2025 Hungarian GP: Post Race Analysis

For decades Hungary produces a follow the leader type race. Today wasn't really different except there was a wonderful balance of different strategies going on that left us on the edge of unknown. Despite a lack of on track passing, it was still an enjoyable race.

McLaren remain dominant. Having two cars starting up front meant they could split the strategies and it's fascinating that the drivers finish nose to tail. Lando had a rough lap one, mostly just by positioning and not really any fault of his own. Stretched the medium tires and even though was flying on the hard tires, he still had plenty of pace at the end to defend. Great job. Oscar very well might have been the faster driver but the team opted to try and attack Leclerc for the lead, it didn't pay off and from there they were committed to the two stop. I wonder if it would have been possible for him to stay out and try to stretch his hard tires until the end and force Lando to pass him. Track position is typically worth more than tires around this track.

Mercedes had a good car in the cooler conditions. George Russell looked in great form and drove a great race. Too bad he still is the biggest cry baby out there. He is such an unlikable person by whining about everything and everyone, calling foul and even driving like a dirt back to try and force penalties on other drivers. Then acts like such a great guy out of the car. Let's not mention how he pretty much drove into the back of Alonso in a straight line. We didn't really see it, but Kimi clawed his way through to get a point. Kudos to him as just by being in a better car doesn't guarantee forward progress at this track.

Ferrari leave themselves, their drivers, and the entire tifosi gutted. Charles had the pace to start the race, looked okay in the 2nd stint, and completely fell apart in the 3rd stint. Russell's theory of the team bumping tire pressures to avoid excessive plank wear is very logical. Charles said there was a problem with the chassis but was unwilling to give any inclination to what that was. So it must have been a secret they didn't want to share. I suspect some of the pace drop was due to Leclerc being completely frustrated as well. Regardless it was shocking how far that car dropped off the pace and it's a shame Skysports didn't investigate that or even talk about it as we saw it happen in real time. Lewis Hamilton had good tire strategy for his starting position and yet made nothing happen. Another miserable weekend for him.

Aston Martin looked like a completely different car compared to Spa. They did bring a new front wing which seems to be positive. While it could be track specific, lets see if they perform well in the next high downforce circuit. The low downforce tracks are likely going to be terrible for them unfortunately. Alonso was as crafty as ever. He ran his own race and the cost of everyone else and it paid off. Fantastic job. Lance also did a great job. Best day for the team all year and they deserve it.

Sauber get another stunning result but this time at the hands of Gabriel Bortoleto. Best result, absolutely wonderful performance. Great to see as he had a bit of a lull early in the season but is now looking much better. Easily one of the drivers of the day. Hulkenberg had a pretty decent come back from the low grid position. Got a penalty for a false start which was very very minimal. We've seen Lando and Lewis do much much worse and get away with no penalty, but Hulk isn't a popular Brit so he got nailed.

RB finally had some decent pace, or at least a decent race given the pace they had. Very good qualifying position which was the right call for them. Perhaps not as strong in the race but track position is everything. Alonso being so slow probably helped their race but the drivers did okay. Lawson in particular. He held off Verstappen who was on much fresher tires. Hadjar just missed out on points.

Williams had a lousy day. Again it could be track specific, but their max downforce setup didn't look great. We'll see how they do in Singapore. Both Sainz and Albon can't be happy with their day.

Haas also looked poor. Ocon just simply lacked pace. Bearman retired due to some damage. Didn't see where he picked it up but it's likely from dipping a wheel off track.

Alpine was the worst car of the day. Pretty much the opposite of Aston Martin.

Driver of the Day: Lando Norris. To make the strategy work he had to be fast and not make mistakes and make the tires last. He did everything right and deserved the win.

 

It wouldn't be the first time the British team McLaren favored their popular British driver. Cough cough, 2007

I do understand McLaren trying to undercut Leclerc though. The Ferrari was legit fast at that stage and the undercut was very powerful. Everyone thought the two stop was the better strategy going into the race so I don't think McLaren screwed over Piastri at all, it just didn't work out as well as it did for Lando.

 

If Ferrari was wearing the plank excessively in the opening stint due to the car being too low plus heavy fuel, then Ferrari would have to make the adjustments after that stint. Perhaps it's also they were running low fuel and were again saving. Telemetry supposedly showed Leclerc not having the same top speed as his opening stint so he was either lift and coasting or he changed the modes to clip at the end of the straight to either save fuel, or reduce the bottoming out on the plank, or both. Who knows how much they had to increase the tire pressures but the Pirelli's are notorious for having a very small operating window. Increase the pressures, slide around, increase the temps, which again increase the pressures and there's no grip. Leclerc probably couldn't push as he himself was talking about managing differently. So we have no grip from the tires, a loss of downforce from an increase in ride height, and some form of loss of top speed on the straights. That could all add up to 1+ seconds a lap in reduce pace.

 

Damn. I wasn't even really rushed either. haha


Red Bull had no pace. They brought a new front wing for more front load and the car just didn't have any grip at any point in the weekend. Verstappen looked good and on a charge in the opening stint but an early pit stop put him at the end of a long train of traffic lead by Alonso. From there his progress was stalled and surprisingly couldn't make any passes when he was on fresher tires. A poor result for him and an even worse day for Yuki. He finished 56 seconds behind Verstappen who only finished 9th.

 

I absolutely do. Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley talked about it. Alonso even suggested it. I think the loudest statement made by Alonso was leaving the team that just put him tied for 2nd in points in the WCC and then went on to be part of the Stepny-gate against his former team. Pretty damn clear that Alonso was unhappy with how he was treated at McLaren.

I also believe that Alonso was overconfident going into 2007 and didn't expect rookie Hamilton to be genuinely that fast right out of the gates. I do not think Lewis got preferred treatment in the beginning. Instead he was given equal status to Alonso. I believe this rubbed Alonso the wrong way as being the 2x defending champion typically gets #1 status over a rookie. Lewis did extremely well and was ahead in the championship and by mid season is when McLaren focused their efforts more towards Hamilton. It's funny because Alonso seemed to get his act together and was the better performer in the 2nd half of 2007, but it was too late by then.

 

It's especially bad at Ferrari. They will flat out lie and deceive to protect their "image" or status. I remember watching a behind the scenes meeting that included the drivers and their PR lady was literally telling them to not say anything negative about the team.

I also remember when Charles got vocal about the team and then Binotto gave him the finger wag after the race. We don't know the details of that convo, but it gave that impression.

 

To some degree yes. But I think Alonso was fully justified to expect to be #1. No time in history (at least from the 80s up) has a rookie got equal or preferred status over the 2x defending champion teammate. The guy that just dethroned the great Schumacher and Ferrari, gets paid big bucks by McLaren to deliver for them and then gets treated on the same level as a rookie? That's unheard of and downright insulting.

Nevertheless, I don't exactly disagree with McLaren letting both drivers have equal go to start to season. Sure, Hamilton had loads of testing but Alonso's an experienced champion, he should be able to get on with it pretty quickly.

Had McLaren backed Alonso over Hamilton, they without a doubt would have won the WDC that season. Lucky for us as Ferrari fans, Kimi pulled out the championship in the final race. What a great day that was.