Hungarian Grand Prix: Ferrari’s struggles lead F1 storylines

Method 1 returns with this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The primary half of the 2024 marketing campaign has been crammed with some unimaginable moments, together with Lando Norris lastly tasting victory, Charles Leclerc lastly tasting victory at house, and Lewis Hamilton lastly tasting victory once more.

What may the second half maintain in retailer?

A visit to the Hungaroring kicks all of it off. Listed here are the important thing storylines for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Can Ferrari bounce again?

Typically an image really is price 1,000 phrases.

Resembling this one:

Courtesy of Method 1 Factors, right here is the factors development for every of the highest 4 groups within the F1 Constructors’ Championship standings. As you may see, following Charles Leclerc’s win in his house race — disposing of years of heartbreak within the Monaco Grand Prix — Ferrari was simply 24 factors behind Crimson Bull.

Since then, nevertheless, Ferrari has added simply 50 factors over the 4 race weekends since Monaco. That has allowed McLaren and Mercedes to tug nearer to them, and Crimson Bull to tug additional away.

Can Ferrari proper the ship?

In the event that they do, it should begin with per week spent studying what has labored, and maybe extra importantly what has not labored, with the improve package deal the workforce rolled out for the SF-24 because the tripleheader started. Since then each Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. have lacked full confidence within the automobile, Leclerc specifically. “We’re simply gradual. We’re simply actually gradual for the time being and we have now a whole lot of inconsistencies with the automobile,” stated Leclerc after a stunning exit in Q2 at Silverstone. “I don’t assume it fairly helps that we are attempting to additionally… we are attempting to only assess the scenario we’re in for the time being and attempt to perceive that are the instructions by which we have to push into.”

Ferrari had an additional week to determine issues out with the SF-24. Have been they capable of finding the solutions they want?

Will McLaren have realized their classes?

A yr in the past McLaren was preventing for podiums.

Now they’re preventing for wins, and possibly even a championship.

However life is harder on the entrance, and each choice provides up, whether or not good or dangerous. The previous two race weekends have exemplified that and illustrated the educational that McLaren must do to emerge victorious in these fights.

Take the Austrian Grand Prix, which is an instance of among the micro-level studying McLaren must win on the entrance. Lando Norris was battling with Max Verstappen, who has been preventing on the entrance for years now. The results of this specific Norris-Verstappen conflict? A wheel contact within the late phases knocked each drivers from rivalry, and Norris out of the race completely.

Then there was the British Grand Prix. As has been mentioned right here and elsewhere McLaren was in place for a possible one-two end, as Norris was working on the entrance with teammate Oscar Piastri behind him. However from there a number of technique calls went awry, beginning with the choice to pit Piastri for a set of intermediate tires one lap after pitting Norris for a similar change.

That dropped Piastri down the sector, and whereas he recovered for a fourth-place end, he knew instantly the choice value him an opportunity for extra.

Then there was the decision later within the race when the workforce introduced Norris in to make the swap from the intermediates to a set of slicks. Norris was within the lead, forward of Lewis Hamilton, however Mercedes introduced Hamilton in a single lap forward of Norris to make the identical change. When Norris pitted on the following lap he overshot his spot by a number of toes, resulting in a slot cease. He pulled out of McLaren’s single pit stall — Silverstone has only one stall per workforce, which was why they didn’t double-stack Norris and Piastri earlier — and tried in useless to come back out forward of Hamilton, however he might solely watch the silver W15 rocket by him and take the lead.

The ultimate mistake? Bolting a set of softs on Norris’ MCL38. The degradation degree was such that not solely did Norris fail to catch Hamilton to retake the lead, however he couldn’t maintain off the hard-charging Verstappen, who was on a set of hards.

“I believe occurring smooth wasn’t the appropriate name for us,” McLaren Group Principal Andrea Stella admitted after the race.

For the reason that British Grand Prix, a number of shops have highlighted simply what number of potential factors McLaren misplaced over these two race weekends, and the way totally different the standings might look had issues gone otherwise. However what is finished is finished, and the problem going through McLaren now could be whether or not they’ll study the appropriate classes from these weekends and apply these learnings going ahead.

