What the teams said – Race day in Hungary

McLaren

Norris recorded his first Grand Prix victory of the year in Budapest, but he had to work hard for the win. After leading off the line, he ran a little wide through Turn 2 and that enabled Piastri to jump him for the lead. From there, Norris harried and hustled his team mate but could not find a way through. That situation continued through the second stint, but then McLaren pulled Piastri in for his second stop.

That released Norris, who put in a series of quick laps. Piastri meanwhile got bogged down in traffic with the backmarkers, and banged wheels with Sainz to boot. As a result, Norris jumped ahead after he did pit, and picked off Antonelli too for the lead of the race. Piastri began to fade, the fight going out of the Australian before he had to park up with a gearbox issue late on.

Lando Norris, 1st

“I’m very happy to be back and parking the car in front of the #1 board again. The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident. My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had. The team has put in a huge amount of work to get us into a position to win again. I’m very proud of everyone, and it’s nice to do my bit and be able to reward that effort with a victory.

“This is probably the circuit that suits me, and suits the MCL40 best, but I want to believe we can continue this form after the summer break. There will be places where we struggle more, but I certainly believe we can win further races. We’re going to be bringing even more to the car – but then so are our competition, so it’s going to be tough.

“I’m proud of the whole team, Pole, fastest in FP3, and a strong win is the result of a lot of hard work. We’ll enjoy the summer break, come back to Zandvoort refreshed, and keep pushing for more wins.”

Oscar Piastri, DNF

“A tough day to end a tricky weekend. I was really pleased with my start and Lap 1 performance, putting ourselves in a position to win at a circuit where track position is key. When we swapped to the Hard tyre, we just struggled for pace and then lost valuable time when I was hit by a lapped car. From there we continued to struggle until the gearbox failure ultimately ended our race.

“Congratulations to Lando on the win, it is a good moment for the team, and we can take positives that the car is now in a position to win races. We will keep pushing to find more and more performance into the second half of the season. Now, we take a break.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Today's result is a fantastic reward for the entire team, both at the track and back at the factory. We race as a team and today was a well-executed race from a strategic and sporting principles point of view, which wouldn't be possible without two drivers who fully support our approach. The competition between Lando and Oscar was great, fair racing, and we're very pleased with the respectful approach they showed each other. Lando's pace was simply mega, and he put himself in a position to take a victory that was won on pure speed. Oscar deserved his opportunity to fight for the win after taking the lead, and his race was unfortunately compromised by the incident with a backmarker, and then the gearbox failure. We clearly still have work to do on the reliability side, which took us out of contention for at least a double podium.

“The performance step we saw this weekend can be entirely ascribed to the upgrades, which validate the conceptual direction we have taken. It was a monumental effort from our aerodynamics, design, manufacturing and logistics departments to deliver these parts, and I want to extend my thanks to them and our partners at HPP for helping us squeeze every millisecond out of the car. While we are pleased with our performance today, back in a position to win the race, we know it's going to be a race of development until the end of the season. This result proves what we are capable of, and we will keep our focus on delivering more performance to fight for victories consistently. We go back to work for one last push before the summer break next week, where we will continue to work on reliability and future upgrades, ahead of a well-deserved rest for the entire team. As we start the second half of the season, we want to be in condition to show the same level of performance we ended the first half of the season with.”

Red Bull

Considering Verstappen was frustrated with various things on his RB22 all race long, to finish second was a strong result for the Dutchman. The Red Bull driver was fighting with Hamilton for much of it, and came out of his first pit stop just behind. Verstappen then put in the move of the day to dive down the inside of his rival and take the position. Putting the softs on for his final stint was inspired, as was the team’s decision not to pit again under the VSC. That jumped him ahead of some cars, and he was able to hold onto those tyres to the end.

Hadjar played the team game, holding up some of Verstappen’s rivals at times on a long first and second stint to help the Dutchman out no end. Sixth was about all he could hope for today.

Max Verstappen, 2nd

“It was a really strong day and positive for us to finish in P2 today, although I’m quite surprised with the result given the problems we had this weekend. We really hung in there, made some good calls and brought it home in the second half of the race, especially with our older tyres. We were trying to make the best of what we had, and it was quite tough for a long period of the race, but everyone contributed to securing this podium.  

