2023 Hungarian Grandprix

[Nitrodaze]

The battle in the second tier of the grid is primed to be intense at this race. All eyes are on Mclaren to see if they can repeat their Silverstone form at this Budapest race. This track is mainly slow to medium-speed corners which may suit Mercedes and Aston Martin. Ferrari tends to go very well here as well. Chances are the race behind the Redbull would be crowded and intense as they fight it out for the only available podium position. I say the only podium as l expect Perez to return to form at this race. Hence a Redbull one-two is very likely.

Hamilton has won this race eight times. But l suspect Alonso would be keen to get back on the podium at this race. It is going to be interesting in the midfield as well. Also, all eyes would be on Ricciardo to see how he gets on with the troublesome Alpha Tauri.

I would wager a bet that someone other than Verstappen wins this Hungarian GP, any takers?

[F1nKS]

I am most interested in Ricciardo and how he does.

[Nitrodaze]

New qualifying format for this race. All teams would use the Hard for Q1, the Medium for Q2, and the soft for Q3. The total tire allocation for the weekend is 11 tires per car. The hope is that this would stir up the order of things and bring about some exciting racing. I say probably as the race would quickly settle back to the actual pecking order after a few laps. But at least those first few laps would be interesting before it quickly resumes being a snoozefest.

What do you think? is this a good thing or not?

[Bagwan]

New qualifying format for this race. All teams would use the Hard for Q1, the Medium for Q2, and the soft for Q3. The total tire allocation for the weekend is 11 tires per car. The hope is that this would stir up the order of things and bring about some exciting racing. I say probably as the race would quickly settle back to the actual pecking order after a few laps. But at least those first few laps would be interesting before it quickly resumes being a snoozefest.

What do you think? is this a good thing or not?

It will force them all on to all the tire choices , so all will be compromised to some degree at some point in the qualifying .
That has potential to mix it up , so , a good thing .

Shorting them skins for the race also could make them take chances they would rather avoid , so that could help as well .


Most importantly , though , is that cutting down the numbers of tires available is really good for our earth .

[Bagwan]

I am most interested in Ricciardo and how he does.

And , the badger is most interested in how Checo does , and that's not very well .
Sketchy start for the Mexican , with a busted new wing in FP1 , and then a half mile lock up in FP2 .

I get it . Aussies make me nervous , too , and now there's two on the grid .

[Steve Boyd]

Interesting that Horner was saying Checo just needs an arm round his shoulder to get back to the front. If Danny's quick in the AT, how long will it be before Horner's arm is nowhere near Checo's shoulder?

[Nitrodaze]

Interesting that Horner was saying Checo just needs an arm round his shoulder to get back to the front. If Danny's quick in the AT, how long will it be before Horner's arm is nowhere near Checo's shoulder?

Ricciardo 14th in FP2 while Yuki finished the day 4th. I think it would be a while yet for Perez to be concerned. But it is clear that Perez is looking like he is feeling the pressure. Silly mistakes tend to creep in when a driver is driving under pressure. The driving is forced and not in the flow.

[Nitrodaze]

It will force them all on to all the tire choices , so all will be compromised to some degree at some point in the qualifying .
That has potential to mix it up , so , a good thing .

Shorting them skins for the race also could make them take chances they would rather avoid , so that could help as well .


Most importantly , though , is that cutting down the numbers of tires available is really good for our earth .

Unfortunately, the side effect of the change is, it has resulted in significantly reduced running time for the teams who are constrained by the number of tires available to do a proper setup program. That may cause jeopardy in the quali but fewer cars are on track for fans who have paid to watch the Free Practise sessions. The regulation change is a band-aid for what iis looking like a season that is failing to produce a competition for the championship title. It would not matter much if they stop the season after this weekend. The result down the line would be very much the same.

