The Late Braking F1 Podcast - 2026 Hungarian GP Race Review

Episode Date: July 26, 2026

The reigning world champion is back on the top step! The LB trio break down the Budapest race, as McLaren end their season drought, Piastri's day unravels, Verstappen fights through frustration, and mistakes were made at Ferrari... Get involved in F1 Fantasy this season! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Late Braking league⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us... LEAGUE CODE: C6Y6R4ZUY02 Want more Late Braking? Support the show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get:Ad-free listeningFull-length bonus episodesPower Rankings after every raceHistorical race reviews& more exclusive extras!Don't forget! You can also gift a Late Braking Patreon subscription—perfect for loved ones or your own wish list. Choose anything from 1 month up to a full year of top-notch F1 content: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/latebrakingf1/gift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Late Braking:You can find us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Come hang out with us and thousands of fellow F1 fans in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ server and get involved in lively everyday & race weekend chats!Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠F1 Fantasy League⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and see if you can beat us!Get in touch any time at [e-mail]  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Very warm welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ead, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking, today reviewing the last race before the summer break. That being the Hungarian Grand Prix won for the first time this year by the reigning world champion Lando Norris. And not only his first win of the season, the team's first Grand Prix victory. as well.

Of course, converting that pole position. Before we get into it, I guess that would be the simple overview, Sam, but that maybe doesn't explain everything that happened today. That's so Formula One this season

to be like, oh yeah, on the surface, really simple, normal, yeah, you know, don't bother. You actually, like, just opened the first page of the book. And it's like, oh, good Lord,

what's going on in here? It was a bit bizarre. It was a bit chaotic. McClara bring upgrade. McClara make Upread go good. It was suddenly very, very quick. Yeah, okay, three different constructor wings so far this season. That's what we like to see.

How are you? How are you? I'm good, thank you. I was going to say really enjoyed the fact that last week Sam was adamant that McLaren and Alth just a third place team. Next weekend, win. Almost a one, too. They took that person. They ran into real personal.

They've actually gone to the opposite of consistency. They've gone for either we win or retire, and there's nothing in between. don't do this middle third place now. I kind of respect that. Yeah, an interesting day indeed. Who knew so many different tire strategies could cause an interesting Grand Prix? Not us. Not us. We were behind the curve on that.

We really were. They were not behind the curve on that. We are the curve. We are the curve. You're on us. Hashtag that. We are the curve. You're breathing.

We've got plenty to get to today. Moment of the race, of course. Driver of the day. Worst driver of the day. coming up later on in the show. Everything to do with Ferrari, the way in which Red Bull managed to get a second place via Max Verstappen.

But let's start with McLaren, because for a large part of this Grand Prix, it didn't just look like they were going to win this race. It looked like they were going to secure a one-two finish, which we haven't seen many of this year, even from Mercedes. But McLaren was shaping up to get that result until Oscar Piastri's gearbox broke,

causing him to be one of the very few DNFs from this Grom Pre and Landon Norris out in front already by that point, able to extend the advantage over everyone else and claim the win. Papaya Rules Plus Hungary, Sam, is a combination that we have seen before. We've seen it again. Before we get into maybe the strategic element of this, the only reason that was a discussion, you could say, was because of what happened on that first lap where Landon Norris lost the lead going through turn two.

Your thoughts on how that played out? Yeah, I want to give Landau a lot of credit. for the pure pace that he had in this Grand Prix today, he was electric fast. It was so good to see him flat out, Lando at his best, the car working with him. But he didn't moan quite a bit over the radio.

And I must say that, you know, the only reason for moaning is because you mucked up turn two. You've kind of got yourself to blame for that. And I do fully put that on him. Oscar Pastrow, who started P3, after we had all the penalties. He initially qualified P5, of course,

where Antigley goes back, Hamilton goes back, he gets elevated, has a stormer of a start and managed to get in front of his teammate in the mistake from turn two. But it then looks very obvious that Lander has the pace of the two teammates.

He's stuck right behind you for the entire first stint. You think, okay, you know, well, there's some kerfuffle over the radio about who should pit first, let me pit. We can't do that, I'm afraid. The back and forth on McLaren Radio is once again here. The circus is in town, and the clowns are very much on the radio show.

And so it doesn't unfold that way. Lander doesn't get what he wants. So you'll think, all right, Piastri's kind of got the job done and as it should be, only for Carlos Sykes is obliviously turning to have absolutely no idea of what's going on around him, sensational stuff, Carlos. And tonight on Norris to deliver a fantastic pace throughout the Grand Prix, of course, then deciding in the end by a gearbox failure, a little stat for you,

you know that every time that Oscar Piacari is qualified in P5 is not finished the Grand Prix since the start of 2025. Wow, that's a good stat. That is, thank you. How many times is that? So that's Vegas, Australia, Shuffinger and Hungary. So that's four times in the last 30 or so races that he's qualifying in P5, and he has not finished the race.

Harry, what did you make at the start? Yeah, I mean, that's probably the only real criticism I can have for Lando today, is to start really. Obviously, the initial start itself was all good for him, but under not a great deal of pressure going to turn to, I know it's, you know, lap one and there are a couple, and there are cars everywhere, but he wasn't under massive pressure.

He slid wide and let Piastri through, and I think had some things not intervened later on in the race, then maybe Norris wouldn't have got back past, because he had really good pace, but I think Piastri did too, to be honest, that he was clearly the slower of the two McLaren's, but I think they're a relatively evenly matched, at least in that middle part of the stint.

So yeah, so slightly fortunate on that, but I think other than that, can be too critical and should only heat praise on Norris. It was, you know, give the guy a car that works and doesn't break down

and he's delivered. So, yeah, McLaren will be hoping they can continue that form. Yeah, and as for Piastri, I feel sorry for the guy.

By the way, I almost don't think I can blame Carlos Sines for getting in the way of Piastri because he was just so in awe of the fact that he'd been overtaken by Fernando Alonzo. That's the only reason.

Oh, okay, yeah, yeah. He just did, He was like, what's happening? This can't be happening. What do you mean? I'm just, I'm so confused. So, yeah, and then he ran a Piastri off the road. He very much did, yes.

Yeah, credit to both McLarence for the way they started this Grand Prix, because in theory, you know, Lando Norris could have quite easily come under fret going into term one. It is a longer run down to term one. He did well there. Pastery, and they say this about Hungary, and it's not always the same across all tracks. Starting P3 can sometimes be better than starting P2.

Not only can you maybe get that slipstream off of the pole sitter, but also it is the clean side of the track, the dirty side of the track, essentially the even numbers on the grid, very much at a disadvantage. So I wasn't surprised to see Norris and Piastri essentially be 1-2 going down to turn 2. A really poor mistake, really poor mistake from Lando Norris.

And I agree with you when you say, there wasn't that much pressure. It's not like they were side by side going through the corner and he's lost it. He had that advantage, and it's not the only time he did this, of course, during the Grand Prix, and then just lost the lead. And I agree with what you said, Sam, where everything that happened after that, we can discuss whether they played it right or wrong.

