Martin Brandl on the results of the Hungarian Grand Prix

      Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle summed up the Hungarian Grand Prix…

      Based on practice results and early qualifying, it seemed that McLaren was completely dominant, both in single laps and in a long stint. But just before the final qualifying, it started drizzling, the wind direction and strength changed, and the asphalt temperature dropped so much that McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris immediately lost half a second compared to the second session.

      In the end, a stunning pole position was claimed by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, with McLaren drivers starting immediately behind him – Piastri ahead of Norris. This was the closest top ten finish in qualifying history spanning 75 years of Formula 1, all within half a second.

      George Russell was disappointed with his fourth place on the grid, believing that his car – which Mercedes decided to revert to a previous rear suspension setup for this weekend – could have achieved pole.

      We'll talk about the fight for victory a little later, but the biggest surprise of the weekend was Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll's results in the Aston Martin, who unexpectedly looked almost at the level of the leaders. Starting fifth and sixth, they finished fifth and seventh. Alonso drove a smart race, holding off a group of cars when he needed to conserve tires, then increased his lead over the only pit stop on the 39th lap.

      Gaining more and more momentum, Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber finished ahead of the Aston Martins, took sixth place, and was voted "Driver of the Day" by fans. He learned a lot from Fernando Alonso – his manager – skillfully applying that knowledge and becoming one to watch in the future.

      I don't want to write the next paragraph, which is dedicated to Lewis Hamilton, who experienced one of the worst weekends of his career, both on and off the track. He struggled with a lack of speed in qualifying and started only 12th, while his teammate Leclerc claimed pole.

      Lewis called himself "useless" in an interview after qualifying and offered the team to replace the driver. It would have been better not to say that, but he clearly wanted to openly punish himself.

      He is clearly going through a difficult situation in his personal life, and in the race, he finished in the same 12th position he started from, showing no signs of progress. After the race, he sat in the car for a long time, was very dejected in the interview again, and then refused to participate in the stewards' investigation of a rather ambitious move made by Max Verstappen against him at the blind and fast fourth corner, where Lewis decided to go off the track to avoid a collision. He did not want to dispute the incident, but Max attended the stewards' meeting, explained his point of view, and avoided a penalty.

      The summer break came at the perfect time for Lewis. It's painful to see such a great champion facing so many difficulties. Let's hope he will weather this storm and return to form, given his talent and experience; otherwise, I simply can't imagine how he will endure another two seasons at Ferrari or elsewhere in such a state.

      Leclerc in another Ferrari was also dissatisfied, but for different reasons. He led brilliantly after qualifying from pole and had excellent pace in the first segment, even pulling away from Piastri. But during the race, his pace dropped, and he radioed with concern about car issues.

      I think it all comes down to this: the Ferrari works much better with a minimal ride height, and we often see how much it touches the asphalt. This can lead to excessive wear of the control bar and make the car non-compliant with regulations, as happened in China earlier this year.

      We know that sometimes they lift off the throttle in high-speed corners to protect the bar from wear when the car is heavily loaded aerodynamically. During his pit stops in Budapest, Ferrari increased tire pressure to raise the car, which reduced grip and decreased the front wing angle of attack. This affected speed, and ultimately Leclerc finished 42 seconds behind the winner, including a five-second penalty for collision with Russell at the first corner, when he overtook him fighting for third place. Charles has only won one of the last sixteen races in which he started from pole.

      For Verstappen, the day was also not successful. His car lost speed as the tires overheated. Starting eighth and finishing ninth, he ended up behind his former teammate Liam Lawson. Difficult days for Red Bull.

      In the end, the two McLaren drivers once again fought for victory, bringing the team’s 200th GP win and the fourth consecutive winning double. This time, Norris won, although at the end of the first lap, when he dropped two positions to fifth behind Russell and Alonso, no one would have bet on his victory.

      Lando started well but moved a few times on the track and taking a better inside line ended up behind his teammate Piastri, being cautious on braking and losing the position.

      Ironically, this led to his victory. McLaren had to develop a strategy that allowed Piastri to overtake Leclerc by choosing pit stops on laps 18 and 45, forcing Ferrari to respond with a pit stop, which worked.

      Then McLaren asked Norris if he wanted to fit hard tires and go to the finish with one pit stop. If the plan failed, he would have finished third without risk. He gladly agreed, and they postponed his pit stop to lap 31, so he pitted 13 laps later than his teammate and now the only championship rival.

      Norris, taking the lead when Piastri pitted the second time, went 39 laps at excellent pace, keeping the tires in acceptable condition. It was clear that Piastri would catch him a few laps before the finish, given he was on the same tires but much fresher.

      And so it happened: three laps before the finish, Piastri attacked Norris on the inside of the first corner, apparently as a trial maneuver to determine the braking point. A lap later, he repeated the move, but Norris was already entering the corner, and the young Australian had to brake suddenly to avoid a collision. Somehow, he managed not to crash into the rear of Norris's car.

      The team's 200th victory was almost postponed, but everything was fine. Norris earned a well-deserved win; now he and Piastri are only nine points apart, and the fight is still ahead. The second part of the season after the summer break promises to be exciting.