Hungarian Grand Prix
Mercedes will look to build off their momentum when the F1 calendar shifts to Hungaroring for the 2021 Hungrian Grand Prix.
After a huge turn of events in Silverstone, all of a sudden, Mercedes are right back at it as they’ve narrowed the gap both in the drivers and constructors’ standings.
Lewis Hamilton is now trailing by eight points to Max Verstappen, and him and Valtteri Bottas gathered enough markers in the last time out to the point that the Silver Arrows only have a four-point deficit against Red Bull.
Red Bull principal Christian Horner and Max Verstappen will be plotting their revenge against Lewis Hamilton and co. this weekend. However, despite the Hungaroring being a Red Bull track, they haven’t actually won there in quite some time.
Read on below as SBOTOP offers a preview of this much-awaited F1 race.
Red Bull still fuming about the British Grand Prix incident
Red Bull are pissed when they heard the Hungarian Grand Prix 2021 news that their attempted challenge of the stewards’ verdict about the acrimonious collision between Hamilton and Verstappen was scrapped last Thursday evening.
Christian Horner and co. wanted a harsher consequence for Lewis Hamilton since they felt that his 10-second penalty was too lenient.
During the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, Hamilton and Verstappen’s cars clipped wheels and the latter hit the barrier hard, putting him out of the said race.
Fortunately, Max Verstappen didn’t sustain any injuries and he’s fit to race in Hungary. However, he couldn’t help but criticise his Mercedes colleague anew during their recent press conference.
“It’s disrespectful if one guy is in the hospital and the other one is waving the flag around like nothing has happened while you push the guy into the wall with 51G,” lamented Verstappen.
“That’s not how you celebrate a win, especially a win how they got it,” he added.
In response, Lewis Hamilton said that he wasn’t aware that Max Verstappen had been taken to the hospital until post-race and he reiterated that he didn’t mean any disrespect for his fellow competitor.
“It’s one thing knowing and then celebrating what happened, and it’s one thing not knowing and celebrating. I don’t believe our behaviour was disrespectful,” said the all-time F1 wins leader.
The two apparently shared a chat privately and all seems well for now, although it remains to be seen how will that translate to the circuit this weekend.
A silver lining for Ferrari
Meanwhile, Ferrari are all smiles and they’ll look to capitalise on their newfound confidence after exceeding expectations in the last time out.
The Scuderia have shown steady progress since having zero points in the French Grand Prix, which culminated to an almost win at Silverstone.
Leclerc took the lead in the British Grand Prix for a long stretch only to be outpaced by Hamilton in the end but the Monegasque driver wasn’t at all disappointed. And there’s no reason to be as Ferrari have now scored more points after 10 races this season than they did over the whole year in 2020.
However, a daunting challenge awaits them in Hungaroring since they finished only as high as 11th in 2020 after a P4 finish in the previous year.
But Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto was so pleased with their outing at Silverstone and he sees a win on their horizon, saying tongue in cheek that his team will be gunning for a one-two finish.
History
The Hungaroring has been a happy hunting ground for Lewis Hamilton. The British driver is the all-time leader with eight victories and he’ll chasing for No. 9 this weekend.
However, his teammate in Valtteri Bottas haven’t had much luck so far on this track as he never finished higher than P3 here.
McLaren are the best team historically on this track with 11 wins – with Hamilton being responsible in their most recent triumphs in 2011 and 2012.
Red Bull, meanwhile, have yet to win in Hungary since Daniel Ricciardo in 2014 although Max Verstappen came close in 2019.
What are the odds?
Max Verstappen remains the top draw here in the Hungarian Grand Prix 2021 odds despite having an uneventful time in Silverstone since the Red Bull driver is priced at 1.62 to win.
However, it’s hard to brush aside Lewis Hamilton’s dominance in Hungaroring and he’s pegged at 1.79 to win.
The final podium spot will be up for grabs between Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris — who are priced at 2.03, 2.31, and 3.00 respectively — and we feel that it is Bottas who’ll get P3.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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