charles leclerc has taken the best time in training Free 2 of the Hungarian GP, But that is the only logical thing of all that has been seen this Friday in Budapest. Lando Norris, at 0.015, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon, are the immediate pursuers of the Monegasque… while Fernando Alonso appears eighth, Carlos Sainz tenth, Max Verstapen eleventh! or Lewis Hamilton 16. What is happening in Hungary or what is happening in F1 in the middle of the season?
McLaren still up
When a car like McLaren was one second off the lead since the start of the season, suddenly down eight tenths and repeating it on circuits as disparate as Silverstone and the Hungaroring, opposite in load and settings, is that there has been a a paradigm shift in F1. Suddenly, With equal tires, Alonso is 0.404 behind Norris, on a track that was supposed to benefit the AMR23 for its abundance of slow corners.
Is there something more than the improvements of McLaren and other teams?
you have to wonder if it’s just a matter of Aston Martin (Canada) upgrades not working and that the McLarens (Austria) have done it, or that the new construction of tires, introduced by Pirelli in Great Britainwith a casing more resistant to lateral torsion, has given a small or large twist to the grill.
Something similar happened in 2013. when a change in the casing and the gluing of the covers, brought down the strength of Ferrari until that moment to give it to Red Bull and other teams like Lotus, which until then was mid-table and with which, starting from Silverstone, a young Romain Grosjean achieved seven podiums in a row and Raikkonen won a race.
It is early to know, but the first notes are glimpsed. The fact of seeing Max Verstappen eleventh (with soft tires), no matter how much they released a new aerodynamic kit and a Czech 18, is also very rare.invites you to think that a change in the usual panorama from Bahrin may be taking place. The Mercedes also appear unusually down, with Hamilton 16th and Russell closing out the table.
Alonso, with the fly behind his ear
“I am not a fan of changing the rules in the middle of the championship, It is as if we change something in another sport, like the balls in tennis in the middle of a tournament and that happens here with the tires,… We are not clear If the change has affected us in the last two races, we have to see a couple of them more because it has also been for everyone. We are not 100 percent sure and we have to be,” warned Thursday, recently arrived in Budapest.
The Asturian left Silverstone pensive two weeks ago: “We have to see if the new tires have something to do with what happened this weekend”, he said after finishing sixth. “You have to analyze this well,” he added. And what was seen in the staging in Hungary will have only increased his doubts, that’s for sure.
Free Practice 2. Hungarian GP 2023
1 C. Leclerc Ferrari 1’17″686
2 L. Norris McLaren 1’17″701 +00″015
3 P. Gasly Alpine 1’17″918 +00″232
4 Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1’17″934 +00″248
5 E. Ocon Alpine 1’18″045 +00″359
6 N. Hulkenberg Haas 1’18″058 +00″372
7 V.Bottas Alfa Romeo 1’18″085 +00″399
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1’18″105 +00″419
9 G.Zhou Alfa Romeo 1’18″108 +00″422
10 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’18″182 +00″496
11 M. Verstappen Red Bull 1’18″279 +00″593
12 L Stroll Aston Martin 1’18″319 +00″633
13 A. Albon Williams 1’18″377 +00″691
14 D. Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1’18″385 +00″699
15 K. Magnussen Haas 1’18″504 +00″818
16L Hamilton Mercedes 1’18″746 +01″060
17L Sergeant Williams 1’18″836 +01″150
18 S. Perez Red Bull 1’18″978 +01″292
19 O. Piastri McLaren 1’19″117 +01″431
20 G. Russell Mercedes 1’19″175 +01″489