Their first likelihood to point out us what they’ve realized is that this weekend.

Who wins Sunday on Saturday?

What’s the most typical nickname for the Hungaroring?

“Monaco with out the obstacles.”

The circuit is a decent and twisty monitor, with plenty of turns and never a lot in the way in which of straights. Groups run Monaco-level downforce packages for the Hungarian Grand Prix, as Haas Group Principal Ayao Komatsu outlined within the workforce’s media preview on Monday. “Budapest is a high-downforce circuit with brief straights. It’s mainly Monaco-esque with the downforce so we’re bringing in fact the Monaco degree of downforce and mixing that with the Silverstone replace. I do know in Monaco we had been fast on the straights, however with the upgrades in fact we’ve improved our aero downforce, so I’m wanting ahead to seeing what we will do in Hungary,” stated the Haas boss.

What else is important in Hungary?

Qualifying.

Like Monaco, if you wish to win the Hungarian Grand Prix, you finest begin up entrance.

“[Hungary] will likely be a really totally different problem to Silverstone as qualifying is every little thing,” stated Komatsu. “It’s very, very tough to overhaul across the Hungaroring, so you place extra emphasis on qualifying.”

That may be excellent news for each Ferrari and McLaren. Whereas some issues have modified for the reason that Monaco Grand Prix on the finish of Could, Charles Leclerc secured pole place in Monaco with Oscar Piastri beginning behind him, whereas Carlos Sainz Jr. certified third, and Lando Norris fourth. Past these 4 drivers, George Russell put his W15 up in fifth, whereas Max Verstappen settled for a sixth-place begin.

Which drivers and groups have one of the best Saturdays will go a good distance in direction of figuring out who has one of the best Sunday.

Will temperatures be an element?

A yr in the past, the Hungarian Grand Prix was marked by excessive temperatures. On Sunday the air temperature reached 28 levels Celsius, and the corresponding monitor temperature of 53 levels Celsius was the best recorded monitor temperature throughout the whole 2023 F1 season.

Issues may very well be even hotter this weekend.

Present forecasts are calling for temperatures within the 34-degree Celsius vary for Sunday, as Hungary is in the course of a blistering heatwave that has been impacting the area. The warmth pressured a Hungarian airport to shut final week, because the concrete floor of the runway on the metropolis of Debrecen Worldwide Airport expanded, damaging two concrete slabs.

What may this imply for the groups this weekend?

Difficulties getting the tires into the appropriate window, and conserving them there.

The format of the circuit is demanding sufficient on the tires, given the excessive ranges of downforce, however think about qualifying. Check out how the lap ends:

The third sector of the lap has the brief straight from Flip 11 into Flip 12, which begins a pair of 180-degree turns earlier than the lengthy straight that runs from Flip 14 via the Begin/End line and into Flip 1. As Pirelli, F1’s unique tire provider, wrote of their media preview of the Hungarian Grand Prix, that is asking a whole lot of the tires — and the drivers — on the finish of a push lap. “Overheating is due to this fact an element that must be stored below management, not simply within the race but additionally in qualifying: on the softest compound a driver should handle to get to the final two 180° corners of a flying lap with sufficient grip left, which is not any imply feat, because the brief straight sections of monitor don’t give the tires a lot time to breathe,” outlined Pirelli of their media preview.

With Saturday a important qualifying season given how laborious overtaking is on the Hungarioring, groups may be watching the climate as a lot as they’re the motion on the monitor.

Will the trophies survive the rostrum this yr?

Final yr’s podium celebration — that includes Norris and Verstappen — provided one of many extra humorous moments of the season.

As Norris celebrated his second-place end, he slammed his bottle of glowing wine on Verstappen’s podium to pop the bottle open.

That knocked the custom-made and painted by hand porcelain trophy off Verstappen’s podium, and the highest shattered within the fall:

The corporate that crafted the trophy for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Herend Porcelánmanufaktúra Zrt., manufactured a brand new trophy for Verstappen, and Norris joined the Crimson Bull driver for a second trophy presentation.

The place he acquired an “bill:”

Will the hand-made trophies survive the rostrum celebration this yr?