[Bagwan]

Unfortunately, the side effect of the change is, it has resulted in significantly reduced running time for the teams who are constrained by the number of tires available to do a proper setup program. That may cause jeopardy in the quali but fewer cars are on track for fans who have paid to watch the Free Practise sessions. The regulation change is a band-aid for what iis looking like a season that is failing to produce a competition for the championship title. It would not matter much if they stop the season after this weekend. The result down to line would be very much the same.

Hey , I loved the days when qually specials were the norm , with the lump turned up so far that it only lasted a few laps before being fit for the bin .
It wasn't sustainable , though .

Those days had long waits for action as teams had an hour to get it done , and wanted to be the last to try .


As we approach qually today , we have seen some quite significant shuffling of the fastest times in the practices , and it seems the Bulls are not so far in the distance .
Whether this is due to the new format is not clear , but , it looks like it's a little less comfortable for Max and his already uncomfortable team mate .

Remember , they are running a new package as well , and limited in laps available , they seem to be struggling a touch to get it dialed in .


I'm hoping to see tight times ahead , literally .

[Nitrodaze]

Hey , I loved the days when qually specials were the norm , with the lump turned up so far that it only lasted a few laps before being fit for the bin .
It wasn't sustainable , though .

Those days had long waits for action as teams had an hour to get it done , and wanted to be the last to try .


As we approach qually today , we have seen some quite significant shuffling of the fastest times in the practices , and it seems the Bulls are not so far in the distance .
Whether this is due to the new format is not clear , but , it looks like it's a little less comfortable for Max and his already uncomfortable team mate .

Remember , they are running a new package as well , and limited in laps available , they seem to be struggling a touch to get it dialed in .


I'm hoping to see tight times ahead , literally .

You said it. And what a lap from Hamilton, to be the second non-Redbull driver to take pole this season. Leclerc in Baku and now Hamilton in Budapest. I suspected that upgrade on Redbull was big enough to upset their program this weekend, but not by that much. The lion roars again. That was a gigantic lap for the seven-time world champion, to remind everyone he is not done yet.

Norris nearly did it for Mclaren but missed out by a flimsy 0.089sec. How F**king close was that? He would be kicking himself, l am sure. It now comes down to whether the Mercedes has the legs to stay in front. A non-Redbull win would be very famous to say the least. Mercedes or Mclaren it doesn't matter. My open bet is stiill up.

Well, the band aid is working.


Most Poles on a single track:

Hamilton 9
Schumacher 8
Senna 8

[Bagwan]

I figured you'd be bouncing off the ceiling after that pole lap .

It was a good lap from the lad , but I do think he got a little lucky with Lando not maximizing his final attempt .
He was uncharacteristically pouty after his lap as he thought he had it .

The question now , is whether anyone can keep their skins in good shape on a hotter afternoon in Hungary .


I have a feeling Fred was thinking about the long game .
And , maybe the rest were just a little giddy about the Bulls being within sight .

We'll see tomorrow .

[Nitrodaze]

I figured you'd be bouncing off the ceiling after that pole lap .

It was a good lap from the lad , but I do think he got a little lucky with Lando not maximizing his final attempt .
He was uncharacteristically pouty after his lap as he thought he had it .

The question now , is whether anyone can keep their skins in good shape on a hotter afternoon in Hungary .


I have a feeling Fred was thinking about the long game .
And , maybe the rest were just a little giddy about the Bulls being within sight .

We'll see tomorrow .

It is always good to see an extraordinary lap. I was just as excited to see Leclerc's lap at Baku. Maybe does not cut it. Actually doing it matters and should be properly respected. So it was not just a good lap, it was an awesome lap by any standards. But you don't like the man so l understand your lukewarm attitude towards this achievement.

What a great start for Ricciardo! On his first run, he beats Yuki by a respectable margin. He really still has the speed and is a proper threat to Perez after all. His progress is also a threat to Yuki who may also lose his seat in the shape of things to come. But bravo to Ricciardo, like a phoenix he rises from the ashes.

