The Formula 1 Drivers Championship Battle Resumes in Hungary
Covid or no Covid, 2021 is set to be Formula 1’s busiest ever year. The current season is scheduled to consist of 23 races. It has never featured more than 21 contests. Thankfully, as the season approaches its halfway point, it is also the most exciting in over a decade. Exciting is the word used instead of competitive. Because the destination of the World Championship and the 13 races ahead is an old-fashioned dogfight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen temporarily leads Lewis Hamilton during the opening lap of the 2021 British Grand Prix. ©JiriKrenek
The Dogfight
In controversial circumstances Lewis Hamilton won the last round of the World Championship at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix. It was his first victory in six starts. Max Verstappen had taken four of the previous five races including the showpiece Monaco Grand Prix.
It is Verstappen who leads the World Championship standings with 185 points. He is seven points clear of Hamilton as the drivers head into the 11th race of the year in Hungary this weekend.
Just a month ago, talking to reporters at the Styrian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff, boss of Hamilton’s Mercedes team, conceded Verstappen’s Red Bull team had the faster car. “It’s not a secret, there is a trend. They have the faster package at the moment” he said.
Going Karting Without Walls
This week, with the points gap to Verstappen lessened, Wolff was still playing down Mercedes’ chances. He said: “We know how fine the margins are this season and how the advantage is swaying from one team to the other at each race.
“Us and Red Bull looked very closely matched at Silverstone and Ferrari were very quick, and now the battle moves onto the next round and a very different track.
“The Hungaroring is a high-downforce, tight and twisty circuit. Almost like a large version of a go-kart track. Hungary will therefore be a different beast compared to the last race, and it is a track that will likely suit our competitors more, but we’ll give it all we’ve got.”
The Hungaroring: “Almost like a large version of a go-kart track,” according to Toto Wolff. ©MercedesAMGF1
Indeed, Hungary’s Hungaroring, which was the first track to stage an F1 race behind the iron curtain in 1986, is often described as “Monaco without the walls”. That is in reference to its antiquated, very narrow configuration. The circuit offers no obvious overtaking places. A case in point is 2012 when the Hungarian Grand Prix did not provide a single on-track overtake.
Mercedes Stronghold but No Bull from Horner
However, Wolff’s suggestion rival cars will be better suited to this weekend’s circuit is not supported by the statistics. A Mercedes has won here in four of the last five years and Lewis Hamilton has a record eight Hungaroring victories on his burgeoning CV.
Christian Horner, Wolff’s opposite number at Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team, is making no predictions about the forthcoming race weekend. That’s because he is still raging about the first-lap crash at Silverstone which took his star driver out of the race.
On his blog on the official Red Bull Racing website, only one paragraph was dedicated to the weekend ahead. Instead, he used it to vent his continued frustration at the events which unfolded at the British Grand Prix.
“Had Max made it through Copse [the corner where Verstappen’s race ended courtesy of a coming together with his championship rival], I don’t think Hamilton would have seen him again that afternoon,” was Horner’s standout quote.
Under the heading ‘Hungary for Redemption’ Horner did conclude his blog by saying: “Hungary will be a different challenge for the car and the team, and we will all be fully motivated to retain our championship lead.
“Max won’t dwell on anything from Silverstone and wants to do his talking on track. He is determined to put this incident behind him and use it as added motivation for the rest of the season, as are we.”
Horner’s final line suggests this dispute has now come to an end. But with 13 races ahead and the rivalry decidedly bitter, it is unlikely the next controversy will be too far away. It could all start again at turn one on Sunday afternoon!
The Season Ahead
At the current odds Verstappen is believed to be the most likely winner of the World Drivers Championship. Betway and William Hill both rate him a 1/2 chance.
Following this weekend’s race in Hungary and prior to the next in Belgium, Formula 1 will go into a state of hibernation. There is a month of no racing during which time all teams must undergo a compulsory two-week factory-wide shutdown.
The remaining race dates for 2021 are as follows:
