Llegó con clasificación con los McLaren en las dos primeras posiciones en la Q1 y Q2, con un Fernando Alonso quien venía apretando fuerte, con vueltas sin errores para estar en las primeras posiciones. Por otro lado, Max Verstappen tenía que apretar demás en los giros para buscar alcanzar la Q3, el RB21 no le permitía al pentacampeón del mundo de exprimir el rendimiento del coche. El Mercedes dio un paso adelante, sobre todo George Russell, pues Kimi Antonelli quedó eliminado en la segunda sesión de la clasificación, el piloto novato italiano ha caído en bache en las últimas competencias, es un gran piloto, pero se nota la falta de experiencia que se gana con el paso de las carreras y los años.
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The Hungarian Grand Prix took place last weekend on a fairly technical circuit where a good car is well rewarded, but it can also be an odyssey, as the Hungarian track is quite difficult to overtake on. That's why a good strategy is important, and that's what ended up defining this race. Lando Norris took the win with a different strategy to his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who had to settle for second place, which has caused a lot of controversy. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso made a comeback to finish in fifth place, and Charles Leclerc ended up deeply disappointed.
The Hungarian Grand Prix was full of surprises, a better weekend than the previous one, as strategy changed what could have been a boring race. Unsurprisingly, the McLaren drivers dominated free practice, even by more than four tenths of a second, which was completely absurd. The feeling after free practice was that the victory would be fought out between the Woking drivers, while the others would have to fight for third place and below. Ferrari had a good car, with both drivers posting good times in practice, which gave us hope for more of a battle at the front. Max Verstappen, without hope, never found his rhythm, with Fernando Alonso missing FP1, but from then on he brought out the magic that characterizes him when the car is on his side.
The classification has a certain degree of importance, because, as I said at the beginning, overtaking is difficult at the Hungaroring circuit, which is a very narrow, old-school track, making it hard to pass other cars, so the difference between cars has to be considerable. So pit stops are important. Going in early can help you gain positions, but in the end it can also hurt you, because a pit stop might be a bit crazy, since the wear and tear on this track is significant, with the scorching asphalt at Hungaroring, where every turn requires surgical precision and any mistake is costly.
McLaren qualified in the top two positions in Q1 and Q2, with Fernando Alonso pushing hard, with flawless laps to secure the top positions. On the other hand, Max Verstappen had to push extra hard on the turns to try to reach Q3, as the RB21 did not allow the five-time world champion to squeeze the performance out of the car. Mercedes took a step forward, especially George Russell, as Kimi Antonelli was eliminated in the second qualifying session. The Italian rookie driver has fallen into a slump in recent races. He is a great driver, but his lack of experience, which is gained over the course of races and years, is noticeable.
Pues en la Q3 se dio la sorpresa, los autos de color papaya se vinieron abajo en cuanto a rendimientos, pues al parecer algo cambio en la pista que perjudicó el rendimiento que traía el coche hasta el momento de la última sesión del día que definiría las posiciones de salida. Charles Leclerc terminó dando el golpe sobre la mesa, derrotando a los pilotos de McLaren para quedarse con la pole, una primera posición inesperada. En lo que respecta a su compañero de equipo, el británico Lewis Hamilton quedó eliminado en la Q2, quedando notablemente afectado y dando declaraciones donde mencionaba que la culpa era de él y la realidad es que no se adapta al coche de Maranello. Piastri quedó segundo, con Lando Norris tercero, George Russell cuarto y Fernando Alonso confirmando que el coche funcionaba en el circuito húngaro, pues Lance Stroll fue sexto.
En el inicio de la carrera, Charles Leclerc mantuvo la primera posición en la salida, incluso manteniendo en un gran ritmo en las primeras vueltas. Piastri quedó segundo, mientras que Lando tuvo una mala partida, incluso perdiendo posición con Fernando Alonso, quedando rezagado hasta la quinta posición. Sin lugar a dudas que este fue un factor determinante en la carrera para el británico. Leclerc sorprendía, pues incluso le llegó a sacar más de tres segundo a Piastri, lo que daba esperanzas al monegasco y a Ferrari de lograr la primera victoria de la temporada. Los McLaren tenían mejor ritmo, pero el aire sucio y el tratar de cuidar sus llantas para buscar el sitio ideal para atacar, los mantuvo detrás de sus rivales.
