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PLP Season 2 Edition 29
Race Weekend
Hope everyone’s hungry because we got a lil’ snack pack kicking off this weekend: a double header will see Hungary this weekend and Belgium next, before we’re off for three weeks for the summer break (The anti-triple header if you will). I’d expect to pick up right where we left off, with a three way fight for the win (or maybe even a four way fight if Ferrari has figured out their bouncing issue in the off week… one can hope) in what should be hot one.
If you want the full F1 driver experience this weekend, just sit in your car for a few seconds before turning on the air conditioning and you’ll know what the cockpit is going to feel like. Low key love that feeling of just absolutely roasting before being reasonable and cranking the A.C… maybe I need to invest in a sauna or something.
Here’s the schedule this weekend in E.S.T: (Easter Sauna Time)
FP1: Friday, July 19th @ 7:30am
FP2: Friday, July 19th @ 11:00am
FP3: Saturday, July 20th @ 6:30am
Quali: Saturday, July 20th @ 10:00am
Grand Prix: Sunday, July 21st @ 9:00am
Quick Quiz!
Who famously broke their Hungarian GP trophy during a podium celebration in 2023? |
Hungarian GP Preview
This one’s easy: Looks like an anvil rotated 90 degrees clockwise
We'll kick off our double header in Hungary, at a circuit that some say resembles a karting track instead of a typical F1 track due to the lack of long straights (though still with two DRS zones). The number of connected, twisty, medium-speed straights requires a huge amount of downforce and strong balance to navigate. Watch for set ups that sacrifice straight-line speed at the circuit that requires the highest aero load out of any one on the calendar, especially since some extra drag won’t be too costly on the lone straight.
Jolyon Palmer explains what’s unique about the Hungaroring (great name btw): “Budapest feels like a small circuit when you’re there but there’s plenty that goes into it with 14 corners. The middle sector is one of those ones where you’ve got to find a rhythm because out of pretty much every corner you need to be positioned for the next corner coming through it. You go from Turn 4 into 6, then you get a tiny breather, but it carries you through the next sweeping section, building speed all the way.”
Weather’s supposed to be good in what was a wild Wednesday at the track - will hail and massive flooding at the highest point of the track. After a fire last week, McLaren’s motorhome had the roof blow off from the intense storm.
What to watch for:
Mercedes looks to 3-peat: Each of the Silver Arrows drivers have notched a win in the past two races. If they’re to take the W this weekend, then they’ll do something that not even Max Verstappen has done this year - Win three races in a row.
Another Chance for McLaren: Papaya looking to finally capitalize on opportunities that have eluded them in what has been a string of good races - but no top spots since Miami.
Ferrari Look to Bounce Back: Or better said, perhaps NOT bounce in these back to backs… have they taken the week off to fix their bouncing issue? Or if not, can they take a page from Mercedes and make a mid-season turn around in what a few months ago was looking quite promising.
Perez Pressure: Rumors have been flying recently with several names mentioned to possibly replace the Red Bull #2. While they are just rumors now - bottom line is if he doesn’t start scoring consistent points then he’ll be in trouble.
New(ey) News
Two updates in the world of everyone’s favorite free agent master car designer:
Ferrari is reportedly out of the running for his services, with Aston Martin and McLaren being the two finalists.
This week Red Bull unveiled the Newey designed RB17 hypercar, and it’s hyper alright:
Got $6.2 million lying around? Then it’s yours! 📸 motor1.com
The car features “a two-seat carbon fiber monocoque chassis with a mid-mounted V10 engine and a carbon fiber gearbox”, and can reach top speeds equivalent with a modern F1 car. Who wants to save up and split one with me?
K-Mag Officially Out in 2025
While we basically knew this a couple weeks ago with Bearman signed and Ocon rumored for the second seat, K-Mag will not return for Haas next year. Don’t expect this to have a huge impact on the driver market - I believe it unlikely he takes an open F1 seat for next season. However, there’s no doubt he’ll have options in other racing series.
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu had this to say about his wiley veteran: ““He’s truly been a bedrock of our driver line-up over the years. Nobody’s driven more races for us and we’ve had some memorable highlights together – not least a remarkable fifth place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2022 when Kevin returned to start his second spell with the team.” K-Mag added: “I’m proud to have raced for such a great team of people these last few years. In particular I’d like to thank Gene Haas for his commitment to me, notably in bringing me back once again in 2022 when I thought, at that time at least, my time in Formula 1 had ended. I’ve enjoyed some great moments with this team – memories I’ll never forget.”
