The 2022 Formula 1 season continues in a hectic month of July in which the Great Circus has visited Silverstone, Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard. Complete the quartet of events within the month the Hungarian GP, an appointment that also puts an end to the first half of the season, understanding this equator not by events played but by the layout of the calendar. In the end, the round played on the track located in Budapest gives way to the three-week summer break.
A Hungarian GP that has Lewis Hamilton as the most successful driver, since the Briton has achieved up to eight wins on Magyar land. His last victory was in 2020, also achieving the fifth victory for Mercedes in Budapest. Nevertheless, the current winner of this test is Esteban Ocon after a memorable race in which Fernando Alonso gave his teammate a good cape. For now it is the only triumph of the French driver in the premier class, which highlights the magnitude of that performance.
Ferrari’s necessary offensive
Going back to this season and after Charles Leclerc’s accident at Paul Ricard, everything has turned very expensive for Red Bull. For that reason, Ferrari needs to launch a huge offensive in Hungary and go to the summer break with better feelings. In the end, Leclerc is 63 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship overall and Carlos Sainz is still behind Sergio Pérez, since among other things his great career in France did not have the spoils he deserved.
In this sense, Hungaroring should be a favorable circuit for Ferrari’s interests, although the theoretical advantage that his car has shown in some phases of the season has been diluted by the push of Red Bull. If we add to this fact that the races in Budapest are quite unpredictablethe truth is that Ferrari risks starring in an offensive that comes to nothing or that can even turn against him. In this duel between Charles and Max and between Ferrari and Red Bull, the Mercedes drivers are on the prowl.
A special stage for Alonso
The Hungaroring circuit is also very special for Fernando Alonso. With the hangover from his 41st birthday still in force, the Asturian pilot lands in a magical setting within his trajectory. In 2003, at the controls of the Renault R23B, the Spanish driver achieved the first of his 32 victories in Formula 1. He has never managed to win the Hungarian GP again, but by the way He has left memorable performances like the one that came together in 2006 in the rain or in 2021 to almost give victory to his teammate Esteban Ocon.
Recent display of Alonso’s talent, in enviable form and that faces this Grand Prix with enthusiasm in which the farewell of one of his great rivals also begins. Sebastian Vettel has announced that he will retire at the end of the season, so the German pilot starts the countdown to hang up his helmet. Total crossing of emotions that will also become palpable in some free training that we tell you live.