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McLaren did not waste any time
in stamping its authority on the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend. Lando Norris
and Oscar Piastri in that order topped the time sheet in FP1 and FP2, the
only drivers to get under the 1’16” barrier. The best times in the second
hour were 1’15”624 and 1’15”915. Ferrari would seem to be the second force,
with Leclerc third in 1’16”023 and Hamilton sixth in 1’16”329. Splitting the
Prancing Horse pair in FP2 were the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll fourth in
1’16”119 and Fernando Alonso fifth in 1’16”233. In FP1 Felipe Drugovich
stood in for the Spaniard.
THE DAY ON TRACK:
Over half the drivers used a set of Hards: eight did so in FP1 and three in
FP2. Those yet to run the C3 are Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton,
Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Colapinto and Gasly, a clear indication of
their desire to keep one set of Hards for the race. Alonso also didn’t use
the hardest compound in FP2, but his substitute Drugovich did so in the
first session, so the Spaniard only has one set of this compound for the
rest of the weekend.
Simone Berra: Chief Engineer:
“Getting back to a standard format weekend gives us much more time to gather
data on how the tyres are behaving, which is particularly important on a
track noted for quite significant thermal degradation. In fact, temperatures
were a very relevant factor today, especially when compared to those on
Friday last year: at times they were 15° C lower in FP1 and 10 °C in FP2.
Cooler temperatures mean a faster track which explains much of the
improvement in lap times from one year to the next – around 2”7 in the first
session and 2”1 in the second. The other factor is of course the progress
the cars have made in terms of performance.
We didn’t see any
graining and thermal degradation was pretty much in line with our
expectations. All three compounds were used in several long runs and that
meant we saw that even the Soft is not at all out of the running for a dry
race. From what we saw today, the two-stop definitely seems the most
effective option, using the Medium and the Hard. These two compounds were
pretty close in performance terms so they should both have a role to play."
FORMULA 2
Roman Stanek
(Invicta Racing) will start the feature race from pole position on Sunday
having set the fastest time in qualifying this afternoon in 1’28”779, the
first time the Czech has secured the number one grid slot. Alongside him
will be team-mate and Drivers’ championship leader, Italy’s Leonardo
Fornaroli (1’28”925). Third is the American Jak Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil,
1’28”952) while Spain’s Josep Maria Martì (Campos Racing), tenth today in
1’29”301 will start tomorrow’s Sprint from pole position.
The
Budapest weekend sees a return to having two consecutive compounds, after
last year’s experiment to jump one. This means the Medium and Soft tyres are
called into service for the final round before the summer break. This choice
should lead to a greater variety of strategies in the Feature Race. Last
year, the grid was split exactly in half between the compounds on offer, the
Soft and Hard.
FORMULA 3
Brazil’s Rafael Camara (Trident)
secured pole position in qualifying this afternoon with a best lap time of
1’32”510. This is the fifth pole of the season for the championship leader.
He was just eight thousandths of a second quicker than Spain’s Mari Boya
(Campos Racing) who will be alongside him on the front row for the Feature
Race. Finland’s Tuukka Taponen (ART Grand Prix), with a time of 1’32”652
while on pole in tomorrow’s Sprint will be Thailand’s Tasanapol
Inthraphuvasak (Campos Racing), twelfth today in 1’32”894.
The
Hungarian weekend sees a softer compound than last year’s being used, with
the P Zero Yellow medium chosen for the final round prior to the summer
break. At the Hungaroring, drivers will have to do a good job of managing
the tyres, to ensure they last to the end of the race without losing all
their performance in the closing laps. This issue could also arise if they
stress one of the two axles too much.
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