Written by Naira Tarek, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
There is no doubt that McLaren’s performance has skyrocketed throughout this season compared to the 2023 season. The 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix curated a significant turning point for McLaren and also Red Bull, both positively and negatively.
McLaren’s outstanding performance has managed to shed light on the challenges and struggles Red Bull were facing throughout the weekend. Despite the reigning champions’ dominance on track earlier this season, they have faced a downward run of form in their performance.
You would notice them qualifying strongly and faring worse during the race, or vice versa. During the first lap of the race, Piastri managed to overtake his teammate Norris and occupy P1. Despite all the happiness regarding the race results, fans were left questioning McLaren’s strategy.
Carlos Sainz set a benchmark for the entire FP1, where he claimed P1. Neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez had a good weekend, and that raised so many questions about their team’s sudden struggle and lack of dominance on track.
During FP1, Verstappen managed to secure a P2, and the overall performance was really good. Unlike Verstappen, Perez secured a P11, which has been considered a decline in his performance since mid-this season. They were both on soft tyres and still managed to reach different positions on the grid.
Moving on to the McLarens, Norris held a grip on sixth. He has managed to maintain such high performance since the beginning of this season, more so after the Miami Grand Prix too.
The Australian driver, Oscar Piastri, was right behind his teammate in seventh, and his grip on the car was absolutely outstanding. The following timings are compared to Sainz’ interval benchmark, a 1:18.713.
TEAM(S) | FP1 |
Red Bull | Max VERSTAPPEN: 1:18.989 (+0.276s, Soft Tyres) Sergio PEREZ: 1:19.440 (+0.727s, Soft Tyres) |
McLaren | Lando NORRIS: 1:19.211 (+0.498s, Medium Tyres) Oscar PIASTRI: 1:19.249 (+0.536s, Medium Tyres) |
Now moving on to FP2, Lando grabbed P1 and achieved the fastest lap with a timing of 1:17.788 seconds. Unfortunately though, his teammate Piastri has dropped from P7 and all the way to P13.
Usually the free practice sessions do not determine the anticipated performance of the drivers through the qualifying and race; however, they give us a brief of the car performance and an overview of the track.
Moving on to the Red Bulls, Verstappen held on to the second position with medium tyres, and Perez secured fourth, also on medium tyres. The interval benchmark set by Lando Norris was +1:17.788.
TEAM(S) | FP2 |
Red Bull | Max VERSTAPPEN: 1:18.031 (+0.243s, Medium Tyres) Sergio PEREZ: 1:18.255 (+0.467s, Medium Tyres) |
McLaren | Oscar PIASTRI: 1:18.618 (+0.830s, Hard Tyres) |
Another breaking record for Norris in FP3, where he was the quickest with a time of 1:16.098 on soft tyres. Nevertheless, the battle for pole between McLaren and Red Bull was absolutely thrilling to watch! Piastri drove his performance upwards once again and managed to behold P2 right after his teammate, Norris.
Verstappen stood at P3, only 0.281 seconds away from Piastri’s car. On the other hand, though, Perez was struggling to dominate the track, as he was P13 and 0.856 seconds away from the driver in front of him.
TEAM(S) | FP3 |
Red Bull | Max VERSTAPPEN: 1:16.379 (+0.281s, Soft Tyres) Sergio PEREZ: 1:16.954 (+0.856s, Soft Tyres) |
McLaren | Oscar PIASTRI: 1:16.142 (+0.044s, Soft Tyres) |
Now racing into the qualifying, it was a nerve-racking hour where we had our hands right on top of our hearts the entire time. During Q1, Sergio Perez was eliminated after crashing at turn eight in the middle sector, and it was an absolute downgrade for the team.
Despite the outstanding performance of McLaren throughout the free practice sessions, they faced some struggles during Q1; however, they automatically bounced back throughout the rest of the qualifying. To put this into a technical aspect, here is a table of the lap times of Red Bull and McLaren during both the qualifying and the race.
TEAM(S) | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
Red Bull | Max VERSTAPPEN: 1:17.087 Sergio PEREZ: 1:17.886 | Max VERSTAPPEN: 1:15.770 Sergio PEREZ: DNF | Max VERSTAPPEN: 1:15.273 Sergio PEREZ: DNF |
McLaren | Lando NORRIS: 1:17.755 Oscar PIASTRI: 1:17.504 | Lando NORRIS: 1:15.540 Oscar PIASTRI: 1:15.785 | Lando NORRIS: 1:15.227 Oscar PIASTRI: 1:15.249 |
As for the race itself, the 70 laps were absolutely terrifying, and a lot has happened during them. Piastri’s good reaction time during the beginning of the race was noticed by the thousands of fans watching and also the commentators across all channels.
Late in the race, Verstappen clashed with Lewis Hamilton and was being placed under investigation by the FIA. What happened was that during the apex, Verstappen’s back tyre slightly touched Hamilton’s front tyre as Verstappen was trying to overtake.
After the incident, the battle between both of them heightened, and it was clearly showcasing itself on track. Fast forwarding to a few laps before the race ended, McLaren’s strategy was to ask Norris to let go of his position (P1) and let Piastri take the lead instead, and that is what happened.
Piastri overtook Norris’ position and was leading the race with a lap time of 1:38:01.989. Here is a table comparing the Red Bull’s lap time to Piastri and also Norris’ after giving his position.
TEAM(S) | RACE (LAP 70) |
Red Bull | Max VERSTAPPEN: +21.349s Sergio PEREZ: +39.792s |
McLaren | Lando NORRIS: +2.141s |
As for now, the 2024 F1 season witnessed a drastic change taking place from McLaren’s sudden dominance on track all the way to Red Bull’s unanticipated challenges.
The Hungarian GP this year is considered to be one of the most intense races out of all the races that took place so far in this season. It showcased the unexpected struggles of the Red Bull team and how their strategy and car performance led them to where they stood during the weekend.
The race ended with Piastri winning ahead of Norris and Hamilton on the podium. Both teams’ strategies were observed extensively by everyone watching the race, and despite the immense anger and disappointment fans on both sides felt, the thrill of the race managed to erase such emotions.
But the question here still beckons: Is McLaren becoming a threat to Red Bull on the track?
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