2024 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, July 19 - 21

[organic]

It's very hot in Hungary atm. Might continue into next weekend

I live ~10km from the track. It has been non-stop 35-40°C during the last two weeks or so. There will be a slight drop in temperatures just for the weekend, but it will be around 33-34°C so it is still predicted to be really hot. (just a bit cooler to what it has been for two weeks)
Also short, but intensive summer showers are possible through the whole weekend.

[Dunlay]

Hopefully upgrades don't give advantage to any one team and keep them bunched up even closer than they have been, constantly changing the winners. It would be exciting if Max doesn't get anymore wins but will be on podium most of the times to make this WDC another hard fought one and interesting season ending.

[venkyhere]

It would be exciting if Max doesn't get anymore wins but will be on podium most of the times to make this WDC another hard fought one and interesting season ending.

12 races done, 12 to go.
The gap b/w Max and Norris in WDC is 84 points = 12 x (25 - 18).
So if Norris wins every race from now and Max finishes 2nd in all of them, still it will be equal points. Throw in fastest laps and sprint races, and this has potential to be DejaVu circa 2021 - Brit hero-darling v/s Dutch villain

[Dunlay]

It would be exciting if Max doesn't get anymore wins but will be on podium most of the times to make this WDC another hard fought one and interesting season ending.

12 races done, 12 to go.
The gap b/w Max and Norris in WDC is 84 points = 12 x (25 - 18).
So if Norris wins every race from now and Max finishes 2nd in all of them, still it will be equal points. Throw in fastest laps and sprint races, and this has potential to be DejaVu circa 2021 - Brit hero-darling v/s Dutch villain

That BS would be annoying as hell. But as the majority of F1 press is English, it's unavoidable if the contest gets too close. What are the odds of Oscar having a miraculous run of form from here, winning all 12 races?

[bluechris]

It would be exciting if Max doesn't get anymore wins but will be on podium most of the times to make this WDC another hard fought one and interesting season ending.

12 races done, 12 to go.
The gap b/w Max and Norris in WDC is 84 points = 12 x (25 - 18).
So if Norris wins every race from now and Max finishes 2nd in all of them, still it will be equal points. Throw in fastest laps and sprint races, and this has potential to be DejaVu circa 2021 - Brit hero-darling v/s Dutch villain

That BS would be annoying as hell. But as the majority of F1 press is English, it's unavoidable if the contest gets too close. What are the odds of Oscar having a miraculous run of form from here, winning all 12 races?

OSCAR

[Just_a_fan]

It would be exciting if Max doesn't get anymore wins but will be on podium most of the times to make this WDC another hard fought one and interesting season ending.

12 races done, 12 to go.
The gap b/w Max and Norris in WDC is 84 points = 12 x (25 - 18).
So if Norris wins every race from now and Max finishes 2nd in all of them, still it will be equal points. Throw in fastest laps and sprint races, and this has potential to be DejaVu circa 2021 - Brit hero-darling v/s Dutch villain

The increase in competitiveness amongst other teams plays in to Max's hands anyway. And the competitiveness within those teams helps him doubly so. With 2/3 other teams able to win, and each having 2 drivers that are able to compete, Max is sitting pretty with no one in his garage to take points away from him. The others squabble over each other and Max knows he's getting the most points the car is able to gain at any given track. He doesn't even need to be second each race. A podium would do it as no one else is likely to win more than a few races going forward.

[Wouter]

The increase in competitiveness amongst other teams plays in to Max's hands anyway. And the competitiveness within those teams helps him doubly so. With 2/3 other teams able to win, and each having 2 drivers that are able to compete,
Max is sitting pretty with no one in his garage to take points away from him.
The others squabble over each other and Max knows he's getting the most points the car is able to gain at any given track. He doesn't even need to be second each race. A podium would do it as no one else is likely to win more than a few races going forward.

.
You're forgetting something very important!
All those teams drive two cars that can help each other and counter Max with their strategy,
but RBR drives one car so Max has no one to help him.

[Just_a_fan]

The increase in competitiveness amongst other teams plays in to Max's hands anyway. And the competitiveness within those teams helps him doubly so. With 2/3 other teams able to win, and each having 2 drivers that are able to compete,
Max is sitting pretty with no one in his garage to take points away from him.
The others squabble over each other and Max knows he's getting the most points the car is able to gain at any given track. He doesn't even need to be second each race. A podium would do it as no one else is likely to win more than a few races going forward.

