Norris, amazing pole in Hungary and wearing Piastri against Verstappen

Again, the two McLarens against Verstappen. Two of the cars that have been the most consistent and fastest in recent races, against the current king, with a Red Bull that is very difficult to drive, has to do magic and pull a rabbit out of his hat in every corner to try to defeat Orange competitors. But finally, the orange cars accomplished their goal of taking the first line with a fantastic pole for Lando Norris against his teammate Piastri (2nd) and Verstappen (3rd).

The Englishman made the difference with perfect tire management on his return to execute a devastating and stratospheric second sector. followed by an Oscar Piastri who made a great last attempt at a very delicate and complex classification.

This is the second pole of the year for Norris after the one achieved in Barcelona. There he did not take advantage of it due to a bad start, where Max caught him. This time he had Oscar by his side to defend him against an ‘injured’ Verstappen who would start 3rd, alone against danger and with everything against him, after a McLaren with a great race pace to be able to play as a team against a Max alone, as ‘Checo’ Pérez had an accident in Q1 and will start 16th.

Norris can’t afford to make any more mistakes. At stake is not only victory this Sunday, but also showing Max that he has the hands, mind and team to win and make him suffer. And especially, show the champion that he and his team have learned from their mistakes.

Things are looking great for the two McLarens. After missing out on so many wins in the last few rounds due to mistakes, this time the Woking men will start first and second on a track where it’s very difficult to overtake because it’s so narrow. The start will again be important and Max Verstappen always gets oil from the starts. Two against Max in a battle where Oscar Piastri will be crucial to act as a protective shield for a Lando who wants to win again.

Sainz capitalizes on his result

In fourth position will start Carlos Sainz, who set a good time in Q3 on his second lap after a bad first lap, before a serious accident by Yuki Tsunoda against the wall forced a Q3 stop with a red flag in the absence of 2 minutes. And after that break, no one at the top could improve as the track deteriorated due to a few drops of rain.

The Spaniard from Ferrari does not seem to have enough race speed to think about fighting for the win. But he must be there to take advantage of any mistakes to get on the podium. So far, one of his direct rivals, Russell, has been eliminated after crashing out in Q1. They will face the other Mercedes, Hamilton’s, who will start 5th against Charles Leclerc who has improved (6th) but not enough after another weekend where he did not shine.

Alonso, damaged by the red flag

In Free Practice he was already hurt by a few yellow flags that prevented him from putting together all his best sectors in one lap on soft rubber, and in Q3, it happened again. A red flag at the decisive moment complicated his choices. He was 6th after his first lap and at that moment he was overtaken by Sainz, who managed to complete that second lap before Tsunoda’s accident.

Despite this, Alonso’s classification is very positive. At the start, on the wet track, he was always on top when he performed his laps and in his first attempt in Q2 he was 4th. Finally, he was 7th in a car that seemed to have improved. The goal of Aston Martin’s evolutions is to make its car more manageable and increase the confidence of drivers. Alonso was able to push further and it showed. His goal is points. He will start in a good position to leave Hungary with a good prize.

Disaster for Pérez, Russell and Alpine

Hungary always gives surprises and Q1 made it clear to all drivers that qualifying will be very complicated. In the beginning, it is key to overcome the complex test Q1. It is very easy to make a mistake and fall into the trap of this track, because the qualy starts to rain softly.

In that context, two of the ‘coconuts’ were left behind. ‘Checo’ Pérez crashed into the wall when the car went off the track on a rather wet track and would start 16th. And Russell, winner of two races in Austria, driving one of the leading cars, was left behind because of a mistake that a person who wants to fight for victories should not make: he exceeded the limits of the track, the his turn and he couldn’t do it. improve. He starts on the 17th.

The track is improving after a complicated initial test. Once it was over, we had to set a good time at the start because at the end of Q2 the traffic was going to be heavy, with everyone leaving at the last moments due to the improved track. Verstappen, Piastri, Sainz and Alonso achieved the best time at the start of the second part of ‘qualifying’ and moved without a problem to the final Q3, where Norris took the win.