The final race before the summer break is in Hungary, where it will be interesting to see if anyone can knock Antonelli off the top spot. Aston Martin brings a whopping 16 upgrades, hoping to improve their times and gain some points for their cars.
Issues in practice
The final 3 practice sessions of this half of the season showcase a battle between Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes. All drivers seem to be on their A-game as they desperately try to utilise the practice sessions.
In FP1, Stroll suffers from a suspension failure as Verstappen struggles with his car setup. Both Ferrari drivers finish strong, with Verstappen in 2nd even though he was complaining.
The 2nd practice session doesn’t run long as Colapinto crashes into the barrier, and it’s again the Ferrari duo on top, with Norris in 3rd.
FP3 has a mixture of fast laps with Norris in pole, followed by Hamilton, and then Antonelli, our current leader of the pack. Perez has an incident where his brakes are on fire, so it’s not looking good for Cadillac.
Qualifying chaos
Qualifying has begun, and we’re excited to see everyone fighting hard. Both Cadillacs are out along with both Williams. Stroll takes 20th, and Colapinto gets through into Q2 and kicks Bearman out in 17th. Alonso qualifies into Q2, which is a huge achievement for Aston Martin.
Some drama in Q2 as Hadjar has a big spin at Turn 12; he was lucky he caught it before spinning off into the barrier completely. Both Alpine drivers are out, and Leclerc gets through, knocking Lawson out. Alonso takes 16th, his best position this season. Ocon and Bortoleto are also out in Q2.
We begin Q3, and it’s still all to play for; in particular, Mercedes are not looking as strong as they have previously. Verstappen has a spin on the final fast lap, which affects Antonelli’s fast lap. So it’s looking like Hamilton will take pole, but Norris is improving on his final lap and takes pole. Russell is stationary on track and brings out a double-waved yellow.
Norris does very well, finishing in 1st, followed by Hamilton in 2nd and Leclerc in 3rd. Antonelli could not improve and finished 4th, followed by Piastri and Verstappen in 6th after that spin. Russell in 7th after his car was stationary, Hadjar took 8th, and Lawson and Hulkenburg took the final 2 spots.
A late change to the order for the race as both Hamilton and Antonelli receive 3-place grid penalties. Hamilton for impeding Piastri in Q3 and Antonelli for failing to comply with the yellow flag efficiently. Piastri moves up into 3rd, and Hamilton will start 5th and Antonelli further down in 7th.
Can Norris hold off Antonelli?
Norris is quick off the line, and Piastri has passed Leclerc on the start as Verstappen has an excellent start, jumping both Ferraris to move up into 3rd. Hamilton is desperate to gain it back.
Norris went wide, and Piastri takes advantage, becoming the new race leader. Lawson and Ocon are having good starts, getting ahead 3places. Russell has a disastrous start with his car anti-stalling, and he’s down in 18th place.
Verstappen defends against Hamilton as he tries to overtake him into lap 3; he’s charging up his car, and Hamilton is setting fastest laps. Piastri is striding away with Norris just behind him after losing his 1st place.
Russell has overtaken Sainz and Bearman, moving up into 15th, and Antonelli is up into 6th, but not a great start for either driver. Lawson and Lindblad are holding their own and nearly touching on the start but settle in 8th and 9th.
Hamilton pressures Verstappen
On lap 8, Hamilton is now within 0.4 seconds behind Verstappen and desperate to overtake him to get into 3rd. This is working well for the Mclarens as they’re able to start making bigger gaps away from the other cars.
Albon has a difficult moment where he goes wide and nearly loses it but manages to get back on track. Hamilton is called to pit on lap 14, trying the undercut on Verstappen. Verstappen comes into the pit and comes out just behind Hamilton – Ferrari on top.
But a lap later they are fighting hard, and Verstappen dives on the inside, and they touch as Verstappen gets ahead. Bottas had a brake issue as his brakes are on fire, and he makes it into the pit lane, ending his race.
The first pit-stop phase
Piastri goes into the pit, which sets the chain of Leclerc and Norris to pit, meaning Antonelli is in 1st followed by Hadjar until they pit. But soon enough all these cars overtake Hadjar as he’s yet to pit, but Red Bull calls him in a lap later, and he comes out in 10th.
Verstappen is unhappy, complaining about his tyres and his lack of grip, but he is holding his place against Hamilton’s advantages. Russell has been doing steadily well as he’s now up to 7th, overtaking both Lindblad and Lawson.
