Hot on the heels of the Belgium GP, the F1 circus is in Hungary for the last race before the summer break – there’s a three week gap until they return in Holland. The main news from Belgium is that Turn 2 has been renamed after HAM. Meanwhile there are rumours that Qatar and Abu Dhabi might be cancelled (in addition to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia already having been skipped) so there’s speculation about which circuit(s) might replace them – a big challenge for many could be getting up to F1 specification in 3-4 months, so I suspect it’ll be somewhere that’s hosted F1 in the past year or maybe a return to one of this year’s venues.
Free Practice
- FP1: LEC (1:19.075), VER, HAM, HAD, RUS
Five rookies got to run in FP1 – Aron (Alpine), Fornaroli (McLaren), Herta (Cadillac), Hirakawa (Haas), and Vesti (Mercedes)
McLaren’s upgrades include a revolving rear wing
HAM reported a problem with upshifting and downshifting; teammate LEC rolled to a stop after entering the pit lane
VER frustrated at a slow-moving SAI on the racing line, but the Williams driver’s radio cable had disconnected during that run so he probably didn’t know VER was there until it was too late; the team will probably get a penalty
RUS locked his right-front wheel into Turn 1, causing a big flat spot; ALB did the same but with his front left, and then SAI locked all four wheels in the same corner
NOR ran wide in Turn 11
STR had a rear suspension failure that caused him to spin - FP2: HAM (1:18.729), LEC, NOR, VER, RUS
Turn 1 lock-ups continued – HAD
VER hit some debris
RUS complained his car was unbalanced, and ANT felt the rear kept locking
LIN looked like he was fighting his car, struggling to point it in the right direction
COL lost the Alpine’s rear into the final turn, spinning off, into the barriers and bringing out the red flag
STR didn’t complete a single lap as the Aston Martin mechanics continued to work on his car - FP3: NOR (1:17.939), HAM, ANT, LEC, PIA
PIA cut the Turn 6/7 chicane, as did HAM
HAD ran wide in Turn 4, reporting he was “stuck on the floor”
LAW also ran wide in T4
STR turned in on teammate ALO at T12, causing ALO to lock up
PER parked his Cadillac – it looked like the rear brakes had locked on
Penalties
Red Bull fined €400 for HAD speeding in the pit lane
SAI received a warning for the FP2 incident with VER
Qualifying
Air temperature 27°C; track 49°C; humidity 23%
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
SAI runs wide – that’ll discount this lap, and he’s picked up some dirt on his tyres
STR 1:20.847
ALO 1:20.665
HAM 1:18.730 on medium tyres (as is LEC)
LEC P2 but his time is deleted
VER 1:18.656
NOR 1:18.277
5mins left; bottom 6 are BEA, ALB, SAI, BOT, PER, BOR
ALB P17
BOR P9, SAI P17
BEA P14, GAS P17
BOT P21
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are GAS, SAI, ALB, STR, BOT, PER
SAI P18
GAS P13, COL P17
COL P14, BEA P17
Back of the grid: BEA, SAI, ALB, STR, BOT, PER
Qualifying session 2
ALO 1:20.696 on used softs
VER 1:18.249
HAD touched the gravel, spins – yellow flag while he recovers
ANT 1:18.178
HAM 1:17.931
Radio from ANT complaining “I’ve got no grip”
LEC noted for yellow flag infringement (when HAD went off) … no further investigation
Radio from HAM, “There’s plenty more time in there”
5mins left; bottom 6 are GAS, COL, OCO, ALO, HAD, BOR
HAD 1:17.872
ANT’s lap time is deleted so now he’s in the drop zone
(PIA P2)
BOR P9, ALO P11
NOR 1:17.456
(ANT P6)
GAS O11
(LEC P2)
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are LAW, GAS, COL, BOR, OCO, ALO
HAM P3
Middle of the grid: LAW, GAS, COL, BOR, OCO, ALO
Top 10 shootout is between NOR, LEC, HAM, HAD, PIA, VER, LIN, ANT, RUS, HUL
Qualifying session 3
VER 1:17,725
PIA 1:17.684
NOR 1:17.320
HAD P4
LIN P5
HUL P6
HAM 1:17.219
LEC P3
ANT P4
RUS P7
Order after the first run: HAM, NOR, LEC, ANT, PIA, VER, RUS, HAD, LIN, HUL
