Oscar Piastri scored his first grand prix victory in Hungary 12 months ago and returns to the scene of that triumph this weekend.
Will he extend his lead over his team mate and championship rival Lando Norris – who handed him that victory last year when told to by their McLaren team? Or will one of their rivals break their run of consecutive one-two finishes?
Here are the talking points for the final round before the summer break.
Will the pendulum swing again at McLaren?
Piastri’s three-race run from Bahrain to Miami remains the longest spell either McLaren driver has managed to consistently out-score the other since the season began. Norris missed a clear chance to take points off Piastri for the third weekend in a row at Spa, as he couldn’t contain his team mate on the charge to Les Combes on the first racing lap.
Norris therefore trails Piastri by 16 points as the summer break beckons. With 299 points still to play for, this is clearly far from being settled, and whichever driver does the better job this weekend can spend four weeks savouring their success before the championship resumes at Zandvoort.
Last year, this race was a watershed moment in the relationship between the two McLaren drivers, and not merely because Piastri joined Norris as a grand prix winner. Norris was told by the team to give up his lead of the race as he only ended up ahead due to a quirk of their pit stop arrangements due to the threat from Max Verstappen behind.
McLaren insist they aim to treat their drivers with scrupulous fairness, and so they would presumably handle a similar situation the same way again. Which begs an inevitable question: Would Norris, or indeed Piastri, really comply with a similar instruction to hand a 14-point swing to their closest championship rival?
That question may remain hypothetical if McLaren face little competition from behind. And the Hungaroring’s combination of medium cornering speeds and high track temperatures has suited the MCL39 to a tee lately.
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Verstappen-Russell resolution
The question of whether Verstappen would fall out of the top three in the championship before the summer break was answered at Spa: No, he won’t, having pulled 28 points clear of George Russell.
That means the widely-reported exit clause in his Red Bull contract will not be activated. Sure enough, rumours are already circulating that Verstappen will confirm his commitment to Red Bull for next season and Russell can count on a new Mercedes deal for one more year at least.
Ferrari up, Mercedes down
After struggling to a fifth place which he said “flattered” the car, Russell admitted Mercedes had gone wrong somewhere with their development programme for the W16. His victory in Canada a month ago increasingly looks like an outlier result: After finishing the first six races in the top five, Montreal was his only appearance on the podium in seven rounds.
What’s more, their car is particularly averse to warm conditions, so the typically hot weather forecast for this weekend offers them no reassurance.
Ferrari, however, seem to be gradually making progress with their SF-25. Charles Leclerc’s superb drive to third at Spa vindicated their decision to risk a rear suspension upgrade at a round with only one practice session.
The car has been kind to its tyres over a race stint this year, which is ideal for the Hungaroring. This is also a track Lewis Hamilton has usually gone well at, so there many are reasons for the Scuderia to head into this weekend’s round feeling confident.
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Will Tsunoda end points drought?
After Yuki Tsunoda scored his best qualifying position since joining Red Bull, team principal Laurent Mekies revealed he had finally got his hands on a floor upgrade Verstappen received earlier.
However his points chance went begging when race engineer Richard Wood called him in to pit for slick tyres too late during Sunday’s race. “What the fuck?” exclaimed the livid driver on his radio as he accelerated out of the final corner. “I told you it’s dry!”
Tsunoda came home without points for the sixth race in a row. But now he has some of the newer Red Bull hardware at his disposal, he is running out of excuses not to get points on the board this weekend.
Aron’s run
Franco Colapinto’s five-race trial run at Alpine concluded after the Austrian Grand Prix, though he’s remained in the car since then. However the team has begun evaluating another of its reserve drivers.
Paul Aron was placed at Sauber for a practice outing in the next event at Silverstone. He did not return at Spa, which was a sprint event meaning drivers only had a single practice session. However he will be back in the cockpit of Nico Hulkenberg’s C45 for the opening session at the Hungaroring.
Will this prove a precursor to a second driver change at Alpine, potentially after the summer break? Franco Colapinto should feel fortunate he at least isn’t having to give up any of his practice sessions as his predecessor Jack Doohan did.
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New-look Hungaroring
Although it’s unlikely to have a significant bearing on the action this weekend, the Hungaroring will have a fresh new look following a complete renovation of its pits and paddock.
Will F1 also use the weekend to announce a contract extension for the race? It’s one of a diminishing number of European rounds on the calendar: Spa will move to a rotational deal after next year and Zandvoort, the next stop on the schedule, will hold its last race in 2026.
Are you going to the Hungarian Grand Prix?
If you’re heading to Hungary for this weekend’s race, we want to hear from you:
Who do you think will be the team to beat in the Hungarian Grand Prix? Have your say below.
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