Grand Prix 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

As F1 continues to salvage something out of 2020 and the covid restrictions, hot on the heels of the Austrian double header, the show rolls over the border to their former imperial partner in crime, Hungary for the 35th running of the Hungarian GP as a world championship point scoring event.

As is well known, F1 first lifted the iron curtain and held an event in the then communist country of Hungary in 1986, exactly 30 years after the brutal crack down and overthrow of the government during the 1956 Hungarian revolution. By 1985 the Hungarian economy was in real danger of collapse and the governement were forced into a series of economic and political reforms. In a 1986 survey 61 percent of Hungarians responded that their position was hopeless or continually worsening. That first Grand Prix almost certainly brought some much needed publicity and a moral boost to the country. As a result of the growing problems within the country and a wider push towards reform, Hungary provided the first spark that would eventually light the end of the cold war. In May 1989 they removed the old border between Austria and Hungary allowing unrestricted travel between the two. The people of East Germany, who were alowed unrestricted travel between socialist countries took the opportunity to circumvent the hated Berlin wall by fleeing into Austria using this newly opened route. Through the summer of 89 the trickle became a flood and by October Hungary had declared itself a Republic with parliamentary elections scheduled to take place the following year and on the 9th of November the Berlin Wall opened.

The Hungarian GP circuit has changed very little since its first race in 1986. There have been modifications to the first corner altering the line into and throught it but little else. The track is seldom used outside of F1 leading to the early race weekend practice times often being misleading due to a dusty circuit with little grip. As the track beds in, the times soon fall. Known as a tight, twisty track, overtaking is very rarely an option here with CTA database statistics showing that for much of the time race overtakes are in single figures. Strangely however, despite all of this, it actually throws up some interesting results, providing debuts and debut wins for a number of drivers. 17 years ago, among the hysteria for the debut of the first ever Hungarian driver to take to the track in his home GP, Zsolt Baumgartner in a Jordan, a well known young Spaniard took his debut win and broke the record for the youngest ever GP winner at that time. I wonder what ever happened to that young driver?

Mercedes have won the last two races here but as it's a track that is less reliant on power and more on grip and handling, it tends to open the race up a little. Last years pole sitter for example was Max Verstappen who went on to finish 2nd in the race, and also qualifying gave Williams one of their best results of the season. With marked improvements from McLaren this year, who had both cars firmly in the points and top 10 all weekend last year, they could also be on for a very strong result this weekend.

Let's hope we get a classic.
 
Perez looked like he was struggling to keep it all together in qualification. It's a bit unfortunate as, if Vettel is going there, performances will go a little way to determine who goes and who stays. It's unusual to see Perez struggling especially as he was the more impressive of the two RPs last weekend. Lance has certainly managed to find some pace and up his game.

:whistle:
 
George Russell commented on Alex Albon saying that he and a number of other drivers have known Alex for years and he (Russell) quote "Doesn't know what the hell is going on there but he's being made to look an idiot and they need to sort it out"

Red Bull driver management at its finest then.
 
George Russell commented on Alex Albon saying that he and a number of other drivers have known Alex for years and he (Russell) quote "Doesn't know what the hell is going on there but he's being made to look an idiot and they need to sort it out"

Red Bull driver management at its finest then.

yeah that red bull balance looked dreadful we all know verstappen is not just a tenth quicker than Norris & Albon is not slower than Russell. the balance looked awful car you could have confidence because you were just waiting for the back end to snap on you. & then dialling in some understeer to neutralise the oversteer has just made it worse
 
i think Jolyon Palmer put Mercedes situation. best on bbc chequered flag podcast. its a mixture of being impressed but yet depressed about how good they are. because for me on the 1 hand its incredible how good that car is but depressing because its turning into Scottish football & Bottas doesnt have the consistency to be a 2 horse race

but its fine because its not like we are going to Silverstone where Hamilton has won 5 of the last 6 years & if it wasnt for infamous 2013 pirelli blowouts he wouldve won 6 of last 7
 
George Russell commented on Alex Albon saying that he and a number of other drivers have known Alex for years and he (Russell) quote "Doesn't know what the hell is going on there but he's being made to look an idiot and they need to sort it out"

Red Bull driver management at its finest then.

Same thing happened with him as did with Gasly I imagine. Neglect through lack of attention. No time for supporting a green rookie when you've got to try and get Max as near the front end as possible or risk losing him.
 
I missed the full radio comment but Albon did say the team did not find clear space for him

The sub plot tomorrow is Stroll/Perez/ Vettel -the wheel to wheel action could be one interesting.We know Vettel has not looked great wheel to wheel, Stroll was abit scruffy last week and rarely been at the front end. Then you have Perez who was mighty last week . You could say these guys are fighting for a seat in RPT so we could be in for some fireworks
 
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If Stroll wins then that is the perfect response to say he deserves his seat at RPT and credit for finishing the race first.

What is the odds that he and Perez tangle with each other and let Vettel win.

Will the win then allow him to step up nd be a consistent front runner like Lauda or will he be wasteful like Pastor was at Williams?

I have a hunch Perez might throw down the inside to try and prove his case at RPT. If he crashes he will say he was racing . Look out for team orders
 
Fair play to him Galahad for trying to make out that there is going to competition for Mercedes tomorrow. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with at Silverstone when the two Mercedes are 1.5 seconds faster than the rest in qualifying.
 
Not quite 1988 though.

Just remembered the left hand side is usually the cleaner side of the grid so cars over there in theory should have more grip unless it got washed off by the rain
 
With a bit of 2004 thrown in aswell.

Yeah I see that. I said 1992 though be wise basically we have a team who developed a new system on the car that no one else had thought of and has put them seconds a lap quicker than everyone else. Add in a dominant Brit, a veteran team mate anyone with a bit of sense knows is not going to be allowed to win however good he gets, and a crap Ferrari about to fire a multiple world champion and it's all very familiar.

Hamilton will hope 1993 does not follow.
 
If there is a Merc issue and Lance Stroll ends up winning tomorrow please note I shall be laughing uncontrollable when people either do a 180 on their view in him or spend the week coming up with reason as to why it was all luck and he is still shite.

for once its not me ive been quite nice in comparison to stroll. as we've always got to remember about him is that he came into F1 too early so has been learning on the job & in 1 of worst Williams they designed. & in his 2nd & 3rd years of open wheel racing he came 5th & won F3 in (hindsight) 2 quite strong years

Hamilton will hope 1993 does not follow

id quite like to see him in an indycar
 
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and a crap Ferrari about to fire a multiple world champion and it's all very familiar.

Now, if I was going all out to win the CTA pedantic poster of the season award (which I'm not) I'd point out that Prost got the boot from Ferrari one race before the end of the previous season.
 
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