 28°C; track 49°C; humidity 34% – it’s warm but looks pretty windy
Grid: HAM, VER, NOR, PIA, ZHO, LEC, BOT, ALO, PER, HUL, SAI, OCO, RIC, STR, GAS, ALB, TSU, RUS, MAG, SAR

HAM leads everyone away on the formation lap
Everyone starting on the medium tyre compound except PER and RUS on hards, and SAI, STR, GAS and TSU on softs

01/70: VER gets off the line better than expected; leads into Turn 1
Contact towards the tail end; spinner in T1

02: VER, PIA, NOR, HAM, LEC, SAI, ALO, PER, HUL, STR, TSU, BOT, RUS, MAG, ALB, ZHO, SAR, RIC, OCO, GAS
GAS pits; his rear right is hanging off
SAI all over his teammate, LEC

03: VER fastest lap 1:25.157
OCO pits; that’s both Alpine retired
Replay of the start shows ZHO hit RIC and the two Alpines collide

05/70: VER, PIA, NOR, HAM, LEC, SAI, ALO, PER, HUL, STR
VER f/lap 1:24.542
DRS enabled

06: PER using DRS to try to pass ALO
ALO defends P7
LEC (on mediums) still ahead of SAI (on softs) – surprised Ferrari haven’t told them to swap

07: Lap 1 Turn 1 incident under investigation

08: VER f/lap 1:24.487
PER steals P7 – the Red Bulls have such a clear advantage with DRS
5sec penalty for ZHO for causing a collision

09: ALB pits from P15; switches from mediums to hard tyres – that’s an early stop

10/70: VER, PIA, NOR, HAM, LEC, SAI, PER, ALO, HUL, STR, TSU, BOT, RUS, MAG, ZHO, SAR, RIC, ALB; out: OCO, GAS
STR, TSU, BOT all pit and take on hard tyres; TSU has a slow stop and comes out behind BOT

11: VER f/lap 1:24.405

13: BOT f/lap 1:24.246

14: ZHO f/lap 1:23.743
SAR pits

15/70: VER, PIA, NOR, HAM, LEC, SAI, PER, ALO, HUL, RUS
MAG pits from P11; rejoins P17
Radio from SAI telling his team PER is about to pass him so he’ll pit but not just yet – shouldn’t strategy come from the team?

16: SAI pits from P6; switches from soft tyres to hards; rejoins P11

17: HAM pits from P4; hards; P8
HUL pits too; hards; P15

18: NOR pits from P3; hards; P5
LEC pits too; slow stop; hards; P11 alongside BOT

19: PIA pits from P2; hards; P5 just inches behind teammate NOR
RIC pits too

20/70: VER, PER, ALO, NOR, PIA, RUS, HAM, SAI, STR, LEC, BOT, ALB, TSU, HUL, ZHO, MAG, SAR, RIC; out: OCO, GAS
NOR f/lap 1:23.543
LEC dives inside STR for P9

21: ALO pits; hards; P11
Everyone on hard tyres now except VER

22: NOR f/lap 1:23.499
ALO takes P10 from BOT

23: VER has a 23sec lead over his teammate

24: VER pits; hards; rejoins still P1, with his lead down to about 3sec

25/70: VER, PER, NOR, PIA, RUS, HAM, SAI, LEC, STR, ALO
Top 10 are running in team pairs – Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin
PER pits; mediums go on; rejoins P7

26: RUS lets HAM through for P4

27: PER makes a forceful move inside SAI to take P6

28: LEC now has DRS behind SAI
PER uses DRS to pass RUS for P5

29: RUS pits from P6; mediums go on; P14
Radio from HAM asking “Where am I losing all this time? The car is slow”; he’s told “”A lot of it is straight lines times” 🙁

30/70: VER, NOR, PIA, HAM, PER, SAI, LEC, ALO, STR, BOT, ALB, TSU, RUS, HUL, ZHO, MAG, SAR, RIC
PER f/lap 1:23.195

31: PER f/lap 1:23.086
PER now under 5sec behind HAM and closing about 0.5sec/lap
RUS passes TSU, up to P12

