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Formula One is about to head into the summer break, but not before this afternoon’s race around the Hungaroring circuit.
The grand prix in Budapest takes place after one of the most dramatic and action-packed races in recent memory. A splash of rain last weekend in Germany caused havoc for all 20 drivers. But Max Verstappen prevailed, winning the race, while Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc all came to grief.
Despite Hamilton complaining of being sick all week and scoring only two points, he still extended his championship lead over team-mate Bottas, thanks to the Finn’s heavy crash in the later stages of the race.
Hamilton stands on 225 points, followed by Bottas, who is on 184. The Finn is under pressure from Red Bull’s Verstappen (162) and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (141).
In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes is streaks ahead. They have 409 points, while Ferrari are on 261. The only other team on three figures are Red Bull, who have 217.
While Mercedes imploded, Vettel felt rejuvenated as he stormed from 20th position on the grid to an emphatic second-place finish, shaking off the monkey that’s clung on to his back in recent races.
While Hamilton and his team might have tripped over themselves in Germany, the Briton expects no repeat this afternoon.
“I’ve slept for literally the past three days, so I’m a lot better,” Hamilton said.
“I think the weather is similar to last year, so I’m definitely hopeful the car will be better this weekend.
“With updates, it takes several races – you don’t just put them on and they work perfectly. So, coming into this weekend, we’ll have an already better understanding and be able to utilise them better.”
But it may not all be plain sailing, Ferrari and Red Bull are cutting the deficit to the Silver Arrows, with Verstappen winning two of the past three races. When asked whether the Dutchman and his team may now be title threats, Hamilton refused to rule anything out.
“He’s done a great job and they’ve clearly done a great job in quite a few races now,” Hamilton said.
“I think they’ll probably be quick here, and there’ll be places later on where they’ll be strong, but they are in general, collectively and slowly, catching up.”
That’s a sentiment Verstappen shared, but the seven-time grand prix winner refused to believe that Red Bull are now the de facto number two car behind Mercedes.
“I think we are doing a better job than them [Ferrari],” Verstappen said.
“We’re trying to close the gap. As a team we can handle pressure well, especially in tricky situations. But they would have taken pole in Germany.”
“We just seem to execute the weekend better than them and bring the results back. They are still very fast – some tracks were faster than other tracks.”
The Hungarian race has been a staple of the F1 calendar for more than 30 years. Hamilton holds the record for most wins here with six.
It’s a circuit that relies more on aerodynamics than engine power, something that will suit the likes of Red Bull well. However, the hot weather and dusty environment can spell disaster for teams as tired engines can quite often succumb to the demands of their drivers.
Mercedes hope it will be business as usual this afternoon, while Red Bull and Ferrari hope they can spring another surprise.
The race gets under way at 3.10pm.