They call Antonelli into the pit, completing a very fast pit stop of 2.1 seconds on lap 23 and coming out behind Leclerc in 6th. Russell is up into 7th but is yet to pit, hoping for a safety car. Norris is gaining on Piastri with only 0.5 seconds between them.
Leclerc is also gaining on Hamilton in 4th and 5th. Russell is called into the pits but has a slow stop for him on lap 28, and he comes out in 9th. Norris goes wide again, oversteering, and is now 1.8 seconds from his teammate.
McLaren’s strategy battle develops
On lap 31, Hamilton has been called into the pits, allowing Leclerc to get some free air. But he’s been beaten by Hadjar, so that will be difficult for him to overtake. As Piastri is being told to push his pace more, he complains the car is inconsistent on this tyre as Norris is already catching up to his teammate.
A few laps later, Piastri is called in for his 2nd pit stop. Norris complains, but Piastri gets priority as the race leader and comes out 5th. Halfway through the race, Antonelli is close to Leclerc; it will be interesting to see if Antonelli will attempt the one-stop.
Leclerc pits and comes out 7th and is chasing down Hadjar. Piastri and Sainz have an issue as they get too close when Piastri is trying to lap them and they bash tyres, which might give Norris an advantage.
Norris is called into the pits and comes out ahead of Piastri after his incident. Verstappen is called in to pit, and he’s out in 5th ahead of Leclerc for now. Antonelli is now in the lead, and we’re still trying to decipher if he’s trying the one-stop or if he’ll pit again.
Norris takes the lead
On lap 44, Leclerc is hot on Verstappen’s car, only 0.6 seconds between them as Norris is 0.3 seconds from Antonelli for 1st place. Sainz is under investigation for his previous encounter with Piastri.
Norris dives down the inside, but Antonelli shuts it down. At the next corner, Norris gains and gets ahead on the inside and is up into 1st, and Norris is storming away with Antonelli already 4.1 seconds behind him.
Leclerc complains about issues in the car, and they have said it’s due to overheating. And Perez has had his left suspension broken and is driving back to the pit to retire the car, a shame for Cadillac.
Mercedes have called Antonelli into the pit with only 15 laps to go, but an excellent run for him, and he comes out 6th ahead of his teammate. Now Hamilton is in 3rd and is 2 seconds from Piastri as Russell comes into the pit and comes out in 8th.
Piastri retires as the race changes again
Lap 56 and Piastri loses his gearbox and pulls to the side, retiring from the race, causing a virtual safety car just after both Mercedes pitted. Norris has come into the pits, and so does Hamilton, but Verstappen stays out and moves into 2nd behind Norris, and Hamilton comes out in 3rd ahead of Antonelli in 4th.
Ferrari made a good double stop, and Leclerc comes into the pit onto brand new tyres in 5th. It’s reviewed, and Antonelli came out ahead of Hamilton, so they swap positions and Hamilton fights to try and get past Antonelli and take the final podium position. Bearman receives a 5-second penalty for ignoring the blue flags.
The fight for the final points
Lawson and Bortoleto are fighting for 9th place 0.4 seconds apart as Antonelli and Hamilton are fighting close. Lawson manages to overtake and is up into 9th just behind his teammate, as Bortoleto falls to 11th as Hulkenburg overtakes him too.
A three-way fight between Linblad, Lawson and Hulkenburg for the bottom 3 places in the points. Hamilton is now 1.3 seconds behind Antonelli, but they are weaving through the traffic of other cars.
6 more laps to go, and Hamilton is now 0.5 seconds behind Antonelli as Hulkenburg gets up to 9th. Hamilton is given a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane when he was racing Antonelli to come out. But this will put Hamilton behind Leclerc and moving down to 5th.
Norris wins the Hungarian Grand Prix
Norris wins the Hungarian Grand Prix, a difficult grand prix for McLaren as they failed to have 2 cars finish with Piastri’s gearbox failure. But an excellent race for Norris. Verstappen finishes 2nd and Antonelli in 3rd, snagging some good points. Hamilton, with his penalty, finishes in 5th and Leclerc just ahead of him.
Hadjar has a good race, finishing in 6th; Russell has a recovery race in 7th, a good job from him. Lawson takes 8th, Hulkenburg in 9th, and Lindblad snags the last point in 10th.
An honourable mention to Aston Martin, as Stroll finished in 13th and Alonso in 14th. Hopefully these improvements can continue for them in the 2nd half of the season and start scoring some points.
Now it’s time for the summer break, and we’ll be back in a few weeks, when we will be at the Zandvoort circuit in Holland, where we’ll enter the 2nd half of the 2026 season.