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Well, in Q3 there was a surprise: the papaya-colored cars fell apart in terms of performance, as it seems that something changed on the track that affected the car's performance up to the last session of the day, which would determine the starting positions. Charles Leclerc ended up making a statement, defeating the McLaren drivers to take pole position, an unexpected first place. As for his teammate, Britain's Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2, leaving him visibly affected and making statements in which he mentioned that it was his fault and that the reality is that he is not adapting to the Maranello car. Piastri finished second, with Lando Norris third, George Russell fourth, and Fernando Alonso confirming that the car was working on the Hungarian circuit, as Lance Stroll was sixth.
At the start of the race, Charles Leclerc maintained his lead, even keeping up a great pace in the early laps. Piastri was second, while Lando had a poor start, even losing his position to Fernando Alonso and falling back to fifth place. This was undoubtedly a decisive factor in the race for the Briton. Leclerc surprised everyone, even managing to pull out a lead of more than three seconds over Piastri, which gave the Monegasque driver and Ferrari hope of achieving their first victory of the season. The McLarens had better pace, but dirty air and trying to look after their tires in order to find the ideal place to attack kept them behind their rivals.
Mientras las dos primeras posiciones se mantenían, la lucha por el tercer lugar se centraba entre Russell y Norris, pues Lando puedo pasar a Alonso. El español tenía un gran coche, pero no para darle pelea a Ferrari, Mercedes y mucho menos a McLaren, su carrera era conquistar la quinta posición. Llegó el momento de las paradas que lo cambio todo, Ferrari decidió dos paradas para Leclerc, entrando antes de la vuelta 20, por lo que los de Woking respondieron rápidamente con Piastri. Allí fue donde se inició la polémica, pues para McLaren tratar de ganar la posición al menos a Russell, el ingeniero del británico decidió dejarlo fuera, para ir por una estrategia distinta con respecto a su compañero y los demás. Lando iría a solo una parada, cambiando de llantas y la vuelta 31 más o menos, por lo que las llantas duras le tenía que durar casi cuarenta vueltas, lo que sí era posible al ver el primer stint.
Pues la decisión de Norris y su ingeniero lo cambió todo, trayendo la polémica a la mesa en la misma carrera, comenzando las radios donde varios se estaba quejando, entre ellos Leclerc y Piastri. Alonso también logró hacer la estrategia de una parada, incluso manteniendo más en pista con el primer stint que el mismo Norris. Si, el Australia Oscar Piastri logró tener un gran ritmo de carrera, mientras que Leclerc fue lo contrario, luego de la segunda detención el coche se vino abajo, incluso perdiendo la tercera posición a menos de George Russell. Ferrari una vez más decepcionó, pues más allá que Charles declarará que igual con lo que hicieron no se podían llevar el triunfo, pero no creo que esto sea así, pues con las mismas condiciones era tan rápido como los McLaren y con la estrategia correcta, al menos pudo luchar por quedar en el segundo puesto.
Lando se quedó con el triunfo, la estrategia le funcionó, supo mantener la mente fría para no cometer errores tras la presión de Oscar Piastri, quien tenía mejores neumáticos que él, pero para suerte de Lando, el circuito complicaba los adelantamientos. Incluso los de Woking mantuvieron la respiración, a falta de un giro en la frenada de la 1, el líder del campeonato (Oscar Piastri) alargó la frenada y casi se lleva puesto a Norris. ¿Qué opina de la estrategia de McLaren? Muchos dicen que McLaren favoreció a Lando, pero la realidad es que son carreras, ambos están luchando por el campeonato. No creo que sea justo que siempre tengan que hacer la misma estrategia, pues por algo tiene ingenieros de carreras distintos. Lo normal es quien vaya adelante, sea el primero en parar en pits. Tras parar Leclerc, McLaren hizo lo propio con Piastri quien iba segundo. Norris debía pelear la posición con Russell, así que debía hacer algo distinto y pues optaron por una sola parada.
