MCLAREN STORM IN HUNGARY DAY ONE
The Papaya team has started the Formula 1 weekend in Hungary on fire, leaving no opportunities for the rivals.
After a strong show in FP1, putting both cars in the first two positions, the Mclaren cars have proved once again to be unstoppable this weekend. It was mainly Norris, who indicated to have a true and rapid pace, led both Friday sessions, being 3 tenths faster than his team mate Piastri in qualy simulation in FP2.
The British team has always had an incredible system to protect the tire wear throughout this season. In such tracks like the Hungaroring, Mclaren will have an enormous advantage over their rivals on long race distance, since they are able to easily make the tires last way more than the rest of the teams. Pirelli brings to Hungary C3, C4 and C5 compounds, making it the 2nd allocation with the softer tires in Formula 1.
Surprising Aston Martin in high-downforce tracks
Fernando Alonso missed Free Practice 1 due to a muscular pain in the back. It was reportedly caused by the porpoising of his car at the Belgian Grand Prix. Felipe Drugovich stepped in for the first session of the weekend, but he will not debut in a Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend.
The two-time World champion Alonso decided to rest as much as possible to avoid worse pain in the car, giving the Brazilian the opportunity to collect import data and get his mileage up.
The Aston Martin car has always been perhaps the slowest car on the grid when talking about top speed, it is something that Alonso always concerned since he started to drive for Aston Martin. However, as we know, low top speed means high downforce.
Fernando Alonso’s qualy at Monaco in 2023 is a great example of Aston Martin’s concept of the car. Both cars ended up P4 and P5 respectively in FP2 after qualy simulation, the British team is on the verge of a good weekend.
Ferrari gets a step closer with the new suspension
Over the last few weeks, the Scuderia has tried a new concept of rear suspension. As informed by Italian outlet Autoracer.it, Ferrari has worked on the decceleration phase to help with balance under braking, something Leclerc always complained about.
After the 3-week break between Silverstone and Spa, Ferrari brought to life the new suspension, and at Spa, Leclerc showed a noticeable improvement on his pace, scoring his 4th podium of the season. He started the weekend in Hungary well too, with two top 3 finishes in both practices, demonstrating that Ferrari is slowly putting themselves as 2nd fastest car on the grid with Mercedes losing power.
The drivers will head to the track tomorrow for the last practice session before qualy at 12:30 CET time, with Q1 beginning at 16:00.
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