Rory Butcher secured the win in round 11 of the British Touring Car Championship in a frenetic second race at Oulton Park.
He took the lead on lap one and held on with Dan Rowbottom and Adam Morgan completing the podium.
Rowbottom made the best start and held on to the lead with Butcher and Gordon Shedden in tow. Butcher held off his brother in law and made a brave move on Rowbottom into the Knickerbrook chicane to take the lead.
On lap two Senna Proctor made a brilliant move down the inside of team mate Josh Cook and Jake Hill into the hairpin and passed both. Behind them Ollie Jackson and Jack Goff both collided. This ended Goff’s 100% points finishes record this season.
On lap three, same place, another collision as Colin Turkington tapped Cook, who slid into Jason Plato, with Cook coming off the worse and retiring from damage.
Butcher was pulling away but Rowbottom had to defend from Morgan, who was having another fantastic weekend around Oulton Park. Securing his second third place finish of the weekend.
Ash Sutton and Tom Ingram are both fighting for the title and have both recovered from setbacks to be in the top ten in race two.
Butcher strolled to the win with Rowbottom in 2nd and Morgan in 3rd. Hill, Moffat, Shedden Jelley, Sutton, Proctor and Ingram rounded off the top ten.
Dan Rowbottom took his first ever BTCC race win in round ten of the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park in a two-part race.
On lap eight Tom Oliphant was pitched into a spin by Jason Plato, before being collected by Excelr8 drivers Chris Smiley and Rick Parfitt. On the restart Rowbottom took the lead and held on for the win.
The two Team Dynamics Honda’s made the best start and swamped pole sitter Senna Proctor at the start. Shedden led with Rowbottom close behind, Proctor fell to fifth with Morgan and Butcher getting past too.
Into the long sweeping left hander at Cascades, a few cars were forced off track, with Colin Turkington being one of them, sending him to the back.
By lap three the Honda’s were two seconds clear, as there were five second penalties dished out to Josh Cook, Ollie Jackson and Sam Smelt for being out of position at the start.
With title challenger Tom Ingram starting at the back of the grid, Ash Sutton was thinking about capitalizing on his rival being at the back. However Sutton was in the pits on lap four and fell to the back.
Proctor was recovering from his poor start and by lap seven he managed to pass Butcher at the tight hairpin and went into fourth place.
On lap eight Jason Plato dived down the inside of Tom Oliphant at the final corner, and made contact, spinning the BMW round and leaving him stationary at the top of the hill.
He was an innocent bystander as Chris Smiley hit him, and then shortly after RIck Parfitt careened into him to bring out the red flag. After a short period once debris was cleared, there was a six lap restart.
On the restart Rowbottom held onto the lead and held on, despite a strong fight from his team mate Gordon Shedden. The Scot has previous at Oulton when fighting with team mates, having collided with team mate Matt Neal a few years back to deny the team a 1-2.
Rowbottom held on for his first BTCC win with Shedden, Morgan, Butcher, Jelley, Moffat, Plato, Hill, Proctor and Goff rounding off the top ten.
Formula 3 championship leader Dennis Hauger won the Hungary feature race, beating his Prema teammate Arthur Leclerc in a race-long battle in changing conditions.
Leclerc started the race from pole ahead of Hauger. But before either driver had the chance to fight for the lead off the line, the track was drenched by heavy rain and the race was started behind the safety car instead.
When the race got underway with a rolling start, Leclerc got going to stay clear of Hauger into Turn 1. Behind them, third-placed Jack Doohan came under pressure into the first corner from his trident teammate David Schumacher, who tried the move around the outside but didn’t have the grip.
The safety car was back out by the end of the first lap, as Victor Martins found himself in the wall with a broken front wing. When the race resumed on lap 4 Leclerc again went into Turn 1 unchallenged, although Hauger was much closer throughout the lap and was putting the pressure on.
Arthur Leclerc, Prema (Lars Baron, Getty Images / FIA F3)
Further back in the pack, several cars tried to make places as their rivals struggled on the wet track but ended up coming under attack themselves as a result. Clement Novalak in fifth was slow at the restart and gave an opportunity to Alex Smolyar, but when Smolyar couldn’t get the move done he found Frederik Vesti looking up the inside of him instead.
