The Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 qualifying session was a very dramatic one, with unexpected weather changes and strategy mistakes that kept me and I sure many others fans wondering what else is going to happen. From Sergio Perez's early exit to McLaren's impressive performance, another one two, even the very bad bad decision by Mercedes and talk about Alpyne, the session had plenty of talking points. I was a bit skeptical when they kept saying it was going to be a very hot and sunny day since Hungary is a race that most of the time rains and I really love the ambient there, how even during rain there is music and everyone dancing on the stands its just awesome, if there is one track I would love to go to during and Formula 1 GP is Hungary for sure.
Q1: Early Exits and Surprises
The first part of the qualifying session brought a few shocks with the most shocking being the elimination of Sergio Perez. Perez, driving for Red Bull he has been under a lot of pressure this season and his performance in Hungary did not help. The accident of Perez was a big blow not only to him but for the whole Red Bull team. He left the team early which has led to people questioning his future with the team, with many people expecting him to be transferred during the summer. It is clear that this season the Red Bull car is not as dominant as previous one leaving the question if they going to be able to win the Constructors Championship, in my opinion I think Verstappen will repeat this year but as a team him alone wining races wont be enough when you have three other teams making second and third, lets also keep in my mind Verstappen wont be wining all races to add up on this big challenge for Red Bull this year that is winning the constructors championship.George Russell also had an unfortunate time and did not even qualify for Q2. Mercedes’ approach appeared incorrect as they went for an early stop on the soft compounds and that did not work in their favor, he has been out performing Hamilton for some time but I think this year has been more clear than ever, at first he did took responsibility of not making it into Q2 but then it was known that at the pits they did not put enough fuel for more laps, Mercedes probably thought weather was going to get worst but in fact the track kept getting better.
Closing Q1 talk about clown pit wall, Alpyne decided not to send out any of his two drivers with enough time to at least give it a try, even after watching the top teams were going out too, this end up very very badly for a team that is most of the time having good appearance on the middle pack but now both Ocon and Gasly start at the end of the grid just because they did not go out and try.
Q2: Close Calls and Hamilton Escapes
Q2 was as unpredictable and nail biting as the first quarter. Lewis Hamilton was lucky to avoid the chop, coming home only 0.01 of a second before before Nico Hulkenberg, before Hungary everyone was claiming Mercedes is back and I have always been positive on Hamilton but the car was not there, at this point in time is really hard to say if their car is back for sure since on the last two races only their performance at Silverstone was very convincing while Russell wining at the Red Bull Ring was the result of Verstappen and Norris crash.VCRB did great in my opinion with Ricciardo and Tsunoda both making it out of Q2, specially both been big part of the entire Sergio Perez drama replacement, lets keep in mind that Tsunoda has been there the longest, next on the line if he is really next and not the first option there is Ricciardo a more experience driver who already drove for Red Bull back so they all trying to put up their best performance on every race although it makes it more special now that there is a posibility of an open seat at the main team.
Logan Sargeant also deserves a mention as he almost made it into the Q3, Sargeant made some errors but he was determined and this is a good sign for his Formula 1 career, he is another driver that is on the bullseye for the summer break or next season, its hard to say if Williams is going to keep him or bring in a rookie driver or could score a more season driver from the open market.
The session also had the unfortunate outcome of Hulkenberg, Bottas, Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen not making it through to the next round, from this pack there were not surprises to be honest as they are bottom teams.
Q3: McLaren's Dominance and Red Bull's Challenge
The last round of qualifying (Q3) was again the monopoly of McLaren as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri got the the 1 & 2 for McLaren, Norris did exceptionally well to clinch the pole position with a time that put the other drivers in the shade even after Verstappen making the impossible to stay on top. Piastri also did a great job and finished second and proved that McLaren is a force to be reckoned with this season, if we talk about their cars and drivers but once again this race seem to be the challenge for their pit wall, will McLaren become the new "clown wall" replacing Ferrari?!.Max Verstappen driving for Red Bull was able to hold on to the third position, although he was quite close to McLaren drivers, Verstappen is a driver that you just can't hurt, you have to kill him on the track because he can win races even with their car in current state, he is still in a good place to continue the fight in the race and he is a real contender, we also need to keep in mind how much Piastri wants his first win since it could become a problem if McLaren drivers start to fight each other making things easy for Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both did ok for Ferrari but Sainz had a better performance than Leclerc. Sainz was able to gain a decent position but the Ferrari pace was not there, if we are talking about making it to third place there is a big gap that during the race just becomes bigger and bigger after each lap if things stay the same, Ferrari has had a rather up and down season and this qualifying session was no exception, they seem to have the porpoising problem some what under control
Insights: Comparing Sergio Perez's 2023 and 2024 Seasons
Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez has been the complete opposite in the 2024 season as compared to the 2023 season. In 2023, Perez remained a key player, finishing in the points and playing a major role in the team’s victories for Red Bull. But, the 2024 season has not been so good for him. Issues with the team’s performance and frequent crashes have led to uncertainty over his position on the team. The qualifying session of the Hungarian Grand Prix was not very good and Perez crashed out in Q1. This season Perez has not been in the best of form and this has been a big concern to Red Bull especially with the new cost cap rules, today wreck is a costly one and for sure their mechanics are going to put on some hours to try to make the car worthy for tomorrow, the team requires both drivers to score points and Perez’s miseries, misfortune? bad luck? how do we even call it at this point? have forced Max Verstappen to deliver even more than usual.
Before the race there are several plots that can be talk about, will McLaren be able to translate their qualifying performance into a race victory? other than this one I think everything else is irrelevant because if you ask me I do think Verstappen takes this race been so close, it all comes down to perfect timing and decisions during the race.
The Hungarian Grand Prix will be an interesting race, I really hope it rains to make it even more interesting, the qualifying session has given a good build up to the race and one can only look forward to what the race has in store.
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