[The Black Knight]

It is always good to see an extraordinary lap. I was just as excited to see Leclerc's lap at Baku. Maybe does not cut it. Actually doing it matters and should be properly respected. So it was not just a good lap, it was an awesome lap by any standards. But you don't like the man so l understand your lukewarm attitude towards this achievement.

What a great start for Ricciardo! On his first run, he beats Yuki by a respectable margin. He really still has the speed and is a proper threat to Perez after all. His progress is also a threat to Yuki who may also lose his seat in the shape of things to come. But bravo to Ricciardo, like a phoenix he rises from the ashes.

It was a good lap but I’ve seen Hamilton do better ones. He had moments in the final two corners. Had he not had those moments he would have been around 3 tenths to the good by the time he came to the pit straight. There was a 1.16.3 in that car. His driving from turn 2 to the last 2 corners was mind blowing though.

[airshifter]

What an interesting and often unexpected weekend from Hungary. Overall one of the best race weekends in years IMHO.


Lewis managed to put the Merc where it really didn't belong on the front of the grid by thousandths over Max. Lando and Oscar proving that the McLaren upgrades were not a one time shot, placing both cars on the second row as well. But even more interesting to me was the rest of the grid. We had 7 of the 10 manufacturers represented in the top 10 grid positions. Sure, the new qually tires things changed it up, and the track was evolving as usual. But for those that say the new regs hasn't made the cars closer..... it's really hard to explain such a diverse starting grid. As for monster laps, I didn't see any. If anything I thought Q3 was a bit messy on all the laps that I saw coverage of. Lewis just manage to be less twitchy and snappy than some faster cars, but I think most of the upper tier drivers have had much stronger laps myself.

Sadly Lewis didn't even make it though the first corner on top, and it seemed he hesitated when he had room to cover the inside line. But either way, both Oscar and Lando got past him quickly as well, and from there on the pace differences of the cars made it more obvious that Lewis pulled that pole out of his hat against quicker cars on race pace.

There really wasn't a period in the race where there wasn't a battle taking place between two cars. Between strategy calls and pace differences there seemed to always be something to watch, and some of the duels interesting in outcome. Gutted to see Oscar fall off pace so badly after an excellent first stint, and when the time came Lewis got by him without much effort overall. But his time will come, and it's just a matter of time before he's on a podium step if McLaren stays so strong. Sergio had a great recovery drive, and when he ate up too much tire chasing Lando it looked like Lewis was going to have his go at the RB driver, but just ran out of time. Lando had a strong race once the undercut moved him up. George also had a great recovery drive considering his qually woes, aided by the unforced time penalty for Leclerc.

Donkeys of the race were AM really. Rather than fighting for podium steps, they were trying hard to not to fall out of the points. When Fred is running 9th, more evidence of how much the other teams gained ground recently. And though they converted it into decent points, Ferrari are in big trouble. I think they lack the proper leadership within the team and it's hurting them every race. One bad strategy call after another, followed by poor stops, followed by driver penalties. They are showing how NOT to manage their drivers at all, and it's a disgrace to the name really.

A double DNF for Alpine, and that hurts. Shame Ricciardo got in the middle of that 1st corner mess, but it still managed to beat Yuki in both qually and race. And I think the pressure he brings will help both Yuki and Sergio regardless of the end results. We shall see.


Overall I enjoyed the weekend action.... other than seeing the spoiler that Lewis got pole, which really ticked me off. It's getting so hard to avoid the spoilers I should maybe start watching qually and the races live more often.

[Bagwan]

What an interesting and often unexpected weekend from Hungary. Overall one of the best race weekends in years IMHO.


Lewis managed to put the Merc where it really didn't belong on the front of the grid by thousandths over Max. Lando and Oscar proving that the McLaren upgrades were not a one time shot, placing both cars on the second row as well. But even more interesting to me was the rest of the grid. We had 7 of the 10 manufacturers represented in the top 10 grid positions. Sure, the new qually tires things changed it up, and the track was evolving as usual. But for those that say the new regs hasn't made the cars closer..... it's really hard to explain such a diverse starting grid. As for monster laps, I didn't see any. If anything I thought Q3 was a bit messy on all the laps that I saw coverage of. Lewis just manage to be less twitchy and snappy than some faster cars, but I think most of the upper tier drivers have had much stronger laps myself.