“I think the start and the first stop to gain the position were really crucial, keeping the others behind for a while. Then, of course, we got undercut because the others were on the Soft tyres. We managed to jump ahead of Lewis again, which I think was very critical in that stint too. We were still struggling with the same things we had in Qualifying and there were some bright shining moments, but we need to be a bit more solid all-round in the second half of the season. Despite this, I think we performed well today and made all the right calls. The Team are all looking forward to a break so we can come back rested and refreshed for the second half of the season.” 

Isack Hadjar, 6th

“It was a bit of a lonely and tough race today. I enjoyed a decent start, which we've definitely tidied up over the last two races, but after the first few laps the guys ahead just pulled away. The opening stint on the Medium probably cost us getting anything more out of today. We just didn't have the performance in that tyre, which we have to take a closer look at. Once we switched onto the Hard, the pace really came back and I was able to find consistency that we lacked earlier on. We definitely maximised what was available this afternoon; another P6 is a decent return on what was a challenging weekend. We can be proud of this run we’re on heading into the summer break, seven top-six finishes in a row is a solid reflection of the work we’ve put in to get here.” 

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“Hungary was a very strong race and a mega job from Max, Isack and the whole Team. We hadn’t shown that sort of pace earlier in the weekend, and both drivers had been battling with the car, but everyone here at track and back at the factory worked very hard. In the end, the underlying pace was certainly good enough to fight with everyone except for Lando. There were several key moments during the race, whether it was Max overtaking Lewis, strategy calls or pit stops, but everyone made all the right decisions. It was an incredibly strong performance from Max. Isack also delivered another very impressive race, securing his seventh consecutive top six finish. He continues to show remarkable consistency, and he fully deserves the results. 

“This is a good way to go into the summer break. It gives the whole Team time to recharge ahead of the second half of the season, when we hope we can be even stronger. The first half of the season has been something of a rollercoaster, but we're clearly moving in the right direction thanks to the hard work and commitment of everyone back at the factory. Over the past 4 races, we've consistently been in the fight for podiums, and have managed to close the gap to our competitors significantly. Everyone in Milton Keynes is pushing very hard to take the next step towards fighting for wins, and we look forward to competing with our rivals in the second half of the season.” 

Mercedes

Antonelli had a decent start to run sixth early on, with Mercedes rolling the dice on strategy and seeing if they could make a one-stop work for him. That shook out with the youngster in second, and matching Piastri behind for pace. But he was brought in for a second stop, the team checking the data and not believing his tyres would last. With fresher rubber than those around him, Antonelli did not need to pit under the late VSC and thus picked up some places to finish a decent third and extend his Championship advantage.

As for Russell, his race could not have started worse. Anti-stall off the grid dropped him to P18, and he did well to recover back to the points. That limited his losses in the standings somewhat, but he still finds himself 59 points behind his team mate heading into the summer break.

Kimi Antonelli, 3rd

"It was not an easy race today. It was very difficult to overtake, even when we had significantly more pace than the cars ahead. We knew it might be like that today and so it proved. We did well to build a decent tyre offset to those ahead though throughout the race and that enabled us to get up into the podium positions.

"I initially wanted to target a one-stop race. It seemed like it might be possible in the opening stint but then we started to suffer with the rears. We made the call to go onto the two-stop and in the final stint, had really good pace. The Virtual Safety Car made our lives a little more difficult with Lewis (Hamilton) getting fresh tyres and being right behind us, but we were able to bring home P3.

"We have had a much better first half of the season than we perhaps expected at the very start. This is where we are at now though and we need to keep going, keep pushing on and doing the best job we can. It is going to be an intense second half of the year, but we are ready for it."

George Russell, 7th

"That was another tough race. We lost lots of positions off the line and that ruined our chances of fighting for the podium. We're not sure exactly what happened just yet. We did all the procedures as we normally do but it didn't behave as we expected. The anti-stall then kicked in, and we dropped to the back of the field. The positive is that our pace across the rest of the race was strong and we were able to fight back to P7. That is not where we want to be finishing but is still points.

