Can F1’s king of the Hungaroring Lewis Hamilton lead Mercedes' fightback?

Lewis Hamilton is the king of the Hungaroring with eight wins at the Hungarian Grand Prix. After dropping behind McLaren at Silverstone, can he lead Mercedes’ fightback?
Can F1’s king of the Hungaroring Lewis Hamilton lead Mercedes' fightback?

One of Hamilton’s best tracks

Along with Silverstone and Montreal, it’s fair to say the Hungaroring is one of Hamilton’s best circuits on the F1 calendar.

Hamilto🔯n took four of his eight wins in Hungary before his dominant Mercedes stint at McLaren, highlighting it wasn’t all about having the best car.

Remote video URL

Hamilton is simply a Hungaroring-specialist.

Its tight and twisty nature has led to some comparisons that itꦐ’s like a k𝓀arting track.

In F1 2023, Mercedes were disappജointed by their pace at Silverstone given they dropped behind ꦫMcLaren.

They’re still waiting to see if their revised front wing wi♊ll find them gains in low-speed corners, with their best results this year (Australia, Spain) when the track characteristics have been more high-speed.

However, y✨ou can never rule༺ Hamilton out in Hungary.

Ricciardo’s comeback

The biggest talking point of the weekend is the return of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri.

The Australian is back after Red Bull ditched 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nyck de Vries after just 10 races.

Effectively, Ricciardo will have 12 races to prove he is truly back and his stint at McLaren wasn’t rep🤡resentative.

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull Racing Reserve and Third Driver. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand Prix,
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull Racing Reserve and Third Driver. Formula 1 World Championship,…

Given the AlphaTauri is the slowest car on the grid, combined with Yuki Tsunoda being in his year with th🎶e team, expecting Ricciardo to be performing at his best is unlikely.

However, if he’s got 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat in his sights, he needs to perform immediately to put even more pressure on the ꦿunderperforming Mexican.

Can McLaren remain in the fight?

McLaren were the stars of the British Grand Prix as they qualified second and third ꦅbehind Verstappen on mer꧋it.

Similarly in the race, had it not been for an untimely 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Safety Car in the race,168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Oscar Piastri would have joined 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris on the podium.

It was a remarkable turnaround for McLaren,ꦉ who had scored zero po🅘ints after the opening two rounds.

So are McLaren really back?

Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand Prix, Silverstone, England, Race
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand Prix,…

According to various telemetry data from Silverstone, McLaren were the quickest ๊in the high-speed corners.

Conversely, the Hungaroring is quite di𒁃fferent in terms of track characteristics to Silverstone, and Austria, where McLaren also performed well at.

Hungary is a true test to see whether McLaren are truly among the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari fr♉om now on.

Will Alonso stop Aston’s recent blip?

After a stunning start to ♔the year, Aston Martin have suffered somewhat of a blip in recent rounds.

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fernando Alonso scored five podiums in the opening six rounds, however, he’s only scored one top three in the last fo♛ur races.

A🎶ston Mart𒁃in have made it clear that their downturn in form is more track dependent with high-speed circuits not particularly suiting their package.

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR23. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand Prix, Silverstone,
Fernando Alonso (ESP) Aston Martin F1 Team AMR23. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British…

However, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren have all heavily upgraded their cars during the European leg of the🅷 season which may explain Aston Martin’s lack of form relative to their rivals.

On paper, the tight and twisty Hungaroring will suit the AMR23, but if it’s another disappointing weekend, then it’s clear that Aston Martin’s recent form is not 🅺just a blip.

A new qualifying format 

F1 will trial a new👍, experiential qualifying format at the Hungaroring this weekend.

Dubbed as the ‘alternative tyre allocation’🥀 - i♊t will be run at two race weekends - Hungary and Italy - this season.

In terms of the impact of the forma🌠t, in theory, there should b💛e more action in Q1 given that teams will be mandated to run the hard tyre.

It’s likely they wi💯l✃l fill their cars with fuel and pound round on the hard tyre.

Similarl꧟y with Q2, while Q3 will likely be a normal session given they will be on the sof𝕴t.

Alexander Albon (THA) Williams Racing FW45. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand Prix, Silverstone, England,
Alexander Albon (THA) Williams Racing FW45. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 11, British Grand…

Read More