Olli Caldwell tried to take advantage of Vesti’s fight with Smolyar to slip up the inside of the Dane, but had to back out to defend from Ayumu Iwasa behind him. At the start of lap 5, Caldwell then missed his braking for Turn 1, clipping the back of Vesti and dropping to ninth behind Iwasa as a result.
At the front Hauger settled into a rhythm and started setting fastest laps to close to within four tenths of Leclerc by lap 7. With the pressure on, Leclerc then dipped a wheel into the standing water towards the end of the lap and gave Hauger a run down into Turn 1 on the next lap.
Leclerc forced Hauger to the outside where the Norwegian had to back off and slip back in behind. Hauger kept up the attack through the next few corners, but each time Leclerc held the inside line, forcing Hauger to back off from an outside move and dropping him back towards Doohan.
But on lap 9 Leclerc was wide through Turn 1, and this gave Hauger the opportunity he needed to run alongside his teammate and take the lead heading down to Turn 4. Hauger then cemented his pace in the conditions by setting the fastest lap while in front, and starting lap 10 with a 1.5 second lead over Leclerc.
With the track almost dry by the halfway stage, Hauger’s wet tyres started to overheat and Leclerc began coming back at him. Leclerc set the fastest lap on lap 11 to cut the gap to half a second, but Hauger responded on the following lap and opened it back up to a second.
As Hauger and Leclerc traded lap times, Prema told them to be wary of overheating their wet tyres. This brought Doohan into play, who began setting fastest laps and closing the gap to Leclerc to under a second.
Jack Doohan, Trident (Red Bull Content Pool)
But despite the late surge from Doohan, the Premas were able to keep enough tyre life to stay just out of reach. Doohan’s charge was then called off altogether three laps from the end, when Laszlo Toth collided with Ido Cohen at the rear of the field and brought out a safety car to lead the field over the line.
Hauger therefore led home Leclerc and Doohan, who took their second and fourth podium finishes of the year respectively. Doohan’s Trident teammates Schumacher and Novalak followed him in fourth and fifth. Smolyar was sixth ahead of Vesti and Caldwell, and Enzo Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant rounded out the points for Charouz in ninth and tenth.
Matteo Nannini, who started 13th, was the only driver to chance a stop for slick tyres when the track dried out. But despite being the quickest car on track by almost two seconds and taking the fastest lap, the final safety car coupled with a very slow stop meant Nannini couldn’t capitalise on the gamble, and he finished in 26th.
Hauger’s third win of the year gives him 152 points in the standings and a 63-point lead, meaning he could fail to score in the next round entirely and still hold the championship lead. Doohan’s third place returns him to second in the standings on 89 points, three points ahead of Olli Caldwell in third.
F3 returns after the summer break on 28th and 29th August at Spa-Francorchamps in support of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Matteo Nannini took his maiden Formula 3 victory in the second Hungaroring sprint race, while Dennis Hauger put in another charging drive to increase his championship lead.
Nannini started the race from third on the reverse grid behind Enzo Fittipaldi and Roman Stanek, neither of whom had won before in F3 either. Although Fittipaldi looked to have the lead covered heading into Turn 1, Nannini made a late braking lunge around the outside to jump from third to alongside the Charouz.
Fittipaldi held the position, helped in part by a lockup from Nannini through Turn 3, forcing Nannini to settle back into second ahead of Stanek. The trio led a chaotic opening lap that also saw three cars stalled on the starting grid, and a collision between Oliver Rasmussen and Olli Caldwell that left Caldwell with a broken front wing and well outside the points.
Olli Caldwell, Prema (Courtesy of Prema Racing)
Fittipaldi set an early fastest lap, but Nannini stuck with him. At the start of lap 4, Nannini closed to the back of Fittipaldi under DRS and passed him for the lead around the outside into Turn 1. Fittipaldi tried to fight back through the following corners, but although Nannini locked up at Turn 3 the HWA managed to stay ahead.
Once in front, Nannini put the clear air ahead to good use to open up a 2-second gap by lap 8. As that increased even further to almost three seconds by the halfway stage, Fittipaldi was unable to keep up and instead had Stanek and fourth-placed Alex Smolyar on his tail.
Fittipaldi managed to stabilise by lap 15 and drop Stanek out of DRS range, but by this point Nannini was too far up the road to catch. Nannini crossed the line with a comfortable lead to take the victory, with Fittipaldi and Stanek following him across the line in second and third.
