Budapest (AFP)
After two inaugural Grand Prix in Austria dominated by Mercedes, Formula 1 is counting this weekend in Hungary on the awakening of Red Bull, which however did not intervene on Friday, during free practice spoiled by the rain.
In the interest of the suspense, it would be welcome to happen by qualifying Saturday at 3:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT). In fact, as the Ferrari Main Team, Mattia Binotto, explains, among other things, "grid positions are key" on the Hungaroring in Budapest, a circuit that is not very favorable for overtaking.
As the Friday afternoon practice session took place in the rain, a large part of the field chose not to step outside, or almost, to save tires. It is therefore, once is not custom, the morning times that prevail.
These are to the advantage of Mercedes: the swiftest, the Briton Lewis Hamilton, was ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas by 86 / 1000th. The Finn, however, put on softer, and therefore faster, tires on one lap.
The competition, starting with Racing Point - powered by Mercedes - by Mexican Sergio Pérez, is relegated to more than 5/10 on even softer tires.
- Mercedes "quite fast" ... -
Yet expected on this route which favors aerodynamic support rather than engine power, the Red Bulls are only 8th, with the Dutch Max Verstappen at 1 sec 432/1000, and 13th with the Thai Alexander Albon, at 1 sec 724/1000 .
If he is satisfied with a car "which seems fast enough", the technical director of Mercedes, James Allison, will not sell the skin of the bear before having killed it and points out that "Red Bull was clearly not running his engine at the same power level, so the gap seems to be larger than it really is. "
Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan does not say otherwise: "Our engine mode was not equivalent to that of Mercedes, so we have a lot of winning in a straight line. And we used different tires. tires that behave better, our cornering speed should increase well. "
Showers expected throughout the weekend could also create some surprises, even if Hamilton particularly appreciates these conditions. He demonstrated it again with a masterful pole in Austria last Saturday, supplemented by a dry victory on Sunday.
- And "more refined" -
Without forgetting that Hungaroring is his kingdom: since its beginnings in 2007 (ie thirteen seasons), the six-time world champion, who ensures driving this year a Mercedes "more refined, the best so far", has imposed himself on seven times (a record) and signed six poles.
Only Michael Schumacher did better with seven leading positions, but it is another record from German legend that the Mercedes driver aims for in 2020: that of seven world titles.
Winner of the first Grand Prix of the season and second of the following, Bottas occupies first place in the championship, with a six point lead, but the paddock almost unanimously expects to see this situation quickly reversed after the third round of the season , still running behind closed doors because of the new coronavirus pandemic.
Off the circuit, moreover, 4,997 tests to detect the Covid-19 were still carried out between last Friday and Thursday. Two first positive cases are to be reported, announced F1 and the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
As a sign that the strict health protocol implemented in the paddock for the resumption of the championship is working, the two people concerned were not present during the first two GPs in Austria. They and their close contacts were isolated, but none played a role likely to impact the holding of the Hungarian test, it was told AFP.
© 2020 AFP