The 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix was one of the races that will go down in the history books not only for the action on the track but also for the off track events but in my opinion the most CRINGE radio communications of the season. The team that had been fighting for years to get back to the top of the podium was McLaren and they delivered a brilliant although not so brilliant 1 & 2 finish, talk about doing things wrong even when you manage to win a race. Nevertheless, it was not all smooth sailing for the duo as there were some questionable strategies and lack of communication on the team’s part that left the drivers and the viewers with a rather neutral feeling, for sure a lot of people was confuse for this situation until you actually go down to the gap between Norris and Hamilton. Oscar Piastri, the Australian driver won his first Formula 1 race and but I feel it was shaded by the entire drama, not like this. His teammate Lando Norris was in a rather unpleasant situation of having to let go of the lead position and the chance to win the race due to the team’s orders. While regular contenders such as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton also had their own drama incident throughout the race which only made the race even more interesting?!, that's what many think but was it interesting?. This Grand Prix has once again proved the fact that in Formula 1 it is not only the car speed that matters but also the decision making at the right time and the management of the relationships within the team where McLaren still have a lot of work to do.
Early Drama and Position Swaps
Hungarian Grand Prix was on with Oscar Piastri starting second but taking the lead before the first turn, the young Australian got a better start than his teammate Lando Norris who has been struggling with his starts even with the position advantage provided from the front row. Max Verstappen, who started third, went around the outside of turn one and there was not enough room for three cars, Verstappen went off the track and rejoined ahead of Norris which was a move that was later debated.On lap three Verstappen was still in the second position even with the dangerous move on Norris but to be honest there was nothing Norris could do he had no where to go between the two cars, the Red Bull team probably not wanting to be penalized told Verstappen to let Norris pass after this rule change and its up to the team to take action before stewards intervene, Verstappen agreed to do so on lap four but not before complaining to the team over the radio, it was here where the cringe radio comms started with Red Bull latter on having McLaren to set that bar of cringe higher with every lap latter on.
The McLaren Dilemma
A Controversial Pit Call
The real drama started when on lap 46 McLaren made a decision that affected the rest of the race, they decided to pit Norris who was second at that time, before the leader of the race Piastri, the team said this was to defend against Hamilton who was 10 seconds behind and without counting that the McLaren is currently way faster?. Under this situation Norris was like fine I'll pit "covering" Hamilton but also leaving Piastri on the track so he wont be a menace latter on, clear sky for Norris. Nevertheless, this decision left those paying attention to the race scratching their heads, as there was no threat from Hamilton at the time and both McLaren drivers could have come in for fresh tires without losing out to the Mercedes, this decision had Norris overcut his teammate and take the lead of the race, this time around McLaren not only destroy Piastri race but then destroy Norris wining chances, its like McLaren was trying to back pedal and trying to fix what happen on Silverstone after they took Piastri win from his hands, proof that when it comes down to taking desicions you should never regret for what happen in the past, its over and can't be fix.
The Awkward Team Order
After Norris’s pit stop and overtake, the McLaren pit wall was in a rather tricky situation they had to now REQUEST Norris to let Piastri pass him without any real fundamentals, why would a driver let his teamate pass him when him, Lando Norris, did not do anything wrong. Norris follow orders, he was not the one making the wrong call on Silverstone and things got worst when towards the end Piastri could not catch up.Probably the worst out of all this was that instead of a clear team order, Norris’s race engineer sent a series of somewhat confusing messages, telling Norris that he should let Piastri through “when he wants” and reminding him about the earlier discussions about team cooperation and championship fights, this rather indirect approach only added to the pressure and unease of the situation. It is unclear if this was talk before the race because if Norris was told that they playing the team game to win the constructors championship and follow orders then fine because he agree too do so but it does not seem to be the case, up to a point where McLaren basically told Lando, "you need the team and Piastri to win", I was like are you fucking serious? they threating him over the radio?
It wasn’t until lap 68 after several messages and warnings that Norris allowed Piastri to overtake him, the manner in which this was done left both drivers in a rather vulnerable position, Piastri who should have been celebrating probably like how Norris did with his first Formula 1 win, sounded rather disapointed like it was nothing special after the race, I would not blame him, blame his team directions and stupidity.
Norris, however tried to maintain a smile during the post race interviews but it was quite clear that the decisions that had been made by the team were affecting his morale, the mood was quite different from what one would expect from a team that had just achieved a 1 & 2 finish, like the one he had next to Riccirado at Monza 2021.
Verstappen vs Hamilton: Hungary Drama 2.0
When the McLaren drama was happening, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were involved in their own drama scene, their rivalry that has been the main storyline of the last years was ignited once more by a questionable move, I'm a Verstappen fan more than Hamilton mainly because how bad ass he is, but this time around he did have too much speed into the apex reason why he could not take the corner and ended crashing with Hamilton tire, lucky for both it was not a nose first into Hamilton car destroying both.
In the incident where Verstappen tried to overtake Hamilton and the two cars made contact, both drivers can be said to have contributed to the incident as Verstappen’s move was quite aggressive and Hamilton may have turned in too early, but if you look at what Hamilton did to cover up, this was a Verstappen signature move similar to what happen between Verstappen and Norris at the Red Bull Ring.
While it was a race that brought out the competitive nature of Formula 1 teams and how sometimes points could be more important than the driver, it also demonstrated how important good communication and strong decision making is when the pressure is on.
I really thought they had learn from the situation on Silverstone but it looks like they got the wrong memo, trying to fix things for Piastri and still making the wrong call when having their drivers box even when it meant winning the race in a very dominant way, because McLaren is the fastest car on the grid right now, hands down. But their pit wall is not ready yet, they are not at Ferrari levels because even when Binnotto had the fastest car and one of the best drivers they always find out a way to loose the race.
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