2024 Hungarian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Hungary
Grand Prix:Hungarian
Previous Round:2024 British Grand Prix
Next Round:2024 Belgian Grand Prix
Year:2024
Official Name:Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024
Race No:13
Season No:24
Location:Hungaroring
Mogyoród, Hungary
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.722
Course Km:4.381
Distance Laps:70
Distance Km:306.630
Distance Mi:190.531
Attendance:310,000[1]
Weather:Partly cloudy
Pole Driver:Lando Norris
Pole Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Pole Time:1:15.227
Pole Country:GBR
Fast Driver:George Russell
Fast Country:GBR
Fast Team:Mercedes
Fast Time:1:20.305
Fast Lap:55
First Driver:Oscar Piastri
First Country:AUS
First Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Second Driver:Lando Norris
Second Country:GBR
Second Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Third Driver:Lewis Hamilton
Third Country:GBR
Third Team:Mercedes

The 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 21 July 2024 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. It was the thirteenth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.

The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row, their first since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Piastri won the race for McLaren, marking his maiden victory in Formula One. Teammate Norris finished second, marking McLaren’s first 1–2 finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished third, becoming the first driver to record 200 career podiums.

Background

The event was held at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród for the 39th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 19–21 July.[2] The Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the 39th running of the Hungarian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship.[3]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 255 points, 84 points ahead of Lando Norris in second, and 105 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. Red Bull Racing, with 373 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 302 and 295 points, respectively.[4]

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[5] Oliver Bearman drove in the first free practice session for Haas, in place of Nico Hülkenberg.[6]

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (the three softest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at this event.[7]

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 19 July 2024 at 13:30 local time (UTC+2), and was topped by Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari ahead of Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc.[8] The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time, and was topped by Lando Norris of McLaren ahead of Verstappen and Sainz.[9] The third free practice session was held on 20 July 2024, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Verstappen.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 20 July 2024, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2).[10]

Qualifying report

The first segment of qualifying was held after a spell of rain hit the circuit. The track was sufficiently dry for slick tyres to be used. Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams into the barriers at turn 1. This accident brought out yellow flags and Sargeant's car was brought in for repairs. Sergio Pérez, who had been under pressure from his Red Bull Racing team after poor results, spun into the barriers and destroyed his car, suspending the session while the barriers were repaired. During this red flag period, the rain briefly returned and the track was left wet. Daniel Ricciardo ended the segment fastest. George Russell, in the Mercedes, was caught out and was eliminated from qualifying, alongside Pérez, Zhou Guanyu and the two Alpine cars of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

The second segment was topped by Lando Norris in the McLaren. Lewis Hamilton struggled during this session, only setting a time good enough for tenth. Nico Hülkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Alexander Albon, Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen were eliminated from this segment.

He showed initial pace, but the McLaren of Norris's pace was faster and he set the fastest time of the session, granting him provisional pole position. Yuki Tsunoda in the RB was involved in a heavy crash that left his chassis destroyed. Red flags were flown for the second and final time this session, and only Ricciardo (9th) was able to improve after the session was restarted. Oscar Piastri qualified second, which meant that McLaren secured a front-row lockout, their first since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Max Versappen was third.[11]

Qualifying classification

DriverConstructor
Q1Q2Q3
14 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:17.7551:15.5401:15.2271
281 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:17.5041:15.7851:15.2492
31 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPTdata-sort-value=1:17.0881:17.0871:15.7701:15.2733
455 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:17.2441:15.8851:15.6964
544 Lewis HamiltonMercedesdata-sort-value=1:17.0871:17.0871:16.3071:15.8545
616 Charles LeclercFerrari1:17.4371:15.8911:15.9056
714 Fernando Alonso1:17.6241:16.1171:16.0437
818 Lance Stroll1:17.4051:16.0751:16.2448
93 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT1:17.0501:16.2021:16.4479
1022 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT1:17.4361:16.1211:16.47710
1127Haas-Ferrari1:17.3621:16.317data-sort-value="11" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A11
1277 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:17.4871:16.384data-sort-value="12" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A12
1323 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:17.2801:16.429data-sort-value="13" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A13
142 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:17.7701:16.543data-sort-value="14" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A14
1520Haas-Ferrari1:17.8511:16.548data-sort-value="15" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A15
1611 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:17.886data-sort-value="16" align="center" style="background: silver" N/Adata-sort-value="16" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A16
1763 George RussellMercedes1:17.968data-sort-value="17" align="center" style="background: silver" N/Adata-sort-value="17" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A17
1824 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari1:18.037data-sort-value="18" align="center" style="background: silver" N/Adata-sort-value="18" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A18
1931 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:18.049data-sort-value="19" align="center" style="background: silver" N/Adata-sort-value="19" align="center" style="background: silver" N/A19
2010 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:18.166data-sort-value="20" align="center" style="background: silver" N/Adata-sort-value="20" align="center" style="background: silver" N/Adata-sort-value="20" align="center"
107% time