It all stems from that incident. If that incident doesn't happen, I'm fairly confident Norris. Maybe he grand slams this. Like, he might not lose the lead throughout this entire Grand Prix based on the pace that he had. And he was able to show, of course, after the overcut. the way in which it happened, how has Carlos Sines got a five-second penalty for this? I have to admit, like, as I was watching,

I was, much like Carlos Sines being overtaken by Fernando Alonzo, I was speechless. Flabbergasted. It's not just the incident coming out of turn two. It's then he doesn't let him buy for like another six corners. That's just how you do it, man. I thought it done something like, I thought it done something wrong to him.

He'd wronged him somehow before this Grand Prix, and we just didn't know about it. She's bombed with Landon Norris, man. I mean, general point, some weird blue flag action today. Was everyone all right? Back markers were horrendous. Ocock, just racing the Red Bull, supposedly. Bortoletto. Not let you pass, mate.

Bermen decided to sping around halfway through it as well. Good. Yeah, I was, I was stunned that that happened between Carlos signs and Oscar Piachtry, and that it was only a five-second penalty. I thought it was deserving of a lot more than that. Ultimately, it would... I think it also, in the end, we know that he'd have retired anyway

due to the gearbox failure, it could have cost us quite an interesting battle here because as soon as Lando Norris got the overcut done, had the fresher tires, might have had the better pace anyway, he's off into the distance. If he comes out a couple seconds behind Piastri, we go through this drama all over again, which we were spoiled as a result of this.

You're right in bringing that up. You run the race up until, Landos pit stop. We don't know what happens after that. In theory, without the incident, Piastri comes out in front. We saw how close it was even without that, even with that collision with Carlos Sites. Without it, surely Piaastri comes out ahead. And you're right, we get a fight between the McLaren's for the lead, for the wing, and that is a really exciting prospect. But Carlos Sites decided, not today, Papaya. Have you seen in Piastri's, what, three and a half year career? Have you seen him more

animated than he was as a result of that. Furious. I said that, Sam, before we start recording. Man's never been angrier than he was after that. He's he only been angry before. I think that's his first time experiencing anger. He must hate hungry, because honestly, every time

he turns up here, there's something that goes wrong for him. I actually, also, I think he might be off. I think he's had enough. Of McLaren or of F1? Of McLaren. I think if an opportunity poses itself that allows him to shift, I think he's gun because that secondary message of like what basically what a bunch of thing is why have you put me

here that it's so disrespectful to the team. I don't think he could spoke into them like that end of last season even throughout that championship fight when it was going wrong for him. I think he's sick of it. The thing is I think ordinarily backmarkers, if they behave like they do 90% of the time, it's not an issue. And Piastri is just able to get on with his business. And I don't think strategically it was a bad idea from McLaren. In fact, I don't want to say they've favoured Piastri, but obviously Norris's requests were denied to get the undercut. They played it as they have always played it.

By their own rules. Yes, exactly. They didn't deviate from that. So whilst Piastri has a right to be annoyed at Carlos Sines, a massive right to be annoyed at Carlos Sines, I actually don't think the team did anything wrong here. I don't think he'll see it like that. He didn't at the time for sure.

I don't think he will either, but I think all could be forgiven because he has that gearbox failure, and it doesn't end up costing him a race for the wing. It doesn't in the end. In terms of Lando Norris's pace, Harry, does that give you confidence that as we go to Zambor, arguably a fairly similar track to Hungary? This might not be the last McLaren victory this year. I think it should give them confidence, especially, I mean, it remains to be seen around high-speed tracks because we saw on Spa,

not very good at all. But at least this upgrade package has worked around a tight and twisty one. So Zanvort should theoretically be good for them. So yeah, it should give McLeod a bit of hope. I'd still a little bit, a little bit tentative on being super hopeful about them because, you know, we saw in Miami

when they had that big upgrade, worked really well. They got the sprint win. not the race win. But we're close to that as well. Very close. But we're close to that as well. And then went into the wilderness until today, basically. So let's see what happens.

But I mean, before the weekend, I don't think any of us were thinking that McLaren were going to come in and win this, especially given their previous form. So, yeah, definitely want to be encouraged. Because it wasn't like a lucky win that McLaren was the quickest car around one lap, but also over a race distance as well, which is, That's a good thing to have an F1. Write that down. Absolutely.

There does seem to be quite a strong correlation at the moment between these bigger upgrades and results, because it's not just McLaren this weekend. Red Bull bring their upgrades at Austria. They are very close to, they were competing for the win, very close to taking the victory. Ferrari, of course, that big upgrade at Barcelona.

They win that race. So it does feel like, whilst it's advantage McLaren at the moment, as soon as one of these big teams brings that next upgrade, whoever it is, maybe its advantage back to them again. Mercedes seems to be the constant, but as to who their rivals are, that's the thing that seems to be changing on quite a regular basis right now.

Sam, in terms of looking ahead a little bit based on this McLaren result, would you be quite confident? I think McLaren Fangs can kind of feel good about what's just happened. If you want to strike, probably eyeing is hot, so to speak, right before the summer break with an upgrade package that appears to have delivered, is really solid. And if you look at Grand Prix coming up that match the characteristics of Hungary, I think there's at least four Grand Prix that they can look at that are similar enough

that they can look at, go, we've got a real chance of victory here. You rightfully mentioned Zhang Vort coming up. I think that's very similar. You've also got Singapore that, in theory, could match the characteristics of Hungary as well. I think Brazil is very much a fair characteristic similarity. And the same as if we go as Qatar as well. Obviously, they did very well here the last couple of years. So that's a third of Grand Prix left in this season.

Of course, there might be some changes with what's going on in the world. But as it stands, essentially a third of what's going on in the world left, where they could pick up victories, a solid start. I mean, they could close a gap there if they're saying it's new come under more fire. Speaking of calendar change, it's not something we'll get into today, but midweek, that is something we will absolutely be talking about, the return of the Barangreng Grand Prix, the return of Sapang, and you might think those are unrelated incidents.

They're not. So we'll get into that midweek. And before, sorry, I know we will get into it. I saw a great stat that Lewis Hamilton at that race could break the record for the most poll positions of Sapani, but also the most poll positions of the Bahrain GP. I also, I've got to credit the race for this on their social media, they were like, the layouts of Bahrain that we've seen in Formula One. It's the standard layout, the international layout, the outer ring, and then the outer Bahrain layout. It's very clever. Not that this will ever happen, but I was having a look at like Sergio Perez, for instance.

and if Perez were to, in the most ridiculous circumstances, win this race in October, Sergio Perez will have won at the Secure International Circuit, won the Bahrain Grand Prix, and yet not won the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Secure International Circuit. This is going to be a great pub quiz question in 10 years time. It really will. It really will. Should we chat Max for Stappen?