While the podium battle was settled early on, the midfield played host to several close fights in the closing laps. Jack Doohan was running in fifth behind Smolyar for most of the race, but his tyres faded on lap 16 and he was passed by teammate David Schumacher at Turn 3.
David Schumacher, Trident (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / FIA F3)
Doohan then fell prey to Dennis Hauger two laps later at the outside of Turn 1, before tumbling back through the order. Lorenzo Colombo and Clement Novalak demoted him to ninth at the start of lap 19, which then became eleventh as Logan Sargeant and Ayumu Iwasa found their way past the Trident before the end of the lap.
On the penultimate lap Hauger made up another place by launching around the outside of Schumacher at Turn 1 to take fifth. He even managed to catch up to fourth-placed Smolyar by the end of the lap, although didn’t have enough time to pass the ART before the chequered flag.
Hauger crossed the line fifth behind Smolyar to add another six points to his championship tally. Schumacher was sixth, and Colombo, Novalak, Sargeant and Iwasa rounded out the points.
Jamie Chadwick took her second win of the W Series season, beating title rival Alice Powell by some margin to reclaim the lead of the championship standings.
Chadwick lost the title lead to Powell following the latter’s victory at Silverstone two weeks ago, but Chadwick struck back this weekend with pole position. She then got a much better launch off the line than Powell on race day to hold the lead into Turn 1.
Powell briefly had to go on the defensive to stay in second ahead of Nerea Marti, who got away quickly from third. Meanwhile, Marti’s Academy teammate Ira Sidorkova jumped forward from fifth position to challenge Beitske Visser, and claim fourth place at Turn 4 on the opening lap.
Further back in the pack, Chadwick’s Veloce teammate Bruna Tomaselli dropped back from sixth on the grid to ninth behind Marta Garcia, Emma Kimilainen and Belen Garcia. At Turn 1, Fabienne Wohlwend got caught up in the jostling for position and lost her front wing, forcing her into a pit stop at the end of lap 1, and retirement shortly after.
Over the opening few tours, Chadwick set a series of fastest laps in clean air to stretch clear of Powell. The gap was already over a second by the end of lap 2, and that continued to grow with each following lap. As Chadwick drove away, Powell and Marti also began opening up a gap on the rest of the field.
Chadwick continued to lead for the remainder of the race, and opened a gap of over seven seconds after consistently setting fastest lap times and lapping within a second of her pole time from Friday. She crossed the line to take the win at the end of lap 19 with Powell a distant second, and Marti further back in third and taking her first podium in the series.
Behind the top three, Sidorkova and Visser remained locked in a tight battle over fourth place. Sidorkova made an error at Turn 11 on lap 3 which allowed Visser to close to within half a second, although Sidorkova responded well in the following laps to keep ahead of the Forbes car.
Visser continued to put the pressure on the 18-year-old ahead and was consistently a tenth quicker per lap. But with the Hungaroring being such a difficult circuit to overtake on, Visser had to follow Sidorkova home over the line in fifth place.
Kimilainen took sixth place, having pounced on a late wide moment by Marta Garcia through Turn 11 to take the position on lap 16. Marta Garcia was seventh ahead of Belen Garcia, Tomaselli and Jess Hawkins.
Chadwick’s win puts her back at the top of the championship standings with 73 points, although Powell is just one point behind in second place. Marti’s podium moves her up into third in the standings on 37 points, with former third-place driver Sarah Moore one point behind her after finishing the Hungary race in 15th.
W Series returns after the summer break on 28th August at Spa-Francorchamps, in support of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Hitech’s Ayumu Iwasa has inherited the victory in the opening Hungaroring sprint race, after original winner Lorenzo Colombo was handed a post-race penalty.
Colombo was penalised for dropping more than ten car lengths behind the safety car late in the race. Drivers are only allowed to do so after the safety car has turned out its lights prior to the restart. Colombo was handed a five-second time penalty for the infringement, which drops him from first and seventh.
Iwasa therefore inherits the win, with Olli Caldwell moving up to second place and Logan Sargeant taking his first podium of the year in third. Clement Novalak is now fourth, Dennis Hauger fifth, and Alex Smolyar sixth. David Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Matteo Nannini remain eighth, ninth and tenth behind Colombo.