1:22.443

Source:[12] [13]
Notes

Race

The race was held on 21 July 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2), and was run for 70 laps.[10]

Race report

Pierre Gasly had changes made to his power unit during parc fermé, facilitating a pit lane start. He later retired from the race on lap 33 due to a suspected hydraulics leak. Most cars started on the medium compound tyres with some others opting for hard compound or soft compound. Polesitter Lando Norris lost position to teammate Oscar Piastri at the start. Championship leader Max Verstappen, starting from third, took second from Norris off-track. He let Norris retake second on lap 4, to avoid a potential penalty for gaining a position off track. The pit window was open by lap 17, and everyone went in for their scheduled stops, briefly giving Charles Leclerc the lead ahead of his stop. Sergio Pérez, who ended qualifying early after damaging his car, was able to recover to the points, eventually finishing seventh.

Lewis Hamilton soon saw himself engaged in a battle with Verstappen, who ended up being undercut by Hamilton and Leclerc. Verstappen, who had grown increasingly frustrated throughout the race, criticised the team's strategy calls and the handling and pace of the RB20 over team radio.[15] [16] Verstappen soon caught up to Hamilton and was subjected to strong defenses. An attempted overtake from Verstappen caused a collision between the two, prompting an investigation from the stewards. No penalty was given for the contact with the stewards determining that no driver was primarily at fault.[17] Norris was first up to pit for mediums in an attempt to cover off the potential risk of being overtaken by Hamilton; soon after, race-leading Piastri came in for mediums. Throughout the closing stages of the race, McLaren invoked team orders asking Norris, who had gained the lead via an undercut, to swap positions with Piastri. Norris slowed down at the start-finish straight on lap 68, giving Piastri the lead and eventual maiden race win. Hamilton rounded off the podium, becoming the first driver to record 200 career podiums.[18]

This was McLaren's first 1–2 finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.[19] McLaren's decision to swap Norris and Piastri was controversial, as Norris was the faster driver and had gained a six-second lead over Piastri. There was doubt from McLaren management and observers that Norris would obey the team orders, with Norris being instructed to swap positions over a twenty-lap period. Norris later stated that he always intended to swap positions and that he thought it was fair to give Piastri the win.[20] Ahead of the following, Norris stated he regretted that team orders had overshadowed Piastri's win and stated that he should have ceded position to his team mate sooner to avoid adding to the controversy and to allow him an opportunity to challenge Piastri for the lead if McLaren's team orders allowed it.[21] [22]

Race classification

DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints
181data-sort-value="pia" Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes701:38:01.989225
24data-sort-value="nor" Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes70+2.141118
344data-sort-value="ham" Lewis HamiltonMercedes70+14.880515
416data-sort-value="lec" Charles LeclercFerrari70+19.686612
51data-sort-value="ver" Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT70+21.349310
655data-sort-value="sai" Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari70+23.0734align=center data-sort-value="11"8
711data-sort-value="per" Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT70+39.792166
863data-sort-value="rus" George RussellMercedes70+42.368175
922data-sort-value="tsu" Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT70+1:17.259102
1018data-sort-value="str" Lance Stroll70+1:17.97681
1114data-sort-value="alo" Fernando AlonsoAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes70+1:22.4607
123data-sort-value="ric" Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT69+1 lap9
1327data-sort-value="hul" Haas-Ferrari69+1 lap11
1423data-sort-value="alb" Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes69+1 lap13
1520data-sort-value="mag" Haas-Ferrari69+1 lap15
1677data-sort-value="bot" Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari69+1 lap12
172data-sort-value="sar" Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes69+1 lap14
1831data-sort-value="oco" Esteban OconAlpine-Renault69+1 lap19
1924data-sort-value="zho" Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari69+1 lap18
data-sort-value="20"Ret10data-sort-value="gas" Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault33Hydraulics
Fastest lap

