Budapest (AFP)
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc of Monaco hopes to make up for the Tour de France mistake that led to his withdrawal in the lead, while Dutch world champion Max Verstappen “Red Bull” seeks to tighten his grip on the lead, when they enter the Hungarian Grand Prix, the 13th round of the world championship. Formula One, at the last chance before the summer break.
At a distance from them, British seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the “king” of the Hungaroring are waiting to pounce on his rivals at the first missing pedal, after the momentum of achieving his and his team’s best result this season at Paul Ricard, seeking his record ninth victory on the circuit. itself.
“I have to compensate if I want to be crowned world champion,” Leclerc said after his red car crashed into the safety fence at Le Castellet, knowing that a victory in Hungary would preserve his drivers’ title hopes and upset the comfort of the Mad Max.
The Principality driver hoped to live a dream that turned into a nightmare at Paul Ricard, knowing that he lost many important points and the possibility of lifting the first place trophy in France, when he was at the top of the race, after being left off the racing track following a fatal leadership error.
Despite retaining second place in the standings, the Scuderia Ferrari driver is 63 points behind Verstappen (233 to 170), who easily won in France.
Worse, Leclerc is under threat from Red Bull’s second Mexican Sergio “Chico” Perez, who is only seven points behind him on the eve of the last race before the three-week summer break.
With the smell of vengeance wafting in the corridors of Ferrari, Leclerc will try at the Hungaroring, which is characterized by its narrow tracks, which lies 20 kilometers from the capital Budapest, to limit the damage to defend the runner-up position against two Red Bulls who are back on the winning track after a difficult start to the season.
Only the Ferrari team this year managed to compete with the Austrian barn, crowned with eight races (7 for Verstappen and 1 for Perez), but when the “running horse” drivers succeed in seeing the spotted flag at the end of the races.
After 12 rounds, starting with the first in March, Ferrari entered the negative record for the most withdrawals (7), so there was no room for error.
On the other hand, Verstappen, “the giant of cold nerves”, keeps his feet on the ground in his quest for a second title in a row, despite the big difference between him and his closest pursuers, so he says: “In Budapest, I think things will be more difficult for us, and I think the Ferrari car will be very fast”.
However, Red Bull’s decision to change Verstappen’s engine may re-shuffle the cards in Hungary and favor Leclerc, after Austrian chief advisor Helmut Marko confirmed that the Dutchman is expected to receive a penalty for dropping off at the starting line on Sunday in the event of modifications to the car.
Against the leaders Red Bull (396 points) and Ferrari (314), we also await the third force, the Mercedes team (270), which is back in strength and is approaching the red pit thanks to the double of its drivers Hamilton and George Russell in France, where they finished second and third, respectively.
The German manufacturer has managed to climb to the podium 5 times in the last four races, and within this race he has achieved better results than his competitors, but always without tasting the taste of victory this year.
Hamilton, who holds the record for the number of wins in Hungary, closely touched the inability of the “silver arrows” to compete with Red Bull in France, and owes Mercedes his good result first and foremost to Ferrari’s problems with Leclerc’s withdrawal and the penalty of Science (10 places at the starting line to change a piece on board of his car).
Hamilton, who has run his 300th G1 race in France, knows that despite being on the podium in the last four races, he faces a tough challenge to maintain his level, as he seeks to become the first driver to win nine times at the same circuit, which would be a record feat. in the world championship.
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