F1. Hungary 2025 Review

By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle, Aiden McLaughlin, and Graeme Woolf

Driver of the Weekend

Chelsea: The Hungaroring seemed to fit the Aston Martins like a glove this weekend. It’s also a favourite of Alonso, who took his maiden win here in 2003. Starting and finishing in 5th, he ran a clever, if slightly bewildered, race: “The good thing is that we were fast. The concerning thing is that we don’t know why.” Cool fact, Alonso has started in more than a third of Formula 1 races… ever. Like in history. Love watching him toward the front, and taking a swig of tea every time Brundle calls him wily.

Aiden: Mercedes have struggled recently, but George Russell made it back onto the podium, and being the best of the non McLaren drivers gets him my nod this week. Gorgeous George could have been forgiven for thinking he had a chance of being world champion when he joined Mercedes in 2022, but the drop off of the car’s performance  under the new regulations was bad timing for him. He regularly beat Lewis Hamilton and now looks head and shoulders above his (albeit young and inexperienced) teammate Kimi Antonelli. He deserves that new contract and I still see him as a future world champion.

Graeme: Lando Norris drove a great race behind a strategy which looked like they improvised during the race, based on what the other drivers around him were doing. And what a genius move it turned out to be. In the past Lando has been a bit up and down in terms of his emotions but recently he looks to have turned that around and has a confidence about him which he’s channelling into his performances. He’s newly in love, so I reckon that’s helping.

Gavin: From Q3 to half way through the race I was thinking Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari is a shoe-in for the accolades this week, and then it all changed when the Ferrari came into the pits to change tyres and instantly fell out of contention as those tyres and that chassis conspired to end the challenge. Lando Norris in the McLaren on the other hand had an awful start and looked to be out of contention for even a podium, but opting for a one stop strategy which no one thought could work ended up being his saviour. Even the unflappable Oscar Piastri who spent the whole race chasing the leaders had nothing in reply to his team mate. A very good drive and quickly adapting to the race as it developed around him gives this week’s plaudits to Lando.

 

Talking Point

Chelsea: Watching Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battling it out over P11 was pretty bizarre. It was a rubbish weekend for both, to be fair, but how far in the rear vision does Abu Dhabi 2021 look now? Despite the Hungaroring being known as “Monaco without the houses”, there were plenty of decent overtakes to be seen this weekend, including an early move on Stroll by Verstappen, and Piastri on Leclerc. Piastri’s late attempt on Lando Norris saw him lock up in an uncharacteristic waver, and I couldn’t help but think: if the two McLarens took each other out, our podium would be Russell, Leclerc, Alonso. It was not to be.

Aiden: Listening to Lewis Hamilton’s interviews in the pen recently is really quite sad. Here’s a seven time world champion who is really struggling with everything going on around him. He moved to Ferrari to look for title number eight and reinvigorate his career but he is struggling big time. On Friday, Anthony Davidson referred to an ‘elephant in the room’ regarding Hamilton’s age (he’s 40) and it does seem as though he best days are behind him. But he can still drive magnificently – it’s just that the consistency isn’t there any more, and it seems that’s partly due to his car and partly due to his skills being on the wain. We all want to see a happy Lewis, but is this a spiral he can’t get out of? Are his days in the sport coming to an end? Hopefully he finds some happiness and clarity over the next few weeks.

Graeme: Is there some sort of break coming up for the teams? Seriously though, they all earn money I can only dream of, and you they get a 3 week mandatory break. What a life! Actually, the main talking point for me is whether it was going to be a one stop or a two stop race. No one really knew and as the race unfolded it became apparent who was going to do which strategy. Initially the leaders, mostly, all pitted early, which meant a two stop for them. Then Lando’s Race Engineer casually asked him what he thought about going 40 laps on a hard tyre to the end and equally as casual, he said yeah no worries. And the rest is history.

Gavin: Did McLaren favour Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri? I don’t believe so. I don’t believe anyone really thought a one-stop strategy could deliver a win but because of his start Lando had to try something, anything really. When asked about tyres and strategy by his race engineer, Oscar knew his fight was with Lando, no matter who won the race it was all about who was ahead within the team. Another couple of laps and I think Oscar would have won, but that is not what happened in the real world so Lando wins and goes into the summer break feeling very satisfied and happy, and according to all my socials this weekend, very loved up. This is a fascinating championship, I wouldn’t bet the house on who is going to win though.