Lorenzo Colombo scored his and Campos Racing’s first Formula 3 win in the opening Hungaroring sprint race, beating the Red Bull juniors of Jonny Edgar and Ayumu Iwasa.
Colombo started the race from second on the grid behind reverse polesitter Edgar. The Italian looked to the inside of Edgar at Turn 1, but had to slip back to hold second as Iwasa tried to take them both around the outside.
The top three ran in single file in the first few laps, and quickly broke the DRS gap back to Olli Caldwell in third. But despite Edgar, Colombo and Iwasa being separated by just a second in total, neither was able to make any move to change the order.
That changed soon after though, as Colombo started putting in a sequence of good laps to close up more on Edgar. At the beginning of lap 8 Colombo drew alongside Edgar under DRS on the start/finish straight and swept around the outside at Turn 1 to take the lead.
But as Colombo settled in front of Edgar, the Carlin started slowing with a mechanical problem and dropping down the order. As Edgar fell out of the points and eventually pulled over to retire, Iwasa inherited second and Caldwell third.
Iwasa wasn’t able to pressure Colombo for the lead though, as he himself had to defend second from Caldwell. Just two laps after taking first place, Colombo had already opened up a second gap over Iwasa to protect from the DRS threat.
Colombo’s drive to victory was briefly worried on lap 16, when Frederik Vesti came to a halt by the track and brought out a safety car. But at the restart on lap 19, Colombo went early through the final corner and caught Iwasa off guard, and restored his one second gap within two laps.
Ayumu Iwasa, Hitech (Red Bull Content Pool)
Colombo eventually crossed the line with a 1.5 second lead, and dedicated his win to team founder Adrian Campos, who passed away in January this year. Iwasa scored his first F3 podium in second, while Caldwell finished in third and moves up to second place in the championship.
Logan Sargeant finished fourth for Charouz ahead of Clement Novalak. Championship leader Dennis Hauger took sixth place from eleventh on the grid, having made up places at the safety car restart. Alex Smolyar, David Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Matteo Nannini rounded out the points, and Enzo Fittipaldi finished twelfth to take pole for race 2.
Round 4 at Budapest signifying we are nearly halfway through this exciting season. In an 8 race season every race counts, so it’s important to optimise the more tighter style at the Hungaroring compared to the fast track of Silverstone.
The Hungaroring is a 4.38km circuit which held its first Formula 1 race in 1986, with this year’s race being its 36th event. The first females to race at the track were Annette Meuvissen and Mercedes Stermitz in 1988 during a one-off DTM race. Since then, there have been relatively few females’ appearances. However, on the 2021 W Series grid 3 drivers have had experience here.
Beitske Visser has the most experience at the Hungaroring, competing in 2014, 2015 and 2016 in the Renault 3.5 World Series and in the GT4 Euro South competition. When GP3 supported F1 in 2012 both Alice Powell and Vicky Piria competed around the track, however neither made the points.
Can Alice Powell hold on to the lead?
During a dramatic Silverstone race where, after qualifying on pole with a stunning lap, Alice Powell lost first position in the first few corners, then had a race-long battle with Fabienne Wohlwend to eventually come out on top. This adds to her win in round 1, and with Jamie Chadwick finishing in 3rd at Silverstone this means Powell is currently on top of the standings, 6 points ahead of Chadwick.
Alice Powell is having a good season so far, getting her first pole position in the series and beating her number of wins from the whole of the 2019 season. Widely considered a very strong contender for the championship, Powell is taking advantage of her run of form.
Jamie Chadwick, however, is looking to fight back. After a 3rd place finish at Silverstone where she was on her own all race, she is hoping for a strong race weekend in Hungary to take back the lead of the championship and add to her win from round 2 at the Red Bull Ring.
Sarah Moore and Wohlwend are not far behind Chadwick in the standings, and a strong race for both means they come into this weekend with confidence. Wohlwend in particular had an impressive performance in her fight with Powell, which she will be hoping to repeat in Budapest.
Caitlin Wood’s comeback
Caitlin Wood (Drew Gibson / W Series)
The 24-year-old Australian competed in the inaugural 2019 W Series season, but narrowly missed out on automatic qualifying for the next season at the Brands Hatch and was therefore listed as a reserve driver. She finished 13th overall with 11 points scored and a highest finish of 5th.
