Hungarian Grand Prix: F1 updates from Hungaroring – live | Formula One
Key events
In terms of the rest of the field Alonso has a nice cushion in fifth, with the likes of Bortoleto (P6), Stroll (P7) and Lawson (P8) all in line for points.
Verstappen remains ninth and Hamilton (P12) outside the points positions.
Hulkenberg (P16) and Tsunoda (P18) are under investigation after a close call between the pair.
Lap 56/70: Both men have just clocked their fastest laps of the race.
Leclerc finds himself now clinging on for the final spot on the podium, but Russell is closing the gap in terms of time. It’s down to less than two seconds.
The inter-team politics at McLaren now become fascinating, with this race suddenly an almighty scrap between world championship contenders Norris and Piastri.
Where’s your money? One team, two different strategies, two drivers desperate for the win. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Lap 54/70: Norris still has six seconds on Piastri, of course having made one stop fewer than his teammate. Leclerc has been left in the McLarens’ wake all of a sudden, losing speed, with nearly five seconds between he and second placed Piastri.
Lap 52/70: So now it’s about whether Norris’ tyres will hold out and last the distance and whether Piastri’s fresher tyres will allow him to close the gap and overtake.
We’ve lost Ollie Bearman, by the way, he’s been forced to retire.
Piastri overtakes Leclerc! That was a brilliantly smart move from the Australian on the straight, such speed out of nowhere really. Is that going to bring victory for McLaren in Hungary?
Lap 49/70: Verstappen continues to battle, but a place on the podium seems well beyond the Dutchman this afternoon. He’s ninth with a whole load of traffic – and cars with far more speed – in front of him.
Lap 47/70: Norris now leads the race and has some of the back markers in his sights. Hmm, now they could slow him down.
Lap 45/70: Piastri now dives in. Yep, he was never keen to remain out there on harder tyres, perhaps fearful that Norris could eventually catch and overtake him.
That battle between the two McLarens for the world title provides an intriguing subtext to this grand prix.
Now it’s Russell’s turn to pit.
Hamilton’s pit stop has left him down in P16. McLaren currently have a one-two but how long that lasts, we’ll see.
Lap 42/70: Red Bull are telling Verstappen they’re considering leaving him out on the track, so no two-stop for him. It seems a few teams are mulling over a similar policy.
Leclerc has dipped in for his second stop of the race. Piastri isn’t going anywhere yet though, with the Ferrari coming back P4.
Lap 40/70: Norris has just clocked the fastest lap of the afternoon, having pitted more recently than any of the other frontrunners. Can he build up a head of steam now? Alonso has gone into the pit lane.
Lap 38/70: The gap between Leclerc and Piastri in first and second is still hovering around the two-second mark. I simply don’t see how the McLaren can cut that deficit as things stand.
The stewards are investigating the tete-a-tete between Hamilton and Verstappen, by the way.
Lap 35/70: McLaren are now asking Piastri if he can get to the end on his current tyres and the Aussie driver doesn’t sound keen on the idea. Track position may be far more important than the freshness of tyres today.
We’re almost at the halfway stage of this race.
It’s Leclerc from Piastri then Russell in third, with Norris fourth and Alonso fifth.
Lap 31/70: Norris heads into the pit lane. This will likely be his only pit of the race as he emerges with harder tyres… and he’s comfortably into P4, miles in front of Alonso. A podium finish could still be within reach.
There’s lots of Lewis chat in my email inbox.
Muz says: “When Hamilton said ‘every time, every time’ I took that to mean he keeps telling his team what is wrong with his car and they are simply not listening to him. His notes to his team are his way of communicating, but they cannot give him what he needs, which is why he is hoping he can be released from his commitment to them.”
Are you Team Lewis, or otherwise?
Lap 30/70: Verstappen zips beyond Hamilton at close quarters, with the Ferrari forced wide and momentarily off the track, perhaps anticipating contact.
