F1 2020: Hungarian Grand Prix Pre-Race Talking Points

If you were looking out for any surprises in F1, you would have been very disappointed while watching qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, if you are interested in a race for the final podium spot, then it appears that qualifying for the third round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship gave us a lot to talk about. 

Two tier F1

Much like the period of 2014 to 2016, it appears as if Mercedes are the only contenders for a race win and the drivers’ and constructors’ title. That brief period when Sebastian Vettel and  Ferrari got their act together to somewhat bother them in 2017 and 2018 seem like a distant memory. Lewis Hamilton took pole position with a time of 1min13.447sec around the 14-turn, 4.381km Hungaroring and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was just 0.107 seconds slower in second place. 

Third place, though? Lance Stroll, in essentially a ‘copy-paste’ of the 2019 Mercedes F1 car. Stroll and Racing Point-BWT Mercedes teammate Sergio Perez locked out the second row of the grid behind Mercedes. However, Stroll was a whopping 0.930 seconds slower than Hamilton. It is pretty tight behind the two Mercedes drivers, as a matter of fact. Just 0.650 seconds separate the drivers from third to ninth place in qualifying. Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri-Honda was tenth after making it into Q3 and did not set a time.

Some cheer for Ferrari

After a truly wretched opening two rounds, Ferrari appear to have saved some face thanks to Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc qualifying fifth and sixth, respectively. Only 0.043 seconds separated the two after qualifying and since this is Vettel’s last season with Ferrari, he will not be holding back at all. Of course, the scarlet cars are over 1.3 seconds slower than the Mercedes drivers over a single lap. Luck will play a big part in Ferrari being a factor for podiums on Sunday.

Red Bull slip up

In pre-season testing at Barcelona and in the opening two rounds in Austria, Red Bull Racing-Honda had emerged as the closest rivals to Mercedes. They appeared to have lost their wings (get it?) in qualifying at the Hungaroring, though. Max Verstappen could only manage seventh while teammate Alexander Albon was only 13th...ouch. The former world champions will be hoping that their dip in form is just an aberration and not a sign of what is to come.