"It has not been a smooth first half of the season. I am looking forward to this break so we can reset and come back stronger after the summer shutdown. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster on my side so far and I am hoping the second half of the year can be much better."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"Both drivers put in strong races today. Kimi did well to get onto the podium and P3 and George did brilliantly to fight back after the opening lap. His problem at the start was fully on us as a team and it isn't good enough. He has suffered too many of these problems; we are doing everything we can to get on top of them, but it is unfortunately another issue that has cost him again today.

"We nearly got very unlucky with yet another ill-timed Virtual Safety Car, but Kimi defended well to hold off Lewis (Hamilton). It was good damage limitation after a difficult day yesterday.

"We go into the summer shutdown with a points gap in both championships that we would have taken at the start of the season. That is good but we know we need to keep pushing after the break, keep developing and improve our reliability. That will be the key if we are to not only fight for both championships but win them."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Today was the first race of the season where we were starting further back with both cars and therefore was about damage limitation. Kimi delivered a very measured race, and we used the flexibility of the two-stop strategy well. By managing the first two stints carefully, we were able to build a significant tyre life advantage over the cars ahead, and that gave him the pace he needed to move into podium contention in the final part of the race. The Virtual Safety Car was not ideal as it reduced that advantage and brought Lewis onto our gearbox, but Kimi managed the situation well and defended strongly to secure P3.

"On George's side, we are obviously disappointed by the issue at the start. The anti-stall activation dropped him to the back of the field and made what was always going to be a challenging race even more difficult. We need to understand exactly why that happened, but once he recovered from the opening lap, his pace was very competitive, and he fought back through the field to salvage important points.

"We head into the summer break leading both championships, which is a good position to be in, but we know there are areas where we need to improve. Reliability remains a key focus, and we will use the shutdown to analyse the first half of the season and ensure we return after the break ready for a very competitive run to the end of the year."

Ferrari

Hamilton got past his team mate at the start, Leclerc a little sluggish off the line. From there the seven-time World Champion was in a fight with Verstappen for third, with the two McLarens managing to stay out front. But Ferrari brought him in early for his second stop, and Hamilton was not too impressed with that call. He lost the place to Verstappen and another to Antonelli after pitting a third time under the late VSC, had an entertaining fight with his Mercedes replacement but ultimately came home fourth.

That became fifth thanks to a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which promoted his team mate a place, Leclerc not quite on his team mate’s pace in race trim.

Lewis Hamilton, 5th

"I’m really grateful to everyone in the team for the work they’ve put in over the first half of the season. We’ve made some genuine progress, and the car was good again this weekend, which is very positive.

"It’s obviously frustrating to come away with so little when the potential was there. Everyone back at the factory and here at the track has worked incredibly hard to keep moving us forward, so it’s disappointing not to convert that into the result we were capable of. The last few races have been costly on my side, with too many points left on the table. But I’m still second in the championship, there’s a long way to go, and there are plenty of opportunities ahead.

"The summer break is a chance to reset, recharge and come back with the same determination. We’ll keep pushing, keep improving, and I’m confident we can come back strong for the second part of the season."

Charles Leclerc, 4th

"We lost a few positions at the start, and on a track like this, where overtaking is so difficult, we just couldn’t come back from that. The main challenge of my race was the grip. These new cars are extremely sensitive to the smallest changes and the same tyre compound can feel different across stints.

"We looked strong on Friday but our competitors were conservative and we realised after qualifying that we would struggle a bit more than it first seemed. We have performed very well on tracks we did not expect to do so well on and not reached our goals on tracks we expected to be strong. "The whole team back home in Maranello and at the track has done an amazing job in bringing upgrades to our package, which has allowed us to make solid progress and be competitive, including winning two races. Now we will take some time to recharge and come back stronger, analysing our season so far and continuing on this positive trajectory after the summer break."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"The race did not go well for us, with too many issues and mistakes, even if the first of those was made yesterday in qualifying. At the start Charles dropped from P2 to P5 after Turn 1, because he had too much wheelspin and we found ourselves with both cars not only behind (Oscar) Piastri but also behind (Max) Verstappen. We did the right thing undercutting Verstappen but we then lost the position again on track. In the end we pitted both cars for Softs as Lewis was on used Hards and would have been vulnerable. On a positive note, we have closed a bit more the gap to Mercedes. Now it’s time to recharge the batteries to come back stronger in the second part of the season."

