Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Hungarian Grand Prix

Photo by Clive Rose from Getty Images

It may be hard to pass at Hungary, but it always seems to find a way to be entertaining regardless.

I think so, at least.

Here are the winners and losers before the summer break.

Losers

5. Oliver Bearman

Good news! Oliver Bearman finally finished somewhere other than 11th!

Bad news! He didn’t finish at all.

I’m sure he would’ve preferred 11th, to be honest.

4. Alex Albon

Alex Albon had an absolutely fantastic race at Belgium, finishing 6th.

He had a miserable weekend in Hungary, getting knocked out in Q1 and finishing 15th.

Hungary just does not suit the Williams car.

3. Alpine

The French outfit finished 18th and 19th, which is last of the finishing runners.

Just a horrible weekend for Alpine.

2. Red Bull Racing

Red Bull has had problems with their car for about a year at this point, but Max Verstappen has been able to ease over the cracks by continuing to win races.

But this weekend, Verstappen was absolutely nowhere, finishing 9th in the race after qualifying 8th.

This car is now so bad that even Max Verstappen can’t do well.

That’s a big problem.

1. Lewis Hamilton

Another horrible qualifying weekend for Hamilton led to him saying that the problem is himself.

Now, Lewis has always been an admitted sore loser, but he seems to be lacking lots of confidence right now, and it’s brutal to see.

Hopefully he can use the summer break to reset and get some confidence back.

He needs it.

Winners

5. George Russell

Russell, once again, was never the fastest, never really interesting at all, and got a podium.

Consistency is key, after all.

It’s just not very entertaining.

4. Gabriel Bortoleto

When did Sauber become such a great car?

Whenever they did, it’s been incredibly exciting to see, as Bortoleto got a 6th place finish and another huge chunk of points for the team.

I thought Sauber would be clearly the worst car on the grid, and they’re 7th in the standings.

What a job by the team.

3. Liam Lawson

Red Bull broke Liam Lawson earlier in the season.

He had horrid performances, and I questioned whether he’d even be in the sport next year or not.

But for the fast few races, Lawson has been excellent, beating his teammate Isack Hadjar and getting consistent points finishes.

It’s crazy what confidence does in this sport.

2. Lando Norris

It was an incredible win for Lando Norris, making the one stop work and holding off his teammate and championship rival to get the win.

And, oddly enough, he only found himself in that strategy position because of a poor start which put him 4th in the race, meaning McLaren just tried to one stop to see if they could get Norris back into contention for the win.

Lando did a great job holding onto the tires, never making a mistake, and getting the win.

This sport can be very funny, sometimes.

1. Aston Martin

I contemplated only having the top spot for Fernando Alonso, who was excellent all weekend and finished 5th in the race, but I couldn’t ignore the best drive of the season for Lance Stroll as well.

So the whole team deserves plaudits for an excellent race, and frankly, an excellent season.

I didn’t think Adrian Newey would have that much of an impact on the team.

But I was very, very wrong.