For Round 13 of the 2024 Formula One World Championship, we're back in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Get Lance and Fernando's latest thoughts as they reflect on Sunday's action.
Under the Hungarian heat, our drivers finished the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix in P10 and P11, picking up a hard-earned point for the team.
Sunday round-up and reaction
Lance and Fernando opted for similar strategies. They each had a set of Soft tyres saved for the Grand Prix, which both drivers chose to start the race on.
Fernando switched to Mediums at the end of Lap 7. Seven laps later, Lance also switched to the Medium compound.
Their final pitstops were for Hard tyres. For Fernando, this came on Lap 37. Lance's final pitstop was at the end of Lap 45.
Lance finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in P10, followed by Fernando in P11.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Race
"It was a difficult race for us. I don't think we optimised the strategy and we were not competitive enough. We struggled with tyre degradation, too. We've got a lot of work to do as a team ahead of the next round. Spa is a very different track, so hopefully that suits our car more."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Race
"Unfortunately we missed out on the points today and didn't quite optimise our race. We pitted quite early and from that point on we had quite a long race ahead managing the tyres. It's the first long distance we've done with the new package, so we need to go and analyse our new updates and learn more ahead of Belgium next week."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"We leave Budapest with a hard-earned point, but there seems to have been potential for slightly more today. Lance and Fernando drove well, making strong overtakes across their stints. The focus now shifts to Spa and we will continue pushing hard to be more competitive next weekend and have a positive finish before the summer break."
Next up
We make our way to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, which takes place 26-28 July.
Saturday
Lance and Fernando both gathered data on Medium and Soft tyres in Free Practice Three.
Rain hit the track just before Qualifying, but the warm conditions in Budapest meant the track was dry enough for both drivers to begin Q1 on Softs.
Lance and Fernando both made it through to the final Qualifying segment, where more rain was expected to affect the session. They set lap times early into Q3 and ultimately qualified P7 and P8.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Qualifying
"It's good to get both cars through to Q3 in Hungary. The team made some set-up changes overnight, but the track temperature cooling down does seem to have helped us too. Q1 was pretty interesting: I was in P16 with the rain coming down, but we went back out and I put a good lap on the board just as the track was drying. That's why we love mixed conditions during Qualifying!
"In Q3, we saw some rain on the radar so we chose to use the new tyres for the first run. It wasn't the cleanest lap of my session, but we can fight for points from P8. Everyone across the team has pushed hard to get these updates on the car, so we'll aim to keep this momentum going in the race tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Qualifying
"I think we have to be pleased with seventh and eighth positions today and both cars inside the top ten again. We brought some updates to the car this weekend and it appears to have made us more competitive so far. We also made some setup tweaks overnight to accommodate the new package and these worked well.
"The conditions out there were really challenging, with some rain in the air and then there was some confusion at the end of the session during the red flag conditions. The points are given out tomorrow though, so let's see if we can deliver a good result in the race."
Mike Krack | Team Principal
"P7 and P8 on the grid sets us up nicely for a strong race tomorrow. Both drivers did a good job across all the sessions with clean and tidy laps, especially during the damp Q1. There has been a huge push in all areas of the team to get the updates to this event so a big 'thank you' to everybody trackside, back at base, and across our supplier network for their efforts.
"It was unusual to see the pit lane obstructed in the final minutes of the Qualifying session [after the red flag] with both our cars being impacted, so that is something that needs to be looked at."
Next up
The 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday at 14:00 BST.
Friday
Free Practice was an opportunity for the team to test our new updates. Running comparison tests, Fernando ran the updates in the morning to test the new parts. The updates were then applied to Lance's car ahead of FP2.
Both drivers began FP1 on Hard tyres before switching to Softs later in the session.
In FP1, Lance had the fastest time of Sector One.
The drivers opted for similar strategies in FP2, both running Mediums before a Red Flag interrupted running.
When FP2 got back underway, Lance and Fernando came back out on Softs to continue gathering valuable data in the hot weather conditions.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice
"It's good to be back in Hungary. This is a fun circuit to drive with several sequences of corners.
"I ran the Silverstone-spec car this morning before the new parts were fitted to my car for FP2. We lost a bit of time on track due to the red flag, but I got a good feel for the car; Fernando and I have similar feedback. We've got lots of data to work through tonight to optimise the car ahead of Qualifying tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice
"It's always nice to be back here. It's a very unique circuit that gives you no time to breathe, one corner after the other. It's also been very hot today, so the conditions have been tough for mechanics and everyone in the grandstands.
"The tyre degradation with these temperatures and this track is quite high and extreme, so we will have to keep an eye on that.
"In general, it's been a good day, and we need to learn more from the car and analyse all of the data tonight.
"We'll have to nail everything and look to do our best on Saturday. It's going to be difficult to overtake in the race, so Qualifying will be important."
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Hungarian GP Race Hub
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