The Hungarian Grand Prix 2023 was the 11th round of the 2023 F1 season, and took place at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary, during the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of July.
Max Verstappen won the race after starting in the 2nd position, followed by Lando Norris, and Sergio Pérez completing the podium.
Lewis Hamilton started from the pole position, but only managed to finish 4th.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 36 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 8-10: 5 stops
- Laps 13-18: 9 stops
- Laps 40-44: 9 stops
The fastest pit stop was Sergio Pérez's, stopping the clock at 20.880 seconds during his pit stop on lap 42, while the slowest one was was Guanyu Zhou's, who stopped the clock at 29.211 seconds, 8.331 seconds slower than Pérez, during his pit stop on lap 10.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
In terms of strategy this was a clear 2 stop race, whith literally every single driver choosing to make 2stops.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 2 stops strategy.
2 stops
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5Alexander Albon
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5Valtteri Bottas
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4Lance Stroll
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2Yuki Tsunoda
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11Guanyu Zhou
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2Logan Sargeant
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2Kevin Magnussen
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3Carlos Sainz
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3Lewis Hamilton
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4Nico Hülkenberg
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1Charles Leclerc
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1Lando Norris
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-Daniel Ricciardo
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1Oscar Piastri
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1Fernando Alonso
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1Max Verstappen
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6Sergio Pérez
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12George Russell
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.59 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Hungaroring, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Logan Sargeant, who had to retire on lap 67, and Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly, both retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars.
Retired
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Logan SargeantLap 67
Collision damage
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Esteban OconLap 2
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Pierre GaslyLap 1
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton managed to get the pole position by 0.003 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:16.609. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Max Verstappen.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by McLaren, with Lando Norris in third position, and Oscar Piastri in fourth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that all of the drivers that took place in Q3 managed to improve their times in this last session.