Permanent expert of the championship, bronze medallist in the Formula V8 3.5 series Egor Orudzhev, answered the main questions following the results of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, which was won by Oscar Piastri.
How would you rate McLaren’s tactics in the second pit stops?
I, like many others, found this strange. The gap to Lewis is about 10 seconds. Why replace the leader when the underdog is working hard? Unclear.
What should McLaren have done to avoid such a drama?
He calls Oscar and then Lando. Or at least within one circle, not several. But you have to admit: Oscar had a bad second half of the race. He lost six seconds to Lando after his last pit stop.
Would you give the lead if you were Norris?
It’s a complex issue. It depends on who the partner is. Let’s say Matevos Isahakyan is a good friend of mine. If, hypothetically, we were in such a situation, I think I would give the win. Even though they say that there are no friends on the court, in such a moment human relationships can be more important. But if I had a neutral relationship with my partner and we didn’t spend time off the court, then probably not.
Should McLaren have already made Lando number one so that he wouldn’t lose points?
And we will know at the end of the year. If Lando is just a couple of points away from winning the championship, the answer will be obvious. So far, this is a very beautiful story for this sport.
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Was it right for Red Bull to ask Verstappen to return to second place after the start?
I found it strange: the judges had not yet made a decision. Usually, in such cases, you should not play in front of the stewards. The message “no further action” appeared half a circle later, when Max missed Norris – they could not have written it so quickly. This means that this decision of the judges was made even before Max failed. It turns out that Red Bull made a mistake. To begin with, I would do everything the same as Max. There is no room left at the start – throttle to the floor and off the road, and then I will exit wherever I can. I managed to get out in front, but you did not leave me any room.
Who is really to blame for the accident between Verstappen and Hamilton?
I would classify the accident with Lewis as a racing incident. Max came up from far away. Lewis had already spun, Max had to change his trajectory and got blocked. And then I was lucky that it ended easily. And that Red Bull has a very strong car.
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Does Max have the right to communicate with the team over the radio like this?
This is Max, he doesn’t know any other way. And I don’t think anything would change if you asked him to.
Can we say that Verstappen has forgotten how to keep calm? Is this surprising?
There were a lot of thoughtless things from Max. I really don’t understand why he’s so nervous. Everyone around us is not blind and generally already understands that Red Bull is not a self-driving car. When you look at how Cheko is suffering, you realise that Max is doing a great job. Okay, we made a small mistake with the pit stops and we have to overtake on the track. Well, your tyres are seven laps fresher, that’s a lot. If Max hadn’t made a mistake in the second corner of the first fight with Lewis, he might have caught McLaren. Everyone got there much earlier than Red Bull. I’m sure the bet was that Max could pass Leclerc and Hamilton and then compete with McLaren on tyres. He had no other option but to fight for the win. If he had driven like everyone else, Max would have shouted on the radio that the car was bad, how could that be…
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Classification
Who is the worst driver at the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix?
Verstappen leads Norris by 76 points: does Lando have a chance?
With these races and Max’s “nervous breakdowns”, I think there is a lot of potential. And for the first time, Red Bull is really looking back.
Have either of the Ricciardo-Tsunoda duo moved closer to a place at Red Bull? Your prediction: will there be a change during the season?
Predicting drivers at Red Bull is like gambling in a casino. Each one has his own strengths and weaknesses. So far, only Max is holding his own there. The rest give us reasons to doubt them every weekend.
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