To paraphrase what he said at the end of the Grand Prix, How old that How long have that, really? About 30 seconds. Has a driver ever been so mad for 70 laps and then got P2? Because I don't just furious about everything. Why this tire? This is rubbish.

I hate you all. GP, go away. You're sitting in the moving in the braking zone. This car sucks. I can't shift the gears. I hate everything. PT, please. Yeah, there you go, there's P2.

I mean, do you want to, yeah. Do you want to know my override? sort of feeling of this. Hannah Schmitz is the Don. She's so good. Don Schmitz. She is the Don. And it felt like everyone around

was trying to do their best to lose this Grand Prix and she's just there nailing it. I mean, it was a risk, wasn't it? It's a knock box under safety, under the VSE. And it was a successful risk.

Rightfully paid off. It was a fair call from her. Yeah, some like, like, calculating estimation. of how much you're going to be affected by traffic, by the tyres wearing out, by how far these softs can go played an absolute blind. Max has a brilliant job at keeping those ties alive for long enough that he can run into the end.

He was rightfully concerned. That message, is there anyone around me at all that is doing this? Yes, Max. I really wanted GP at that point to say, yeah, Fernando did 35 laps on the soft, so you'll be fine, just to give him the Aston Martin comparison. Race winner, Fernando, also has done 35. I'm at, yeah, race, 15 years ago, sure. Oh, God.

I mean, it was, I think, worth a punt for them, and obviously, it did work out, though. You know, maybe slightly fortunate, but it was worth the risk. And like you said, I know you're joking about Alonzo, but the soft tires did hold up a bit better than maybe they thought. So it's like the start of the race,

I'll heavy fuel. The Ferraris were more competitive than I thought they were going to be at the start of the Grand Prix after 10 laps. So they had good pace in them. Yeah, so I think fair play and for Stappen, even though he hadn't done a lap, and he was like, well, they're rubbish already,

I'm paraphrasing rubbish, he still managed to make them last, and yeah, get his way to P2. On a day when that Red Bull, it was podium worthy, I'm not sure if PT were worthy. I mean, Hadjar is, what, two seconds away from losing to George Russell,

who was 21st going into the first corner. Like, that Red Bull, like, and we can say maybe Hadjar's underperform, but I do think, Vostappen has done a great job out there as has the strategy team. And it was a combination because Vastappen needed to get that move done on Lewis Hamilton after the first stops in order to ensure that he kept track position. He did that.

Hannah Schmits and the Red Bull strategy team needed to make sure they nailed the strategy under VSC not to come into the pits. They did. That soft tire was getting better and better as that race went on. It was only, at least inside the top, I think, 13 positions. it was only the Ferraris who started on the softs. By the end of that Grand Prix, and I know the VSC played into it a bit,

I think over half of the grid were on softs. It became more and more apparent throughout this race so that it was a pretty good tire to race on. And yeah, the way in which the VSC played out, it's not like it was close either. It's not like Vestappen had to defend against a couple of cars for five laps towards the end. It was really comfortable.

So I think it was the right strategy and fair play to Vestappen for that. Should we take our first break? On the other side, it's the return of a Ferrari disaster class. Yay! Come on. Welcome back, everyone. Potentially with Antonelli's penalty, George Russell having difficulty as well, this was a real opportunity this weekend for Ferrari to catch up to Mercedes. So a track that, on paper at least, was going to suit Ferrari a bit more than it would.

Mercedes and the net result is that Ferrari have managed to eat into the lead of Mercedes by one point. Boom. Come on. We've got the maximum out of this weekend, guys. Honestly, they are preparing the social graphic already with that in mind. Fourth and fifth, on track, Hamilton ahead of LeCleur, but a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane meant they finished the other way around.

Where did it go wrong, Sam? This was looking so good for Ferrari through the first. couple of practice sessions. Hamilton's only, you know, two hundredths away from getting on pole. And here we are with neither driver on the podium. Yeah, I'm just going to kick this one off with a little statement to Lewis personally.

My guy, stop breaking the rules. Man, they're giving these penalties out like anything, right? Yeah, well, if you keep breaking the rules, they don't keep giving your penalties, my guy. Stop doing it, man. It's getting quite difficult to watch, Lewis. Just stop breaking the rules, please. It's really basic.

Put it in the book, read it, love it. Yeah, this is not good for Ferrari. We came to this weekend thinking that if anyone was going to challenge Mercedes, this might be a great track for Ferrari to do it. Chassee is great. They brought new air upgrades. They had upgrades to bring to the track today. They've even adapted to the funky, flexy little wing at the front of the big wing at the back now

to really encourage airflow over the back of the car. And that fume, that plumage that comes out of the back of the Ferrari, so unique, so interesting to watch that vapor fly out of it, which, of course, is by the tiny little vents cupboard they've got on the exhaust pipe. Lots of stuff going on at the back of that car. Yeah, looks great. Looks great.

None of it works. None of it seems to work because you've lost again to another team powered by Mercedes Union. Massive disappointment for Ferrari and qualifying even looks solid. I mean, Norris comes in and puts in a fantastic lap, of course, to pick up that P1, which Ben, you reviewed obviously yesterday. But it felt like at one point before Hamilton's penalty comes in for the Grig start, it was going to be an outnumber moment for Ferrari.

They could go two versus one. one, there's a chance we've seen their starts that they could get off the line really well and hold the pace. They just never look like they had it. They never look like they had the ability to challenge the McLaren's. The Stappen is well, a little bit shaky at the start. Mang used to get away quite nicely. And then, and to getlly, with a really unorthodox strategy, ends up really piling the pressure on, beats them both. It's a real disaster for them. So, yeah, they must be gutted. I feel like Harry, even with Lando Norris and his pace out front, this was a two, three, turned into a four or five.

Yeah, smashed it. Absolutely sensational work. That's what that won. Yeah, I think they'll leave this weekend scratching their heads a little bit because whilst maybe there were some errors along the way, I think pace-wise during the race, especially not where we thought they were going to be. Qualifying they were close. As you've already mentioned, Hamilton was P2 before his penalty.

and even in the first stint, their soft tire stint, was working out. I appreciate their own softs, everyone else around the broad and mediums, I believe. But they look competitive. And then after that first pit stop, nah, that's it. Done for the day was the Ferrari.

Yeah, I didn't really like the hard tire, it seemed, and then it sort of just, it got worse from there. Hamilton's, Hamilton, Hamilton's pasturing a race at the moment really puzzles me. It's not consistent, is it? The middle part of races, whiff, they're so stinky for him.

But the first part, I mean... It's struggle with tire wear as well at the moment. Yeah, I just... There's something about the first part in the end, he's like on it, and then something in the middle just doesn't seem to click. I don't mean... It's always after the first stop

or towards the end of the first stint. Today, it was definitely after first stop. So, yeah, they... From what was looking so promising on Friday afternoon, Friday night they must have been thinking, oh yeah. So this is a one-two. And then McLaren's like, come on. Then McLaren rocked up.