Sadly Lewis didn't even make it though the first corner on top, and it seemed he hesitated when he had room to cover the inside line. But either way, both Oscar and Lando got past him quickly as well, and from there on the pace differences of the cars made it more obvious that Lewis pulled that pole out of his hat against quicker cars on race pace.

There really wasn't a period in the race where there wasn't a battle taking place between two cars. Between strategy calls and pace differences there seemed to always be something to watch, and some of the duels interesting in outcome. Gutted to see Oscar fall off pace so badly after an excellent first stint, and when the time came Lewis got by him without much effort overall. But his time will come, and it's just a matter of time before he's on a podium step if McLaren stays so strong. Sergio had a great recovery drive, and when he ate up too much tire chasing Lando it looked like Lewis was going to have his go at the RB driver, but just ran out of time. Lando had a strong race once the undercut moved him up. George also had a great recovery drive considering his qually woes, aided by the unforced time penalty for Leclerc.

Donkeys of the race were AM really. Rather than fighting for podium steps, they were trying hard to not to fall out of the points. When Fred is running 9th, more evidence of how much the other teams gained ground recently. And though they converted it into decent points, Ferrari are in big trouble. I think they lack the proper leadership within the team and it's hurting them every race. One bad strategy call after another, followed by poor stops, followed by driver penalties. They are showing how NOT to manage their drivers at all, and it's a disgrace to the name really.

A double DNF for Alpine, and that hurts. Shame Ricciardo got in the middle of that 1st corner mess, but it still managed to beat Yuki in both qually and race. And I think the pressure he brings will help both Yuki and Sergio regardless of the end results. We shall see.


Overall I enjoyed the weekend action.... other than seeing the spoiler that Lewis got pole, which really ticked me off. It's getting so hard to avoid the spoilers I should maybe start watching qually and the races live more often.

Shifter , one of the highlights of a race weekend for me is reading your race analysis .
Thanks , man .

[airshifter]

Shifter , one of the highlights of a race weekend for me is reading your race analysis .
Thanks , man .

I often watch the races delayed these days, as I'm too lazy to watch at strange hours of the night or day. But I find that when I watch them recorded, I can go back and review things, and if anything strange happens usually by then I can find other camera angles, etc, etc. By slowing down and absorbing what I see before snapping to any conclusions, often the big picture seems more clear.

And there I thought posting later in thread just resulted in nobody reading them. If you like my post, post, post, race review you should put in a good with the F1TV people and maybe I can land a job and report from the tracks. :laugh:

[Steve Boyd]

If you like my post, post, post, race review you should put in a good with the F1TV people and maybe I can land a job and report from the tracks. :laugh:But if you got that job, would you have the time to "slow down and absorb" or would you finish up shooting from the hip like all the current broadcasters? Maybe we should be touting for a new post race summary slot for you. :idea:

[Bagwan]

I often watch the races delayed these days, as I'm too lazy to watch at strange hours of the night or day. But I find that when I watch them recorded, I can go back and review things, and if anything strange happens usually by then I can find other camera angles, etc, etc. By slowing down and absorbing what I see before snapping to any conclusions, often the big picture seems more clear.

And there I thought posting later in thread just resulted in nobody reading them. If you like my post, post, post, race review you should put in a good with the F1TV people and maybe I can land a job and report from the tracks. :laugh:

You boil things down without showing overt bias in any driver's direction , which seems to be hard to do .

But for the fact that I figure you wouldn't come cheap , I think you'd be an ideal pundit for F1TV , but I wouldn't expect them to be clever enough to see it .



I would be over the moon to see you replace Danica . She needs replacing badly .
Could you replace Danica , please .


