McLaren ascending, Max Verstappen frustrated, and more winners and losers from the Hungarian Grand Prix

Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images

Sunday’s one-two finish from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri tightened the F1 Constructors’ Championship picture

McLaren faced a ton of questions after the British Grand Prix.

The buildup to the Hungarian Grand Prix was filled with the Formula 1 world wondering if the Woking-based team was truly ready to take on teams like Red Bull at the front of the field. Strategic decisions that turned a potential one-two finish for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into a P3/P4 result opened the door to such criticism, and the fact that McLaren still left Silverstone with the biggest haul of points did little to quell the queries.

Saturday’s thunderous response, which saw McLaren lock out the front row in qualifying for the first time since it was Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton doing the driving, eased those questions for a moment. But Saturday night into Sunday morning only raised more questions, and the thought that Sunday was now a must-win for the team.

Well, consider that box checked too.

McLaren was able to convert a Saturday front-row lock out into one on Sunday, as Piastri captured his maiden Grand Prix victory ahead of Norris. However, if you are reading this you likely know that is not the full story, as McLaren again faces questions regarding how they handled strategy during a Grand Prix. While Piastri held the lead for the bulk of the race, a pit stop from Norris effectively worked to undercut his teammate, vaulting Norris into the lead.

As the laps ticked down, countless messages from race engineer Will Joseph implored Norris to give the position back. Eventually, with just a handful of laps left, Norris relented. Sacrificing his second F1 Grand Prix win — and a chance to cut deeper into Max Verstappen’s lead in the F1 Drivers’ Championship — for the stated team goal.

Whether McLaren handled things the best way possible is perhaps a matter of debate. But what is not up for debate is this:

They have arrived, and earlier than even they thought was possible.

When I spoke with McLaren CEO Zak Brown ahead of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, I asked him if a title challenge was possible for McLaren in 2024.

He viewed that as too optimistic.

“I think it’s probably still a little bit early,” said Brown when I asked if a Constructors’ title could be in the cards during the 2024 campaign. “I’d like to think that we’re gonna be able to compete for wins. We’re certainly getting very close.”

Very close, indeed.

McLaren now sits just 51 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship and has outscored Red Bull 184-121 over the last six race weekends. As the grid heads to Spa for next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix — the last race before the summer shutdown — McLaren is ascending, while Red Bull is facing questions of their own.

Can Team Papaya truly catch Red Bull? That question is a much tougher one to answer.

But as for whether a title fight is hear, that question has a much easier answer.

Game on.

Winners: Mercedes

Saturday was a “total underperformance” for Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Sunday was the complete opposite.

Lewis Hamilton recorded the 200th podium of his incredible career, capturing third after an extended battle with Max Verstappen. The result marks the fifth-straight Grand Prix with a Mercedes driver on the podium and comes in conditions that the team believes do not quite suit the W15. “These conditions are not for us,” team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “It’s hot and finishing on the podium, third, you need to see it as a success.”

On the other side of the garage, George Russell finished in eighth, which at first blush is not a great result for Mercedes given their recent form, but stands out given where he began. Russell started the day down in P17 after a disastrous Q1 on Saturday, so for the Mercedes driver to fight up to the points sticks out as a great recovery drive.

Winner: Sergio Pérez

Speaking of recovery drives …

Facing enormous pressure regarding his Red Bull future, Sergio Pérez recovered from a dismal showing on Saturday to scratch out a seventh-place finish, banking six points for Red Bull on a day where Max Verstappen found himself speaking to the media during the podium session, and not partaking in the celebration itself.

“I think that was the maximum we could achieve today; overtaking was impossible in the first stint on the hard. It was an aggressive strategy to begin on the hard and it worked well for us, from the start it was about putting it all together, making the right calls and the right progress,” said Pérez following the race. “My Team had to rebuild the car overnight and it was not one hundred percent on set-up, some correlation was off, so it’s positive I was able to feel at one with the car today and I am getting the feeling back, this is a good boost of confidence.

“The Team did an incredible job to get the car on track today after my crash, I need to maximise my own performance to match their hard work. The only thing that matters to me is my Team and the people working with me, I have to give my very best to them because they deserve it,” continued Pérez. “I am here keeping my head down; I will keep improving and get back to my form. I think we have the pace to fight at the front, we showed it today and it is just a matter of time until we are back on the podium.”