3:20 left and they all leave their garages, and now they’ll need to space themselves out
HAM P1 but no time improvement
VER spins – yellow flag
Chequered flag; order is HAM, NOR, LEC, ANT, PIA, VER, RUS, HAD, LIN, HUL
VER P6
RUS P7
LIN P9
Yellow flag – RUS stopped in Turn 1
HAD P8
NOR 1:17.207
HUL P10
Front of the grid: NOR, HAM, LEC, ANT, PIA, VER, RUS, HAD, LIN, HUL
Replay shows VER spin in Turn 14
FIA official had to change the board in front of HAM’s car at the last moment, as NOR takes P1 and heads into the pit lane
Provisional grid: NOR, HAM, LEC, ANT, PIA, VER, RUS, HAD, LIN, HUL, LAW, GAS, COL, BOR, OCO, ALO, BEA, SAI, ALB, STR, BOT, PER
As DC (David Coulthard) points out in the interview, it’s NOR’s first podium as World Champion
Penalties
HAM given 3 grid place penalty for impeding PIA
ANT got a 3-place drop and 1 penalty point for not slowing sufficiently under single yellow flags
ANT also got a warning for driving unnecessarily slowly during Qualifying on his in-lap
Revised provisional grid: NOR, LEC, PIA, VER, HAM, RUS, ANT, HAD, LIN, HUL, LAW, GAS, COL, BOR, OCO, ALO, BEA, SAI, ALB, STR, BOT, PER
Race
Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
PER has to start from the pit lane because Cadillac made a suspension change while under parc fermé conditions
Grid: NOR, LEC, PIA, VER, HAM, RUS, ANT, HAD, LIN, HUL, LAW, GAS, COL, BOR, OCO, ALO, BEA, SAI, ALB, STR, BOT; PER in the pit lane
Air temperature 30°C; track 51°C; humidity 25%
NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
Top 13 (down to COL) are all on medium compound tyres except LEC and HAM on softs; BOR, ALO, SAI and STR also on softs
01/70: PIA past LEC before Turn 1
NOR runs wide in Turn 2; PIA takes P1
RUS confused, asked his engineer “What happened there?”; “Anti-stall”; he’s down in P19
HAM has passed teammate LEC
02: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, ANT, HAD, LAW, LIN, HUL
03: HAM has a look but VER defends P3
05/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, ANT, HAD, LAW, LIN, HUL, GAS, OCO, BOR, COL, ALO, RUS, BEA, SAI, ALB, STR, BOT, PER
07: PIA opening the lead over teammate NOR; it’s now 1.5sec
08: PER noted for a starting procedure infringement – it’ll be investigated after the race
09: STR pits from P21; mediums go on; rejoins P22
10/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, ANT, HAD, LAW, LIN, HUL
12: HAM still on VER’s tail
RUS takes P11 from GAS
13: ALB has a big moment in his 100th race for Williams – bit snap and runs very wide
14: HAM pits from P4; hards; P9
HAM past LIN for P8
15/70: VER pits from P3; hards; P8, just behind HAM
BOT heading into the pits – looks like his front-left brake has locked and is on fire
PIA is told not to pit
16: VER inside HAM to steal P6
17: PIA pits from P1; hards; P4
LEC pits too; hards; P8
18: NOR pits from P1; hards; slow stop; P4
HAD holding up PIA and NOR as VER closes on the McLaren duo
19: PIA past HAD, and the NOR makes it past the obstacle too
HAD lets VER through and then tries to block HAM
20/70: ANT, PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, HAD, LEC, LAW, RUS, LIN
HAD pits; hards; P10
21: Radio for PIA; they think ANT is 1-stopping
22: NOR runs wide in Turn 2 again
23: ANT pits from P1; hards; P6
LAW takes P10 from ALO
25/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, ANT, RUS, HAD, BOR, LAW
RUS, BOR, ALO and ALB yet to pit
26: LEC closing on HAM; he’s on the radio saying “we’re losing time” suggesting the team swap them
28: RUS pits from P7; hards; P9
29: More complaints from VER, “downshifts are pushing me forward”
NOR runs wide in Turn 4, kicking up some dirt
30/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, ANT, HAD, RUS, BOR, LAW, LIN, HUL, GAS, ALO, STR, COL, OCO, SAI, BEA, ALB, PER; BOT out
31: HAM pits from P4; hards; P7 just behind HAD
32: HAD runs a bit wide, letting HAM close up
HAM takes P6
