Race Report: Encouraging Sunday in Budapest Nets Seventh Podium of the Year

George Russell finished third and Kimi Antonelli P10 in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

It was an encouraging end to the ‘first half’ of the season, with a changed rear suspension specification providing a more consistent car balance and a positive result.

Starting P4, George made a good move around the outside into turn one to pass the McLaren of Lando Norris.

From there, he ran a traditional Medium/Hard/Hard two-stop race. Norris one-stopped to take victory but George passed the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the closing stages to take his sixth podium of the season.

Kimi meanwhile bounced back from qualifying P15 to drive a strong race to claim the final point in P10.

After also starting on the Medium tyre, he pitted for the Hard compound and ran that to the end of the race having gained track position on his rivals.

He defended on significantly older rubber from Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton to claim the final spot in the top 10.

The team now heads into the mandatory summer shutdown period before returning to the track in Zandvoort later this month.

Kimi Antonelli

That final stint was a very long one. It felt never-ending! I did close to 50 laps on that Hard tyre and by the end, I was just hanging on out of the final corner each lap and defending into turn one. The cars behind had superior grip but I was able to keep them behind. It felt great to get that final point as our pace in free air was good. If I can start nearer the front after the summer break, then I know we can fight for good points each weekend.

I am really happy that my confidence in the car has come back this weekend. I leave Budapest feeling much more comfortable after moving back to the previous rear suspension. Yesterday’s qualifying was just a shame as the pace was clearly there. We can take this feeling into the second half of the season and look forward to it with optimism now.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We leave the Hungaroring pleased with a solid result and encouraged by the improvement we have seen with the W16. George, starting P4, fought hard with Norris throughout the first two stints, showing good pace throughout. The McLaren was ultimately able to make the one stop work and with it, take victory. George’s speed though helped us close down the Ferrari of Leclerc and pick him off for P3 and the podium in the closing stages.

With Kimi, the first half of the race was frustrating as he was stuck in a train of cars all on different compounds. We opted to stop him to claim some free air, but he soon found himself back in the pack. It is to his great credit that by extending on the Hard tyre he opened the possibility of claiming the final point in P10. Some clever driving on near 50 lap old tyres held off Hadjar and Hamilton in what was an impressive final stint.

We now head into the mandatory summer shutdown period. When we return after the break, we will be looking to optimise the W16 and build on this confidence building weekend when we return in Zandvoort. There are still 10 races to go, and we want to end the season on a high. We are also in a battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship and we will be doing everything we can to claim this by the season finale in Abu Dhabi.