Yeah, not a great day in the office for the scooter here. It's bad. And this season hasn't been perfect for Ferrari. There's no question about it. It hasn't been a perfect season. But for the most part, I feel like they've done an all right job of maximizing whatever they've had at the available weekend. Like, they've had, sure, they've had like third and fourth place finishes across a weekend,

but you've kind of felt Mercedes were the fastest team anyway, so that's an okay result. Not this weekend. I really do believe this is a double podium gone away for Ferrari. The fact that Hamilton was able to out-qualify everyone not named Lando Norris by two tenths of a second and then finish P5, that is a catalogue of errors. and Hamilton's pace, I still think, was pretty good. And I think the key to his strategy was ensuring he was ahead of Max Vestappen after the first lap and that he wasn't really held him back because we saw Hamilton was essentially stuck behind Vastappen

all the way through that first stint. And then when Ferrari give him an opportunity with that early undercut attempt, give him the opportunity to get by Vastappen and then hold the position, I have to be really honest with this. If Hamilton was, let's say, Arvid Lindblad in that spot, I would say that is a really poor rookie error to let Max Verstappen back by

Defend the inside, man. What are you doing? By the way, I don't understand what Vastappen's talking about in terms of moving under breaking, but like... He's right out of back from him, man. But if he's on the inside,

he's going to have to at least go around the outside. I'm not saying he made it difficult for him, but he rang out of battery. And whilst it was a fantastic move from Max, I also think it was badly plagued the corner before from Lewis, who tried to deploy battery early to get to Lawson, runs out of battery early, doesn't have it at the end of the straight.

It's just, it's a catalogue of mistakes from Lewis Hamilton on that map. So it all builds up to essentially, Max Verstappen, backpost, in the net. It's just, you've worked so hard for that first thing to try and get by. You've been given an opportunity. You look round the outside of Isaac Hagjar,

on that lap to get that over, undercut down. You know, that's a great moving itself. and then you do all that at the end of it, that is such a flop. It's so disappointing. And I think he had the pace on LeCler throughout this Grand Prix. I know LeCler was maybe second best based on track position in terms of the strategy, but I still think Hamilton had enough. But then we saw with Antonelli, it's just the same situation of being stuck behind another car.

I guess, Harry, it might be an indication that this power unit has still got a bit of a ways to go in that Ferrari did spend a lot of this race tucked up behind. a competitor. Yeah, and maybe it is down to the power unit. Tough to say. I don't know. Their tire where, again, there's a bit up and down, isn't it? Versus the versus the others.

But, yeah, I mean, I'm sure they'll look to the power unit as a reason why they couldn't get past these cars. But to be fair, today, overtaking was more difficult than it has been at other circuits, which I think we thought was going to be the case because we don't have the super clipping here because there's so many. so many ways to harvest your battery. Maybe so, maybe so. Yeah, it feels like a bit of a bit of a waste for Ferrari down in fourth and fifth.

What about Kimmy Antonelli, who ultimately beat them both, had to come back from P7, thanks to that penalty he picked up yesterday, three place grid penalty for not slowing down enough under yellow flag conditions. It felt like Sam Antonelli was almost in this spot of, I'm behind the, the Ferraris. I'm behind Vostappen anyway. Overtaking is quite difficult. I don't think they're going to get this done on track. We're just going to play for the offset, see if we can take advantage of a safety car or a virtual safety car at some point. It always felt like they were playing the waiting game. Yeah, clean air runging for a car that maybe didn't have the outright top

pace was a very clever strategy, I think, for Antingelli. Of course, has to start further back than he would have wanted due to the penalty that he received. But I actually think it was a very smart race from Anting Elean and from Mercedes. And whilst I don't think the pace was ever on to take on like a Norris, who was electric, as I mentioned at the start of the show, the fact that he's come through and picked up third, I think is really, really respectful. The fact that he's beaten Lewis Hamilton, who was quick, he has benefited from the likes of Oscar Priester, whose gearbox has failed.

But to pick up a podium and extend his championship lead, after playing a really unorthodox strategy being out there for so long, you heard the conversation over the team radio between Antingley and Bono. Why aren't we going to the end? Well, we don't think the tyres can hang on. I think they probably could, but they got the result that they needed anyway. Brave, a brave risk, because they didn't benefit from that VSC either. So the fact they've managed to make it work is quite impressive, I think.

Did you like the way Antonelli performed in this race, area, and the way Mercedes played it? I did, and I think we used to say this about the Stappen, I think, when he was having his run of championships. even on his worst weekends, he still was picking his worst results where maybe a fourth or fifth. This is Anthony's worst race for a while. Said that about Hamilton 10 years ago as well.

Exactly, yeah. It plays the all the, it's a mark of a champion, right? It's the consistency across the season. Yeah, this is his worst race for quite some time and he's picked up a P3 and extended his championship lead. So I think he can be happy

going into the summer rate, to be honest. And yeah, they had to, they had to do something different with the strategy, which I think worked. It was always going to be risky. They're a bit fortunate with the VSE that Ferrari did pit Hamilton. You'd have expected Hamilton to get back past, which he didn't, and then obviously you had his penalty anyway.

But yeah, they played a by-down, and he didn't, again, crack under pressure from Hamilton towards the end. I know there were some moments with the back markers getting in the way, but he still held firm and, and didn't let him get back past. So yeah, very impressive comeback from Antoni. Yeah, I think after the way the start unfolded, Mercedes played it the right way

in that they had a bit more flexibility than the cars in front because we knew that on the soft tires, Leclair and Hamilton needed to make moves early to make that work. Stappen of course ahead as well. But what we saw was essentially Antonelli dropped back to give that two seconds or so

windows give him a bit more clean air than if he was directly behind his competitor. Hamilton couldn't do that because he'd have been at risk of being overtaken by Lecler. Lecler couldn't do that because he'd be at risk of being overtaken by Antonelli. Antonelli could do that because there was no risk at all of him being overtaken by Isaac Adjar. And I know this hasn't really affected Red Bulls Day very much. But I think Hadjar, this is one of his worst performances on pace that we've seen so far this year. very, even very early on, he was quite distant from that group. And it just meant that Ancinelli could quite comfortably sit back in this gap and wait until the others come into the

pits, use his tires a bit more at that point and create, was it about six lap or so offset early on? I think Mercedes played this correctly. If a couple of those safety car decisions go the other way, he could have even taken second place here. Like if, for example, Perez and what happened there, that had resulted in a VSC or a safety car. Antonelli was in prime position to take advantage of that. If it stayed out a bit longer, he would have used the VSC to effect. And he was actually sort of stuck in the middle of those two incidents. So you can't even really say luck has played into this for Antonelli today.

It hasn't massively played against him either, to be clear, but I think the way in which Mercedes and he handled this, pretty impressive. I think it shows how good this were all places at the moment. The fact that he's going up against, obviously, like Hamilton behind him at the end, and he has Russell to compete with across the whole weekend. We've got to talk through what's going on with Russell, but it feels like the raw pace is still there.