Charles Leclerc is sounding vexed on his own team radio. “We’re going to lose the race with these things,” he says… although it’s not clear what exactly the problem is. The Monegasque has seemed pretty rapid from where I’m sitting.
Lap 28/70: McLaren have told Norris they’re considering a one-stop policy. “Yeah why not” says the Brit. He doesn’t have much choice really.
Hamilton is the next challenge for Verstappen to overtake and says he’s a “bit of a sitting duck”. Pray for Lewis.
Lap 25/70: Max Verstappen has come out of the pit lane in P12 and sounds completely baffled with Red Bull re “this really terrible idea… coming out into traffic”. After some good work earlier in the race, he’s got another big fight on his hands.
Lap 24/70: Now most of the leaders have pitted, here’s a rundown of the standings, a third of the way into this race:
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Norris (hasn’t pitted)
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Leclerc
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Piastri
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Alonso
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Russell
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Bortoleto
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Stroll
-
Lawson
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Bearman
-
Hadjar
Lap 22/70: “This Ferrari pace looks real and like he can endure that,” is the analysis from Sky’s Martin Brundle and on this evidence it’s hard to disagree with him. Still early days, but Leclerc looks to have this race at his mercy.
Some thoughts on Lewis Hamilton from Bill Taylor on email:
Something ‘not quite right’ with Hamilton? Yeah, his attitude. It needs an upgrade. He (in common with Verstappen) has always been a complainer. Fair enough, if that’s what gets you through a race. And, clearly, it’s something that has worked for both of them. But Hamilton has turned into a whiner. It’s not an attractive look and, equally clearly, doesn’t work for him. Or Ferrari. They’d have been better off keeping Sainz in the team.
Those are Bill’s thoughts, not mine…
Lap 20/70: Leclerc and Ferrari have executed a good pit stop, too, returning in P3 so still ahead of Piastri.
Norris and Alonso now lead this race, though neither have had the chance to get fresh tyres.
Leclerc is getting to grips with his new harder tyres – could this be the opportunity Piastri was waiting for? The Ferrari man has gone past Alonso into second.
“My tyres are gone,” says Norris now but it’s Piastri who’s coming into the pit lane first. And he returns with harder tyres, in fifth. Very interesting.
Lap 17/70: Norris has more pace than Russell but simply cannot find a way past him at the moment.
There’s a bit of a contretemps between Lando and the McLaren team on the radio. A frustrating race for him so far.
Carlos Sainz’s soft tyres only took him to lap 16, so he’s gone into the pit lane. How long before those on the mediums decide to box?
Lap 14/70: Leclerc now has himself a three-second lead at the front. The Ferrari – well, his Ferrari anyway – is fast this weekend!
As for Hamilton? We’ll somehow he’s still down in P14. Something’s not quite right with the legendary Briton.
Lap 11/70: So, Hulkenberg has indeed been hit with a five-second time penalty for moving before the start. He’s now dead last.
“What’s going on with these cuts?” asks a bemused Leclerc on the Ferrari team radio. Is his engine cutting out intermittently?
“We need to get past Russell,” is the message Norris is receiving from his team. YES I KNOW GUYS.
Lap 10/70: Norris has picked up some super speed and finds himself within DRS pouncing distance of fellow countryman Russell. He won’t stop pushing.
That didn’t last long …
Lap 8/70: It seems Norris is under instructions to get past George Russell, which would put both McLarens in second and third behind Leclerc.
The Ferrari still leads this and looks comfortable in doing so.
The Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are both under investigation for possible false starts. Could be some time penalties being dished out. We’ll keep an eye on those situations.
Lap 5/70: Gabriel Bortoleto is having himself a decent weekend, sitting sixth at the moment and pushing Alonso for fifth. Meanwhile, Verstappen has charged up the field to seventh and seems to have found some grip.
An email has dropped from Andy Flintoff (not that one): “Hi Dominic, I’ve got you and the cricket in two tabs in my browser, and I read your entry at 13.53 and it wasn’t until it got to the word ‘overtaking’ that I realised it wasn’t the Test match that you were writing about. For a split second I wondered how wind affects cricket’s DRS.”
