F1 | HUNGARIAN GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “WILL THE PERFORMANCES IN SILVERSTONE BE CONFIRMED?”

We have come to Hungary, the eleventh round of this world championship which, apart from the (practically) unchallenged domination of Max Verstappen (with 8 wins) and Red Bull (10 wins), has given us a number of upheavals of the forces in the field.

If at Silverstone we saw a competitive McLaren which allowed Lando Norris to take second place and his first podium of the season (with Piastri fourth), in Austria the podium went to Ferrari with Leclerc who then slumped in England. Even earlier Mercedes had leapt over a good Aston Martin, being able to finish on the podium five times with Fernando Alonso in the first 8 grands prix, presenting itself as the second force of the world championship. The position currently occupied by Mercedes. Instead, Monte Carlo gave us Alpine’s exploit with Esteban Ocon’s third place.

It will be interesting to see if, on the slow Budapest track, traditionally characterized by high air and track temperatures, these forces will be confirmed or if we will once again see a change, even in preparation for the second part of the season. If the drivers’ ladder is defined with Verstappen launched towards his third title, on the constructors’ side there is great uncertainty behind RB.

Exactly the uneasy situation of Alpha Tauri (currently in last place with only two points) led to the dubious change of steering wheels between de Vries and Ricciardo.

The Hungaroring will be the setting for new qualifying, with the drivers to the various sessions with compulsory compounds (Q1 Hard, Q2 Medium, Q3 Soft). It will be interesting following it in light of the near future.

Gian Carlo Minardi