But , seriously , I do enjoy your take on things .

[Nitrodaze]

It was a good lap but I’ve seen Hamilton do better ones. He had moments in the final two corners. Had he not had those moments he would have been around 3 tenths to the good by the time he came to the pit straight. There was a 1.16.3 in that car. His driving from turn 2 to the last 2 corners was mind blowing though.

True, but those were in the good old days when Mercedes had the legs on everyone. What l like about this lap was that he beat the faster cars of Verstappen and Norris in a slower car. It takes something special to beat Vderstapen in the Redbull to pole.

[airshifter]

But if you got that job, would you have the time to "slow down and absorb" or would you finish up shooting from the hip like all the current broadcasters? Maybe we should be touting for a new post race summary slot for you. :idea:

That's part of the problem for the current pundits, they shoot from the hip hoping to be taken as the authority on the matter. If they slowed down and thought it through, they might have a different opinion. My post, post, post race summary would be much more well rounded and researched, free of bias, and eliminate the need to even give coverage to the current crop of self proclaimed experts on the matter. When all the others are cut out of the picture, it would be much more cost effective for F1TV to just pay me the single salary and benefits package. :D





You boil things down without showing overt bias in any driver's direction , which seems to be hard to do .

But for the fact that I figure you wouldn't come cheap , I think you'd be an ideal pundit for F1TV , but I wouldn't expect them to be clever enough to see it .



I would be over the moon to see you replace Danica . She needs replacing badly .
Could you replace Danica , please .


But , seriously , I do enjoy your take on things .

I had this all mapped out Bagwan, and my salary, benefits, and bonus package wouldn't travel even too far into 6 figures, so I'm giving them the deal of the century. But now you've gone and made these comments, which might be taken by some as either sexist or nationalistic.

In light of that, I would have no choice but to retain Danica. She would be confined to my hospitality area, which would fly the flags of all nations, as well as the international symbol for women, so they would all know they are welcome. She could accompany me outside of the hospitality area when I desire her presence in the interest of promoting fair treatment of all women by inviting them to the post, post, post race show after parties. She could wake me from my slumber after consuming a lot of alcohol in post race pondering, and inform my chef to have food ready so I'm alert for the 12 midnight show, after which the post race party begins. In short, you leave me in a position where I feel it is a duty to find a suitable position for Danica, and I may find many. :laugh:

The whining drivers and pundits will be stopped at the door and reminded that my word is final, and no party for those that wish to disagree. I'm sure a lot of employers in the various countries won't like so many people calling in sick on Monday, but it should make F1 enough extra money to pay for the private jet, since we'll be travelling a day behind the teams.



But nah... if I had a choice to replace anyone it would be Buxton. I can't stand the guy. He comes across to me like someone who actually thinks the drama he spreads is the absolute final word, and takes himself much too seriously. I would gladly pay more for both Nexflix and F1TV if they would can the guy.

As for Danica, she isn't seen much, but that applies to a few of them. She doesn't really add anything to the show other than someone to look at, but that also applies to many others.


But I just try to call it like I see it. I've appreciated the talents of many drivers over the years, but have also been aware of just how big a part the car and team performance matter. And really I've kind of had a strange opinion of many I consider the best. It's those drivers that are easy to either love or hate for the same reasons... they race hard, take chances others might not, and are often taken to task no matter what they do, either good or bad. But I think for at least the majority of them, there is something inside them that just makes them push limits at times, which makes them appear either brilliant or crazy depending on the outcome.

And a note to that, though they will still get their elbows out at times and rattle some cages, I think many of the sports "young guns" are the most talented and often cleanest drivers we have seen since the sport started. The regs have pushed towards making them think that way, as well as overall safety considerations, and I think quite a few of them have more mutual respect for the other drivers. Very few seem to now take the attitude of being entitled to a line, position, etc... they will fight more cleanly for it. With the red mist comments and moments taken away, it's a fairly clean racing bunch that are up and coming.