.
You're forgetting something very important!
All those teams drive two cars that can help each other and counter Max with their strategy,
but RBR drives one car so Max has no one to help him.

Not forgetting that, but Max + the car are good enough to podium every race on merit. The other teams have to balance their driver politics and positions on the day to maximise team results. Look at Silverstone - McLaren could have had 2 drivers on the podium but left Oscar to the wolves (and messed up the final tyre call anyway). Red Bull can focus all of their strategy energy on Max (assuming Sergio is now a spent force and won't factor in to any of the races going forward). So Max should be able to get prime strategy calls at each race where the other teams are always going to be favouring one or other driver.

Say McLaren are quickest in Hungary with Red Bull second quickest. That should be a McLaren 1-2, RBR 3. But the leading McLaren will get preferential strategy which opens up a window for Max, so it could end up being McLaren 1-3, RBR 2.

Throw in, say Mercedes (now they appear to be competitive (but who really knows?)) and they will also be favouring their leading driver in each race. Which means the other will get a less than optimal strategy.

Do that over several races and it's likely that the McLaren drivers and the Mercedes drivers will each be taking points off their team mates (and the other team). Max just needs to thread the route between squabbling team mates to gain enough points that his current points lead is sufficient. Lando needs to win every race with Max P2 for Lando to win the title. So Oscar having a good couple of races, taking a win off Lando, for example, would be enough to mess the maths.

Max just needs to remember for the rest of the season that he doesn't have to win every race, P2 or even P3 at every race is likely to be sufficient to take the title because the others will all be taking points off each other. Going for every win increases the risk of a DNF which is massively expensive in a competitive remaining half season. It's precisely the strategy that Hamilton used to good effect during his run of titles - pick the fights that matter and accept that sometimes P2 or P3 is good enough to take the title.

[dren]

It'd be easier if Max just wins the races.

[chrisc90]

It’s interesting the stories surrounding Red Bull noticing that McLaren haven’t been adhering to the rules of covering the front temp sensor holes after free practice.

Eyes like a hawk

[SiLo]

It’s interesting the stories surrounding Red Bull noticing that McLaren haven’t been adhering to the rules of covering the front temp sensor holes after free practice.

Eyes like a hawk

Well, they claim they haven't. It's tight stuff at the front now so all the teams will be throwing --- at each other.

[chrisc90]

It’s interesting the stories surrounding Red Bull noticing that McLaren haven’t been adhering to the rules of covering the front temp sensor holes after free practice.

Eyes like a hawk

Well, they claim they haven't. It's tight stuff at the front now so all the teams will be throwing --- at each other.

Of course. Just goes to show how well top teams operate really though.

[SiLo]

It’s interesting the stories surrounding Red Bull noticing that McLaren haven’t been adhering to the rules of covering the front temp sensor holes after free practice.

Eyes like a hawk

Well, they claim they haven't. It's tight stuff at the front now so all the teams will be throwing --- at each other.

Of course. Just goes to show how well top teams operate really though.

I wonder if they have a couple of people at the track just looking at other teams, or if they just happen to notice it?

[chrisc90]

Well, they claim they haven't. It's tight stuff at the front now so all the teams will be throwing --- at each other.

Of course. Just goes to show how well top teams operate really though.

I wonder if they have a couple of people at the track just looking at other teams, or if they just happen to notice it?

Quite possibly both. Probably people back at the factory analysing things aswell from camera streams and media photos.

Cars sit with their wheels off on the grid for 30mins or so, so even a quick walk past someone will probably pick up on it.

Always amazing the minute detail that happens at the top. I mean whether the story is accurate or not, you have to give credit to Red Bull for bringing it to light. It’s a sharp end of the grid, and it just shows why they are always there - and the likes of other teams have a lot of catching up to do. ‘Off track’ operations is superb

[SiLo]

Of course. Just goes to show how well top teams operate really though.

I wonder if they have a couple of people at the track just looking at other teams, or if they just happen to notice it?

Quite possibly both. Probably people back at the factory analysing things aswell from camera streams and media photos.

Cars sit with their wheels off on the grid for 30mins or so, so even a quick walk past someone will probably pick up on it.

Always amazing the minute detail that happens at the top. I mean whether the story is accurate or not, you have to give credit to Red Bull for bringing it to light. It’s a sharp end of the grid, and it just shows why they are always there - and the likes of other teams have a lot of catching up to do. ‘Off track’ operations is superb

I think all the top teams are capable of this, and do this regularly. How they found out about flexing planks in 2022, I will never know.