Even when Russell is trying to get through the traffic and finally gets into clean air, it never looks like Russell's got the pace to catch up to the back of Lecler. I mean, he's nearly got Hajjah, but that's my point. He's nearly got Hagger. It feels like on a different day, Antingelli, if it's a swap positions, would have maybe going the fight with Hagler and passed him,

is just too far off that pace. Antony is a really brilliant job here to capitalise on a really poor weekend for his championship rivals. Harry, do you think the one-stop would have been possible for Antonelli? We saw the likes of Limblud and Bortoletto do it. Could Antonelli have done it as well? I think maybe, but I think they made the right call in the end. It was marginal, the one-stop. And he probably would have been the only one they could have made it work.

But I don't think they played it wrong. by, I think that's what they were aiming for initially, or at least they were keeping their options open. But I think it was the right call to, to bin that off in the end. It would have been a tough one towards the end of that race. My opinion on this, Sam, is that it was on, but their error was not impitting Antonelli the second time.

It was they didn't go long enough on the first in. I think they should have pushed that out, maybe five or six more laps, and then I think it becomes more viable. I think they went a bit early. I actually think it was very much on and I agree that was where I actually think it went wrong for them they should have pitted once

but they should have extended another 10 laps at most I think that first time around and I think with the fact that with hindsight wing over Stappen has ailing soft tires and whilst the pace is good from the Stappan I do think that the long term hard tire pace will have been enough to hold off the gap to Vastappen especially with the stoppages in play that we had

you know we had that VSE come up that's a neutralisation of the race for another lap you've got the yellow flags the backmarkers all getting in the way. These are little hurdles that the car's chasing you down have to mitigate. And you don't. As the car in front of that pack, you do not have to worry. You just have to drive that clean race.

So I think the ones that was on, I think it's cost them a place. But with everything that went on today, one place, after all that, when you started further back and beating both your rivals, it's still a successful day. You take that when you have the championship lead for sure. Harry, what about Russell's Grand Prix? Was it a case of as soon as he lost all those positions going into turn one? his race was kind of set in that he could still beat the midfield cars,

but ultimately not beat anyone else. Yeah, I think it was done for there. I think without a proper full safety car, there was nothing to really bring him back into the action. To be honest, it wasn't too far off Hadchar at the end, but tough day. I mean, that's your race is done before you've even got to the first corner, which is the run of luck that he's having at the moment, George Russell.

whether that was driver or car error. So it was an odd one to have anti-stool like that. But it seems like we're to have anti-stall on these cars when they rev the nuts off them on the grid. Like it's not like he's too low. So yeah, you'd edge towards a car problem. But yeah, it was a tough day. Tough day at the office.

Yeah, we fixed your power issue, George, for the weekend. You don't have any. Guys, I do feel for him. I feel like it's, as we mentioned in the preview, there's a combination of the car having problems. There was a crack in the power unit, for example. But when you're down on your luck, and as a sports person, you need motivation.

You need to ride the highs, you know, you ride that momentum. For another thing, you just tick the wrong way on a race where he needs to beat, to be Antigelli, realistically, going to the summer break. It's just another knock and another knock and another knock. And I think it will start to really build.

And I know whether that anti-stool, is a failure of the car or the anti-store is a failure of Russell, neither is going to help his confidence at all. And it's just a kind of another knock in the coughing of this championship. Yeah. These are the sorts of things you really need to not only not go your way, but go on to your championship rivals. And he's already fighting, you know, a bit of a losing battle at this point in the season. And for that to happen, it's a tough. I don't really, in terms of the recovery drive, I think he got what he... He's fine.

I don't think he was ever going to really get more than that. Maybe taking agile as possible. But I don't think anyone else was on the cards again without that full course safety car. He did his job in that he got by all of the midfield cars that he has a considerable pace advantage over. But because of the way field spread works, I think by the time he'd cleared all the midfield cars,

he was more than a pit stop behind the leader. So there's not a lot you can do. once you're you're forced to overtake all of these cars over the course of many laps. Tough one for him. Shall we review our bold predictions before we go to our second break? Always a good use of the people's time. Sure. Sam kick us off. I said Max Verstappen would win.

He was close. You know what? I've hit the post. Yeah. Were you just praying for another gearbox issue in the last few laps? I know just respect to Landau, but, you know, bold prediction championship is the number one most important thing in Formula One. I will do what it takes.

Harry has expected Lance Stroll leading the charge for Aston Martin. Trying to get you a point for your bowl prediction to be right. I can't believe that. Cheers, Lance. Aston Martin pitted Fernando under the VSE. Just as it. And as he came in, it ends it. Yeah, no nilpoa for Aston Martin, but way closer than they've been all year.

so I'll take that as a small consolation prize. Yes, we will chat Aston Martin's progress after the break. I, of course, said that there would be an Audi inside the top six. Hold on, hold on, I just count here. Turn the nine upside down. That's not how it works. No. Damn, that's a real shame.

Can't wait to see that one. Can we review that? Can we have a look at that? No. No. No. No, no, VAR on that one, mate. Back to A.A. for you, mate.

Damn. We'll have a good chat about it midweek. That's fine. I thought they would be better here than racing balls based on the track. And they were not. It just looked the same. They were fine, but it just didn't look any different from the last few. Exactly the same.

Yeah. Don't matter if they got quicker straight line, because they're also got quick-off round corgans, apparently. That's just how quick they are. Doesn't matter. Although it was still true. I think Bortoletto spent 90% of this race, like half, a second behind another car. He loves doing that. It's his favourite pastime. In summary,

no bowl prediction points to be handed out this week. Don't worry, we'll be back in a month's time to see if we can get any right for Dutch GP. Let's take our next break. On the other side, we're getting into the midfield scraps and indeed Aston Martin and how they've coped on their first weekend with those upgrades. Welcome back, everyone. Let's talk racing balls because On a weekend where, Sam, and I know he'd joke, wasn't just me thinking that maybe this would be the weekend that Audi overtook racing balls in the midfield battle just again based on not needing as much power unit proficiency here.

They've done pretty well. Nico Hulkenberg walks away with his first points of the season and his first points for Audi. So that shows a step forward for him, at least. Unfortunately, that step forward was basically just having the same fight with the racing balls. And again, those two were fighting. We saw Lawson and Limbaugh again.

What are you doing? In the one behind a gang. Coming out next to each other again. Go wheel to wheel again. I'm going to say something crazy here. The fact that Limblerd lost out by about 20 seconds to Lawson in the end probably indicates they should have just played team orders there and let that go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think that might have been the right play. But what about the drama? That's a fair point. I hadn't thought about that. It's just for the plot, mate. We're all here for the plot. Yeah. The Racing Bulls plot.

