The Hungaroring hosted the twelfth date of the 2023 season of the highest category of motorsport.
The race was won by two-time world champion Max Verstappen, thus achieving his seventh victory in a row. On the other hand, Red Bull was also the winning team of the weekend, as they managed to break the record for the most consecutive wins for a team. Previously, McLaren had such a record with a total of 11 race wins in a row, we are talking about the era in which its drivers were Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
Now, Red Bull Racing has won 12 races in a row, from the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Something historic for the energy drink team.
Photo Credit: BWT Alpine F1 Team
However, not everything was as good as this for all teams. Today we will talk about the problematic weekend that Alpine had. The French team came from a British Grand Prix where they had not had the best results. In qualifying at Silverstone they achieved a P13 and P10 respectively, however neither of their drivers managed to finish Sunday’s race.
Seeking to redeem themselves, Alpine achieved P12 and P15 during qualifying at the Hungaroring. It wasn’t the perfect result as both cars had failed to make it to Q3, however the French team believed they could come from behind during the race.
The following day and during the main event on Sunday, both Alpines retired from the race again, after they had a crash at Turn 1 on lap 1 involving the two Frenchmen.
Alpine’s team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, has shared his thoughts on various topics, such as Alpine’s prospects for the remainder of the season after suffering two double DNFs, as well as the tyre issue and improvements to the French team’s A523.
“We’re still upgrading the car. We had an upgrade here as well that we didn’t get to run in race. It was more of a raceable item than a qualifying one.
“In qualifying, we didn’t quite get everything out of the tyre. You saw that I think up and down the grid. I don’t know what happened to George Russell, but you know, one of them is 18th and the other is on pole.
“I’ve seen in the past where somebody turns a tyre on and somebody doesn’t. It looked like the Alfa Romeos were really quick here, and at Silverstone were seven tenths quicker than them. They brought no upgrades, and this track suits us a little better. You’ve got to look at the tyres.
“What we can do is upgrade the car and still work on being the fourth fastest team, which is what we set out to be, we set out to be fourth in the championship. I think that’s going to be difficult, if not impossible now.”
Szfanuer was also asked where Alpine stands compared to other teams when it comes to engine power. He was clear and commented that they have a disadvantage in this area. “We are significantly down.”
This week the Belgian Grand Prix will take place, which happens to be in a sprint format. The French team currently establishes itself as only the sixth best team in the constructors’ championship.