George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:20.305 (lap 55)

Source:[23] [24] [25]
Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
DriverPoints
1 Max Verstappen265
2 Lando Norris189
3 Charles Leclerc162
4 Carlos Sainz Jr.154
5 Oscar Piastri149
Source:[26]
Constructors' Championship standings
ConstructorPoints
1 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT389
12 McLaren-Mercedes338
13 Ferrari322
4 Mercedes241
569
Source:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 310,000 Attend 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix. F1 Destinations. 22 July 2024. 22 July 2024.
  2. Web site: Hungaroring . StatsF1.com . 18 July 2024.
  3. Web site: Grands Prix Hungary. StatsF1.com . 18 July 2024.
  4. Web site: Britain 2024 – Championship. Stats F1. 7 July 2024. 7 July 2024.
  5. Web site: 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix – Entry List. . 19 July 2024 . 19 July 2024.
  6. Web site: Oliver Bearman set for FP1 sessions and Reserve Driver role with Haas. Formula 2. 1 February 2024. 12 May 2024.
  7. Web site: All compounds on track over next three races . 18 July 2024 . Pirelli . en.
  8. Web site: 2024-07-19 . F1 Hungarian GP: Sainz quickest in FP1 over Verstappen, Leclerc . 2024-07-19 . Motorsport.com . en.
  9. Web site: 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix FP2 report and highlights: FP2: Norris sets the pace while Leclerc brings out red flags during second practice in Hungary . 2024-07-19 . Formula 1.com . en.
  10. Web site: Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 – Full timetable. Formula 1 . 18 July 2024 . en.
  11. News: 19 May 2024 . Norris clinches pole ahead of Piastri and Verstappen during dramatic qualifying in Hungary as Perez crashes out . Formula1.com . 21 July 2024.
  12. Web site: 20 July 2024 . Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 – Qualifying . 21 July 2024 . Formula 1.
  13. Web site: 21 July 2024. Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 – Starting Grid. 21 July 2024 . Formula 1.
  14. Web site: 2024 Formula One Sporting Regulations – Issue 6. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 April 2024. 17 May 2024.
  15. Web site: 'I want things to be done better' fumes Verstappen after Hungarian GP as he admits Red Bull now behind McLaren. www.formula1.com. 23 July 2024.
  16. Web site: 'We'll have discussions behind closed doors' – Horner defends Verstappen after heated radio outbursts in Hungary. www.formula1.com. 23 July 2024.
  17. Web site: 22 July 2024 . Hungarian GP: Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton escape stewards' penalty for dramatic F1 collision . 2024-07-24 . Sky Sports.
  18. Web site: Kelly . Sean . 21 July 2024 . Best facts and stats after the Hungarian GP . 2024-07-24 . Formula 1.
  19. Web site: Piastri wins Hungarian Grand Prix as Norris belatedly hands back lead in McLaren intra-team drama. www.formula1.com. 22 July 2024.
  20. Web site: 22 July 2024 . Lando Norris explains Hungarian Grand Prix controversy with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri . 24 July 2024 . Sky Sports.
  21. Web site: McKenna . Lorraine . 2024-07-25 . Norris regrets team orders row overshadowed Piastri win . 2024-07-25 . BBC Sport.
  22. Web site: Noble . Jonathon . 2024-07-25 . Norris: "Stupid" not to let Piastri through straight away in Hungary . 2024-07-25 . www.motorsport.com . en.
  23. Web site: 21 July 2024. Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 – Race Result. 21 July 2024. Formula 1.
  24. Web site: 21 July 2024. Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024 – Fastest Laps. 21 July 2024. Formula 1.
  25. Web site: Hungary 2024 – Result . Statsf1.com . 21 July 2024 .
  26. Web site: Hungary 2024 – Championship. Stats F1. 21 July 2024. 21 July 2024.