Yeah, it's good from Audi. And you still have to give them credit. It's a team that's really finding their feet. Now, we know they took over from Salba, but they are essentially a new outfit. So they are scoring semi-regular points. Now, they are fighting with very established and competitive Formula One teams is a real mark of respect to them.

I did think they'd take a step forward. I do think this is an opportunity lost for Audi because these opportunities aren't going to come around a lot for them. Zanford might be another opportunity, but I do think that Zanfurt's a little bit more power related than Hungary is, so it might be tricky, but the corners are also a little bit quicker in some

areas of Zanthor as well, so maybe that benefits them. But these opportunities to go out and outright beat someone like a racing ball, an LP, which I did very well against, aren't few and far between. They just need to become the fully established fifth best team, rather than this, if all the conditions lying up

perfectly, we might get both cars inside the points. It's really tricky. We know that those top four teams basically have a stranglehold on the top eight places. So whoever picks up ninth and tenth is essentially a runaway winner here. I think that Hulk's done really well. I think Bortoletto's come out a little unlucky got to get through in the same way. There's every other chance that. Actually, another day, Hulkeberg is ninth, Bortletto is 10th,

and the racing balls are 11th and 12th. It could have gone that way at one point. Seems to be a repeated pattern, Harry, of almost like eighth down to 11th. You've got Lawson, Holkenberg, Lindblad and Bortoletto. today in that order, but always in some sort of order. Yeah, they'll be in one of those variations at the moment. I think they are relatively evenly matched those two teams. Yeah, a surprise that maybe Aldi didn't have more of an advantage over racing balls.

I mean, not more of an advantage. There wasn't really any advantage. No Holcombah finished ahead of them, but it was pretty evenly matched between all four cars. So, yeah, but it just shows, I think, what a good job that they're all doing. I think Racing Bulls are doing a great job, but also, as you mentioned, Sam, I know Audi aren't, the team themselves aren't new,

but it is a new, a new outfit, like you say. So I think credit should be given for that. Great stat, though, saw from F1. That's Holkenberg's best Hungarian GP results since 2010. How? How is that possible? Was he just the first person here at the race track in 2010? How does that work?

How has he not done any better? Since. What has he done better? at every Hungarian GP since 2010. He was permanently in seventh place for like five years at Force India and yet not here. Not here.

It's a big old no. Yeah, so that's random. But some, you know, well-deserved points finally after what has been a relatively unlucky year for the Hulk. But yeah, Audi might be a little bit disappointed on reflection of today. And that's for racing goals.

I mean, it's great, but those two are going to have each other at some point. Because the way they, the body language of those cars, when there is each other, ain't good. It's never good. And I think it might end up in a crash. But for the, for now, it's, as we said, it's for the plot. And when it happens, I won't mind it. Because I feel like that's something we're missing a little bit at the moment, possibly. Again, we're getting quite a lot of overtakes this year. But with the crash, yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, there's not a lot of wheel-to-wheel contact.

It might well be. Give them enough opportunities. Carlos is trying. My guy is trying. Carlos is trying with someone. He's not racing. Whatever the opportunity arises, okay? Fair play, Carlos.

Yeah. Fair play. In the most respectful way to everyone's health and safety, I do miss crashing. I love a good crush. Racing balls. Yeah, nippy little car in it?

Give me a little wagger. Yeah, it gets around, isn't it? it's, yeah, fair play to that. The fact that they keep, I know we joke, they keep trying to have each other off does indicate that they are making as much out of the car as each other. And we saw Lawson obviously outqualified by Limblud,

but getting a better start, up three positions at the start of the Grand Prix, and then able to open up a bit of an advantage. And I think Lawson did really well, essentially to avoid the undercut presence of, not only his teammate, but also maybe most predominantly Nico Holcomberg because that was, I think,

the only way Audi were going to get by was using that strategy because, again, I didn't think on circuit they were going to have the run in that power unit to get by. But they were able to strategically manage that. So fair play to the team and also to Lawson. Limbludd credit to him for getting a point

because he pit on lap 20 of this race, which means he did 50, laps on that hard tire. I know we were asking about whether Antonelli could have gone to the end. He picked a couple laps after Limbler did. So real respect for the way in which he was able to hold off Bortoletto, particularly towards the end where Bortoletto was all over him like a rash. Bortoletto, I was a bit disappointed by in the qualifying I was disappointed anyway. He then didn't really make much progress at the start. And as I kind of mentioned before the break, spent a lot of time just stuck behind other cars.

And I thought he would put more pressure on Limbludd earlier given he had a nine tire offset, a nine lap tire offset to Limblud. And then lastly, just with Nico Holkenberg, finally, I'm glad that's off his back because it was a bit insane that he didn't have any points this year. He has been deserving of quite a few. So I'm just glad that we can now put that stat to rest. And he's got something on the board. With those finishes, there have been some shifts of course.

in the constructor standings, racing balls are now five points clear of Alpine having moved from being level with them. So they're now officially fifth, but Audi have now gone past Williams. Yes. With that move, right? And now are up to eighth, Williams down to ninth. Yeah. And you have to think in terms of racing balls versus Alpine, until Alpine upgrade the car,

that gaping coming down. Just going to keep getting bigger. Yeah. Aston Martin, no points for them here. But with that upgraded car, there were at least bigger expectations. Fernando Alonzo able to get out of Q1. And here we see in the race no points, but clear of the Williams drivers.

Of course, the Cadillac's retired, but they were going to finish ahead of them anyway. Clear of the hash drivers. If you had to go, maybe let's scale this Sam, 1 to 10. How happy should Aston Martin be based on this weekend? Like a four and a half, five, I think. Like it is a notable step forward, yeah. but it ain't anything special.

They've just got the car to a really normal, respectable level where they're around other cars now. And on the surface of it, we're all happy that the car's gotten better. But it shouldn't be in this bag in the first place. And it's like praising the naughty kid at school for just having a good day, just behaving in class.

It's like, yeah, okay, you're now behaving the same as everyone else. Why should I give you any credit? I shouldn't really. Just stop being naughty. Astrid Martin, stop being slow. Okay, you've done that now. Do you want to be quick at any point?

No. And they weren't particularly quick. They were better than Williams and they beat a Kagalak that retired. So well done. And Haas, who can't upgrade the car because they can't afford to. So it's not ideal for them really, is it? The sooner isn't great, but it is nice that they have taking a positive step forward. Harry, same scale, one to ten.

How happy should Aston Martin be about their performance? I'll be going. I'll go for a six. I think you're right. It's how ridiculous is it that this. it should feel this good the 13th and 14th but considering where they were

because I know we said before the weekend it can't get any worse but given where that car was this is what they the car they had beforehand at some point when it was being designed they were like this is the right direction and obviously it wasn't

so there must be so narrator it was not but there must have been some doubt in their minds about these upgrades, even if they are confident about, you know, what they're seeing in the wind tunnel, etc. There's still be some doubt that what if this still isn't the right, right thing to do. So yes, I know it's not it's not catapult to the front of the grid or anything, but we

think it would have been ridiculous to think that they would have done. I think what is the most encouraging sign is the sheer amount of time delta they've gained back. And whilst it's not even good enough for points yet, they've got a long way to go. I think that should leave them feeling positive about this initial round of upgrades. And obviously there's the Honda engine one to come. They're saying there's a few more bits to be added to the car, not in any massive scale like this one. But it's some encouraging signs.

