McLaren-Mercedes tried an incredibly risky strategy at the damp Hungaroring, and it completely backfired. While the remaining teams told their drivers that no more rain was expected following the first deluge just before the race, McLaren were adamant that there was another front of weather on its way. However, this weather never came and the track was bone-dry before long. While both McLaren drivers were left out to shred their intermediate tyres on the dry track, the rest of the field very swiftly swallowed them up on their soft or medium compound tyre.
Qualifying was a case of what might have been too, with one car eliminated early on as the track was slightly damp, and another car achieving what was probably the maximum possible considering a Mercedes and a Ferrari were both out in Q1.
McLaren Hugarian GP Review
No. 20 Kevin Magnussen (DEN)
Grid: Pit lane (Originally P10)
Race: P12
A crash in qualifying on a damp track looked like nothing more than a rookie mistake from young Magnussen. This forced him to start from the pits after his heroics at Hockenheim a week ago. He was P20 by the time he reached turn 3 following Lewis Hamilton’s spin and Daniil Kvyat stalling, but was left out on intermediate tyres while the safety car was out, compromising him heavily. Following this, he struggled to get up to the rest of the field, only finishing ahead of Pastor Maldonado and the Marussias.
No. 22 Jenson Button (GBR)
Grid: P7
Race: P10
Button failed to make it three wins at a damp Hungaroring this time round. He qualified pretty well, only fractions behind the faster Williams of Felipe Massa and was the top British driver in qualifying for the third race in a row. Like his team mate, his race was compromised by being out on the wrong tyre for far too long, unlike his team mate; he was pitted behind the safety car for fresh intermediate tyres, which was quickly proven to be a daft decision. He only just finished ahead of Adrian Sutil in that woeful Sauber to pick up a single point – a weekend to forget at one of Button’s strongest circuits.
To find some sort of positive from McLaren’s weekend is pretty tricky, but Force India, their key championship rivals failed to score a single point as both their drivers crashed out of the race. That means that they close up in the standings, albeit by a point, but that’s at least something positive heading to the mighty Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
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