The Hungarian Grand Prix has been around for a long time, a firm favourite of the drivers and has been on the F1 calendar since 1986.
For the 2025 calendar, the Hungarian race is the final one before the summer break, a critical time for the drivers and teams to reset and stay focused for the rest of the races.
All three Formula 1 practice sessions had the same top three: Leclerc in 3rd, and then the McLaren duo in 2nd and 1st, with Norris on top.
A Questionable Qualifying
Qualifying was next, with a few surprises during Q1 as both Racing Bulls flew through to Q2. With the last lap approaching, there were still some big drivers at the bottom, such as Leclerc.
It was an unfortunate end for Albon, who slipped down to last place along with Hulkenberg. Previous teammates Gasly and Ocon both ended up beside each other in 17th and 18th.
A bad outcome for Redbull’s Tsunoda, who got pushed out by his RB replacement Lawson.
Onto Q2 now, with all still to play for, both Aston Martins are still fighting for places, and Alpine’s Colapinto is in Q2, a much better showing for him than last week’s qualifying.
With only the final lap to go, it’s evident that Hamilton in the Ferrari is struggling, and there’s nowhere for him to go.
Hamilton crosses the line 7th, but as the track ramps up, he quickly dwindles to 13th place, finishing his qualifying session.
A rookie duo out in the form of Antonelli and Bearman had a good showing, and let’s see if they can score some points in the race. Unfortunately, Colapinto can’t get higher and finishes his race in 14th alongside the Williams of Sainz.
Hamilton was deflated after his qualifying session; he has been reported to have been ‘losing his touch’. I’m hoping with a summer reset, he’ll come back fighting for the final half of the season.
A surprise twist for Q3 as the wind picked up, and a different gust of weather can always make the qualifying sessions more exciting and shocking.
It seemed the laps set at the start of Q3 were the fattest, and the track temperature dwindled throughout the sessions. The final laps, although for some drivers weren’t as wuci as before, still led to some surprising results.
A fantastic result for Aston Martin as both cars finished in Q3 in 5th and 6th, an excellent showing from there, it’s clear that their most recent update seems to be doing its job.
The final lap is in place as Leclerc goes ahead, finishing an extraordinary lap, putting his car on provisional pole. Still, like several weekends before, the McLarens are out for blood and want to hold onto the top spot.
It’s Russel next, and the best he can do for Mercedes is 4th place, a surprising result as they hadn’t looked powerful in practice. The Racing Bull duo take the final two spots in the top 10, thanks to their strategic advantage of having both teammates alongside each other.
A rare rookie qualified in 7th place, Bortolleto secured an excellent place for the race and hopefully will turn it into more points for Sauber. It’s clear that Jonathan Wheetley and Mattia Binotto are working their magic in this team, and this team has high hopes to finish in the midfield.
Now only the McLarens and Verstappen are left, and they’re desperate to knock Ferrari off the top position. However, the track hadn’t ramped up like usual, and the later the cars did the final lap, the worse off they were.
The gusty wind had changed the standard strategy, but McLaren fell into this trap. Norris went first, desperate to subpass Lecler’s time, but he was unsuccessful, slotting in 2nd behind him. Then Piastri went trying to overtake his teammate and his Ferrari rival.
Piastri missed the mark on Leclerc but surpassed his teammate and took 2nd place. Verstappen had an unfortunate final lap, only managing 8th place behind rookie Bortoleto.
So the final podium positions for the Hungarian Grand Prix had both McLarens in 2nd and 3rd position with Leclerc on pole.
It just shows that you can never exactly plan for qualifying.
Now let’s race!
As the lights went out at the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was all action off the line. Leclerc had a great start, dashing away, but with all orange in his mirrors, he knew he had to defend desperately.
Norris lurched out, trying to make some moves on his teammate as Piastri defended, both wanting to go after Leclerc. Russell made a daring move around the outside of the first corner, with Piastri just inches away.
Alonso also took this opportunity from Norris as they all went around the corner, scrapping to be ahead. In the end, Norris lost out to both Russel and Alonso, and Piastri managed to hang onto 2nd for now.
