The clouds were menacing in Mogyorod, near Budapest, as we were ready for the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix, with the first drops of water that began to fall around the Hungaroring just a few minutes before the start. There was a blustery wind with light rain expected initially and then a downpour later, with George Russell set to start from the front of the grid after taking the first pole of his career for Mercedes yesterday.
The pit lane was open and the cars, including pole-sitter George Russell, were on their way to the grid. With the wind picking up ahead of today’s race, it was difficult for teams to choose between a one or a two stop strategy and as the cars were making their way round to the grid, we were already seeing several drivers struggle to cope with the windy conditions. There were lock ups galore, with Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo the most recent two to find the going tricky.
Ferrari had cars in second and third on the grid – allowing them to mix up strategies to get past the pole-sitting George Russell – but team principal Mattia Binotto refused to accept they are favourites for the race win, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix: “We are not the favourites because we are not on pole. George has been very fast yesterday and Mercedes normally have a fast race pace compared to the qualy. I am expecting they are going to be very, very strong.” – he said ahead of the race.
There’s nothing dramatic coming from the clouds at the start, but teams were expecting it any moment! After thinking about the intermediates, Mercedes still chose the soft tyres for George Russell, while Scuderia Ferrari went with medium tyres for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz: the British driver got away well and got the inside line into the first corner, just about holding on to the lead ahead of Carlos and Charles! Slightly further back, it was a great start for Lewis Hamilton, who jumped both Alpines to get up to fifth. However, Alex Albon’s Williams sustained some damage on lap 1 and we had a VSC as a result.
After the race resumed, George Russell immediately pulled out a 2.6s gap to Carlos Sainz, further behind, the Alpines unfortunately didn’t have the pace to hold up Max Verstappen: a little mistake from Fernando Alonso allowed the Dutchman to ease into P7. Max Verstappen then wasted no time getting past Esteban Ocon, while behind him Sergio Perez pulled off a nice move on Fernando Alonso. The Red Bull cars had way too much pace for the Alpines. Lewis Hamilton couldn’t get past the McLaren of Lando Norris and as a result had Max Verstappen right on his tail in a few laps.
Lando Norris’ resistance ended in dramatic style: Lewis Hamilton got past him into Turn 1, and Max Verstappen followed him through in Turn 2.
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George Russell’s lead was down to about a second after 16 laps, while Charles Leclerc closed to within 0.5s of his team-mate. One lap later, Mercedes called George Russell to the pits from the lead: he came out in sixth between the Alpines and just about held off Fernando Alonso to keep the position. Max Verstappen, who was closing on Lewis Hamilton, also pitted and came out nine seconds behind Alonso in eighth. A lap later it was the turn of Carlos Sainz: he came in, but it was a slightly slow stop, and returned to the track behind George Russell.
The Ferrari Spanish driver quickly passed Esteban Ocon, but George Russell had now opened up a useful three-second gap. Charles Leclerc was the last of the leaders to pit (on lap 22) and while the Monegasque was not able to keep the lead, he did get ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz and could take the fight to Russell. Charles was already taking advantage of that clear track in front of him, setting the fastest lap of the race to close the gap to Russell to around a second – and almost within DRS range, while Carlos was almost three seconds further back, with Max Verstappen in a similar margin behind in fourth.
On lap 29, Charles made his first attempt to take the lead, but that’s great defence from George Russell: he positioned his car very smartly to hold off the Ferrari into Turns 1 and 2. But a charging Charles was unstoppable ! The Mercedes driver’s brave resistance finally came to an end as Charles pulled off an audacious move round the outside into Turn 1. The problem for Russell was that his battle with Charles had seen Carlos Sainz close to within 1.5s of the Brit.
The Monegasque then quickly pulled 2.5s clear of George Russell, and was about to catch up with the backmarkers. Max Verstappen was the first of the leading group to make his second stop. He appeared to be attempting an undercut on George Russell and Carlos Sainz. It looked as though Mercedes was going to respond immediately, and Ferrari joined them. Ferrari opt to cover off Verstappen with Charles Leclerc rather than Carlos Sainz.
George Russell also comes in, but he can’t hold off Verstappen, who is now free to chase down Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque was mounted on a hard set of tyres rather than softs, interestingly and the Dutchman immediately passed Charles Leclerc, despite the Ferrari driver’s best attempts to squeeze him into Turn 1. But just one lap later, Max Verstappen had a moment and allowed Charles Leclerc straight back past him! The Dutchman lost the rear as he went round the penultimate corner, and had a little spin. Sadly, Charles Leclerc’s hard tyres were not quick enough: the RB18 passed him with considerable ease again, and was back in the (virtual) lead of the race.
On lap 49, Ferrari called Carlos Sainz in from the lead, which put Lewis Hamilton into first at that stage. The Brit still had to make a stop, but did say on team radio a few laps earlier that he was still happy on his current set of mediums. The Spaniard was back on track with the soft tyres, after a slow pit stop which cost him more time. Lewis Hamilton then come in for his second pit stop and come out in P5, 9.5s behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. That Lewis Hamilton pit stop meant that somehow, Max Verstappen was in a comfortable six-second lead. The world championship leader started 10th on the grid, at a track where Ferrari were expected to be quicker than Red Bull.
Things were going from bad to worse for Ferrari: it was a role reversal as George Russell got past Charles Leclerc around the outside into Turn 1. And Ferrari, accepting defeat on their hard tyre experiment, were bringing Charles in for a set of softs! The Monegasque emerged from the pits in sixth, seven seconds back from Sergio Perez. What a disastrous afternoon this has turned into for Charles, who not long ago looked on course for victory!
Lewis Hamilton was looking very good for a second-placed finish, as he was now within 1.5s of Carlos Sainz, with George Russell about the same distance clear of the Ferrari in second. The Spaniard was unhappy with his soft tyres and was reportedly losing grip at the front of his car due to graining. It seemed only a matter of time before he was caught by Lewis Hamilton. And indeed in the Mercedes driver eased past Carlos with the help of DRS up the home straight, and was up to third.
A dreadful afternoon for the Maranello team at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, with the cold temperatures hurting the pace of the F1-75 cars, that were not able to bring the tyres in the ideal operating window. Carlos Sainz finished the race in fourth place, ahead of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc.