Radio from NOR wanting to pit but being told he can’t
34: PIA pits from P1; hards; P5
35/70: NOR, VER, LEC, ANT, PIA, HAM, HAD, RUS, LAW, LIN, HUL, GAS, BOR, ALO, STR, COL, OCO, SAI, BEA, ALB, PER
ALO is still on the softs that he started with… ah, no, he’s pitting – they’ve put medium tyres on
36: ANT filling LEC’s mirrors
37: LEC pits from P3; hards; P7
38: LEC inside HAD for P6
PIA held up by lapping SAI, which has let HAM close up
Replay shows there was contact with PIA when SAI was trying to pass ALO
40/70: NOR pits from P1; hards; P3, ahead of PIA
Replay of BEA spinning
Replay of HAM making contact with ALO as he lapped the Aston Martin
42: VER pits from P1; softs go on(!); P5, with LEC right on his tail
43: HAD pits from P7, followed by LAW
Radio for VER telling him to bring the soft tyres in gently, and VER sets personal fastest lap
44: Radio from VER complaining about his new tyres
LEC – yellow flag infringement noted
SAI given 5sec penalty for collision with PIA
45/70: ANT, NOR, PIA, HAM, VER, LEC, RUS, HAD, LIN, BOR
SAI pits; FIA timing data says he didn’t serve his penalty
46: NOR dives inside ANT to take P1, but ANT fights back and reclaims it
NOR makes another move and keeps P1 this time
47: BEA noted for ignoring blue flags
48: NOR laps GAS (P13)
50/70: NOR, ANT, PIA, HAM, VER, LEC, RUS, HAD, LIN, BOR, LAW, HUL, GAS, ALO, STR, COL, OCO, ALB, SAI, BEA, PER; out: BOT
Yellow flag – PER has gone off and is limping back to the pits
51: Radio from PER saying there’s something flapping on the suspension – it’s actually his front-left suspension that’s broken
Instead of being a mobile chicane, PER really should park off the track
52: VER is catching HAM; the gap is under 4.5sec
53: Radio for NOR warning him to avoid locking up into Turn 1
Radio from ANT asking why he can’t go to the end
54: ANT pits from P2; new hards; P6
Radio for NOR telling him to ease up a bit
55/70: NOR, PIA, HAM, VER, LEC, ANT, RUS, HAD, LIN, BOR
RUS puts from P7; hards; P8
Radio from ANT asking his position; he’s P6 and told potential for P2
56: Yellow flag – PIA os slowing; he’s pulled off and parked
Radio from PIA saying it’s the gearbox
VSC deployed
57[VSC]: NOR, HAM, LEC all pit; VER didn’t stop
VSC ending
58: NOR, VER, HAM, ANT, LEC, HAD, RUS, LIN, BOR, LAW
Replay looks like HAM came out of the pits alongside ANT
Radio for HAM telling him to give the position to ANT
HAM lets ANT take P3
59: NOR 6sec ahead of VER, and ANT & HAM are faster than VER
BEA given 5sec penalty for ignoring blue flags
60/70: NOR, VER, HAM, ANT, LEC, HAD, RUS, LIN, LAW, HUL, BOR, STR, GAS, COL, ALO, OCO, BEA, ALB, SAI; out: PIA, PER, BOT
Big slide for HAM; well held
61: HAM noted for speeding in the pit lane… under investigation (it’s usually a done-deal and 5sec penalty)
62: NOR’s lead over 8sec; he’s told again to ease up
Teammates LIN and LAW battle over P8
63: LAW takes P8
ANT frustrated at being held up lapping BOR
64: NOR continues to open his lead
HUL past LIN for P9
65/70: NOR, VER, ANT, HAM, LEC, HAD, RUS, LAW, HUL, LIN
ANT and HAM lap HUL
66: NOR now 12sec clear of VER
HAM given 5sec penalty for speeding in the pit lane – he’s 4.5sec ahead of LEC so will Ferrari tell LEC to slow a fraction?
67: Radio for NOR, “No exit kerbs”
69: ANT touched a gravel trap, kicking up some stones and dust
70/70: NOR still putting in rapid laps, causing worries for McLaren’s engineers; at least he’s staying off the kerbs
NOR takes the chequered flag
Despite his engineer trying to celebrate P2. VER continues to complain about the car
Provisional result: NOR, VER, ANT, HAM*, LEC, HAD, RUS, LAW, HUL, LIN; BOR, GAS, STR, ALO, COL, OCO, ALB, SAI, BEA
*HAM’s penalty drops him to P5
DNF: PIA, PER, BOT
Penalties
The only post-race penalty was a warning for PER being ahead of BOT at the SC1 (Safety Car 1) line at the end of the formation lap
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