Stroll lost a place at the start to Bortoleto. The rookie now sits in 6th place, the highest he’s ever been in a Formula 1 race so far. Let’s see if he can keep it up.
On lap 3, Norris can overtake Alonso on the straight, showing off Mcalren’s straight line speed. Bortoleto also attempts to overtake Alonso, but doesn’t manage to get through.
Verstappen overtakes Stroll, and now Bortoleto is trapped between Verstappen and Alonso, not a combination I would like to be trapped between, but the young rookie holds his own.
The original strategy for this race was surely that all cars would be going for a two-stop strategy, as the one-stop seemed impossible in these track conditions.
Some cars pit early, even from lap 11. McLaren decided to bring Piastri in earlier than the other top cars, trying to undercut Leclerc on lap 19, a risky strategy which could pay off.
This creates a domino effect for Leclerc and Russel following for new tyres, but Norris stays out now leading the Hungarian Grand Prix.
On lap 25, Russel and Alonso come head to head with Russel trying a move on him to overtake and nearly making contact. After a few more laps, it’s clear that Norris is considering doing a one-stop strategy to keep hold of his lead.
Piastri is hunting Leclerc down, and with each lap, the gap between them is getting smaller. From Leclerc’s radio messages, it’s clear he’s not happy with his car set-up. Whilst Verstappen and Hamilton fight for 11th place, Hamilton goes wide and has to abort, and Verstappen flies through.
Norris is called in on lap 32 with a lightning-quick pitstop of 1.9 seconds, a brilliant job from the McLaren pit crew. A few sneaky tactical moves from Mcalren as they call Piastri into the pit on lap 40, but double bluff sending Leclerc into the pit whilst Piastri stays out for a few more laps so that he will have better tyres.
Now on lap 46, Piastri pits again with a speedy stop, coming out behind Leclerc and Norris in the lead, but he’s got better tyres to fight for positions.
A few laps later, Piastri makes a daring move on Leclerc, swiftly overtaking him and moving into 2nd position, where he can hunt down his teammate.
Leclerc is uncomfortable in this car, and Russell senses it as he’s in fourth place and is driving steadily along. He decided that with 10 laps to go, it was time to make a move on the tired Ferrari.
Russel dives on the inside to make a move, and Leclerc moves around erratically in the braking zone, even though Russel moves past him, Leclerc receives a 5-second penalty for it.
With only a few laps to go, the Piastri and Norris battle continues. Piastri has been gaining on Norris each lap, but Norris is holding his own and determined to defend his winning position.
On the penultimate lap, Piastri tries a move on the inside of Norris and locks up, almost crashing into him. Luckily, both Mcalren cars are okay, but I’m sure Zak Brown’s heart stopped for a moment.
That incident stops Piastri from being close enough to fight, so Norris sails away, crossing the checkered flag in 1st place. Piastri in 2nd, another 1-2 finish for McLaren and Russel in 3rd.
An excellent showing for Alonso, coming home in 5th and with his rookie buddy Bortoleto in 6th, a great collection of points for them.
The Redbull teams came home with the remainder of the points, with Lawson in 8th and Verstappen in 9th, and Antonelli snagged the final point in 10th for Mercedes.
The driver’s championship is now extremely close, with only 9 points separating the McLaren pair, with Piastri as the frontrunner. Verstappen and Russel are fighting hard for the remaining 3rd place, followed by both Ferraris.
The only rookie in the driver championship is Antonelli, clearly showing he was the best person to take over from Hamilton’s departure. A tight midfield battle between Williams, Sauber and Haas for the final three positions in the top 10 championship led by Albon, Hulkenburg and Ocon.
Now for a summer break, which will bring about lots of driver rumours, contract extensions, and will another team be able to fight McLaren’s dominance?
Stay tuned, and we will see you for the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
See you in Zandvoort!
Brilliant review to match the brilliant race. Barely moved from the sofa as it was engrossing throughout. So pleased Norris held on as it makes the next few races even more competitive. Keep up the super reviews.
Another excellent review of the race, it certainly was an exciting race and a very tense ending . I was cheering for Norris to remain in poll position and he did it.
Looking forward to the next race.