Formula One is ready for one last dash before its traditional summer break and after enduring the heat on and off the track at last week’s French race, there is bound to be a boilover in Budapest. Join The Roar from 10:50pm AEST for live blog coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc famously crashed out of the lead in Les Castellet and now sits 63-points behind reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who took another commanding victory as Ferrari faltered.
The Hungarian Grand Prix is a race known for its unknowns, given the chaos that has ensued in the past and the variable weather that has caused it. 2021’s race saw a myriad of cars wiped out at Turn 1, including title hopeful Verstappen – as Esteban Ocon took a maiden win for Alpine.
Ferrari and Leclerc will need similar luck if they are to erase any of the hefty points differential to Red Bull and Verstappen. However, they’ll need to create their own luck in reliability and making correct decisions strategically.
The 70-lap race is predicted to be run as a one-stopper; however, Lewis Hamilton in 2019 to great effect used the two-stop to come back and pass Verstappen for the lead on fresh tyres. A dry race may require that sort of wit from Ferrari for example.
Overtaking opportunities are scarce around the 4.3km go-kart-like circuit, with the DRS-assisted run into Turns 1 and 2 the hotspot for passes at the Hungaroring.
It was George Russell and Mercedes that shocked during qualifying, with the Briton claiming his first pole position in Formula One, edging the provisionally leading Ferrari of Carlos Sainz by 0.044-seconds.
Having pronounced being nowhere in terms of one-lap speed on Friday, Mercedes pulled the rabbit out of the hat to start ahead of both Ferraris and Red Bulls, whom Verstappen lead down in tenth after qualifying difficulties.
Mercedes race pace has traditionally been strong in 2022, giving Ferrari an extra variable to battle despite their chief rivals in Red Bull being further down the grid. If he channels his composure from the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020, can Russell be on for a maiden Formula One win?
An improved McLaren heads the second row of the grid with Lando Norris, as their midfield fight with Alpine hots ups after the French manufacturer overtook the Britons for fourth in the constructor’s championship. Daniel Ricciardo will start inside the top ten too.
Race Information
Lights out: 11pm (AEST)
Venue: Hungaroring, Budapest
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Grid
1. George Russell (Mercedes), 2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 4. Lando Norris (McLaren), 5. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 8. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 10. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 11. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 12. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 13. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 15. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 16. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 17. Alexander Albon (Williams), 18. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 19. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
Johnna
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the coverage, I tend to mute the Broadcast Commentators from time to time and have your feed on the side. Surprised at a few outcomes; The race ended with the top six covered by 17 seconds. Alpine's shocking lack of pace on the C4 Other teams opting for the tyre after seeing Alpines struggles. Frequency of teams releasing their potential race winners in traffic. Ferrari's continued poor performance on the pitwall and pitcrew. Haas teams failure to convert a sublime start. Russel giving Hamilton a two lap holdup. After the summer break I'd be willing to bet that Ferrari will take a new approach to their strategies for failing to do so they will most certainly end up 3rd in the standings. Mercedes will take some stock of their good fortune in the first half (and a bit) of the season and hope for more to come on the road to yas marina. RBR seems to be in a good space despite my concerns about Perez's recent form, he seems to be on the back foot since his win and unable to match the ferrari's and possibly GR & LH.\ Thanks again for your continued efforts with the F1roar section. Appreciate your dedication.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
An unassailable 80-point lead for Max Verstappen at the top of the driver's championship now and it indeed looks difficult for anyone in their current state to deny the reigning world champion in the second half of the season. A lot can be said about Ferrari's first half of 2022 and there are galling errors on both the team front and driver front overall. As it stands, it would be a miracle if they kept second in the constructor's standings in the remaining nine races - given how much Mercedes have improved as the year has progressed. Either way, it has been a pretty exciting 2022 championship so far and it is good to have a little break before the racing gets back underway at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps at the end of August. Until then, thanks for supporting this live blog on The Roar and I look forward to coming back more F1 action soon. Bye for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 258 - Max Verstappen 178 - Charles Leclerc 173 - Sergio Perez 158 - George Russell 156 - Carlos Sainz 146 - Lewis Hamilton 76 -- Lando Norris 58 -- Esteban Ocon 46 -- Valtteri Bottas 41 -- Fernando Alonso 22 -- Kevin Magnussen 19 -- Daniel Ricciardo 16 -- Pierre Gasly 16 -- Sebastian Vettel 12 -- Mick Schumacher 11 -- Yuki Tsunoda 5 --- Guanyu Zhou 4 --- Lance Stroll 3 --- Alexander Albon 0 --- Nicholas Latifi 0 --- Nico Hulkenberg
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
80-points clear of Leclerc now :shocked:
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 431 - Red Bull Racing 334 - Ferrari 304 - Mercedes AMG 99 -- Alpine 95 -- McLaren Mercedes 51 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 34 -- Haas Ferrari 27 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 20 -- Aston Martin Racing 3 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT An emphatic drive from reigning world champion and championship leader Max Verstappen, saw the Dutchman win the Hungarian Grand Prix from tenth on the grid and deliver another blow to Ferrari’s title prospects. Polesitter George Russell led the early stages of the race, having started on the soft tyre while the Ferraris led by Carlos Sainz behind where on the medium compound. Threats of rain persisted, but nothing eventuated until after the chequered flag. Though it was an intriguing race of strategy, as the medium tyre starters mirrored the soft runners to switch to another set of mediums in the middle stint. This allowed the likes of Sainz and Charles Leclerc to stay with Russell, though Verstappen from behind was slowly picking his way through the field and was with the leaders by Lap 10. Lewis Hamilton started from seventh too, and like Verstappen was quick to get involved with the lead battle. In the middle stint, Leclerc was mighty on the medium tyres and had the ultimate pace over Russell. Lap 31 saw the Ferrari take the lead from the Mercedes into Turn 1, all before Verstappen was in on Lap 39 in an attempt to undercut them. Though in response to Red Bull, Ferrari had no choice to put Leclerc on the hard tyres on Lap 40 – as they’d only run the medium compound thus far in the grand prix. With the offset in his favour, Verstappen wasted no time to round up his title rival – despite suffering a 360-degree spin at the penultimate corner. Sainz and Hamilton remained out in front, on the same strategy as Leclerc in terms of only having used the medium compound. Lap 48 saw the Spaniard in for soft tyres, while the Briton waited until Lap 52 to have the advantage on the faster rubber. This put Verstappen firmly in the lead, with only tyre preservation required to bag another victory in 2022. Hamilton had relegated Sainz off the podium, before having the pace to nab second ahead of his teammate Russell. Both Mercedes recording another double podium finish. An already defeated Leclerc, was forced into taking a third stop for soft tyres to replace the hard compound – though this saw the Monegasque driver drop to sixth behind Sergio Perez. Hard tyres also failed Alpine, who had the superior race pace over their constructor’s championship rivals in McLaren. Though switching to hards in the middle stint put both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon outside of Lando Norris’ pit window – securing seventh for the Briton ahead of the Alpine duo. And while on the same strategy, Daniel Ricciardo went backwards on the hard tyre in his final stint – dropping out of the points, but also tangling with Lance Stroll which earnt him a 5-second time penalty. It was Stroll’s teammate in the retiring Sebastian Vettel who claimed the final point in tenth.
Damo
Guest
I would pay a lot of money to be in Ferrari's debrief tonight. Pretty clinical by Red Bull and Max. Even with 9 to go you'd think that's championship over now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by David Coulthard VERSTAPPEN - "I was of course I could get close to a podium." "We had a really good strategy." "Even with the 360 (spin) we still won." "It was a lot of fun out there." HAMILTON - "I was definitely struggling at the beginning of the race. "Both cars to be on the podium, twice is pretty special for us." "I was hoping it was going to rain at the end so I could challenge Max." RUSSELL - "We made a strong start and he had a strong first stint." "We are definitely making progress." "A bit of a challenging position to be in."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 70-LAP HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen 2 L. Hamilton (Fastest Lap) 3 G. Russell 4 C. Sainz 5 S. Perez 6 C. Leclerc 7 L. Norris 8 F. Alonso 9 E. Ocon 10 S. Vettel 11 L. Stroll 12 P. Gasly 13 G. Zhou 14 M. Schumacher 15 D. Ricciardo* 16 K. Magnussen 17 A. Albon 18 N. Latifi 19 Y. Tsunoda RET V. Bottas *5-second time penalty applied to Daniel Ricciardo
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Being a Ferrari fan is pain. Paiiiiinnnn.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX! What a drive from tenth on the grid for the reigning world champion. And like the last race in France, Lewis Hamilton leads his Mercedes teammate and pole sitter George Russell for another double podium finish.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 70/70: FINAL LAP Russell saying it is raining hard now, oh dear.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR ENDS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/70: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR The field has been neutralised, as Bottas' car is recovered and they will crawl towards the chequered flag then.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 68/70: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED Problems for Bottas as the Alfa Romeo grinds to a halt at the side of the track in between Sectors 2 and 3.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/70: Verstappen has a 10 second lead then over Hamilton and Russell. Leclerc on those fresh set of soft tyres hasn't done much with them, as the fastest lap honours are in Hamilton's hands.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/70: Hamilton gets his teammate then on the exit of Turn 1 and that is P2 for the seven-time world champion. Great stuff from the Mercedes duo, who are sitting second and third now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 64/70: Bottas who was doing quite well in tenth on a one-stop strategy, has just been passed by both Aston Martins headed by Stroll. Hamilton looking like he is having to race Russell, as there seems to have been no interference by the Mercedes pit-wall.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/70: And there is the move from Hamilton, halfway down the straight with the assistance of DRS. The Mercedes is past the Ferrari of Sainz and now could very well be escorted into second ahead of teammate Russell.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/70: It is evident that Sainz is really struggling on his older set of soft tyres, as Hamilton continues to pressure the Ferrari.