2024 Hungarian Grand Prix

The 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 21 July 2024 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. It was the thirteenth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship.

The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row, their first since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Piastri won the race for McLaren, marking his maiden victory in Formula One. Teammate Norris finished second, marking McLaren’s first 1–2 finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished third, becoming the first driver to record 200 career podiums.

Background

The event was held at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród for the 39th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 19–21 July. The Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the 39th running of the Hungarian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship.

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 255 points, 84 points ahead of Lando Norris in second, and 105 ahead of Charles Leclerc in third. Red Bull Racing, with 373 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 302 and 295 points, respectively.

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. Oliver Bearman drove in the first free practice session for Haas, in place of Nico Hülkenberg.

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (the three softest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at this event.

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 19 July 2024 at 13:30 local time (UTC+2), and was topped by Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari ahead of Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time, and was topped by Lando Norris of McLaren ahead of Verstappen and Sainz. The third free practice session was held on 20 July 2024, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri and Verstappen.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 20 July 2024, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2).

Qualifying report

The first segment of qualifying was held after a spell of rain hit the circuit. The track was sufficiently dry for slick tyres to be used. Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams into the barriers at turn 1. This accident brought out yellow flags and Sargeant's car was brought in for repairs. Sergio Pérez, who had been under pressure from his Red Bull Racing team after poor results, spun into the barriers and destroyed his car, suspending the session while the barriers were repaired. During this red flag period, the rain briefly returned and the track was left wet. Daniel Ricciardo ended the segment fastest. George Russell, in the Mercedes, was caught out and was eliminated from qualifying, alongside Pérez, Zhou Guanyu and the two Alpine cars of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

The second segment was topped by Lando Norris in the McLaren. Lewis Hamilton struggled to improve much during this session, managing a time only good enough for tenth. Nico Hülkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Alexander Albon, Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen were eliminated from this segment.

Norris set the fastest time of the session, granting him provisional pole position. Yuki Tsunoda in the RB was involved in a heavy crash that left his chassis destroyed. Red flags were flown for the second and final time this session, and only Ricciardo (9th) was able to improve after the session was restarted. Oscar Piastri qualified second, which meant that McLaren secured a front-row lockout, their first since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Max Versappen was third.

Qualifying classification

Notes
* – Pierre Gasly qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane for replacing power unit elements without the approval of the technical delegate during parc fermé.
* – As qualifying was held on a wet track, the 107% rule was not in force.

Race

The race was held on 21 July 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2), and was run for 70 laps.

Race report

Pierre Gasly had changes made to his power unit during parc fermé, facilitating a pit lane start. He later retired from the race on lap 33 due to a suspected hydraulics leak. Most cars started on the medium compound tyres with some others opting for hard compound or soft compound. Polesitter Lando Norris lost position to teammate Oscar Piastri at the start. Championship leader Max Verstappen, starting from third, took second from Norris off-track. He let Norris retake second on lap 4, to avoid a potential penalty for gaining a position off track. The pit window was open by lap 17, and everyone went in for their scheduled stops, briefly giving Charles Leclerc the lead ahead of his stop. Sergio Pérez, who ended qualifying early after damaging his car, was able to recover to the points, eventually finishing seventh.

Lewis Hamilton soon saw himself engaged in a battle with Verstappen, who ended up being undercut by Hamilton and Leclerc. Verstappen, who had grown increasingly frustrated throughout the race, criticised the team's strategy calls and the handling and pace of the RB20 over team radio. Verstappen soon caught up to Hamilton and was subjected to strong defenses; later, an attempted overtake from Verstappen caused a collision between the two, prompting an investigation from the stewards. No penalty was given for the contact with the stewards determining that no driver was primarily at fault. Norris was first up to pit for mediums in an attempt to cover off the potential risk of being overtaken by Hamilton; soon after, race-leading Piastri came in for mediums. Throughout the closing stages of the race, McLaren invoked team orders asking Norris, who had gained the lead via an undercut, to swap positions with Piastri. Eventually, Norris slowed down at the start-finish straight on lap 68, giving Piastri the lead and eventual maiden race win. Hamilton rounded off the podium, becoming the first driver to record 200 career podiums. Verstappen finished in fifth after losing fourth to Charles Leclerc due to the collision with Hamilton earlier.

This was McLaren's first 1–2 finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. McLaren's decision to swap Norris and Piastri was controversial, as Norris was the faster driver and had gained a six-second lead over Piastri. There was doubt from McLaren management and observers that Norris would obey the team orders, with Norris being instructed to swap positions over a twenty-lap period. Norris later stated that he always intended to swap positions and that he thought it was fair to give Piastri the win. Ahead of the following , Norris stated he regretted that team orders had overshadowed Piastri's win and stated that he should have ceded position to his team mate sooner to avoid adding to the controversy and to allow him an opportunity to challenge Piastri for the lead if McLaren's team orders allowed it.

Race classification

Notes
* – Includes one point for fastest lap.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

* 2024 Budapest Formula 2 round
* 2024 Budapest Formula 3 round

References

External links

{{F1GP 2020–29

Hungarian
Grand Prix
2024
HungarianGrand Prix
Formula One controversies