La carrera de Lando fue magnífica, un triunfo merecido, logró recuperarse de la mala salida, se arriesgó con una sola detención y supo mantener la presión final de Piastri. Si hay una figura que encendió el corazón del Hungaroring, fue Fernando Alonso, el español quedó quinto, sabiendo contralor el desgaste de los neumáticos, sabiendo cuando apretar y sacar la ventaja cuando era necesario, sin lugar a dudas es impresionante como Alonso con 44 años logra estas actuaciones. La carrera de Verstappen fue complicada, pudo quedar noveno y es que el tráfico lo complicó, pero la realidad es que el coche no lo acompañó. El próximo Gran Premio es de Países Bajos el 31 de este mes, luego de parón veraniego donde los equipos traerán actualizaciones, pero creo que McLaren seguirán dominando, aunque alguno puede dar una sorpresa en las diez carreras restantes.
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While the top two positions remained unchanged, the battle for third place was between Russell and Norris, as Lando managed to overtake Alonso. The Spaniard had a great car, but not enough to compete with Ferrari, Mercedes, and certainly not McLaren; his goal was to secure fifth place. The moment of the pit stops arrived, and it changed everything. Ferrari decided on two stops for Leclerc, coming in before lap 20, so the Woking team responded quickly with Piastri. That's where the controversy began, because in order for McLaren to try to gain position on at least Russell, the British driver's engineer decided to leave him out to go for a different strategy than his teammate and the others. Lando would go for a single stop, changing tires on lap 31 or so, meaning the hard tires would have to last him almost forty laps, which was possible given the first stint.
Well, Norris and his engineer's decision changed everything, bringing controversy to the table in the same race, with several drivers complaining over the radio, including Leclerc and Piastri. Alonso also managed to pull off a one-stop strategy, even staying on track longer than Norris himself in the first stint. Yes, Oscar Piastri managed to maintain a great race pace in Australia, while Leclerc was the opposite. After the second pit stop, the car broke down, even losing third place to George Russell. Ferrari once again disappointed, as Charles stated that even with what they did, they couldn't win, but I don't think that's the case, as under the same conditions he was as fast as the McLarens and with the right strategy, he could at least have fought for second place.
Lando took the win, his strategy worked, he kept a cool head and avoided making mistakes under pressure from Oscar Piastri, who had better tires than him, but luckily for Lando, the circuit made overtaking difficult. Even the Woking team held their breath when, with one turn to go before braking at turn 1, the championship leader (Oscar Piastri) braked late and almost took out Norris. What do you think of McLaren's strategy? Many say that McLaren favored Lando, but the reality is that these are races, and both are fighting for the championship. I don't think it's fair that they always have to use the same strategy, because that's why they have different race engineers. Normally, whoever is in the lead is the first to pit. After Leclerc pitted, McLaren did the same with Piastri, who was in second place. Norris had to fight for position with Russell, so he had to do something different, and they opted for a single stop.
Lando's race was magnificent, a well-deserved victory. He managed to recover from a poor start, took a risk with a single pit stop, and knew how to hold off Piastri's final push. If there was one figure who ignited the hearts of the Hungaroring crowd, it was Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard finished fifth, managing tire wear, knowing when to push and take advantage when necessary. It is undoubtedly impressive how Alonso, at 44 years old, manages to achieve such performances. Verstappen's race was complicated. He could have finished ninth, but traffic made it difficult for him. The reality is that the car did not perform well. The next Grand Prix is in the Netherlands on the 31st of this month, after the summer break, when the teams will bring updates. I think McLaren will continue to dominate, although someone may surprise us in the remaining ten races.
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