 

Gossip Time

Chelsea: This weekend Axl Rose learned that you wave the chequered flag at the end of the race, not the start. Bless Martin Brundle for dropping in some trivia about the race starts – Axl seemed nonplussed, but did manage to wave the right thing at the right time. Crofty dropped in some decent early Guns N’ Roses puns, but made no reference to the fantastic Chinese Democracy, though I can see how that might have been awkward.

Aiden: Could Liam Lawson seriously make a return to Red Bull in 2026? Perhaps he’ll be a winner of the removal of Christian Horner as team principal. He’s certainly found his mojo back at Racing Bulls, and was the top placed driver across both teams at the weekend. On the other hand, would he want to go back? He’s certainly putting himself in the shop windows for a short/medium term career in F1, wherever that might be.

Graeme: What’s going on with Lewis Hamilton? Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but with the benefit of that he looks like he’s wondering why he signed that Ferrari contract in January 2024 beginning this year. Personally, I don’t know what I’m doing in October 2026, so why would I make a decision on that here in August 2025. From both sides, it now looks like a marriage that isn’t working. As the weeks go on and Hamilton continues to languish in the mid to bottom of the points, and no points this race, you’ve got to wonder if there’s light at the end of the tunnel for him.

Gavin: Lewis Hamilton questioning his ability in the Ferrari was always going to happen, the fact it happened before the summer break during their first season together seems to be earlier than anyone was expecting. Ferrari have a habit of killing off careers and whilst my heart is in denial my mind is telling me Lewis might be the latest to succumb to the curse that is Ferrari. I hope he takes the summer break to reset and prove everyone wrong, but it is not looking likely right now is it? I will bet Ferrari are sounding out potential replacements as they will not want to be caught out without a choice for a Lewis replacement.

 

Looking Ahead

Chelsea: It’s a cruel summer for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was at his lowest ebb following qualifying, suggesting he should be replaced as driver and referring to himself as “useless” after being eliminated in Q2. Charles Leclerc manaaged pole after choosing just the right moment to take his qualifying lap, but lapsed (sorry) in the race when he started to suffer mysterious chassis issues. There is very little encouragement for Hamilton to take with him into the summer break, and even Leclerc unleashed his frustrations over team radio before understanding the nature of the problem. Like many teams they will be focussing on the 2026 season, but at the moment I’m hoping they stay intact that long.

Aiden: For some (Lewis Hamilton, everyone at Red Bull for example), a summer break is welcome, but for others (Liam Lawson, Aston Martin, Gabriel Bortoleto) it stops a bit of momentum. The summer break is sensible though; it makes sure everyone downs tools and has a decent bit of time off. It’s probably good for us fans to recharge our batteries as well. Catch you all in a month!

Graeme: The summer break. A chance for all teams to take stock of the season so far & to freshen up before the back end of the season. As most of the drivers live in Monaco, I’ve taken the liberty of planning a suggested road trip between Budapest, Hungary & Monaco, by way of getting the break off to a nice relaxing start.

Firstly, head down to Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia. There you can take lessons on how to say the name of the city. Next, it’s onto Venice, Italy where you can enjoy a gondola ride on the canals while sipping on a glass of Prosecco with your partner. Romantic as hell! Verona & Bologna are on the way too, but according to the internet, they’re only 22% as popular as Venice, so it’s not worth heading there. Enjoy the Italian countryside on the way to Milan. It’s a big city with a giant football stadium and an equally giant cathedral. Both must sees. Genoa is just along the coast from your final destination, so you’ve got no choice to head here whether you want to or not. And then home to your modest little apartment in Monaco. The usual chores will await you like washing, cleaning and ironing. But you’ve got 3 weeks to do them so plenty of time. See you in late August.

Gavin: It is the summer break so now we should see some movement in the driver market… Whilst Max Verstappen has done the sensible thing and listened to his daddy to stay at a Horner-less Red Bull, George Russell could finally get a new contract so he can stop snitching on his team like a teacher’s pet hoping to become head boy. Franco Colapinto is chewing his fingernails waiting for his backers to find some more cash to keep him in that seat. Lewis Hamilton is trying to get a DeLorean drive to go back in time and undo his “no regerts” moment of signing with Ferrari. Carlos Sainz is waiting for a TED Talk from James Vowles about how great the car will be sometime in the future but not any time soon, all the while secretly thanking his lucky stars he didn’t get that seat at Red Bull alongside Max. Speaking of which Yuki Tsunoda is eyeing up a spot on Mario Kart as his career stalls at Red Bull. And can Cadillac finally announce their lineup please – and also change their name to something that sounds less like a limousine decked out with a disco ball and a stripper pole whilst plying its trade in Las Vegas?

Bonus Picture(s)

The Hungaroring in all its majesty.

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