Battle for Bronze: Who’s on top after the Hungarian Grand Prix?
Column
- Toby McLuskie
The wet weather proved costly for many drivers on Sunday in the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, it wasn’t from their own doing. Valtteri Bottas’ misjudged breaking resulted in a large number of drivers crashing out of the race, many coming from the midfield. This then gave Lewis Hamilton a chance to storm to victory, however, Esteban Ocon and the rest of the grid had other thoughts. All but the Brit pitted for slicks and it worked a treat, allowing the Alpine driver to lead the race and go on to claim his first victory in Formula 1. However, Hamilton still finished second due to Sebastian Vettel being disqualified.
McLaren held their lead in the battle for third in Britain with a superb showing from Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. The duo scored the British team 22 points, but, on the other hand, still lost points to Ferrari thanks to Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver’s second-place finish, alongside Carlos Sainz’s sixth-place finish, allowed the Scuderia to close the gap to McLaren by four points. Alpine had the best showing of the rest last week, scoring eight points and moving closer to Aston Martin and AlphaTauri. It was a quiet race at Silverstone for the home and Italian team, as Lance Stroll claimed four points, whilst Yuki Tsunoda finished in the final points-scoring position.
As our weekend in Hungary has now ended, which team is leading the way?
Ferrari
A tie for third place going into the summer break is another thing that many would not expect coming into the Hungarian Grand Prix. Now we’re finished in Budapest, we see that it’s exactly the case. Vettel’s DSQ resulted in Sainz being promoted to third place, securing a podium and three extra points, moving the Scuderia into joint-third. A strong strategy from the Italian team allowed the Spaniard to be in the podium battle for the majority of the race. As for Leclerc, he was torpedoed by Stroll in turn one and his race was ended very soon.
McLaren
A point-less day for McLaren in Hungary would’ve been in nobody’s minds, especially with Norris’ stellar form so far this season. However, it was, in fact, a pointless day for the British team. The young Brit had a superb start to the race which saw him overtake Bottas off the line, but the Finn’s misjudged breaking resulted in him crashing into the back of Norris, ending his and many other drivers race. As for Ricciardo, the Aussie was just unable to find any major pace in the car and was running outside the top 10 for the majority of the race. He ended up losing out on points due to Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen overtaking him in the final few laps. McLaren are now tied on 163 points with Ferrari.
Alpine
What a weekend for Alpine. Ocon, Grand Prix winner. The team couldn’t have asked for much more. However, many of the thanks will be put down to the defensive work from Fernando Alonso, where he held Hamilton behind him for 10 laps, allowing Ocon to hold onto his lead. After Hamilton got past the Spaniard, he finished only 2.7 seconds down on the Frenchman, which could’ve easily been gained if Alonso hadn’t defended for as long as he did. 37 points for the French team takes them ahead of both AlphaTauri and Aston Martin and also makes them Grand Prix winners this season.
AlphaTauri
A one-point lead over Aston Martin has now been extended to 20, thanks to mega performances from both Pierre Gasly and Tsunoda. The duo finished in fifth and sixth respectively, with Gasly also claiming an extra point by setting the fastest lap of the race. The duo were running in the top 10 for the majority of the race and luckily missed the incident after lights out. A 19 point performance is more than what the Italian team would have wanted coming into the weekend.
Aston Martin
A race of ups and downs for Aston Martin ended in upset. Vettel’s poor start resulted in the German having an easy pass through the major crash at the start of the race. This meant that he had the chance to battle with Ocon at the front for the 70 laps, which he did. He was unable to get past the Frenchman and crossed the line in second. However, due to not having enough fuel left in the car, at the end of the race, for the stewards to test, Vettel was disqualified and had his P2 stripped off him. As for Stroll, a flying move into turn one took out Leclerc and ruined his, and many others, race.
Special mention: Williams
Williams are still 38 points behind Aston Martin, but in a weekend full of drama and action, the success of the British team in Hungary can’t go unnoticed. Nicholas Latifi and George Russell both secured points finishes for the team, claiming 10 points. It’s the first points scored in F1 and Williams for the Canadian, whilst Russell scores his first points for the team after two-and-a-half years. A superb drive from the duo gives the team their first points since Robert Kubica in the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Which team had the best weekend at the Silverstone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!