Cut to early 2024 Kev this weekend wracking up all kind of penalty points and going absolutely HAM to finish in the points. I true hard racer, I will miss watching him line up on Sundays.
Down the Grid
🥇Max Verstappen [255]: Prepared for a “proper battle” for the rest of the season as “everyone is catching up.” I think Max likes the competition honestly (as long as he still wins, that is). It was getting a bit boring for him so far out in front.
🥈Lando Norris [171]: Spotted at the Euro cup final between England and Spain, where his home team lost in the late stages. Another P2 reminder in what was supposed to be an off week..
🥉Charles Leclerc [150]: Gets an entire wall dedicated to his Monaco victory at his favorite party spot in honor of his “I hope Jimmy’z is ready” quote after his home race win, which he also signed. This is cool, and also pretty funny on the surface. Charles you’ve made Monaco proud… We dedicate this wall in your honor…
4️⃣ Carlos Sainz [146]: Again reaffirmed his “wait and see” strategy for his job next year. Rumor is he’s still holding out for a Red Bull or Mercedes seat, which seems like a long shot at this point.
5️⃣ Oscar Piastri [124]: On potential clashes with Max as they find themselves closer on track these days: “I haven't met Verstappen often on the track yet, because he's so dominant. I know he fights hard, but I’m not shying away from that. I want to beat everyone. Max knows very little about me and that can be an advantage.”
6️⃣ Sergio Perez [118]: Rumors that recently signed contract clause could be coming into play, that he had to agree to before signing: Likely cannot be behind Verstappen by 100 or more points after Belgium. Note: Contract clauses don’t always have to be enforced by teams.
7️⃣ George Russell [111]: A house divided in the Euro Cup final with partner Carmen rooting for Spain. Spoiler Alert: Georgie definitely did not enjoy the result.
8️⃣ Lewis Hamilton [110]: Announced as the newest Dior ambassador. Why? Because he’s Lewis Hamilton. He’s cool. He can do this kind of fashion stuff.
9️⃣ Fernando Alonso [45]: Made an appearance at the Goodwood festival of Speed to show of his new ride. On the whip he designed: “It has everything a racing driver loves.” Like a V12 and manual transmission.
🔟Lance Stroll [23]: TP Krack admits the team did survey the market before his contract renewal. Cut to Papa Stroll standing over his shoulder saying: “See? No one else wants to drive in F1. Lance it is.”
11. Nico Hulkenberg [22]: Loving the development progress the team has showed this year, saying “We’re definitely in the fight now for the fifth-fastest team, which is obviously positive, and nobody expected that a few weeks ago.”
12. Yuki Tsunoda [20]: Rocking the old school racing goggle look while driving the RB18 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
13. Daniel Ricciardo[11]: On how he’s fighting for his future: “The stopwatch doesn’t lie. "I can do this very, very well so how do I make sure I do it consistently?” VCARB’s lack of upgrade performance have done him no favors - but he’ll need to show more.
14. Ollie Bearman [6]: Haas has praised their future driver’s “pretty impressive” feedback from his practice sessions this year.
15. Pierre Gasly [6]: New pup in the paddock alert: He introduced his new dog Simba this week, giving us a real race in driver pet rankings with Lewis’ and Charles’ dogs and Zhou’s cat. Who’s on your driver pet podium? For me P1 is Zhou’s cat. No contest.
16. Kevin Magnussen [5]: Officially out at Haas in 2025. He’s hoping to stay in the hunt for seats currently open, thought it appears his options may be limited in F1. Would expect him to find a seat in another racing series quite easily though.
17. Alex Albon [4]: F1’s feature on the driver this week. On his first driving experience: “I think I was five years old and I drove a go-kart around Disneyland Paris. That would be my first time. And I cried because I hated it!”
18. Esteban Ocon [3]: Was presented with his 2021 Hungarian GP winning A521, as he poses for pictures with his family.
19. Zhou Guanyu [0]: As he runs out of options for 2025, he’ll need some big performances quickly to stay on the grid. He’s on the radar at Haas and Alpine - but not a leading contender.