Caitlin will be racing for PUMA this weekend; she is the first Australian woman to compete successfully in the European scene. She has also taken part in GT4 European Series and Formula Ford along among others.
Many drivers looking to improve their own performances for this weekend and it will be exciting to watch who can tackle this track which is known to test fitness and skill. Qualifying starts at 3:30pm GMT on Friday, lights out at 3:30pm GMT on Saturday.
It was an action-packed return to the home of British motorcycle racing that is Brands Hatch, however it was also a weekend overshadowed by the harsh reality that faces our sport every time we strap our helmets on and pull on our gloves.
Before I go any further, everyone at CrewOnTwo would like to send their well wishes to/and to the family of Mr. Brad Jones of iForce Lloyd & Jones BMW – who unfortunately after a crash in lap 1 of the first race of the weekend, was evacuated by air ambulance to Kings College Hospital in London for further treatment. Our thoughts remain with the family, the team, and Brad at this difficult time.
Image courtesy of @bradjones12, @Instagram
Race One
The weekend started with VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon leading the championship, however following his team-mate’s success in 2020, the eyes were on the prize for Josh Brookes for this year’s King of Brands trophy. With this year’s competition, it most certainly was not going to be a victory handed on a silver platter.
We saw the 4th different winner in the opening race when victory was clinched by McAMS Yamaha’s Tarran Mackenzie. Taz was able to lead from pole when the race was restarted and was able to hold the pack for the remaining 12 laps. His teammate wasn’t far behind in 5th overall. It was a chase to the finish between Bridewell and Mackenzie! Bridewell commented after the race that “had to get my elbows out and be a bit tough” which is all that racing is about! Oh how we’ve missed it. Danny Kent completed the top 10 for Buildbase Suzuki, narrowly pushing Glenn Irwin out into 11th for Honda Racing.
The podium of race one saw a strong presence of red as the Yamaha was accompanied by the two Ducati’s of Tommy Bridewell and Christian Iddon. Everyone of course with only one person on their mind and all were thankful they were able to finish the restarted race safely.
Race one podium, image courtesy of @OfficialBSB, @Instagram
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha)
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +0.225s
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.802s
Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW) +3.589s
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +6.838s
Lee Jackson (FS-3 Kawasaki) +7.036s
Bradley Ray (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +8.664s
Rory Skinner (FS-3 Kawasaki) +10.447s
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +13.494s
Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +13.856s
Race Two
The action continued into race two of the weekend as Synetiq BMW’s Danny Buchan pushed into the lead from Paddock Hill Bend, however, it was short and sweet as the VisionTrack Ducati’s Christian Iddon was instantly on the attack to claim the lead. Mackenzie was put under pressure which caused him to drop back a few spaces, only opening the gap for his team-mate Jason O’Halloran – who sat comfortably in the podium fight for the remainder of the race. It was a tight fight that saw switched positions after each corner, Iddon came through on Buchan only piling the pressure on more – whilst Bridewell sat immediately behind ready to pounce as he’d fought his way up the order.
By the time the final laps had arrived there was still no clear winner, Buchan refusing to give up while Mackenzie reappeared wishing to make amends to the title following his earlier mistake. O’Halloran took another sweet victory for McAMS Yamaha, followed closely by a Bridewell in second and Mackenzie in third position. Rory Skinner maintains his spectacular maiden season in BSB by scooping a 6th, while the man just outside the top 10 in race one, Glenn Irwin of Honda Racing was this time able to take 8th.
Race Two winner Jason O’Halloran, image courtesy of @ohalloran22, @Instagram
It was a devastating race for defending King of Brands Josh Brookes, as he finished outside the points in 18th position while trying to harmonize again with his Ducati.
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha)
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) +2.188s
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +5.845s
Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) +5.758s
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +6.503s
Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +8.658s
Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +9.865s
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +18.410s
Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +18.823s
Gino Rea (Buildbase Suzuki) +19.093s
Race Three
It was the third and final race, the pressure was on and although an overclouded atmosphere of overwhelming togetherness following the accident involving Brad Jones in race one, the grid was battling hard but never so close together as a family united.
Christian Iddon of VisionTrack Ducati was finally able to claim a victory after fighting hard across the whole weekend at Brands Hatch. In the 7-lap restarted sprint race he was just able to hold off 2021’s new King of Brands, Tarran Mackenzie of McAMS Yamaha. Declared initially as a wet race, it was looking like a positive for the likes of riders who are in their prime in these conditions – however, with a rainbow of various tyre choices unable to keep up with the changing track, there was bound to be some riders slip through the net.