Racing Bulls

Lindblad started okay, but Lawson started better. That jumped the Kiwi racer ahead of his team mate, and then Racing Bulls opted to split their strategies to cover off the Audi cars. Lawson two-stopped, and was able to come back through late on to be the pick of the midfield runners. Lindblad one-stopped, running out of tyres late on and doing well to hold on to P10. The double points score jumped them ahead of Alpine in the standings.

Arvid Lindblad, 10th

"It’s a great result for the team to come away with another double points finish today and move up to P5 in the Constructors’ Championship, so there’s a lot to be happy about. The team has done an incredible job developing the car, and it’s great to see all of that hard work being rewarded. It wasn’t an easy race for anyone in the midfield, it was mentally and physically demanding, and we had a tough battle with the Audi’s. I wasn’t able to maximise the start as well as I would have liked, but those are the kinds of lessons I’ll take into the second half of the season. Overall, it’s been a really positive first half of the year, and we head into the summer break with great momentum. I’m looking forward to coming back refreshed and building on what we’ve achieved so far.”

Liam Lawson, 8th

"It was a good race for us today. The first corner and lap one was obviously very important for me given I had a challenging Qualifying yesterday. Following a strong start, we knew we had a long race ahead, but the car just felt super strong throughout. A huge thanks to the team who made the right call on the two-stop strategy. To have two cars in the points is a great way to round off the first half of the season. To be heading into summer break fifth in the Constructors' Championship is a reflection of all the hard work the team has put in so far this year. While I'm looking forward to recharging over the next few weeks, I'm excited to carry this momentum forward into Zandvoort."

Alan Permane, Team Principal

"It was a long tough race today, but we've been rewarded with a fantastic double celebration, finishing with two cars in the points and moving up to 5th place in the Constructor’s Championship; something we’ve all been working so hard towards. It’s a great way to finish off the first half of the season. We always aim for operational perfection and we came very close to that today. It was a good battle with Audi - very close, but we ultimately came out on top. The car was strong in both Qualifying and the race and it was executed flawlessly by the team. We’re very happy with the way the race unfolded and we look forward to a very well-deserved break, before returning even stronger in Zandvoort.”

Audi

Hulkenberg finally scored for Audi in the 11th Grand Prix of the season, to open up his points tally for the year. He ran in the points in the opening stages having started on the medium tyre. Like Racing Bulls, the team split strategies to cover all bases, with Bortoleto starting on the softs and running a long first stint. He one-stopped which initially looked like the way forward, but the Brazilian could not hold onto his tyres late on and Hulkenberg was able to climb back into the points after his second stop, coming home ninth.

Nico Hulkenberg, 9th

"It's a great feeling to finally get those first points of the season. There have been a few races this year where we had the pace to score but, for different reasons, things just didn't come together. We always knew the potential was there, so it's really satisfying to finally put everything together across the weekend and come away with the reward.

"We maximised what we had in qualifying yesterday and followed it up with a strong race today. Everyone executed well all weekend and it's rewarding to head into the summer break with points on the board. We'll take the opportunity to reset, look through everything we've learned over the opening part of the season, and come back ready to build on this in Zandvoort."

Gabriel Bortoleto, 11th

“I gave it everything today, and it was definitely not an easy race. We tried to make the one-stop strategy work, and with the hard tyre being quite a difficult compound compared to the soft, I had to manage a lot throughout the race. But in the end, I finished less than a second behind Arvid Lindblad, so to come that close to the points feels like a good result for the race we had.

“These are very positive signs heading into the summer break. The team has been doing an incredible job, and I'm very happy with what we've achieved so far this season. Hopefully we can keep building on this momentum in the second half of the year.”

