(Paris) And seven for Max Verstappen? Logically installed at the top of the Formula 1 championship, the Dutch title holder is aiming for a seventh victory in a row this weekend in Hungary, a performance which would give Red Bull a twelfth consecutive success synonymous with a record.
On the narrow track of the Hungaroring, near Budapest, one wonders who could stop Red Bull and Verstappen, as the pace imposed by the Austrian team and its champion outclasses the competition.
A pace that should also evolve further since for the 11th round of the season, the defending champion team among manufacturers is planning a series of improvements on its RB19, in order to “be able to find additional performance for the races to come”, according to Verstappen.
If ‘Mad Max’ – or his Mexican team-mate Sergio Pérez, winner of two Grands Prix this season – were to win the race on Sunday, it would give Red Bull a record twelfth consecutive success for a team.
Verstappen’s victory in Great Britain in early July gave the Austrian team an 11th victory in a row, equaling McLaren’s record from 1988.
Behind the Dutchman, his championship runner-up ‘Checo’ Pérez will try to hold off the double world champion Fernando Alonso, who seems to be marking time after a remarkable start to the season.
Before the installation of the paddock in Hungary, the Mexican is 19 points ahead of the Aston Martin driver. But the Spaniard has not said his last word, carried by his memories in Hungarian lands, where the “Bull of Asturias” won his first F1 race “exactly 20 years ago”.
“We are currently third and we want to finish second but you have to be realistic and it is going to be a tough battle until the end,” Alonso said on Thursday.
Beware, however, of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri! Thanks to an improved MCL60, the British team secured its first podium of the season at Silverstone two weeks ago, with Norris finishing second. Piastri finished 4th in the GP.
“We will try to keep up the momentum and continue to extract performance” from the single-seaters, assured team boss Andrea Stella.
However, he said, “Budapest circuit is very different, with low speed corners, so it will be a new challenge […]. But we are hoping for another competitive weekend.”
That would certainly not suit Alpine, relegated to 5th place among the manufacturers after the solid performance of its British rival, combined with the setbacks of its drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, forced to retire in Great Britain.
The passage from the paddock to Hungary also marks the return of one of the most popular drivers on the grid: Daniel Ricciardo, recalled to replace Dutchman Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri until the end of the season.
The Australian left the championship at the end of last season, finishing a modest 11th in the championship with McLaren.
Having become the third driver this season for Red Bull, AlphaTauri’s big sister team, Ricciardo is back thanks to the poor results of De Vries, who has failed to score a single point this season, unlike his Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
“It’s good to see Daniel back, but I’m also a good friend of Nyck (de Vries, who is also Dutch Ed.) and it’s sad to see him go,” Max Verstappen, who had Ricciardo as a teammate at Red Bull from 2016 to 2018, said on Thursday.
On track, Verstappen won last year in Hungary… from 10th on the grid. At the time, he was ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell, 3rd, but especially that of King Lewis Hamilton.
In Hungary, we must not forget that the Hungaroring is the kingdom of Hamilton which has won eight times (a record).
However, things are no longer so easy for the seven-time world champion, who dreams of regaining his luster by signing his first victory since the end of 2021.
