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.