The Return of the Honey Badger
A shocking announcement took place just days after the British Grand Prix as it was revealed that Nyck de Vries had been “sacked” from Alpha Tauri. In his place, is none other than Daniel Ricciardo. Danny Ric has experience with this team having driven for them 10 years ago when they were known as Toro Rosso and it’s really exciting to see the 8-time Grand Prix winner back on the grid. However, Ricciardo has a lot to prove after a pretty abysmal two years with McLaren (if you ignore his Monza 2021 victory) and it’s going to be really intriguing to see how the Honey Badger gets on this weekend and more specifically, how he fairs against teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Can Aston Martin recapture their early season form around the Hungaroring?
Aston Martin are having a pretty amazing season, especially when you consider that they had the second-worst car on the grid for most of the 2022 season. However, Aston Martin have also dropped off a little bit in the last couple of races and it has seen them drop down to third in the Constructors’ Championship as a result. Aston will certainly hope to be back fighting for a spot on the Podium considering this track should suit the car quite well (Alonso finished 2nd in Monaco and this is a similar sort of track). Also, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have gone well around here in the past.
Sergio Perez has to make Q3!
Red Bull have been pretty dominant this season, winning all 10 races (and 2 Sprints) and they lead the Constructors’ Championship by 208pts! However, it hasn’t been all smiles for them, and that mainly rests on the shoulders of Sergio Perez who’s failed to make it into Q3 in the last 5 rounds. Realistically, Checo should be qualifying on the front row every weekend or at the very least in the top 3, so it’s almost unforgivable. Perez’s only lifeline is the fact that Max Verstappen could win the Constructors’ Championship on his own, but that doesn’t change the fact that Sergio needs to sort out his Qualifying performances and make it to Q3 this weekend (and every weekend for that matter).
What can George Russell do this weekend?
George Russell has had a decent 2023 Season, but he’ll also be disappointed that he’s only 6th in the Drivers’ Championship and 39 points behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton. That’s not all Russell’s fault as he had to retire in Australia when he was running really well whilst he also got screwed over with the Safety Car a little bit in Silverstone last time out. I very much believe that George can have his best weekend of the season in Hungary and that’s mainly because he goes very well around this track. One of Russell’s most iconic Qualifying laps took place here back in 2019 when he came within a whisker of getting his pretty awful Williams into Q2. George also scored his first points for Williams here back in 2021 and last year, GR63 secured his first-ever Formula 1 Pole position. Let’s see if George can deliver another special moment around the Hungaroring this weekend.
Can McLaren continue where they left off in Silverstone?
It’s fair to say that McLaren had a pretty difficult start to the 2023 Season, but since Austria, things have started to pick up for the Woking-based outfit. Lando Norris secured a P4 for them in the Austrian Grand Prix before they had the most amazing British GP weekend as Lando finished on the Podium (P2) whilst Oscar Piastri finished in a brilliant P4 (he also deserved to be on the Podium). The craziest thing about McLaren’s season is they scored more points in Silverstone than they have the entire rest of the season! However, the big question is whether they can keep this form up, especially when the Hungaroring is a much different type of circuit. Whilst I’m not super confident, it is worth mentioning that Monaco was arguably McLaren’s best weekend of the season before the upgrades came in Austria.
My Predictions for Hungary Qualifying
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
Lance Stroll
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