After a one week break Formula 1 returns with another triple-header which will begin with British GP at Silverstone this weekend.
The 2020 season first three rounds provided many points for discussion, and many of these are long-standing topics. As the paddock gathers again in the next races. We think this will be the headline news of the game this Sunday.
So far, there have been three races and three protests, in which Red Bull Racing questioned the legality of Mercedes DAS, and then Renault twice protested the brake hoses at Racing Point. As the management ruled that DAS was legal, the Red Bull/Mercedes case was quickly resolved, but the Racing Point was more complicated.
At the core of all these are the listed parts that all teams must design and build on their own, or if they outsource the work, they must have the design to be dedicated to FORMULA 1. The parts that planned may change, and the front and back brake ducts have not been listed in 2019 (so the team can buy and use them from competitors), but this is the case this year.
Well, we made a mistake two weeks ago. We expect to see a more competitive Red Bull team in Hungaroring than in a home run game-but on the contrary, we get Mercedes dominance. The qualifying speed of the defending champions is amazing, with a difference of almost a second between them and other fields.
This is an advantage we haven't seen with Mercedes in many years, and it's commendable-but it will also scratch the heads of the teams up and down the pit, trying to figure out how Silver Arrow managed to raise the bar.
For Ferrari fans, there is good news in Budapest on Saturday, when Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel took third place in qualifying, with two cars All ranked in the top six, all ahead of Red Bull. Nevertheless, the pace of the game was still lacking, Leclerc surpassed the points, and Vettel maintained P6 before Sergio Perez.
After the race, team leader Mattia Binotto hinted at the change, and a few days later, it was confirmed that Ferrari had reorganized the technical team in an attempt to increase the speed at which they found the car’s performance.
We are discussing penalties in Hungary, and we will do it again in Silverstone. Haas will be particularly sad. When the Budapest track was dry, the Haas strategists chose to let their drivers pit at the end of the formation lap, replaced both Kevin Magnussen and Roman Grosjean with smooth men, and watched To the advantage, the two ranked third and fourth respectively in a stage.
Magnussen continued to finish 9th, but the team was not allowed to give instructions to the drivers in the formation lap (except for safety reasons), he was reduced to 10th in the post-race penalty.