Where were the two drivers of Red Bull during first two Free Practice sessions of the Hungarian Grand Prix? Oh, that’s right. They were somewhere in tenths. Did Max Verstappen get pole position on Qualifying? Another no. Instead, Lewis Hamilton secured his record-breaking ninth pole in Hungaroring, claiming his 104th pole position of his career. I hate to break it to you, but this fact didn’t stop Verstappen from breaking a record for Red Bull Racing: twelve consecutive wins.
A week prior to this post, I had this vision of the McLarens running for podium. Based on last race weekend’s pace, Oscar Piastri deserves a podium. It’s still a nice bet remembering both McLaren drivers landed 3–4 for Qualifying and afterwards, a podium for Lando Norris.
“And we go racing the Hungarian Grand Prix!”
As we welcome Daniel Ricciardo back to the grid, it’s time to bid adieu to the Red Bull we saw last week in Silverstone. Updates on the Red Bull is said to drive the car two-tenths faster than before, introducing a new side-pod alongside. Let’s just pretend we didn’t see Perez ended up on the barriers during FP1 — and his car’s exposed floor upgrade.
Of course, we all know how the race started. And we know how the Honey Badger’s first race of the season commenced.
It’s Turn 1 and Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo contact with Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri caused a collateral collision with both of the Alpines. Thus, an unrepairable damage leads to a double DNF. Call it a nightmare start.
On this particular Sunday, I was watching the race with new-found friends: a saddened Tifosi and a dedicated Fernando Alonso fan.
“Holy, did you see that? Did you see that?!”
We thought Piastri’s 2-second pitstop was the fastest, this weekend. We thought wrong. It was practically their reaction towards Sergio Perez’s fastest pitstop of only 1.9 seconds, 0.1 second faster than the McLaren’s. It was rather jaw-dropping, putting into consideration the fact that Charles Leclerc had to endure a 9.4-second pitstop. I repeat: Nine. Seconds. This played quite a significant role on how the Monégasque ended the race placing seventh — and that’s after receiving another five-second penalty given for speeding in the pit lane. Poor Leclerc for having to suffer a race with no water, radio error, and an almost 10-second pitstop. Not a surprising day at all for the fans of the boys in red.
Lap 28 left us viewers holding our breaths, for sure. I thought I saw contact between Russell’s Mercedes and Perez’s Red Bull — but maybe I need to get my eyes checked, because despite their near-contact, the Mexican managed to overtake and landed himself the sweet spot of fifth position.
The race ended after 70 laps, with the two Red Bulls securing podiums: Verstappen winning and Perez on third. Norris’ McLaren placed second, bringing the British driver a wide smile on his face. Another podium, another smile, right? Hamilton, however, placed fourth despite a superb race after leading the race.
Not to forget, Norris’ infamous bottle-slamming podium celebration accidentally knocked off Verstappen’s trophy. Verstappen laughed at it, though. No big deal for Max, he’s going to get more of those trophies. Except for the fact that it costs over $40,000 and that it takes six month to finish.
On the bright side, Spa is coming next. Will the same three drivers starting the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix end up on the podium of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix again? Or will the McLarens and their latest pace take over the place of the two? Putting aside the foretelling of another Verstappen win, Formula 1 is called as the pinnacle of motorsports for a reason. Nothing is predictable. We’ll have to see.