32: ALB pits; hards; P17

33: RUS f/lap 1:23.014

35/70: VER, NOR, PIA, HAM, PER, SAI, LEC, ALO, STR, BOT, RUS, TSU, HUL, ZHO, MAG, SAR, ALB, RIC; out: OCO, GAS
STR pits; hards; P15
RUS takes P9 from BOT
HAM has been told to lift and coast to address some temperature issues – that’ll make it easier for PER

Half distance

36: STR takes P14 from MAG

39: ALB takes P15 from MAG
PER now has DRS behind HAM

40/70: VER, NOR, PIA, HAM, PER, SAI, LEC, ALO, RUS, BOT
HUL and ZHO pit

41: BOT pits from P10; hards; P13
Radio from LEC asking about strategy, i.e. will they tell SAI to let him past; his engineer cuts him off and says “we’re on it”

43: PIA pits, followed by PER
PIA has bit of a slow stop (2.8sec) compared to PER (1.9sec); both now on mediums; rejoin P6 and P7
STR takes P10 from TSU

44: LEC pits from P5; hards; P8
ALO pits from P8; hards; P9

45/70: NOR pits from P2; locks up at the speed trap line; mediums go on; rejoins P3
SAI pits; hards; P8
PER f/lap 1:22.929

46: Incident involving LEC noted – speeding in the pit lane

47: PER f/lap 1:22.637
Radio for HAM asking him to pick the pace up; “this is as fast as it goes mate”
PER around the outside of PIA to take P4; squeezes PIA onto the grass
RUS pits; mediums; P8

48: NOR f/lap 1:22.216
Black and white flag for PIA for exceeding track limits
5sec penalty for LEC for speeding in the pit lane
Incident involving PER and PIA has been noted

50/70: VER, HAM, NOR, PER, PIA, LEC, SAI, RUS, ALO, STR, ALB, BOT, RIC, HUL, SAR, TSU, ZHO, MAG; out: OCO, GAS
RUS 1:22.158
Incident involving PER and PIA reviewed – no further investigation
HAM pits from P2; mediums go on; rejoins P5

51: VER told to pit; he has over 33sec lead and was closing on STR (P10) to lap him

52: VER pits; mediums; easily still P1 – about 12sec lead over NOR

54: VER f/lap 1:20.504

55/70: VER, NOR, PER, PIA, HAM, LEC*, SAI, RUS, ALO, STR (*Remember LEC has 5sec penalty for speeding in the pit lane)

56: HAM has DRS behind PIA

57: HAM inside PIA into Turn 1 to take P4

59: VER laps BOT and then ALB (P11)

60/70: VER, NOR, PER, HAM, PIA, LEC*, SAI, RUS, ALO, STR, ALB, BOT, RIC, HUL, SAR, TSU, ZHO, MAG (*LEC +5sec)
NOR frustrated as he laps the back markers

63: Closest battles are RUS closing on SAI (P7), and BOT on ALB (P11)
Radio from RUS saying he’s thinking about boxing but he’s told he’ll definitely lose positions

64: RUS tucked up under SAI’s rear wing

65/70: VER, NOR, PER, HAM, PIA, LEC*, SAI, RUS, ALO, STR
RUS gets a great run on SAI and takes P7

66: RUS is 5.4sec behind LEC, but LEC’s penalty means RUS only needs to close a little to effectively take P6

67: RUS now under 5sec behind LEC
Meanwhile LEC is under 4sec behind PIA but there probably aren’t enough laps left for him to challenge for P5

68: HAM under 3sec behind PER and almost 1sec/lap faster

69: HAM closing to under 2sec
Yellow flag – SAR spun and recovered, heads into the pits

70/70: HAM not close enough for DRS so he won’t be able to challenge PER

VER takes the chequered flag
NOR P2
PER P3
HAM P4
PIA P5
LEC P6* 5sec penalty to be applied, so he’ll drop to P7
RUS P7 but he’ll move up to P6
SAI P8

Provisional result: VER, NOR, PER, HAM, PIA, (LEC*) RUS, LEC, SAI, ALO, STR; ALB, BOT, RIC, HUL, TSU, ZHO, MAG
DNF: SAR, OCO, GAS
Fastest lap: VER, 1:20.504 (lap 54)

[2023 calendar and driver line-up]