Allan McNish, Racing Director

“Scoring points for the third race in a row is another positive step forward for us as a team. Nico delivered an excellent drive all weekend and converted a strong performance into ninth place. Gabriel fought his way back to eleventh and came very close to making it a double points finish. The pace of the car was competitive, and we executed a clean race to maximise the opportunities available to us. We leave this weekend encouraged by the progress we are making and the way the team is continuing to develop. Now we head into the summer break with positive momentum and valuable lessons from the first part of the season. We will use this period to recharge, keep building on our foundations and come back ready to continue our development in the second half of the year."

Alpine

Alpine are another team in need of some upgrades, as they continue to fall behind their rivals. They lost P5 in the standings today too to Racing Bulls, who scored with both cars. Gasly was the pick of the two Alpine drivers despite three-stopping, the team bringing him in under the VSC. They left Colapinto out to try and roll the dive but to no avail, the Argentine racer spending much of his afternoon bogged down in traffic.

Pierre Gasly, 12th

“Looking at the end result, as a team, we weren't close enough to be in the fight for points and we lacked the pace to compete with the Racing Bulls or either Audi cars. We tried something different and had some fresh sets of tyres available, but even with that it didn't make much difference to our race. We pushed and tried our best but it's the reality of where we are at the moment, there's no hiding from it and we can only fix it ourselves by bringing more performance to the car. Sometimes the car doesn't feel the best and you still have pace and can get a result, but the feeling currently isn't good in the car and the performance is also reflective of that. Thankfully the summer break falls at a good time, meaning less races where points are up for grabs and gaps can be built. We know we have new parts coming and we hope the upgrades bring the performance we're hoping for. Other teams have shown it, and we need to follow suit. It's important we make the improvements, and quickly, otherwise it will make our lives difficult if we're to retake fifth in the championship.”

Franco Colapinto, 15th

“It was a very challenging afternoon and, in general, we lacked a lot of pace. After the first three laps, I started to struggle with the car and unfortunately, never really recovered. Even with new tyres, we were still far off the pace and were slow, so we need to understand why, maybe we had some damage because both the balance and the grip were not the best. We will go through it with the team. We go into the break knowing we need to keep working hard. In the last couple of races before today we scored points, but we need to improve. Aston Martin have showed that it is possible to make a big step and hopefully we can do the same soon when we bring upgrades. I'm staying in Hungary for a few more days to take part in the Pirelli test but then I will go on my summer break and get some rest so we can head to Zandvoort ready to go again.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor

“Coming away from a race without scoring any points is disappointing, especially since we lost fifth position in the Constructors' Championship. Racing Bulls scoring with both cars again has dropped us to sixth in the standings. We simply have to admit that they have done a better job in this phase of the year. We know that developments and upgrades are coming very soon, and we need to make big jumps that we know we're capable of. We need to use this feeling as added motivation at Enstone to turn things around. We haven't been good enough recently, but there's still half of the season left and what matters most is where we finish at the final race.”

Aston Martin

The verdict is in for Aston Martin’s upgrades, and they have definitely made a difference to the team in green. Both drivers were able to beat an Alpine, both Haas cars and the Williams pair which is big progress. Stroll managed to pip his team mate after undercutting Alonso, who had a much later second stop. They also avoided the hard tyre, which was an interesting decision and showing the team are willing to be bold on strategy calls – something that was not the case when they were only able to race each other in the past few Grands Prix.

Fernando Alonso, 14th

“It was a good step forward for us this weekend, so it’s a solid baseline for us to build on when we return after the summer break. The car was performing well in the race, and we were able to fight with those around us, which was great after some difficult weekends. We’ll keep pushing, and we’ll see how things come together in Zandvoort, especially with Honda’s update.”

Lance Stroll, 13th

“I felt good in the car today, and it was nice to feel like we were racing again. We’re not where we want to be yet so there’s more work to do, but we’re in the mix now. The more laps we get with the package, the more performance we’ll unlock. It’s the most encouraging upgrade we’ve had in a long time and we’ve got more coming for Zandvoort, so it’s positive to see we’re moving in the right direction.”