I’ll level with you, Andy, I’m more aux fait with cricket’s DRS than Formula One’s.
Lap 3/70: Pretty much everyone is on the medium compound tyres, with Hamilton – who is on the harder tyres – dropping down to P14.
Norris has regained third from Alonso with a slick move. Better from the Brit.
Lap 2/70: So it’s Leclerc, Piastri, Russell and then Alonso after the first lap. Russell is pushing really hard to try and put Piastri under pressure.
There’s all sorts going on as we head into the first turn but Leclerc has the speed off the start to stay well in front. Fernando Alonso has gained a place on Lando Norris after the McLaren man opted to duck inside and try to make a move of his own.
Lights out!
… and away we goooooo.
Who’s taking the win in Hungary? Let’s see.
Formation lap time. Get some heat in those tyres.
The weather forecasters say there’s a bit of rain on the way. There’s a breeze around, too, which could help the use of DRS and mean more overtaking. Could be something for everybody today, especially with a Ferrari on pole and the big beasts of McLaren and Mercedes lurking just behind. Can Piastri or Norris jump ahead of Leclerc on turn one? We’ll find out soon.
Before lights out here’s a reminder of our other live offerings on a busy Sunday afternoon of sport.
George Russell is sporting shades and riding a scooter as he chats to Sky Sports.
“We’ve got to keep our eyes on Charles and hopefully we can do something to sneak in there.”
Right, the drivers, cars and all manner of other things are out on the track. Not long til we’re under way. The red, white and green Hungarian flags are out in force.
A bit more from Zak Brown here, this time speaking to Sky Sports about the world championship battle between his two McLarens Oscar Pisatri and Lando Norris: “We enjoy it, we’re racers, so to see them battle it out like we’ve seen now in a handful of races is exciting for us.
“We’re not doing anything differently, we don’t feel any tension rising. We know obviously there’s a lot at stake but it’s all very positive and we’re enjoying it.
“We’re not intimated or concerned, we know it’s going to be tough. But we’ve got a great relationship with both drivers, very open and transparent, so I see no reason why they can’t have an epic fight to the finish. May the best driver win.”
Here’s another plug for you.
McLaren chief Zak Brown claims Formula One is enjoying a “healthier” atmosphere following the exit of Christian Horner from Red Bull and accused his former rival principal of “crossing the line”.
There’s always going to be some political aspects to the sport, but I think it is going to be healthier with Laurent [Mekies, the new Red Bull team principal]. I’m a fan of Laurent, I have known him for a long time, and it’ll be good to go racing against him.
This was a timely piece from our man Giles Richards out in Budapest.
Lewis Hamilton is struggling for success with Ferrari, but appreciates that he must do more than drive for the famous Scuderia.
Qualifying standings
It’s worth reminding you how they will start on the grid in Hungary this afternoon. Don’t forget the race starts at 2pm (UK time).
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Charles Leclerc
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Oscar Piastri
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Lando Norris
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George Russell
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Fernando Alonso
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Lance Stroll
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Gabriel Bortoleto
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Max Verstappen
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Liam Lawson
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Isack Hadjar
Outside the top 10, the main headline is that Hamilton qualified down in P12 while Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda will start in the pit lane with his engineers deciding to make a few changes to the car pre-race.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to coverage of the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc starts on pole this afternoon for the first time this season after stunning McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in qualifying yesterday.
Meanwhile, it was a Saturday to forget for Lewis Hamilton, who berated his own performance after finishing 12th fastest. The seven-time world champion said: “It’s me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless. The team have no problem. You’ve seen the car’s on pole. So we probably need to change driver.”
Hamilton has been hugely successful at the Hungaroring over the years, recording eight wins. He will be hoping to bounce back with another big result this afternoon.
Lights out is set for 2pm BST – join us!