I think they would have been the other way around, but it would have been intriguing to see where Alonzo would have been in relative terms to the P12 at the end of that race. because, you know, generally it was all right. And he made those soft tyres last a long old time at the start of this one. So only for it to be thrown away by pitting him under VSE. All that work for nothing. So, yeah, I totally agree with what you're saying, Samworth.

This shouldn't be something. They shouldn't be like high-fiving and cheering. Woo-hoo. We're 13 to 14th. But I think for where they are, this is, this. is a big step because like I said, there was still a risk that they come to this weekend, and it got them 17th and 18th. I think if we're there, then that's bad. But I think this has given enough of a step. The time data delta is big enough, at least at this circuit,

for them to be encouraged. In my head, the scale is 10 out of 10 is they were fighting with Audi and racing bulls. Nort out of 10 or 1 out of 10 is they get level with Cadillac. in which case I think where they've ended up is about a five out of ten. I think it's pretty much bang on the expectations. If anything, maybe slightly above in that I thought they might be level with Huss, and they've actually gone, I think, a little bit ahead of them. So, again, the situation isn't ideal. We know that.

And if we'd said going into this season, we'd be talking about this as a success, that would have been incredibly worrying and rightly so. But based on the situation that they are in, this feels like a fair upgrade for such a big upgrade that they had coming into the weekend. The encouraging thing is we know there's more to come. We know that there's the engine upgrade at Zambor. But it's not just that. There are further, whether it's chassis or aeros upgrades, that they are coming to,

according to Adrian Nui and what he said on Friday. So this isn't the end of it. The other quite positive thing I thought was I think the race pace was a bit better than the qualifying pace. Alonzo kind of GAS gets out of Q1 but is ultimately still out qualified by the Haas of Esteban Ocon

race trim that's where Aston Martin were actually closer to the Alpines than they were to the hash drivers Stroll was relatively comfortably keeping

colopinto behind for a large portion of this race Alonzo was obviously doing his thing on that one stop until they again pit once the VSC was ending I think this can be a moderate success. And I guess this also makes sense as well,

but credit to them for essentially, Lanchstrol was the first driver to pit in this race. Fernando Alonso was the last driver to pit. They made sure that they went to the extremes of either strategy just to give themselves as much data because it wasn't ever going to be solved in this race. They just want as much information as possible to use future rounds. So I think that was logical.

Well, shall we move? on over to driver of the day. The verdict is in. You're the driver of the day. You're the driver of the day. You're good at driving. Who you got, Sam? Max Verstappen is my driver of the day.

I don't recall him making a single mistake. And that overtake, even though it was a big of a flop from Lewis, was delightful to watch. That's what we like to see. Proper late break in and leave around Hungary's is gorgeous stuff. keeping those soft tires afloat for that long as well really really tricky makes it work so thought it was really impressive harry max vastappen yeah i i think um lander as we said lander's pace was electric today um but there are a couple of errors in there are on the way and he was slightly

fortunate with how it went with the strategy uh with piastri so uh yeah vastepen i've already said i don't think that car deserve p2 he may have been the most angry man about the fact that it was going to P2, but he made it work. Him and Jog and Pickford have got a lot in common. Very good times. Just, yes, no. Furious at the job that they are doing all the time, all the time. So boring from both of you, really.

I'm also going Max for Stappen. I think he was the best driver of the day. Lando Norris might have had the best pace, but he made at least three errors, and those are the ones we saw. there could have been one or two more, we don't know. Yeah, he made that error, of course, into turn two, later repeated that same error,

and then also went off at turn four. By the way, in future years, might well call them by their now corner names. I don't really remember them all after. I'm not calling it driving centre. I mean, we have for calling it that. We have a corner on the F1 calendar called Pest. Buddha and Pets.

It's like we named them for a joke. And I'm sorry. I mean, you know, driving centre is the worst game of a call I've ever heard in my whole life. Did anyone also think about when they called turn three spring, that the run up from turn three to turn four is where Felipe Massa had his incident? I actually thought that's why they called it spring until I read up on it. I thought, bloody hell, that is savage. I would be dead if Felipe Massa's got a habit of suing people, Celeste,

I think they should start. He's taken him to court, man. I believe we're on your side on this one. Oh, man. So, yeah, clean sweep for Max Verstappen. What about worst driver of the day? Get in the bin, bin, bin, bin, bin, worst driver of the day. Ben, bin, bin, worse driver of the day.

You suck at driving. Who have you got here, Harry? Carlos Sines, mate. What do you do? Don't. I mean, as I already mentioned, the running piastri of the road and then also still not letting him by. bad enough. But as already mentioned,

he also got completely mulg-blind by Alonso right before that, which, as to be said, is left and dazed. But, uh, yeah, not great. Sam? I agree, but I'm going to raise you,

Olly Beerman, um, who managed to also be terrible under blue flags, was the worst thing his teammate by far for once, spang around all on his own, and picked up a penalty. It was his worst performance I've seen for a long time. from Ommy. Yeah, those are the two contenders.

Isaac Hatchat is delighted in the corner because he is, he was so slow versus Vastappen and yet he didn't do anything strictly wrong, whereas both of these drivers definitely did. I'm also going to go with Olly Berman, but honestly, could give it to either of them. And when it comes to power rankings tomorrow on Patreon, where of course we rate every driver from one to ten, low. We might be dropping, but I would have been doing recently. It might be low.

Big brain strap. Need you to box for wets. What? It's not even raining out. What are you talking about? Yeah, and Bob, if you get a chance, but you're... Sam, what we got? Well, I was going to go for the serious one of Bostappant,

but I'm actually going to go for Ferrari continually boxing their cars to end up behind Isaac Hager, because that's just not good to plagging at all, in any way, shape or form. The slowest man in the top eight, and you keep putting your car that needs a out-lap optimal right behind him. Not ideal. Excellent strategy.

As one George Bush once said. That's a deep cut. Wow. Harry, what are you going for? My one is, Chau LeClaire, being so polite about trying to get that pass to his teammate. we are losing quite a bit of time. Nothing else.

No, no, if it's Lewis Allen that he's like, I'm faster, get him out the way. Charles's like, we are losing quite a bit of time here. I am aware of what I'm talking about, but just to make you aware. Just to have a think about that one, guys. We're losing quite a bit of time. Internal model is so different.

Yeah. Yeah. I enjoyed that one. Tempting to go for Ferrari as well. Can we do anything different strategically? Thinking about it. message was great. I'll go with the serious one.