Adrian Newey, Team Principal

“It's clear we've taken a very encouraging first step forward with the upgrade, and the progress made is a huge credit to the hard work of the entire team at Silverstone. The other positive is that performance was in line with our data predictions, showing good correlation between our updated simulation tools and the track. This is a strong indication we are on the right development path for the short and longer term. With valuable learnings gathered today, we now have a solid baseline to build on when we return from the summer break, with further upgrades planned for Zandvoort.”

Haas

Haas continue to struggle for pace, fighting towards the back of the field as they count down to their next upgrade package. They did not choose an alternate strategy, both cars two-stopping on their way to the flag. Ocon got a good start, but faded as the afternoon wore on, while Bearman had an incident-packed race. He managed to spin at one point and was also penalised five-seconds for ignoring blue flags, which meant he propped up the field in P19.

Oliver Bearman, 19th

“It was a very long day, as we were anticipating. The lack of qualifying pace was exacerbated in race trim as there was so much sliding and degradation. Apart from that, I just couldn’t overtake so I got stuck and didn’t have any pace anyways. We need to understand why Spa was so good and this weekend was so bad, because the feeling has been the complete opposite and I’ve lost all confidence in the car. I haven’t done a lap in the car this weekend and felt good, so we need to understand why and take a long and hard look at things.”

Esteban Ocon, 16th

“We had a good start once again, we were almost in the points positions, which was very good, but we can’t keep the cars behind. We are in fact not quick enough unfortunately to keep them behind. The tyres degraded quite a lot as well, so we need to look at putting more performance on the car. We need to look at the next upgrades and hope that they’ll make a difference – the team will be on it. There’s a lot of positives to take away from this weekend on my side, I’m quite happy we were able to extract the maximum out of the car and that we got the consistency from Friday through to Sunday, now we just need more performance.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It was a very difficult day. Ultimately the car hasn’t got the pace, we tried everything really. We know where we need to improve, and that’s coming. I think this is the longest period in the last two and a half seasons that we’ve not had a car that we can do something with, or be challenging for the points. That’s not where we want to be, everybody knows that, and everyone is working hard to find the solution. There’s some solutions in the pipeline, but honestly, we will only see what they do when it comes, so up until that point we just have to do our best with what we’ve got. The pit stops were good, the previous few races we were a bit up and down with them on the operational side, so having clean stops was good to sign off before summer shutdown. We just have to focus on the areas that we have control of and do the best job we can, and then when we improve the car, we will make sure we turn it around.”

Williams

Albon was celebrating his 100th Grand Prix for Williams, but in the end all he had in terms of positives was the fact he beat his team mate. The team split strategies, Albon starting on the mediums, Sainz the softs. But the Spaniard’s race will be remembered for a blue flag moment with Piastri, as the two banged wheels when the Australian was trying to lap the Williams man. That earned him a five-second time penalty, to cap a difficult weekend for the team.

Carlos Sainz, 18th

“I was having a strong race today, racing with the Haas cars which were half a second quicker yesterday. There was an issue all race receiving information about blue flags and, during my battle with Fernando, Oscar appeared in my blind spot and unfortunately we made contact. The subsequent penalty and then double stacking during the VSC meant I lost some positions towards the last laps, but overall there wasn’t much more in it for us.

"Reflecting on this first half of the season, I'm happy with the consistency and pace I’m extracting from the car every weekend despite our struggles and, ultimately, we have a lot of homework for the second half of the year. The most important thing is to keep pushing together as a team like we are doing. We will reset during the summer break and come back stronger!"

Alex Albon, 17th

"This has been a tough weekend for us - it was a real battle out there. We knew the track wouldn't suit us, and that it would expose our weaknesses. We've had balance issues all weekend, and we were very wind-affected today, with understeer and a lack of consistency throughout. I struggled to find a rhythm with the wind changing and the gusts. We know what we need to fix, and I think the work that's being done back at the factory is the biggest team effort I've seen to fight these issues. I believe we're doing the right things to get back on track - it's just a shame to be in this position in the first place. Hopefully we can take a good rest as a team and come back stronger post summer break."

James Vowles, Team Principal

“A tough day. We knew coming into this event that it would highlight all our weaknesses, and with the other developments we're working on to put ourselves in a stronger position out of the winter and into Baku, we knew we'd fall behind our competitors. That doesn't make today any easier. It's deeply frustrating to see our cars out there struggling with balance and not quick enough.

