Race Rundown: Belgium & Hungary

Race 13 and 14: Belgium and Hungary

Well it looks like I have once again been lacking in my race updates.  I have quite a few races to rundown and this post will be about the two races prior to summer break.  The Belgium GP which was a sprint week as well and the Hungary GP.  

Belgium Grand Prix:

Ok, buckle up because I just went over my notes from the Belgium GP and I think I went a little momentarily insane during the race and provided a decent amount of personal commentary that will be added here as well.

For the sprint, Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, and Lando Norris were in the top three,  Gasly was initially a DNS, but joined on lap 2.  

The ending podium for the sprint was Max, Oscar and then Lando. 

Then we have the Grand Prix, which was a rainy and wet race.  The starting grid was Lando, Oscar, Charles and Max, respectively.  The formation lap started behind the safety car and then there was an 80 minute (1 hour 20 minute) delay after the formation lap.

The race officially started at 10:20 my time, 16:20 track time.  The start of the race also started with a safety car from the pit lane.  The safety car stayed for the first four laps.

Oscar overtook Lando on lap 5.  It appeared that Lando may have had some battery problems and had limited battery power.  There was a battle for fifth between George Russell and Alex Albon, where George came out on top.  Lewis Hamilton then overtook Carlos Sainz for 16th.  Rough moment for the Williams cars.  

Antonelli went off the track then came back on.  Hamilton then overtook Colapinto for 15th, then Hülkenberg for 14th, and then Gasly for 13th.  Oliver Bearman overtook his teammate Esteban Ocon.  

Piastri went into the pit for a 2.8 second pit stop.  In my notes from the race I have that Piastri’s pit stop was 2.8 second but Lando’s was 3.5 seconds,  I am not 100% sure but I believe Lando’s pit stop was after Oscar’s.  This trend of long pit stops continues on with the McLaren’s and their pit stops in future races (I am writing this on October 6, so I am not predicting the future just pointing out the facts and spoiling the races if you haven’t watched them.).  I do not know what is going on at McLaren but they need to figure it out and learn how to properly work a wheel gun.  They also pitted Oscar onto mediums and Lando onto… Hards???  Like I’m sorry, I know I’m only a fan with some basic knowledge but pitting from inters to hard tyres while everyone else is on mediums is a choice.  (Insert we listen and we don’t judge, judgemental face here).

Hamilton overtakes AGAIN (did someone say hammertime??, not his engineer) for 7th.  Hülkenberg moves up to 9th.  Bortoleto and Hülkenberg switch spots.  

During races I text my best friend, who is equally obsessed with F1,  and we felt like McLaren is not equal with the way they treat their drivers, and fans on social media fight about this.  As someone whose favorite driver is Lando, I will say I hardly notice the favoritism, people say “oh my God, the Lando favoritism is out of hand” or “oh my God, the Piastri favoritism is so obvious”.  I notice that the team will prioritize one driver over the other during the race based on their places DURING the race. I believe that is normal, especially when you have two drivers who are battling each other for the championship and you do not want to have one #1 driver.  The point of that mini rant is they claimed they pitted Lando onto hard tyres for a “one-stop strategy”, but also Piastri onto mediums for a “one-stop strategy”.

At the end of the race, the podium was Oscar Piastri P1, Lando P2, and Max P3.  

Lewis Hamilton started 18th and finished seventh.  

I told my friend during the race that they should make me a commentator because it would either be complete silence with contemplation or screaming at a screen, other commentators, cars and pit walls, not real strategy training or knowledge, just pure fan vibes. But seriously, fan commentators?  I think that would be awesome every now and then.

Hungary Grand Prix:

Ok, y’all can relax because my rundown for the Hungary Grand Prix is a lot shorter than Belgium’s.  

During the start Lando Norris dropped back two places, from third to fifth, he then overtook Fernando Alonso.  The Saubers were then noted for false starts.  Bortoleto had no further action for moving before the signal while Hülkenberg received a 5 second penalty.  

Then this race had an anomaly for McLaren for the pit stops.  A 1.9 second pit stop for Lando Norris, A SUB 2 SECOND PIT STOP.

After the pit stop there was a battle between Lando and Oscar for first.   Pierre Gasly gets a 10 second penalty for causing a collision and Charles Leclerc gets a 5 second penalty for driving erratically.  

The podium for this race was Lando P1, Oscar P2, and George P3.  LANDO WINS.  

See what I mean, this rundown was a whole lot shorter than Belgium’s.