Image courtesy of @officialbsb, @Instagram
Brookes, who opted for wet front and rear, launched from his 16th starting position to the front end of the field. However, he was only keeping the seat warm for Danny Buchan who by lap 5 and its changing weather conditions was leading the pack. Like many others, Buchan had gone with a slick front and intermediate rear – which enabled him to make pace on Brookes.
Buildbase goes BOOM! Image courtesy of @ginorea, @Instagram
As laps went on it was an unfortunate blowout for Gino Rea which brought the race to a red flag, he was not injured in the blow and the race was soon restarted. The restart sprint saw no hanging about from Buchan and Irwin, followed closely by Iddon who didn’t let Buchan take the lead for long. It’s been a slow burn start for Buchan onboard his Synetiq BMW but with every race, he’s looking even more comfortable!
King of Brands Mackenzie was following the front pack, after the first four laps, he secured a podium spot fighting inside the top 5. O’Halloran was yet to give up, after he was able to pass a motion on Brookes and Buchan to secure third position.
All hail the King! Image courtesy of @officialbsb, @Instagram
Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati)
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +0.075s
Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) +0.761s
Danny Buchan (SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad) +1.268s
Josh Brookes (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.647s
Glenn Irwin (Honda Racing) +3.014s
Peter Hickman (FHO Racing BMW) +3.169s
Lee Jackson (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +3.220s
Rory Skinner (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) +6.471s
Danny Kent (Buildbase Suzuki) +6.538s
It was a weekend of mixed emotions at Brands Hatch. McAMS Yamaha and Tarran Mackenzie walked away with this year’s trophy, while the championship standings left him 3rd overall – just behind team-mate O’Halloran and Christian Iddon.
Approx 48 hours onwards there is still little update on the condition of Brad Jones – other than that he will be kept in an induced coma whilst he receives treatment for serious head, chest and pelvic injuries. Our thoughts remain with him, the family and team at this time.
It had to happen eventually. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have been battling hammer and tong all season long so far and, while we are all enjoying the psychological and physical challenges that come with a great title fight, we all feared that it might come to blows at some point.
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone proved to be a resplendent one for action and drama over the course of two races that weekend, and it also saw the moment that our two front-runners for the world championship become intense adversaries.
Hamilton’s win following the lap one collision now places him eight points behind the Dutchman coming into Budapest, where all eyes will be on who can take the incentive going into the summer break.
Glad I’m ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this. The penalty given does not help us and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track. Watching the celebrations while still in hospital is disrespectful and unsportsmanlike behavior but we move on pic.twitter.com/iCrgyYWYkm
The 4.3 kilometre Hungaroring has held 35 races in the Formula One Championship in its tenure thus far, and the 36th is as highly anticipated as ever, with two drivers not displaced to give an inch going head-to-head in the 11th round of the championship.
If 2019 is anything to go by, they may well end up being pitted directly against one another again, after the seven-time-champion caught the Red Bull driver following an extra pit stop, passing him to win a thrilling Grand Prix.
We may well see more side-by-side action between Hamilton and Verstappen this weekend – Courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media
This was a time, however, when Red Bull were not in a position to contend for the title, and at a circuit in which Red Bull should thrive, Verstappen will be seeking instant redemption for Silverstone.
The 23-year-old comfortably took victory in Monaco earlier in the campaign, making him the favourite on a similar racetrack. But who else might it favour?
McLaren are bringing updates to the upcoming weekend, as they try to solidify their place in third in the Constructors’ standings. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz affirms that the McLaren is already the most difficult car to overtake. With Lando Norris’ three podiums and Daniel Ricciardo seemingly improving his pace, it is going to take a lot of work from the likes of Ferrari and Alpine to leapfrog McLaren. Charles Leclerc’s impressive performance over all three days at Silverstone, however, puts Ferrari in a positive position this weekend.
Charles Leclerc’s impressive performance at Silverstone saw him gain his first podium of the season – Courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
Silverstone has made Budapest a spicy encounter before it has even begun, and we cannot wait. Be sure to follow our live coverage on Twitter and our website as F1 heads into its last race before the summer break.