"Well done to Alex and Carlos - they've been immensely strong since the difficulties earlier in the season, right through to today, so thanks to them for their commitment to our ongoing journey.

"With Carlos, we should have done a better job of warning him about Piastri; we never want to interfere with the leaders, and we need to make sure we avoid that in future. With Alex, just a solid weekend - a real step up from him over his last few races, and it's great to see him able to deliver more and more each weekend.

"On a positive note, the pit stops were good. We did our fastest one of the year, so that's progressing. And we're working on all the elements in the background: communications, aerodynamics, strategy - it's all levelling up. Now the car performance needs to match.”

Cadillac

Cadillac’s reliability woes returned in Hungary, with neither driver able to make it to the chequered flag. Bottas was the first to retire, limping back to the pits with a brake fire. The Finn had said on Thursday that overheating brakes here might be an issue, and so it proved. As for Perez, his afternoon was undone by a front suspension issue. Work to do for Cadillac on reliability and pace, given they have now been jumped by Aston Martin on performance.

Sergio Perez, DNF

“It was a challenging race. In the first stint I was struggling a lot with the balance and sliding around, but I was able to adapt my driving, and the second stint was much stronger. I still felt there was something not quite right with the car, so it’s important that we understand exactly what was happening. As a new team, we expect to face some challenges, but it’s frustrating that we’ve had a few issues recently. We’ll use next week before the shutdown period to work hard across all areas and make sure we come back stronger for the second half of the season.”

Valtteri Bottas, DNF

“Unfortunately, my race came to end due to the brakes overheating. It’s a shame as we had upgrades to address the brake cooling, but it wasn’t enough due to the extreme conditions and the nature of this circuit. It’s another learning for us as a team and we’ll be using the week before the summer break to try to get on top of the issue, so it doesn’t happen again. There are still positives to take away from the weekend as we’ve been closer to Williams than before. It’s been a challenging start to the season as expected being a new team, but we have many moments to be proud of and more to look forward to in the second half of the year.”

Graeme Lowdon, Team Principal

“Clearly, a double retirement is not the way we wanted to finish the first half of the season, but building something new is not without its challenges. We need to understand exactly what happened today and make sure we address the issues we have experienced. There has been great progress in many areas and the commitment and hard work across the entire team remains incredibly strong. As a team, we have achieved a lot in the first half of our debut season but of course we always want more, and I have every confidence that we will come back stronger and ready to push again in Zandvoort.”

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“Today we witnessed a wide variety of strategies, with every team able to make use of the full range of compounds available. The impression is that each team managed to identify the most effective combination to maximise the characteristics of its own car.

“These were precisely some of the objectives we had set ourselves during the development phase. To create a range capable of adapting as effectively as possible to cars that have followed different development paths, offering greater strategic variety and enabling even the softer compounds to be used effectively.

“Several teams made extensive use of the C5 today, which this year has once again proved to be a genuine race tyre and not just an option for fast laps on Saturday. This is demonstrated by the Soft stints of more than 29 laps completed by as many as five drivers.

“In the end, the race was contested between one-stop and three-stop strategies. Among the top teams, only Ferrari chose to start on the Soft and, by bringing Hamilton into the pits at the first available opportunity, effectively triggered the sequence of pit stops among its rivals, prompting several others to converge on a two-stop strategy.

“This approach offered greater tactical flexibility and a faster ability to react in a race made particularly complex by traffic and the high number of backmarkers to manage after each pit stop.

“While Ferrari demonstrated particular effectiveness in extracting performance from the red-marked tyre, Mercedes appeared to base its approach around the Hard compound, which was also selected for the final stint. It was a decision taken shortly before the Virtual Safety Car, which instead gave others the opportunity to make an additional tyre change.

“Despite the high temperatures, degradation across all three compounds remained broadly in line with expectations. Drivers mainly had to manage the rear tyres, the principal limiting factor in the traction phases, without significantly compromising race pace, thanks in part to the circuit's continuous evolution throughout the day.”