By ghost_726
On Wednesday the F1 CRL rolled into Hungary to tackle the challenging course, which is often referred to Monaco without the walls. As is expected with such a technical track, the pack largely spread out. But there was still plenty of on-track action, including Bigryeguy98 and Vols8840 scrapping for the win for most of the race, and HAL9100 defending against isiboy23 and Aleixcucco27 for a spot in the top 5. Read on below for a recap of the race and current standings via juzzzy’s graphical expertise.
Driver Power Rankings
PCC-Godly was unavailable for Hungary, but held onto P5 on the strength of his consistency in the early season. He’ll be out again in Miami, but on his return, will look to continue his streak of top 5 finishes.
Vols8840 made his F1 CRL debut in Hungary as a reserve for McLaren. A strong qualifying saw him place his car 5th on the grid, before battling Bigryeguy98 for the win for long portions of the race before settling into P2. He’ll get another drive in Miami, where he’ll look to build on his early success.
Fivesix2KING finished P9 in Hungary after lining up P4 on the grid. It speaks volumes that this could even be construed as an off day for the two-time race winner, but by his standards, this was. Battling illness, he didn’t show his result, and unfortunately saw his 6 race podium streak come to an end. Miami will show if this was a blip on the radar.
After claiming victory in his first race of season 5, Bigryeguy98 rises one spot to second in the power rankings. It was a dominant week for Bigryeguy98, who took pole by 2 tenths of a second, before winning by more than 5 seconds. Can he continue his season 4 dominance, or will sayayines4ever and fivesix2KING make it a fight at the top.
Sayayines4ever continued his strong start to his F1 career, qualifying P2 before finishing P5 in Hungary. The top 5 finish is the first time sayayines4ever failed to win in the F1 division, but is largely a positive for the young driver. There were concerns of how sayayines4ever would perform when he wasn’t out front, and at least for one race, he put those concerns to rest. Sayayines4ever maintained composure and drove a relatively clean race despite falling off the lead pack, and picked up valuable points in the championship.
Team Power Rankings
Despite bringing only one driver to the grid in Hungary, Williams was poised for points after ChrisKYU62 impressively slotted into P12 during qualifying. Unfortunately, a 2 stop strategy saw him finish in P15.
AlphaTauri came to Hungary looking to score points for the second week in three tries, but were looking at a large task after qualifying saw bode95 line up 14th and RecklezzXV start 19th. But bode95 put in a solid drive, falling just short of his second point of the season, finishing P11. There’s no reason for AlphaTauri to panic though, as bode95 has consistently challenged for points this season, and is sure to grab a handful in the remaining races.
Alpine had their best week of the season thanks to reserve KB-0_07 grabbing a podium and 15 points, mere days after his dismissal from the Alfa Romeo team. While he won’t be racing for Alpine in Miami, the Alpine team will look to build on the momentum he generated, and grab another haul of points.
Red Bull had a week to forget in Hungary, with team principal juzzzyb suffering from technical issues while teammate moosemtz15 suffered a DNF, resulting in the team’s first scoreless week this season. But keep an eye on Red Bull the rest of the way, as they added KB-0_07, who is coming off a podium this week.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the F1 torque adjustments was HAL9100, who looked like his championship-winning self in Hungary. After qualifying P8, he made a tire gamble, opting for the softs, and dashing to a P4 finish as a result. Jmtitan10 also had a solid race, battling through the field to finish P12 after starting 17th. If HAL9100 can consistently fight at the top of the pack, and jmtitan10 can continue challenging for points, Mercedes could enter the battle for a top 5 spot.
Bigryeguy98’s return to the lineup has immediately bolstered Ferrari, as he took pole position and then the win. Meanwhile, teammate Aleixcucco27 enjoyed another strong qualifying performance, slotting into the sixth spot on the grid. But this time he put together a strong race, and grabbed his first points of the season with a P7 finish. While they got off to a slow start, Ferrari could quickly find themselves back in the championship hunt.
For the second time this season, Aston Martin put two cars in the points. Isiboy23 was a bit off the pace in qualifying, starting P13, but put together a phenomenal drive to end up P6. Guitarhero1234 lined up P9, but was clipped off the line on a chaotic start, dropping him to the back of the pack. But he put together a phenomenal recovery drive to finish P10. While Aston Martin hasn’t looked to have race winning pace, they’ve been one of the most consistent teams. If they continue that trend, they’ll be fighting Haas and McLaren for P2 and P3.
With xINCIDENTx out of action this week, fivesix2KING stepped in next to ghost_726 for the race around the Hungaroring. And the pair continued Haas’ streak of putting both cars in the points, but otherwise failed to impress. Ghost_726 required an early wing change, while fivesix2KING was forced into a two stop strategy. Ultimately, the pair wound up P8 and P9. With xINCIDENTx out again in Miami, the pair will look to rebound.
Alfa Romeo had a slightly different look this week, with KB-0_07 removed from the team, and Ferrari/AR reserve Quothraven44 stepping into his place. Unfortunately, this move didn’t pan out for Alfa Romeo, as KB-0_07 went on to finish P3, while Quothraven44 had to settle for P16, 2 laps down. Sayayines4ever would salvage points for Alfa Romeo, grabbing P5, but Alfa Romeo may rue those lost points. New driver ThugHughes steps in to the second seat in Miami, and will look to get Alfa Romeo back to their winning ways.
Another team relying on a reserve driver, McLaren had a solid week in Hungary with vols8840 stepping in for PCC-Godly. And the reserve performed well, qualifying P5 before competing for the win and settling for P2 and the 18 point haul that brings with it. While KENNYHITMANHART missed the points for the first time this season, McLaren will be confident entering Miami, with vols8840 again deputizing for PCC-Godly, and KENNYHITMANHART returning to a track he’s more confident at.