Hungarian Grand Prix Tag

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor With the benefit of Ferrari power for 2016, Red Bull’s ambitious junior squad thinks that it can take aim at the podium with its talented young drivers this season. Last season rookie sensations Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz moved the team up a notch in the pecking order and despite some rookie mistakes and bad luck, had some excellent drives, including two 4th place finishes for Verstappen, at Hungary and Austin. Last year’s STR10 marked 10 years since Red Bull bought out lovable F1 backmarkers MinardiRead More

Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen overcame a collision with Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and a drive-through penalty to achieve a fourth place result at the Hungaroring, the best finish of his young Formula One career. The collision came after a safety car restart and damaged the 17-year-old’s front wing. However, after several drivers were involved in incidents that took themselves out of a good result late in the going, Verstappen found himself in fourth at the finish. “I’m incredibly happy, to finish P4 is an incredible result,” said a jubilantRead More

Sebastian Vettel led nearly every lap at the Hungaroring en route to winning one of the most exciting races of the year. Vettel shot past both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to grab the lead entering Turn 1 with teammate Kimi Raikkonen following the German to make it a Ferrari 1-2 that remained that way for over half the race. Hamilton went off-track on the opening lap in order to avoid the backside of Rosberg, but a collision with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo later in the raceRead More

Lewis Hamilton outpaced Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by over half a second for his ninth pole in 10 races, his fifth overall at the Hungaroring. In the Q3 shootout, Rosberg closed on his final attempt on Hamilton, but the Brit followed up with a lap at 1:22.020s to the German’s 1:22.595s en route to an electrifying qualifying performance. Sebastian Vettel pushed Scuderia Ferrari up to third with a 1:22.739s, while former teammate Daniel Ricciardo shot his Renault-powered Red Bull to fourth, tying the Aussie’s best qualifying effort of the season.Read More

Lewis Hamilton edged out Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg by a mere 0.098s in FP3 for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The pair went out with roughly 20 minutes remaining on soft tires and knocked off Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenburg, who stood atop the timesheet for much of the session before ultimately dropping to sixth overall. Sebastian Vettel set the third fastest time but the Scuderia Ferrari driver was nearly a full second off the pace compared to Mercedes. The four-time Formula One World Champion was nearly 0.300s over Red BullRead More

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner does not expect any power unit upgrades from Renault until Formula One goes to Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix. The lack of upgrades hurts both Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso as the pair will have to race at Spa, Monza, Singapore and Suzuka before any performance improvements. As it stands, Renault has 12 development tokens remaining to use with expectations they will improve the V6 and turbo. The upgrades would only come into play for the final five races on the calendar.Read More

Manor Marussia F1 Team reserve driver Fabio Leimer made his long-awaited Formula One debut in FP1 for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 2013 GP2 Series champion timed the MR03B chassis in at 1:30.631 in the MR03B, nearly a full second behind teammate Will Stevens. Leimer’s session included two red flags for track cleanup, but the Swiss native managed 18 laps in extremely hot temperatures. “It was very good to get my first FP1 opportunity with the team and my thanks to them for doing this on a difficult weekend,” saidRead More

FP2 from the Hungaroring featured track temps at nearly 130 degrees Fahrenheit, slides galore and Red Bull within striking distance of Mercedes at the top of the time sheets. Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time with a 1:23.949 with young Danil Kvyat was a mere 3/10ths behind with a strong 1:24.300. The high downforce nature of the Hungaroring seemingly suited the Red Bull which clearly made a step forward last go around at Silverstone. The team is playing down chances of victory as Renault power unit issues still loom overRead More

Sahara Force India driver Sergio Perez flipped in first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Mexican ran across the artificial grass on the exit of Turn 11 when a right rear suspension piece appeared to fail, sending the car spinning across the track and into the barrier before flipping over and settling upside down on the pavement. Perez, with some help from track officials, escaped with no indication of injury. A red flag was brought out to stop practice and clean up the wreckage. “It was a really badRead More

To honor the late Jules Bianchi, Formula One will take a moment of silence before the Hungarian Grand Prix at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday. The Frenchman succumbed to his injuries Friday, nine months after suffering severe head injuries sustained in an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Bianchi’s funeral was held Tuesday in his hometown of Nice which saw several current and former Formula One drivers attend, along with several officials. The 25-year-old’s death is the first in Formula One since the late Ayrtona Senna at the San MarinoRead More