Post-Hungary rankings: At this rate, McLaren will be constructors’ champion in 2024
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, it's time to take stock of the drivers' and constructors' standings. Red Bull's lead over McLaren is shrinking, while Alpine continues to pull away from the middle of the pack.
The ranking of teams.
With a first double since Monza in 2021, McLaren hit the bullseye this Sunday and take advantage of Red Bull’s underperformance (Verstappen finishes only fifth, Perez finishes seventh after starting sixteenth due to an accident in qualifying) to come back to just 51 units behind the Austrian manufacturer. Having scored 32 points more than Red Bull in the last four weekends, the Woking team is in an ideal position and could even overtake them in a few races if Perez fails to turn the tide.
If the situation remains the same over the next 5 races, it is likely that McLaren will simply become the leading team in the standings.
The McLarens take advantage of this to climb – already – to second place in the constructors’ standings at the expense of Ferrari, which had a solid weekend but currently lacks the pace of the British team. Behind them, Mercedes remains in fourth place, far ahead of Aston Martin but lagging behind the Italian team due to a very difficult start to the season. However, over the past five weekends, the German team has scored 75 points more than Ferrari, a sign of the resurgence of Toto Wolff’s team, which may well challenge Ferrari at the end of the season if they can maintain this pace.
Finally, one of the disappointments of the weekend concerns the Alpine team. After promising weekends in Canada and Austria (3 points scored in each weekend), the situation has once again reversed with very complicated Grand Prix races in Silverstone and Hungary for the Enstone team. Failed strategies in qualifying and a lack of reliability (Gasly just retired during two consecutive weekends) relegate Bruno Famin’s team to eighth place in the constructors’ championship, 18 points behind Haas.
Furthermore, Tsunoda’s good races, ninth in his Racing Bulls and thus gaining two precious points for his team, and Stroll, who takes the tenth place in his Aston Martin, further distance Alpine from the midfield, the team now being 24 units behind Racing Bulls who have 33 points and 60 behind the Silverstone team who have 69. Finally, no points were scored this weekend for Williams and Sauber, who are still at the bottom of the standings.
Driver’s ranking
In the top 10, the major change concerns Lewis Hamilton. With his third place, synonymous with his 200th career podium, the British driver gains two positions, moving from eighth to sixth place with 125 points. On the other hand, Perez and Russell each lose one position, due to failed qualifications this weekend.
In front of them, no change in positions, even if Piastri takes advantage of his victory to catch up with the two Ferraris. He is now only five points behind Sainz and thirteen behind the Monegasque, which could place the two McLarens on the podium in the drivers’ championship if this trend continues in the next races.
Outside the top 10, Tsunoda takes advantage of his good Hungarian weekend to catch up to Nico Hülkenberg in the standings. The two drivers have a total of 22 points since the start of the season and are in 11th and 12th place. Behind them, the positions have not changed as none of the drivers outside the top 12 have scored points. Thus, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas remains in last place in the standings.
At the dawn of the Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren now appears as the team to beat, ahead of Red Bull. Mercedes and Ferrari are lurking and could take advantage of this intense battle to play party poopers like the Austrian Grand Prix won by Russell. Aston Martin is regaining some performance and should be in the points, like Racing Bulls or Haas.
For Alpine, it is essential to optimize everything during the weekend in order to avoid finding themselves in a unfavorable situation at the back of the grid. Williams will take advantage of its straight line power at Spa to try to get into the points, while Sauber will hope for a eventful race to open its score.