20. Logan Sargeant [0]: On the pressure he is feeling: "I've been hearing speculation for 18 months. I ultimately know what's going on behind the scenes and, in the end, I feel like I've been driving well. So, my goal is to keep doing that and, hopefully, keep improving. I'm improving on what I'm doing."
21. Valtteri Bottas [0]: Talks with Williams are reportedly advancing, as Sainz continues to take his time.
Constructor’s Corner
🥇Red Bull [373]: Looking to return to the top car spot with upgrades for this weekend, which will aim to improve the ability of the car to get into the correct temperature window. Helmut Marko: “We are still not the fastest car at the moment, and we need to correct that with the upgrade.”
🥈Ferrari [302]: Huge test for the team this weekend to see if their bouncing has been corrected. Hungary does not generally produce much bouncing, so they’ll have a lower risk chance to test new specs. Vasseur notes that some solutions sacrifice performance and others don’t - so hopefully it’s the latter for the Scuderia.
🥉McLaren [295]: TP Zak brown believes the team can fight for the championship, since “Perez is opening the window for us.” Zak always has some spicy quotes. But I believe he’s right.. I think they’re at the top of the Constructors’ at the end of the year.
4️⃣ Mercedes [221]: On their performance turnaround that led to Hamilton’s Silverstone win. Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin on Hungary: “It rarely pans out as you expect, It's one of those races that there's normally an incident here and there.”
5️⃣ Aston Martin [68]: Performance director Tom McCullough has praised Alonso and Stroll on their “professional attitude” amidst the car’s performance struggles.
6️⃣ VCARB [31]: Early indications showed they’d be leading the midfield battle, however they are under increasing pressure.
7️⃣ Haas [27]: More upgrades are in the pipeline as they look to prove themselves as a top 6 team. While improving the car during the season had been a struggle for the team in the past, this year they have been keeping up in the development race.
8️⃣ Alpine [9]: Mercedes is reportedly open minded about supplying the team with engines in 2026 as they look to shift away from Renault power units, which have been a competitive disadvantage for the team over the past couple season.
9️⃣ Williams [4]: Doesn’t want to serve as a “stepping stone” team for Carlos Sainz, as signs point to them looking elsewhere. Bottas being the top target at the moment.
🔟Kick Sauber [0]: Stefan Strahnz will take up Program Director role after thirteen year stint at Mercedes.
Tech Talk
Diffuser? I Barely Know ‘er: Illustration showing the clear differences in diffuser design from what are currently the three fastest teams. The diffuser opens airflow from under the floor, from the low pressure (and thus downforce) generating floor and transitions air out the back of the car smoothly to ambient velocity.
2026 Cars To Slow? Toto Wolff is concerned with the new regs that are seeing lap times up to ten seconds slower that current generation cars.
Mercedes Brings a Bulge to the Battle: Since introducing the “bulge” seen below, Merc has gone two for two in race wins. The purpose is to make room for a heave spring and damper which allows for a “softer” set up, and therefore no bouncing. While the element disrupts airflow and prevents the floor from working at it’s ideal height, the team has been able to improve performance since bouncing has a much larger negative impact.
Can Ferrari bulge their way out of bouncing as well? 📸 @FDataAnalysis, Mercedes, Giorgio Piola
Off the Grid
Turning Point: The phrase used by Toto Wolff about Kimi Antonelli’s first F2 win in the Sprint race in Silverstone, which has bolstered his chances for the open Merc seat.
Helmet of The Week: Lando takes this week’s HoTW with this hand-painted design inspired by the porcelain Hungarian GP trophy (which you may remember his run in with from last season).
Hot Lap of the Dragon: Are Sunday nights on HBO not enough to satisfy your dragon fix? Here’s the O.G. Mother of Dragons on another kind of ride. What’s faster: F1 cars or dragons? Dragons seems like the obvious answer but they always seem to be kinda taking their time in the air right? Maybe because they’re so big. Perspective, and all that.
Quick Quiz (Answer)
Lando Norris. Imagine he does it again this year? (Yes, I think he’s on the podium again).
Enjoy the race this weekend. Now we just need Gasly’s dog to join the crew to recreate one of the greatest Disney films of all time 🔽
Ok that’s pretty accurate right? And Pierre’s dog’s name is Simba?? Too good. 📸 @sim3744 on X
What did you think of this week's edition? |
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