Hungarian Grand Prix – The best/worst of the editorial staff

We experienced a very lively Hungarian Grand Prix. Rain at the start. A big crash without any harm to the drivers. A unique second start. A eventful race with battles at all levels.

Clearly, this Hungarian Grand Prix is a TOP on its own. A lot of action on the track, a lot of commitment from the drivers, this 2021 edition will be remembered.

The TOP 3:

Alpine, Ocon and Alonso are heroes!

The men in blue pulled off the perfect move. Well helped at the start by Valtteri Bottas’ madness, Esteban Ocon, Alpine, and Fernando Alonso pulled off the perfect team race to make the Marseillaise resonate twice in Hungarian lands.

The Frenchman’s race is astonishing in its mastery. He resisted without making the slightest mistake against the four-time world champion that is Sebastian Vettel, his opponent of the day.

Alpine have believed in their pair of drivers since the beginning of the season. First, it was Alonso who struggled to readapt to the driving of an F1. Then it was Ocon’s turn to go through a rough patch without any good performances. The team has been able to support their drivers, giving them all the confidence they deserve. In the end, Ocon and Alpine achieved their first success in F1. Behind the drivers, the entire staff managed a perfect race, starting with flawless pit stops and strategy. A very beautiful team success!

To finish, Alonso ends the weekend by winning the title of driver of the day. A well-deserved success for the Spaniard who admirably resisted the assaults of a fired-up and aggressive Lewis Hamilton. Once again, he proves that despite the passing years, his talent and motivation are intact.

Williams, points … At last!

Alpine was not the only team to benefit from the leaders’ troubles in Hungary. Williams managed to stay in ambush to score big points in the constructors’ championship.

If we didn’t doubt that such a feat could come from Russell. We must pay tribute to Nicholas Latifi.

The Canadian driver has achieved a race as solid as consistent to finish 8th. After Vettel’s disqualification, he even finishes 7th.

His English teammate follows closely and finishes 8th.

Groove’s team thus takes a giant step forward with 10 units on the scoreboard and now surpasses Alfa Romeo by 3 points and Haas by 0. A reassuring situation for the next season, as it is highly likely that it will be complicated for the two teams powered by Ferrari to take back this eighth place from them.

Sainz proves that the driver’s instinct still prevails

His mistake in qualifying was quickly forgotten in the race. By finishing 3rd after Vettel’s disqualification, Carlos Sainz achieves a podium as unexpected as it is crucial.

But what makes Sainz score his TOP in our ranking is his disobedience to the strategic “orders” given by his engineer team.

Then bottlenecked for many laps by a valiant Yuki Tsunoda, the Spaniard was determined not to stop even though his pit crew thought he could undercut his Japanese rival.

By pushing the wear of his tires to the maximum, he was able to postpone his pit stop and continue an excellent comeback that brings him to the podium. The driver’s instinct spoke and disrupted the computerized strategies. Proof, if proof were needed, that motor racing remains above all a story of men.

The FLOP 3:

Complete rout for number 77

If the palm of success goes to Esteban Ocon, the golden shackle goes to Valtteri Bottas.

Nothing goes well for the native of Nastola. He is the cause of the crash that puts five single-seaters on the ground from the first lap, and irreparably damaging the one of the championship leader, Max Verstappen.

If he had planned his move, he could not have succeeded so perfectly.

Losing complete speed for many races, the Finnish driver commits the irreparable. He finds himself rightly penalized five places on the starting grid of the next Grand Prix in Belgium.

This will not improve his chances of being renewed as a starter at Mercedes next year.

Mick Schumacher too aggressive

At the beginning of the season, we all had a wary eye on his teammate Mazepin. It must be said that the latter, even though he is far behind the rest of the pack, is rather wise and continues calmly his learning.

The opposite of Mick Schumacher who makes quite a few mistakes. It is not the first time he crashed his car during free practice, which deprives him of qualifying sessions.

In races, in addition to being very inconsistent in his performance, he allows himself to have a very strong defense, even bordering on the unreasonable.

Despite the prestige of his name, nothing is guaranteed for the young German who must pull himself together if he doesn’t want to miss out on a career in red that was within his reach.

Daniel Ricciardo, on the brink of the abyss

If the Australian driver saved Renault’s season last year by multiplying excellent performances and podiums. This year 2021 at McLaren is the perfect opposite.

Daniel Ricciardo is lacking references while his teammate is taking all the honors. It is therefore not a lack of competitiveness of his car, but a huge underperformance on his part.

After Norris’ retirement, the first victim of Valtteri Bottas, McLaren’s chances of success rested on Ricciardo. He failed to regain his pace. Worse, Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo came and snatched the tenth place point from him at the end of the race.