IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix

We’ve reached the halfway point in the 2024 season and what a year it has been so far with six different winners across the first 12 races, and four teams fighting it out with regularity. That means there are plenty of talking points as the final double-header before the summer break kicks off at the Hungaroring.

Are Mercedes back?

This isn’t quite the question we asked ahead of the British Grand Prix, despite Mercedes having won the previous race in Austria. That was largely due to the manner of that first victory, with George Russell winning at the Red Bull Ring after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collided.

But Silverstone was a different scenario, with Mercedes locking out the front row with an impressive qualifying performance, running one-two for a long spell before rain hit and then seeing Lewis Hamilton secure his first win since 2021 to make it back-to-back successes for the team.

Russell and team principal Toto Wolff both believe the pace shown in Great Britain was final proof that Mercedes have a car to fight for regular wins once again, taking on Red Bull and McLaren. And Hungary is the first of two races where Mercedes are also expected to bring further upgrades based on Wolff’s comments last weekend.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG — Hamilton and Mercedes got the better of Norris and McLaren on race day at Silverstone

Add in the fact that the Hungaroring was the scene of Hamilton’s last pole in 2023, and offers the seven-time world champion an immediate chance to match his new record of nine victories at one circuit that he achieved at Silverstone (he’s on eight in Budapest), it could be another strong weekend for Mercedes.

McLaren’s search for the missing ingredient

While there was so much focus on the success that Mercedes had at Silverstone, and the excellent performance from Hamilton to win such an up-and-down race, there were questions to be answered at McLaren.

Early pit stop decisions cost Oscar Piastri significant time and dropped him out of the podium fight when he had been running a very competitive second, and then the final stop for Lando Norris saw McLaren fit soft tyres that ultimately degraded too much, rather than the new set of mediums they had saved.

The latter decision was all the more painful because the medium was a tyre both Mercedes and Red Bull didn’t have, but McLaren failed to take advantage and had to settle for third and fourth.

Lando Norris of the UK is driving the (4) McLaren F1 Team MCL38 Mercedes during the Formula 1 Qatar — McLaren's pit stop calls did not work in their favour at the British Grand Prix

Ever since Norris won in Miami in May, McLaren have been in the mix for victory in Imola, Canada, Spain and Austria prior to Silverstone, but have failed to get over the line once again. The biggest margin to the winner of those previous four races was 3.8 seconds in Canada, highlighting just how close McLaren are.

Sometimes teams can do the perfect job and still miss out marginally to a rival, but it’s the occasions where mistakes have cost a win that McLaren will be looking to clean up, and start to build more confidence in their race execution.

TECH WEEKLY: The important differences between the Mercedes and McLaren as they fought for Silverstone supremacy

Ferrari’s chance to hit back

Such is the unpredictable nature of this season so far, it almost feels strange to have just written about McLaren weaknesses for a team that has made such progress, and now be adding even bigger frustrations at Ferrari.

After Monaco, the situation looked so promising as Charles Leclerc won his home race from pole position and an upgrade introduced in Imola appeared to be working. There was even a chance of Ferrari taking the lead in the constructors’ championship in Canada, while Leclerc was closing in the drivers’ standings…

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 6: Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari leaving the FIA garage after — Ferrari have faced a difficult spell lately, with Leclerc finishing outside of the points at the last two rounds

Instead, there have been just 12 points for Leclerc over the four races that have followed, and Ferrari are now 71 points adrift of Red Bull, and only seven clear of McLaren.

The triple header proved particularly challenging as a further set of updates brought to Spain didn’t quite translate into the intended on-track performance, but Ferrari will now have had a week to try and learn from the data and identify ways of getting more out of the package.

With two races on very different circuits coming up in Hungary and Belgium, the next two weeks provide an opportunity for Ferrari to get back on track.

Sergio Perez under pressure

Amid such an intense fight at the front of the field this year, there are challenges being faced by all of the teams, but perhaps the biggest one at Red Bull has been the form of Sergio Perez.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive — Perez will be looking to bounce back in Hungary

After a strong start to the season for Perez – with three second-place finishes and one third from the opening five rounds – the increase in competitiveness from McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari has coincided with a tougher run of results.

Over the past six races, including a Sprint in Austria, Perez has scored just 15 points in total. In contrast, Max Verstappen has picked up 119 points across the same period, keeping Red Bull clear of the chasing pack in the constructors’ championship.

Team principal Christian Horner has made clear that Red Bull need Perez to be scoring more heavily and more regularly as soon as possible, with the upcoming two weekends his final chance to do so before the summer break.

A good performance in Budapest could really alleviate some of the pressure that has been building on Perez, and he has recent strong form at the next two venues, finishing third in Hungary a year ago and second at Spa-Francorchamps for each of the past two seasons.

SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA - JUNE 30: Third placed Carlos Sainz of Spain and Ferrari attends the press — The driver market for 2025 is continuing to move, with Sainz still a central figure

Driver market movement

If Perez continues to struggle then he could become a factor in potential movement in the driver market over the summer break, despite signing a new contract earlier this season.

Elsewhere, though, there are known vacancies that still need to be filled for 2025, including at Mercedes, RB, Haas, Alpine, Sauber and Williams. With one seat at each of those teams available, we’re heading into two weeks where multiple meetings often take place and deals can be agreed or finalised.

After the unusually early start to the silly season this year, the period before the summer break is often when more movement takes place, as many teams and drivers want to go into the shutdown with clarity over their following year’s plans.

Carlos Sainz remains central to many discussions – a situation that appears to have been extended by Toto Wolff suggesting he could still hold an interest in him at Mercedes – but the likes of Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant are all yet to find out (or announce) what their respective futures hold.