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner praised the driver’s performance.

“Checo drove a good race today and his strategy, getting the undercut on George, worked well. He also showed good pace, made good overtakes and hopefully would have taken some good confidence from that for a strong performance in Spa,” said the Red Bull boss.

Red Bull may still have a decision on their hands with Pérez, given how close the Constructors’ Championship standings are at the moment. But Pérez’s ability to salvage something on Sunday — a day where Verstappen was not at his best — may have kept his seat safe.

For now.

Loser: Daniel Ricciardo

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

In the team’s post-race media report, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team boss Lauren Mekies made it clear.

VCARB “got it wrong” with Ricciardo.

Despite starting the day up in ninth, Ricciardo set out on a set of mediums, then came into the pits early to make the switch to the hard compound. Ricciardo rejioned the fight amidst heavy traffic, and could not recover the spots he lost on his pit stop.

While a second pit stop saw him pick up a few places, it was not enough to get Ricciardo into the points, and he finished down in P12.

“Today it was a long and frustrating race. We didn’t use the pace we had in the clear air. We were on the mediums at the start of the race and after only a few laps we pitted for new hards together with the other cars who started on softs, coming out in traffic,” said Ricciardo. “It’s even more frustrating because we were quick all weekend, and I felt like we have taken ourselves out of the race so early as we couldn’t fight cars that were coming much quicker on newer [tires].”

As speculation continues to grow about Pérez’s future at Red Bull, Ricciardo remains one of the drivers linked to a potential spot alongside Verstappen for the second part of the season. But with Ricciardo finishing outside the points — and Yuki Tsunoda gutting his way through a drive into the points after a hard shunt on Saturday — adjust your predictions accordingly.

Winner: Yuki Tsunoda

Not only did Tsunoda recover from Saturday’s hard shunt, but the Japanese driver showed incredible tire management in the Grand Prix on Sunday. While the majority of the field opted for a two-stop strategy, Tsunoda was able to conserve his tires on his opening stint, not coming in for his mandatory compound change until Lap 29.

He, somehow, made this a one-stopper on Saturday.

“With Yuki, we decided to extend the first stint. His good tyre management and the consistency of lap times opened the possibility of doing a one-stop race, which is what we went for,” said Guillaume Dezoteux, VCARB’s Head of Vehicle Performance. “This strategy allowed us to beat the two Aston Martins which is a great achievement, concluding this weekend on a high note.”

Tsunoda has shown incredible growth this season, particularly when you recall the post-race incident with Ricciardo on the cooldown lap following the Bahrain Grand Prix. Whether this is enough to earn a promotion to Red Bull remains to be seen, but days like this should keep him in that discussion.

Loser: Max Verstappen

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

From almost the get-go, Verstappen seemed out of sorts on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver was frustrated with a team order to give back P2 to Lando Norris following an early overtake, as the team was concerned that an investigation into the move by race stewards would result in a penalty. Verstappen’s ire only grew over the race, as he was undercut on two different occasions by rivals on the track, and it boiled over after contact with Lewis Hamilton.

“Today was a tough race for us so naturally that frustrated me as I want things to be better. If you look at the whole race I don’t think we were fast enough; we unfortunately just didn’t have the pace and the strategy wasn’t working for us today,” said Verstappen after the race. “The high temperatures on the track also meant that the [tires] overheated, especially when we were trying to overtake throughout the race, which was very tough. We got stuck behind cars and let ourselves get undercut and I think we just didn’t have our best day. We had to fight our way back and lost so much time that we lost touch with both the McLarens.

“As the pace of the car wasn’t as good, we really needed to capitalise on the strategy and we just didn’t manage to do that today. I need to look back at what happened with Lewis but I committed to the move and I don’t think I braked too late but we collided,” added Verstappen. “I don’t think we could have beaten McLaren today but, from qualifying yesterday, I did think that P3 was on the cards, so it is a disappointing day all in all.”

Verstappen and Red Bull find themselves under increasing pressure this season. The team currently holds just a 51-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship, and Verstappen’s lead over Norris in the Drivers’ Championship was trimmed to 76 points. While both Verstappen and Red Bull remain the favorites in those contests, things are certainly going to be tougher for both driver and team down the stretch than they were in 2023.