Five Hungarian GP questions: Hamilton’s Hungary dominance and last chance for Sergio Perez?

Lewis Hamilton has won in Hungary on eight occasions.

Lewis Hamilton arrives at Hungary as the most recent race winner for the first time since 2021 but can he keep up the momentum?

Going from one track he loves to another is a gift for a resurgent Hamilton, who will hope to continue his form heading into the summer break.

Five Hungarian Grand Prix questions we want answering

Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo

Lewis Hamilton to continue Hungary momentum?

After his win at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton could hardly have asked for a better track coming up next on the calendar.

Other than his home venue, the Hungaroring is Hamilton’s most successful track having won there eight times previously, most recently in 2020.

Of course, it has been a while since Hamilton has been on the top step in Budapest but even when the Mercedes car was not at its best, he still managed pole here last season.

Now, with the W15 finally breaking Mercedes’ uncompetitive run, Hamilton will be somewhat more confident of making it two from two this weekend.

Can McLaren recover from their Silverstone mistakes?

While Silverstone was jubilation for Mercedes, it wasn’t for McLaren with two mistakes costing the team dear.

The first came when they declined to double stack their drivers, meaning Oscar Piastri’s chances of a win disappeared, and the next mistake came in their tyre choice for Norris late on in the race.

Had they gone to the fresh mediums, Norris may well have won but his eventual P3 was a stinging reminder of how tight the margins can be.

It is not the first time McLaren have fallen at the final hurdle this season and the team have admitted they need to improve in this area in order to compete against serial winners.

The first test of that will be this weekend and the Woking outfit will be hoping for a mistake-free event.

Does Sergio Perez have two races to save his Red Bull career?

As Max Verstappen suggested it would be nice to race with Daniel Ricciardo at Goodwood, you could almost see the realisation on his face that such a phrase would only be taken one way by the crowd watching below.

Even during a feel-good Red Bull run at Goodwood, the eyes were on Sergio Perez for any sign of the pressure currently weighing down on his shoulders.

The Mexican has not finished higher than seventh since May, not on the podium since April, and while Verstappen’s and the RB19’s dominance gave Perez some wiggle room last year, the team’s title rivals are now breathing down his neck.

When you also take into account that the Red Bull bosses have begun to speak more critically of Perez, it is a case of now or never with Helmut Marko admitting a decision will be in the summer break, i.e two races’ time.

Only those on the inside will know what constitutes success for Perez in the next two races but more poor performances and it will almost confirm his Red Bull exit.

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Will Aston Martin’s big upgrade get them back on track?

Performance-wise, with the current AMR24, Aston Martin should have a more difficult weekend than at Silverstone. As was the case at Imola and Monaco, the Aston Martin’s performance was not at all good. In addition, the last two races where it has excelled – Canada and Silverstone – have been characterised by low track temperatures.

They plan to bring upgrades this weekend but with very high temperatures expected, success in Hungary may be hard to come by. They have a car that, compared to the rest of the grid, has evolved the least in terms of lap times. Only progress in the development race can lift the spirits of a team that, until relatively recently, wanted to dream of victories.

Can Ferrari halt their downward slide?

Ferrari remains an unknown quantity in terms of performance. After making a small leap with the SF-24, much less than expected, the last few circuits have been difficult for the Italians. In Hungary, without so many fast corners, they should be back in the mix with Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes.

They have decided to take a step back from the update introduced in Spain, which brought back porpoising problems. On a circuit with high downforce and more mechanical grip, they have the opportunity to get back to the top as they did in Monaco but maybe not as much as to dream for a win.

In addition, the high temperatures may favour them in qualifying as they often have problems in the out laps to warm up tyres and in the race thanks to the good tyre management of the SF-24.

After three disappointing races, Charles Leclerc has to be back to his best to stay in the fight with Lando Norris for P2 in the Drivers’ Standings. And with a bad performance, Ferrari could also lose P2 in the Constructors’ Championship to McLaren.

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