Red Bull, for McLaren’s record; Alonso for ’33’ where the first, Hungary

red bulla team in which the Dutchman, Max Verstappen and the Mexican, Sergio Pérez, are coaching this weekend the historic record of consecutive victories -set by McLaren in 1988- at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the eleventh of the Formula One World Cup. proof that is disputed in hungrythe circuit outside Budapest where the Spaniards Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) is looking for its long-awaited 33rd victory, on the stage where, almost twenty years ago, it achieved its first.

VerstappenThe 25-year-old won eight of the first ten races of the year and is clearly aiming for a third straight title, leading the championship with 255 points, 99 more than ‘Checo’ -by 33-, who scored one more. two. The Asturian double world champion (2005 and 2006), in the second youth who is about to turn 42, has caused a sensation so far this season and, with six podiums, is third in the World Cup, 19 points behind the Mexican.

Two legends of the premier class, four-time French champion Alain Prost and triple Brazilian champion Ayrton Senna, won the first eleven races of 1988 for McLaren. Thirty-five years later, Red Bull – who, barring a major disaster, will reassert this year’s constructors’ title – will be in a position to equal that mark if it wins again in Hungary.

The Austrian team will repeat, in that case, the best start in history; and it will raise the record for consecutive victories to twelve, if we consider that ‘Mad Max’ also scored the last race last year; in Abu Dhabi. Where twice before he dethroned the seven-time English world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

alonso -who will celebrate his forty-second birthday next week at Spa-Francorchamps, venue of the Belgian Grand Prix- returned to the scene of his first victory, almost twenty years ago. When, by winning a race in which he doubled the great dominator of the time, the seven-time German world champion Michael Schumacher – who would end up celebrating his sixth title that year, his fourth with Ferrari – became the youngest ever winner. of all F1 history.

That day, by relegating two other amazing drivers to second and third place, Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, Alonso became the first Spaniard to win F1. And after raising his number of victories to 32 – ten years and two months ago, at the Spanish Grand Prix, in Montmeló (Barcelona) – he is still the only successful Spaniard; until last year Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) from Madrid when he won the British GP at Silverstone (England).

If Red Bull fails, the doors of the long-awaited ’33’ will open for Alonso. Something that, although he tries to avoid it, the Mexican Sergio Pérez does not see it as impossible; that last Saturday, within the framework of the exhibition he conducted on the streets of Madrid with the RB7 -where the German Sebastian Vettel obtained the second of his four titles in 2011-, he declared to Efe that “Almost that Fernando , Yes, this season. In several races he has been the fastest driver. He is close. And there is still a long season.”

‘Czech’, who hopes to “win a few more races” this year and admits his goal is runner-up, explained that what impressed him most about Alonso was his motivation. “I believe that Formula One, more than a matter of age, is a matter of motivation. And that is what impresses me most about Fernando. That at almost 42 years old he continues to have that motivation,” the best Formula One the driver told Efe. The history of Mexico.

Sainz, with a Ferrari far from what he wanted, is fifth in the World Championship, with 83 points, 172 less than the super-predator. With one win and fifteen podiums in F1, Carlos will be looking for the top spot this season at a track where he started second last year and finished fourth. In a race in which Verstappen prevailed: on that occasion starting tenth and allowing himself the luxury of a lap, before almost leaving the last World Cup before the holidays.

Hungary has been on the calendar since 1986, when it was still part of the communist bloc and became the first country on the other side of the ‘iron curtain’ to host an F1 race; which was won by Brazilian triple world champion Nelson Piquet. And no one can match Hamilton’s eight victories at the Hungarroring.

The circuit track outside the beautiful Hungarian capital measures 4,381 meters and has 14 curves -six on the left- of medium and low speed; which requires a high level of downforce. Something that, on paper, wouldn’t hurt green cars.

The new thing in this Grand Prix is ​​the new classification configuration. It will be held, as usual, with its three rounds (Q1, Q2 and Q3), but except that in the first action shooting with a hard wheel is mandatory; in the second with the middle; and in decisive Q3, with soft. The sole supplier, Pirelli, brought the softest range of compounds to Hungary: C3 (hard, distinguished by a white line), C4 (medium, yellow line) and C5 (soft, red).

Alonso came from finishing seventh at Silverstone, where, behind Verstappen, Mercedes advanced -with third place for Hamilton, who climbed the podium for the fourteenth time in front of his fans- and , above all, McLaren: which celebrated second place for Englishman Lando Norris and fourth for Australian Oscar Piastri, by far the best rookie of the year. ‘Checo’, after another bad Saturday, returned from fifteenth to sixth; and Sainz, in another poor strategy by his team, finished tenth.

In Hungary the Australian returned to the grid Daniel Ricciardo, until two weeks ago a Red Bull tester and where the Austrian team ‘loaned’ Alpha Tauri, its mother team, where he will replace the Dutchman Nyck de Vries. Another novice, but no luck; that he has not added a single point so far in the World Cup.

The Perth driver, who has 8 F1 wins -all with Red Bull except the last, two years ago, with McLaren- and who in his time was already a member of Toro Rosso (previous name of his ‘new’ team ), is back riding with the best in free practice this Friday. Some tests to be completed on Saturday before qualifying -with new rules regarding tires- will dictate the starting line for Sunday’s race. Scheduled for 70 laps, to complete a 306.6-kilometer route.