5 things we learned from record-breaking Hungarian Grand Prix

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen on the podium in Hungary — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

5 things we learned from record-breaking Hungarian Grand Prix

It was a wild weekend all round at the Hungaroring

Jim Kimberley

Monday 24 July 2023 17:57

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2023's Hungarian Grand Prix was a record-breaking round for Red Bull Racing, even though the racing wasn't the best we've had at Budapest.

Red Bull's 12 successive wins is an outstanding achievement, but knowing that McLaren's 35-year record has fallen wasn't the only thing we learned from this trip to the Hungaroring.

Single-lap Similarities

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Max Verstappen won with ease, but it was a very different story one day earlier in Formula 1's delayed trial of the Alternative Tyre Allocation Qualifying.

Despite the criticisms from some in the paddock about the reduced running in the Free Practice sessions, qualifying itself was a tense affair with scalps and surprises in every session.

Whether the enforced tyre compounds were behind this isn't so clear, but not knowing which drivers will escape Q1 and Q2, including big names like George Russell and Carlos Sainz, is the unpredictability we want from the sport.

The 0.577s gap from P1 to P10 represents Formula 1's joint-tightest qualifying in history, exemplifying how close the field is on a single flying lap with no standout backmarker team.

Although we know the field spread still exists in race pace, the fine margins in any qualifying session make for some surprising grids that always put some runners out of position.

Hamilton Extends His Record

Red Bull broke the winning streak record, but Lewis Hamilton's pole lap on Saturday was another record moment, with the qualifying king making it to 104 career pole positions — beating his own record of 103 poles.

The 0.003sec gap to Verstappen was a surprise after the Dutch driver's impressive run of P1 starts stretching back to Monaco in May, yet just three milliseconds was enough to stop that march.

Hamilton's team radio showed how much it meant. He not only lost his record for winning in every season in 2021, but he also lost his run of taking pole positions every season.

A win might still be a step too far with the dominance of the RB19, but at least Hamilton can look at his career and not see a two-year gap in his pole-clinching history.

Ricciardo Rocks the Boat

How quickly the Formula 1 world moves, with Daniel Ricciardo's presence in the race seeming normal and not so noteworthy after his 10-race absence, as media attention moved onto Red Bull's winning streak.

The honey badger made an immediate impression at AlphaTauri by outqualifying teammate Yuki Tsunoda on the first attempt to show he means business in his second chance under Red Bull's umbrella.

Nyck de Vries only bested Tsunoda twice in qualifying and races from 10 attempts. Ricciardo, meanwhile, took one race to beat his teammate with two P13 finishes on Saturday and Sunday.

Sergio Perez might've escaped Q2 at long last. However, another low grid slot meant the Mexican had to recover positions from P9 to reach the podium rather than provide rear-gunner support to Verstappen out front.

That's not what Red Bull needs from their second driver, and Ricciardo's first audition after no competitive action for eight months will have helped his cause in jumping ahead of Tsunoda in the queue for Perez's seat.

McLaren Mean Business

You couldn't ask for two better tracks to contrast car performance than Silverstone and the Hungaroring, and McLaren were the second-best team at both.

Their resurgence, therefore, isn't tied to high-speed corners or being slippery down the straights but is by being the complete package that can perform around a slow-speed track, too.

With Norris having the chance to show his potential and Oscar Piastri demonstrating that he deserves his place in Formula 1 at the front, things look good for the papaya-coloured team.

Should the upgrade package continue its potency, McLaren should excel at Spa-Franchorhamps this weekend to see them enter the summer break feeling like they could catch up to Ferrari and Aston Martin ahead of them in the constructors' championship in the second half of the season.

Never Miss Hungary's Start

We've had another crazy race start at Budapest, with the Alpine pair of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly coming off as the big losers in 2023.

Guanyu Zhou's Saturday heroics turned into a nightmare on Sunday when he relied on his Alfa Romeo's anti-stall to get him off the line at lights out.

The domino effect of hitting Ricciardo in the Turn 1 braking zone, who, in turn, collected Ocon, who then bounced over Gasly had some make comparisons to the crazy 2021 opening lap.

However, 2023 never quite reached the madness of the Valtteri Bottas-induced crash, which saw the then-Mercedes driver collect Norris, Verstappen, and Perez, with Lance Stroll also taking out Charles Leclerc and Ricciardo in a separate incident. Nonetheless, this year's smash destroyed Alpine's race.

Other recent Hungarian early-race oddities include Hamilton as the sole driver taking to the grid for a standing restart and Verstappen smashing into the barriers on a drizzly lap before the race even started.

The lesson here? Always tune in for lights out at Budapest.