Credit: Renault Sport F1

Just before the summer break officially kicks in, the Hungaroring played host to two days of mid-season testing, featuring young drivers, current drivers, and, of course, Robert Kubica. All eyes were on the Pole as he continues to test out whether he might be able to make an F1 return, and his fourth fastest on the second day, Wednesday, was a good sign. He completed 142 laps, as well, so fitness not an issue either.

Charles Leclerc was in the Ferrari and posted the fastest time on the Tuesday, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in the McLaren – although don’t panic, the McLaren did still pick up mechanical issues before the day was over. Valtteri Bottas was running a tyre test for Pirelli, completing 155 laps. That was beaten by Luca Ghiotto in the Williams on Wednesday, though, with a whopping 161. Sebastian Vettel was the fastest in the Ferrari on the final day, with Lando Norris in the McLaren behind.

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Credit: Ferrari Media

The top five drivers in Hungary finished in the same order they started in, but that result belies some pretty tense racing. It was your traditional Hungarian race, without much in the way of overtaking, but it got off to a dramatic start when Max Verstappen took out his teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap. Ricciardo retired from the race, bringing out the safety car, whilst Verstappen was handed a 10 second penalty to be taken at his one and only pit stop.

Most pitted only once, starting on supersofts and ending on softs. Williams super-sub Paul di Resta did the opposite, and was keeping out of trouble, but the team brought him in to retire the car with an oil leak towards the end of the race.

Meanwhile, out front, Räikkönen wanted to get past Vettel for the lead but couldn’t, they finished in that order. Hamilton was allowed past Bottas to try and make a move on Kimi for second place, but he couldn’t make it work. In a great show of teamwork, he then stuck to the deal and allowed Bottas back through to take his podium place on the final lap.

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Credit: Ferrari Media

There were two talking points heading into qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix – the first being Paul di Resta’s sudden opportunity to get behind the wheel of an F1 car. He managed to finish 19th, and within seven tenths of a second of teammate Lance Stroll. Both Saubers dropped out in Q1, both Williams and Kevin Magnussen, who set exactly the same lap time as Sergio Pérez but missed out due to the Force India crossing the line before him.

Pérez didn’t get too much further, both Force India cars dropped out in Q2, whilst Jolyon Palmer put a good lap together to finish 11th. Nico Hülkenberg got into the top ten but finished seventh and has a five place grid drop. Both McLaren drivers were into the top ten, and Alonso ended up eighth to Vandoorne’s ninth.

Up front, the second talking point was Hamilton chasing pole position to break yet another record, but he could only manage fourth place, behind teammate Bottas. Vettel secured pole position quite comfortably, with Kimi Räikkönen improving at the last minute to make it an all-Ferrari front row.

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Credit: LAT Photographic

Williams have had to call upon the skills of their reserve driver Paul Di Resta, stepping in for Felipe Massa who has fallen ill during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The statement from Williams said: “Felipe visited the medical centre and hospital for precautionary tests on Friday, after feeling unwell and dizzy during FP2. He was cleared to take part in Saturday’s practice session by the FIA medical delegate, but he felt unwell again during FP3 and has made the decision to withdraw from the weekend.”

Paul di Resta has been the reserve driver for Williams since 2016, and has been racing in DTM and commentating on Sky Sports, but he hasn’t driven in F1 since 2013, and hasn’t had a chance to test this year’s car either.

Deputy team principal Claire Williams said: “I’m sure he’s probably fairly nervous, but Paul is an experienced driver, and I couldn’t feel happier actually that we have someone of Paul’s calibre and experience.” She added that the team weren’t expecting to be strong at this track anyway, so there’s not a huge amount of pressure on their super-sub driver.

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Credit: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Daniel Ricciardo led both Friday practice sessions for Red Bull in Hungary, but Mercedes and Ferrari were never too far behind, giving hopes that this weekend’s race might see three teams battling for the win. It was a scrappy day for some, however, with several crashes. Celis Jr and Giovinazzi were taking their Friday driver opportunities, but Giovinazzi managed to crash into the barriers. Romain Grosjean also crashed, making it a doubly bad start for Haas.

Jolyon Palmer’s front wing fell to pieces after he bounced over the kerbs a bit too hard in FP1, and then in FP2, he bashed into the tyre barriers to compound another bad day at the office. Pascal Wehrlein also collided with the barriers, whilst Kimi Räikkönen pulled off track complaining of lost power. The team appeared to reboot the system and after a moment or two, the Finn was back up and running again.

Ricciardo was fastest in the morning, with Räikkönen and Hamilton behind him. In the afternoon, he was trailed by Vettel and Bottas, with the gap down to just a couple of tenths.

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