Hungarian GP, Focus 1: Does Red Bull have to worry about the World Championship?
In Silverstone, Max Verstappen needed a lot of luck and strategically correct decisions to save a second place and thus extend his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship. Plus a desolate race management from McLaren. The pure race pace on the track would not have been enough for that, there Verstappen was clearly only the fifth force after the two McLarens and the Mercedes duo.
The alarm bells then rang for Verstappen. The Red Bull driver sees the world championship in danger. The Formula 1 weekend at the Hungaroring could be the next indicator of how real this danger actually is. Last year, the track saw one of Verstappen’s most dominant victories with a 33-second lead and in the past – also given the weather conditions – would have actually suited Red Bull. But this year, McLaren is not only teaching the bulls a lesson in fast corners.
Hungarian GP, Focus 2: Who will melt in the Budapest heat?
Every year, the Hungarian GP is suspected of being the hottest race of the European summer season. This year it will probably be the same. As of today, peak temperatures in the range of 32 to 35 degrees are forecast for the Formula 1 weekend at the Hungaroring. So the heat battle is already inevitable.
What’s more, the asphalt on the 4.381-kilometer-long race track is particularly dark, which leads to high asphalt temperatures. Track temperatures of 50 degrees and more are not uncommon, and we can expect similar readings on the thermometer this year too.
In recent months, Mercedes has been the team that has coped the worst with such conditions. Unsurprisingly, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s team had their big breakthroughs on the race weekends in Canada and Silverstone, i.e. in cool conditions.
But the Austrian GP proved that the W15 can now cope better with the hot temperatures. Mercedes was not the fastest team there, but at least it was much closer to McLaren and Red Bull.
Hungarian GP, Focus 3: Will McLaren finally win a race again?
Since winning the Miami GP in May, McLaren has been chasing its second win of the year. The Formula 1 world now largely agrees that the Woking-based team has the best car, but for different reasons Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have not yet managed to break this misery.
In Silverstone, Norris was handed victory on a silver platter, but failed to execute it, along with his McLaren strategists. Hungary may be the next opportunity for McLaren. The track has a number of medium-fast corners, as well as a few individual slow corners.
These were the weak point of the MCL60 last year. The successor car, however, excels in these passages. Even in Barcelona, a track that has certain parallels to the Hungaroring, the MCL36 was the fastest car in the field. The hot temperatures in Spain and Austria did not harm McLaren either.
Hungarian GP, Focus 4: Will Sergio Perez find his form again?
Sergio Perez is already worried about his Formula 1 cockpit. Not just for the coming season, but also for the second half of the season. The Red Bull driver has only collected eleven points since his contract extension at the beginning of June, which is even less than Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg.
Although he actually has a two-year Formula 1 contract, the question of whether he will stay is already at stake. Perez is said to have several exit clauses in his contract that can be triggered by the team after the Belgian GP – i.e. during the summer break. According to these, he must not be more than 100 points behind Verstappen in the World Championship, and he must not be more than five places behind the champion in the Drivers’ Championship.
The 100-point mark is now almost impossible to reach. Perez is 137 points behind, so the window to beat this mark could close in Hungary. P6 in the drivers’ championship is also in danger, as both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are only a few points behind. If Perez does not meet one of these requirements, his future at Red Bull will depend on the goodwill of his team. The team that is worried about the constructors’ championship, especially because of its performance.
Hungarian GP, Focus 5: Will the next stone fall on the Formula 1 driver market?
The Formula 1 field for 2025 is slowly coming together. One puzzle piece at a time. At the Austrian GP, Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly were officially extended. In Silverstone, Haas announced the signing of new signing Oliver Bearman. The next decision could be made in Hungary.
According to reports from Formula.hu and Racingnews365, it has been a done deal since Silverstone that Esteban Ocon will be Bearman’s teammate. Further consistent reports in this direction were circulating in the days before the Hungarian GP. So everything points to the fact that the still Alpine driver is the next stone to fall on the market. And that could happen as early as on media Thursday in Budapest.