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Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
@MazdaChris says it’s easy to understand why both Ferrari drivers looked dejected after the Hungarian Grand Prix:
It’s really not a positive picture for Ferrari at the moment. Hamilton being told as early as lap three to lift and coast to save the brakes – they’ve been having braking issues for the whole year, with both Hamilton and Leclerc being caught out and spinning under braking. A chassis that’s smashing itself to bits by running too low, or being woefully uncompetitive when it’s run high enough to avoid it. Considering the relatively long period of stability in the rules, it’s a bit surprising to see a top team who are still having so many issues with the fundamentals of driveability.
I don’t see how you could really accurately assess the performance of either driver under these circumstances. The car appears to occasionally have a bit of pace in it, but for the most part it looks like it can’t sustain anything like that pace over the course of a race. How frustrating it must be to be in a race where you’re constantly told to slow down to save the car, then get berated in the media for being too slow.
@MazdaChris
Social media and links
McLaren chief says Formula 1 is ‘healthier’ without Christian Horner (The Guardian)
Zak Brown: ‘It went too far. There’s always going to be politicking in F1; let’s try and shut down their flexi-wings and that stuff, but when you start getting into frivolous allegations, that’s just going too far.’
Sorry Russell, but your Ferrari theory is crazy (The Telegraph)
‘Ferrari have not been especially open about the problems with their car, which is why there is so much conjecture around them and perhaps why Russell said what he did in Hungary.’
Singapore tycoon pleads guilty in gifts scandal involving ex-minister (Financial Times)
‘Ong, a hotelier and property developer, is one of Singapore’s richest men. He was also instrumental in bringing Formula 1 to Singapore, and his company still runs the city-state’s night-time grand prix.’
Talking Points: Andy Stevenson on the half-time whistle being blown in Budapest and the benefits of the summer shutdown (Aston Martin)
‘There’s a lot of juggling happening and it’s sometimes a challenge to remember what year you’re in – when I’m writing emails referring to ’25 I’m accidentally putting ’26 because it’s on my mind so much!’
Changes and status quo when it comes to compound choices for the rest of the season (Pirelli)
‘In Spa, the rain meant it was impossible to fully evaluate the effect on strategy of skipping a compound, but missing a compound step will also be the case for two of the four rounds in the Americas, which are a feature of the second part of the season. In Austin, only the medium (C3) and soft (C4) will be in the same positions as last year, while the hard is harder, (C1 instead of C2). The same approach will be adopted the following week in Mexico City: medium (C4) and soft (C5) remain the same, while the hard goes one step harder from C3 to C2.’
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