F1 Hungarian GP: Five quick takeaways

Lando Norris used his opportunity

It would be a stretch to call this a fully deserved victory, but luck probably wasn’t the only factor at play. Lando Norris seized every opportunity the race presented and converted an alternative strategy into another win — which is a rarity in F1 these days. Sport isn’t always fair, and there are likely other drivers who performed better in Budapest than Norris. Oscar Piastri was quicker than his team-mate in qualifying and avoided mistakes on lap 1 — unlike Lando — but that put him on a strategy that ultimately wasn’t the best.

Norris, for his part, wasn’t perfect in qualifying and lost a couple of positions at the start, but he excelled when the opportunity arose. It may not have been the most brilliant of his victories, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

– Oleg Karpov

Ferrari was doomed from the start

There was a spectacular meltdown on the team radio as polesitter Charles Leclerc’s frustration with an unidentified car issue became full blown rage over the course of the 70-lap race.

Whatever the issue, it appears to have lost Leclerc any semblance of competitiveness over the second half of the race. But against the might of a two-pronged McLaren offensive, it was always going to be tough for Ferrari to win this race.

Leclerc successfully prevented an undercut attempt from Piastri, but funnily enough Piastri’s aggressive decision to win the race actually brought one-stopping Norris back into contention to get ahead of them both.

Coming under threat from George Russell to lose a podium probably wasn’t even considered by Ferrari, though, so that was another blow. The Monegasque’s repeated moves under braking to defend against the Mercedes looked like an outlet for his frustration.

The other side of the garage descended into crisis after Lewis Hamilton’s poor qualifying effort left him calling himself “useless” and suggesting Ferrari should change drivers.

There was little Hamilton could do on Sunday from 12th on the grid, but being bullied off the road by Max Verstappen just about summed up his race weekend. For the seven-time world champion, the summer break could not come soon enough.

– Filip Cleeren

Red Bull’s problems are even bigger than we thought

Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen put an end to the speculation, confirming that he will remain with Red Bull Racing in 2026. This clarity is undoubtedly welcome for the team and new boss Laurent Mekies, but the rest of the race weekend served as a brutal reality check for Red Bull.

While Andrea Stella still refused to rule Verstappen out of the title fight on Friday, the Dutchman’s own words seem far more accurate. On Saturday, Verstappen told Dutch media that Red Bull will not win another race under normal conditions for the remainder of the 2025 season — and that scenario now seems very plausible.

Granted, the Hungaroring wasn’t an ideal track for Red Bull last year either, but this weekend has been far worse than the team expected — including Helmut Marko and technical director Pierre Wache. The finishing positions of ninth and 18th, which even fell behind the sister team and a Sauber, starkly illustrate just how concerning the current situation is. And also how painful Red Bull’s new reality has become.

– Ronald Vording

Gabriel Bortoleto delivers his strongest F1 weekend yet

Yes, Nico Hulkenberg delivered a brilliant podium for Sauber at Silverstone a couple of races ago, but it’s Gabriel Bortoleto who has truly been shining lately, consistently extracting real pace from the C45.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

The Brazilian needed a few grands prix to find his footing in Formula 1 at the start of the 2025 season, but has been in strong form since scoring his first points in Austria.

In Hungary, Bortoleto reached Q3 on Saturday for the fourth time in the last five qualifying sessions (including the sprint shootout in Spa), earning a career-best seventh place on the grid.

He converted that into another impressive race performance, holding off Max Verstappen at the start and even battling with Fernando Alonso at times, on his way to a superb sixth-place finish — his best result to date and his third points-scoring finish in the last four races.

Bortoleto’s form helped extend Sauber’s streak to six consecutive races in the points, underlining both his steady progress and the team’s growing consistency.

– Federico Faturos

Last or midfield leader: where is Aston Martin?

After being the only team not to score points in Belgium and qualifying at the back of the grid in Spa, Aston Martin bounced back in Hungary to occupy the third row and finish with both cars in the points. How is it possible for the team to turn things around in just seven days?

Alonso pinpointed the key after qualifying on Saturday: rather than simply optimizing the car, the team should focus on understanding the root cause of the change in performance. Of course, the AMR25 is well-suited to certain track layouts, and Stroll also mentioned the temperature as a factor in the performance shift. But, it’s clear that the combination of the floor introduced at Imola and the Spa wing has created what Alonso described as a “sweet spot”. While the team is already looking ahead to 2026, it can only hope this setup will continue to bring results for the rest of the 2025 season, particularly on tracks like the Hungaroring.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

As F1 enters the summer break, it will be intriguing to see how Aston Martin builds on its improvement, and how it fares in the second half of the season. Though the focus may be on 2026, there are still 10 races left, and the margins between sixth and ninth in the constructors’ championship will likely remain tight — with a significant financial difference between those positions.

– Jose Carlos de Celis