TOPS
Untouchable once again. Words are beginning to fail to define Max Verstappen’s weekend-after-weekend performances. The Batavian had missed pole by 3 thousandths on Saturday but he was on time on Sunday at the start. He immediately jumped Lewis Hamilton to take the lead and never let go. At an incredible pace throughout the 70 laps, the double world champion takes another step towards a third world crown with his 7th success in a row, the ninth this season and especially the 12th in a row for Red Bull. McLaren record in 1988 broken. Perfect Sunday for Austrians.
New beautiful group shot of the orange cars. On the second row after qualifying, the McLarens shone again in the race. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri handled the start perfectly and immediately overtook Lewis Hamilton. Second in the first stint, Piastri slowed down as the race progressed to finally take fifth position. On the other hand, Lando Norris confirms his great form with a new second place after that of Silverstone. McLaren is therefore back on top and will have to manage expectations now.
The young Briton missed qualifying on Saturday with a mediocre 18th time. This foreshadowed a complicated race for the Mercedes driver on a circuit where it is always difficult to overtake, but George Russell moved up to sixth place after a magnificent race. Started on hard, he stretched his first stint, with in particular five positions gained in the first laps, to then finish with mediums. He offered himself the Ferraris at the end of the race and picked up eight points.
FLOPS
Dark period for the Blues. Nothing is going well at Alpine, which has been going through complicated weekends for several weeks now. Silverstone had already been difficult for the French team with a zero point following a double retirement but Budapest was even worse for the Habs as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were caught in the pile-up of the first corner. Result ? A double immediate abandonment following destroyed cars…and another zero point which hurts the manufacturers very much.
He had achieved dream qualifying with the fifth fastest time but Zhou Guanyu ruined everything at the start on Sunday. The Chinese driver completely missed his start, standing still, causing panic on the grid. Once launched, Zhou then failed to brake at the first corner causing a fatal pileup for the two Alpines… 16th at the finish, the Alfa Romeo driver missed a great opportunity in Budapest.
Where is the Scuderia going? McLaren’s return to the fore propelled Ferrari as the fourth force in the field behind the orange cars, Mercedes and Red Bull. The red single-seaters are suffering and have only seen the podium once in seven races (Leclerc in Austria). This does not satisfy Fred Vasseur and we understand that. In Hungary, the record is average at best with seventh place for Charles Leclerc, penalized five seconds for speeding in the pits and victim of a missed stop, and eighth for Carlos Sainz.
