The last stop before the 4-week summer break was Hungaroring, Hungary, which surprised with its weather conditions. Friday offered typical Hungarian hot summer weather, but the last free practice session was driven in wet and unusually cold conditions.
Dark grey clouds were hanging upon Hungaroring, as qualifying got underway. Mercedes showed surprisingly strong performance, as the Silver Arrows were the fastest cars in Q1. On the other hand, Red Bull's Perez was struggling with his pace throughout the qualifying. There was a bizarre episode in Q2, when Perez's lap time was deleted due to exceeding the track limits in Turn 5, but after a moment his time was reinstated. Nevertheless, the Mexican proved unable to make it through to the last segment. The top teams Red Bull and Ferrari had more potential to be unleashed in the decisive Q3.
Charles Leclerc. Photo by Ferrari.
Like expected, Leclerc went flat out at the beginning of the last session. But his teammate Sainz followed him, putting the screens purple and set a lap time half a second faster than that of the Monegasque's. Verstappen, on the other hand, went slightly wide on his first run, and the Dutchman wasn't happy with the front grip of his car. Before the final runs Verstappen was in unexpected and tame P7. The end of the Q3 was dramatic. Preparing his RB18 for the final attempt, Verstappen shouted on the team radio, that he had no power. Verstappen's qualifying was ruined. Sainz set the screens purple and made it on top of the standings, whilst teammate Leclerc proved unable to match Carlos' lap time. But against all odds, there came Russell in his Mercedes and claimed his maiden pole! McLaren showed improved performance, as Norris qualified fourth and teammate Ricciardo 9th. Alpine had a great day at the office as well, with Ocon 5th and Alonso 6th. Hamilton, who had suffered from a DRS issue in the qualifying, made it 7th ahead of Alfa Romeo's Bottas. Due to the reliability issues championship leader Verstappen was dramatically left in P10.
George Russell driving the (63) Mercedes W13 and Carlos Sainz driving the (55) Ferrari F1-75 battle for track position ahead of the field into turn one at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 31, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images.
Tyre strategy for the race was certainly interesting. Pole-setter Russell had opted for the soft Pirellis, whilst the Ferrari drivers and McLaren's Norris relied on the medium compound. Both Red Bulls had softs on. Thanks to the tyre advantage, Russell managed to maintain his lead at the start. The Briton was followed by the Scuderia duo of Sainz and Leclerc and Norris in his McLaren. Hamilton, who also had started to the race on the medium Pirellis, had made his way from P7 up to P5. Verstappen had jumped two positions at the start already.
One by one determined Verstappen made his way past the Alpine drivers, so did Perez in the sister Red Bull. McLaren's race pace proved less competitive than their one-lap pace, which meant trouble for Norris in P4. The sympathetic Briton was utterly toothless against both Hamilton in his Mercedes and storming Verstappen. Also Perez made it past Norris quite easily. The Briton pitted on lap 15, opening up the pit stop roulette for the first time.
Carlos Sainz. Photo by Ferrari.
The Ferrari drivers continued on the medium compound for their second stint, which was a clear indication of two-stop strategy for the Ferrari aces. Verstappen switched from soft to mediums, as did Russell. After the first stops Russell was still in the lead, but the pecking order of the Scuderia duo had changed -Charles was second and Carlos third. By lap 23 Verstappen had made it P4 already, having started to the race from challenging P10. And the Dutchman wasn't to be stopped there.
Towards the halfway point of the race Charles was racing Russell intensively. The Monegasque drove on the edge to challenge Russell, but George kept his head cool and stayed away from mistakes.
At the end of the main straight Charles made an outstanding dive into Turn 1. It seemed as if he was pushing way too hard into the corner, but it turned out a magnificent and successful overtaking move! Charles took over the race lead. Right away he started to pull away from Russell, who was to have the next battle with the sister Ferrari of Sainz.
Verstappen was the first top driver to pit for the second time on lap 39. The flying Dutchman opted for a second set of medium tyres. A lap later race leader Leclerc and Russell pitted for a differing tyre choice. Charles switched to the hard compound, whilst Russell took mediums for his third stint. Verstappen's undercut worked perfectly, and he managed to get ahead of Russell, as the Briton rejoined the track.
Charles Leclerc. Photo by Ferrari.
Very soon Charles proved to be in trouble with the hard tyres, which were lacking grip badly. Verstappen smelled his chance and attacked Charles immediately, executing an impressive overtaking move on his championship contender. However, shortly after overtaking Charles, Max suddenly had a 360-degree spin! Charles was back in front of Max, who had to build his overtaking move all over again. Three laps later the flying Dutchman stroke again at the end of the main straight and executed another perfect overtaking move, depriving Charles of the third place.
As Hamilton drove into the pits for the second time on lap 52, Verstappen took over the race lead. A couple of laps later Russell squeezed his Mercedes past Leclerc, who had no chance to defend his position on the poorly working hard Pirellis. The Red Team had no option but to call Charles in and switch to the soft compound. This was the third pit stop for the Monegasque already. Poor strategy meant giving up on a podium finish and dropping down to P6 behind Perez.
Carlos Sainz. Photo by Ferrari.
After his second pit stop Hamilton was absolutely flying on his fresh softs. By lap 63 he had hunted down Sainz, whose softs had much more laps on them. In cold blood Hamilton passed Sainz, laying his hands on the lowest podium spot. The 7-time world champion was utterly on flames, and two laps later he made a move on his teammate, jumping second.
On the final lap the heavens opened, and it started to rain. But not even mother nature stopped Verstappen from driving to the chequered flag as the race winner and well-deserved Driver of the Day. Against the odds, podium was completed by the two Mercedes drivers. Sainz was left fourth and teammate Leclerc sixth, which can be seen as a failure from the Red Team. Perez split the Scuderia drivers, with Norris 7th, Alonso 8th, Ocon 9th and Vettel 10th.
Ferrari's failed strategy and the race results mean, that Verstappen now has a 80-point lead in the championship standings! It seems, that slowly but inevitably the desired world championship is slipping through Charles' fingers. Red Bull are now hundred points ahead of the Red Team in the constructors' standings. 100 points! Mercedes are becoming a serious threat for the Red Team as well, as Mercedes are now only 30 points down on Ferrari.
The Red Team need to discover their spirit, belief and their broken self-esteem during the summer break to bounce back. Only working hard, working together as one team, can help them fix the situation for the better. Forza Ferrari!
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