I'll go with Vastappen and the brave call not to put him under virtual safety car that ultimately ended up working. Let's take our final break on the other side. Of course, it's moment of the race. Welcome back to the final part of today's Hungarian GP race review. Of course, that means it's time for Moment of the Race. Sam, what was your moment of the race? Quite a lot, actually, to pick from today.

Again, this one does go to Ferrari. and that is when Charlerclair is struggling towards the back end of the Grand Prix. Guys, I'm losing plays. What can I do differently? We think it could be overheating. Just get back into the rhythm. What rhythm?

Of the night. What do you mean? What is it mean? What is it mean? Who knows? I actually, because I think he said which rhythm, which is even better because it's like there's multiple rhythms to choose from.

You know, it's 10020 beats per minute. What do you want? The tango? Also, no answer. No answer. that we are, I don't know. Honestly, copy and paste. I had that one down at number one.

No doubt about it. Had been stitches. Just classic Ferrari. Harry? That was one of mine. I will go for a different one, though. I will go for Faltry Bottas, bumping his way down the inside of the pit wall

just to try and stop the car because his brakes have failed. If it's over 30 degrees, Cadillac should just not bother. Just go home. It's like the car's made of a bonfire. They set some fire all the time. They've had two double D&Fs this year,

and they're the two hottest races we've had. That's not a coincidence. This is, sorry, this is a qualifying one, but Crofty yesterday, whilst we were on board with Bottas finishing off his lap, he was like, normally he'd be in Q3 Valtry, and then he crossed the line, but not today. I was like, there was no need for that.

Of course he's not going to be. Absolutely. It's a kicking a man while he's down. Is he going to make it? Not a reflection on him. It's the car. Missed it by a whisker. All right.

We've also got some moment of the race submissions from our Discord. Let's start with Hazer. In mathematics, there is a concept called convergence. No matter how many inputs and variables you give towards the end, the outcome will be the same. There is no better example than the racing balls. Forget the quality, forget the strategy, forget the pace. They will converge and be able to.

on the same piece of tarmac at the end of the race. Cheers, boys. As soon as he said convergence, I knew he's in top of that racing balls. How has he become like Einstein-level physicist in that one moment? Also, yeah, racing balls have forgotten all about that. They haven't forgot about one thing. The plot. True.

Just writing the greatest book in Formula One. Yeah. Credit to them for that. I don't know what name we want to go with here, but we've either got Buddha beef. or trackside beef, beef's at the Hungarian GP. Hello, live from Buda Beef.

Moment of the race was probably Max's filthy, filthy and re-overtape on Lewis. Unreal weekend. I won the F-1 unlocked prize to get in a pad of outstanding. Love you, Hungara Ring.

Okay, bye! How's the beer? hungry beef. I think tasty is why can you go with that? Book of beer, it's more like. Why are we not going for beef a pest? Very good. Very good.

Beef a pest. Well, that's what I've heard. Yeah, I've got to be honest, don't like Buddha beef. Not a fun. Flush it down the dangupe. Really annoyed this isn't a Wednesday, because I've been flushed it down the danube.

Would have been very good. Pop off at top content. up next faster than your mama hey y'all faster than your mama here moment of the race was the lap 46 past Lando Norris on Kimmy Antonelli there was a little bit of a tire difference there but it still immediately made me think man how many times

has Antonelli been past this season on on pace you know it can't be that many so good work from Lando Norris and McLaren pretty good race keep breaking late y'all yeah it's a good call out because whilst it felt like it was going to happen It still actually had to happen. He held them off for a couple of laps, right? Yeah, and it was well fought and clean,

and it was quite crucial still. So, great shout. Also, my favourite thing that Antonelli was told, don't fight the position. Could argue that was fighting the position. You could put my man in mortal combat. Yeah. With how many times you'll fight the position.

Up next, we have motion light. Hi, hi. Moment of the race. Max's race. Oh, that overtake. and then everybody ignoring blue flags, especially science. I mean, come on. It's been a while. I missed that.

Miss that too low. Yeah, two very notable instances in this Grand Prix. No doubt about it. Thank you very much indeed. Next up, we have LJ 136769. I don't know, man. How on earth has science got? away with a bloody attempted murder.

Norris. Stop whining on the radio, you wally. Well done, Crofty. Calling it a switch back. Not a switcher-roo. No moment of the race of that. Just stream of consciousness. A list of moans, arguably.

Now, I don't want to get all back in my day about this. But many years ago that Carlos Seines incident would have just been a drive-through and honestly fair yeah slap slap a drive you're a lap car get out the way um i also wanted to say am we how many shots would you take for every time crofty says nothing doing in this grand prix because that was just another beef was playing that clearly the whole of a whole of book of press play that one because they have a great night out indeed uh penultimate one dj spin to win oh baby it's a triple

My moment of the race for the Hungarian Grand Prix is three things. One, Max is driving, his pass around Lewis insane. Number two, Hannah making the strategy call, our queen. And number three, Asson Martin's upgrades actually making a difference. Heck yeah, keep breaking late. You know what, that was a concise triple barrel. But a triple barrel of positivity. The three, like, good things that happened.

He's always spinning to win, and he's always winning. Damn, right. Last up. Graham's staircase. Graham. This is Graham's staircase. Graham. I was just up there.

My moment of the race is a bunch of L's. We have Liam Lawson and the Limblad going at it again. Lep traffic being a problem. Lewis penalty and Lando wins. Very nice. I like that. I really enjoy the two part of that. I have a character hidden back there.

Can I just say, Very British advert. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe it's huge in America. I'm pretty sure we're the culpros here. Maybe Stegger stair lifts are sales of flying in the US. The camera guy, why? Why do they love us?

Specifically, Graham. Anyway, that's going to do it for Moment of the Race. Thank you very much to everyone who put your submissions in. That's very much appreciated. A little bit of a while. until we get back to, of course, the Dutch GP, which will be the next opportunity. But keep an eye out during the summer break,

because we might well ask for some audience participation in an episode at some point. Sam, despite the fact that we're going to a summer break, that doesn't mean we're going anywhere. No, and you're not allowed to leave, listeners, last day for the whole of the summer break, because there is much to discuss. You know, we've got midweek episodes

and Sunday episodes coming at you every single week of the summer break. hopefully to talk about much news that will come up because it could be silly season for driver transfers. We all guess has calendar changes with the likes of Sapan coming your way as well but also the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. We'll get there. It's confusing but we'll still get out.

And if you're even more F1 content, they do check out the Patreon. It just allows us to make so much more content. I'll bring it back to you and invest in the show. So thanks for what it does. But check it out for power rankings coming tomorrow as well. We go through every single driver and talk about their performance

and you get a say in that too, which is always fun to hear. For us, social media, late breaking F1, and join the Discord. We've got a bit more of a chip chat. In the meantime, I've been Simon Sage. I've been Ben Hocking. And I've been Harry Ede.

And remember, keep breaking late.