F1. Hungary 2023 Review

By Chelsea Wintle, Aiden McLaughlin and Gavin Huet

Driver of the day

Aiden – Ok, ok, bear with me here, but I’m going for Daniel Ricciardo. Yes, I know he started from 13th and finished…13th, but that doesn’t tell the full story – far from it. He had an excellent day. On the opening lap, he ended up back in 18th, which must have been deflating after a Saturday session where comfortably out-qualified team mate Yuki Tsunoda; but he was a victim of a messy Zhou/Ocon/Gasly incident. It still wasn’t looking good after his first tyre change on lap 18, finding himself in last place, behind the Williams of Logan Sargeant. But the Honey Badger is an experienced campaigner and encouraged his team to bring him in for another tyre change just 11 laps later, much earlier than most of the field. Although he still had 40 laps to go, he had clean air, managed his tyres expertly and maintained his pace superbly while others stuck to their more obvious strategies. You just can’t buy experience.

Chelsea – I’m giving it to Oscar Piastri, who is more than proving his worth to McLaren this season. A great start off the line saw him hold second place for 18 laps, and while he eventually closed the race in fifth, it certainly wasn’t for lack of performance. Remember a year ago, when we all thought he’d be racing for Alpine, including Alpine? After a double-DNF by his almost-team this weekend, he’ll be more than happy with his decision.

Gavin – For me it has to be the Australian. No not the returning Danny Ricciardo but the rookie Oscar Piastri who, now that the McLaren car has become competitive, is showing why he was so sought after in F1. If he continues in this vein then there may be opportunities with other teams in the near future. He would look good in red and also in black.

 

Moment of the weekend

Aiden – When trophy celebrations go wrong (or maybe right, depending on your point of view). Nice work Lando. Not sure if he’s had to foot the estimated NZ$70k bill or not…

Chelsea – George Russell dropping out in Q1 was a rare misstep by the Mercedes team – sending him out in such abominable traffic that he had no chance of completing his lap in time. Seeing Toto wallop his monitor again brought back so many memories, and given Lewis qualified first, we were all left wondering what might have been.

Gavin – The race start gave us something interesting at the first corner with Lewis Hamilton squandering a brilliant pole position and Oscar Piastri seizing the initiative to go from fourth to second, a position he held for a little while until McLaren allowed Lando Norris the opportunity to undercut him at the first pit stop. Max once again took control from that first corner and never looked troubled.

 

Hot take of the weekend

Aiden – While most other teams have generally seen their fortunes rise and fall (or fall and rise) during the season, Haas are a bit of a shrug your shoulders team at the moment, almost forgotten as everything happens around them. Hulkenberg finished P14, Magnussen P17 (effectively last due to Sargeant, Ocon and Gasly not finishing at all). It’s just all a bit dull from them at the moment. Guenther Steiner’s Drive to Survive episode from this season could break broadcasting records for expletives.

Chelsea – The new tyre format for qualifying, meaning teams are forced to use the tyres of the same hardness for each qualifying session (hard for Q1, medium for Q2 and soft for Q3) actually almost worked for me. The idea behind it is a reduction in carbon footprint, meaning the teams will lug fewer tyres around the world, but not all teams are in favour. I quite enjoyed the field being more strategically balanced, and would be quite happy to see it as part of future races, though probably not all of them.

Gavin – If Perez could remember how to qualify he would be a title contender. Instead we have to marvel at his fight back to end up on the podium in third from his qualifying position of ninth. Danny Ricciardo will be a real possibility in that Red Bull seat alongside Max Verrstappen if the team are really intent on “total domination” (which should be pronounced in a very Austrian accent for the full impact).

 

Cold take of the weekend

Aiden – A trial is exactly that – a trial, but the ‘Alternative Tyre Allocation’ in qualifying just didn’t feel right. The drivers had mandatory tyres to use in Q1, Q2 and Q3 and yes, the sustainability factor is important as this reduces the total number of tyres being used by the sport, but it takes away the possibility of teams using strategies to try and over achieve in qualifying. Some tinkering is needed please F1 bosses.

Chelsea – This weekend saw the F1 Juniors take part in Sky Sport’s coverage of the Grand Prix. Obviously, they were as charming as precocious journalists could possibly be, but apparently Nico Rosberg has never met children before. After disclosing to the juniors how Mark Webber dubbed him ‘Britney’ during the 2006 race in Brazil, he then took offence to one of the children… calling him Britney, and marched off set after demanding an apology. I’m not entirely sure what he expected to happen, but we needed a break from his ridiculous shirt anyway.

Gavin – Alpine’s resurgence was short lived. Two double “did not finishes” in a row is a harsh result for the team that seemed to have turned it around in Monaco. Laurent Rossi is probably happy to have moved onto “special projects”, whatever that means, from the CEO position.

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