Alvin's Formula One Blog

In Formula 1, history has a habit of repeating itself. For Lewis, who joined Ferrari in 2025 with the dream of winning in red, the ghosts of the past are never far away. Recently, Sebastian Vettel’s 2020 radio exchange with his race engineer resurfaced, reminding fans of the struggles that have haunted the Scuderia for over a decade. Vettel’s Ferrari career was bittersweet. Between 2015 and 2020, the four-time world champion won 14 races for the Italian team—more than any Ferrari driver in the modern era except Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda. But despite having moments of brilliance and cars fast enough to challenge for titles in 2017 and 2018, Vettel never managed to beat the near-unstoppable combination of Lewis and Mercedes. By 2019, Charles Leclerc had emerged as Ferrari’s new star, often outpacing Vettel. This shift in performance effectively ended Vettel’s time with the team, leading to his departure in 2020. While Vettel’s record at Ferrari is impressive on paper, it’s also a...

Toto Wolff, the man who stood by Lewis through years of triumph and heartbreak, has once again stepped in to defend the seven-time World Champion. After an emotionally charged weekend at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, where Lewis qualified a disappointing P12 and finished outside the points, Wolff has reminded the F1 world exactly who Lewis is — and what he still represents. Lewis Hamilton’s Raw Emotions In Hungary Lewis didn't hold back after a difficult qualifying session at the Hungaroring. With Charles Leclerc storming to pole, Lewis was eliminated in Q2 by just 0.016s. Frustrated and disappointed, he told Sky F1, “I’m useless… They probably need to change the driver.” It was a heartbreaking admission from a driver who’s always worn his heart on his sleeve. The race didn’t go any better. Starting on hard tyres, Lewis lost two places on the opening lap and spent most of his Sunday trapped in a frustrating DRS train. Finishing P12, while his Ferrari teammate brought home more sol...

Lewis Hamilton had the measure of Nico Rosberg when it mattered most and F1’s regulations need some serious rethinking… Lewis Hamilton ‘owned it’ Lewis Hamilton put in a measured drive with an engine that may be his last before penalties come, as he claimed a record-breaking fifth Hungarian GP victory. Although Hamilton was told to “pick up the pace” and at one stage found himself just 0.4s ahead of Nico Rosberg as they navigated the traffic of Esteban Gutierrez, there was never the impression that Rosberg would – or could – attack. Conspiracy theorists will be questioning whether team orders were at play or whether Hamilton was trying to back Rosberg up into the chasers. However, the one thing is certain, the World Champion “owned it”, and now also owns the lead in the Drivers’ standings for the first time this season. Best of the rest heats up Sebastian Vettel hunted down Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of the Hungarian GP while Kimi Raikkonen had a fantastic bat...

The Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungarian: Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor race held annually in Hungary. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on June 21, 1936 over a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) track laid out in Népliget, a park in Budapest. The Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and the Alfa Romeo-equipped Ferrari teams all sent three cars and the event drew a very large crowd. However, politics and the ensuing war meant the end of Grand Prix motor racing in the country for fifty years. The  Hungaroring circuit  is 19 km from the centre of Budapest, alongside the M3 motorway at the border of the village, Mogyoród. The track is in a natural valley, surrounded by 50 hectares of rolling hillside. With this exceptional natural advantage, almost 80 percent of the racetrack is visible from any point. This is the reason why it is called "The Shallow Plate", it is because the spectators are watching races sitting by the s...

The Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungarian: Magyar Nagydíj) is a motor race held annually in Hungary. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on June 21, 1936 over a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) track laid out in Népliget, a park in Budapest. The Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and the Alfa Romeo-equipped Ferrari teams all sent three cars and the event drew a very large crowd. However, politics and the ensuing war meant the end of Grand Prix motor racing in the country for fifty years. The  Hungaroring circuit  is 19 km from the centre of Budapest, alongside the M3 motorway at the border of the village, Mogyoród. The track is in a natural valley, surrounded by 50 hectares of rolling hillside. With this exceptional natural advantage, almost 80 percent of the racetrack is visible from any point. This is the reason why it is called "The Shallow Plate", it is because the spectators are watching races sitting by the s...

A major coup by Bernie Ecclestone, the 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first Formula One race to take place behind the Iron Curtain. Held at the twisty Hungaroring in Mogyoród near Budapest, the race has been a mainstay of the racing calendar. Run in the heat of a central European summer, it also held the distinction of being the only current Grand Prix venue that had never seen a wet race up until the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. The first Grand Prix saw 200,000 people attending, although tickets were expensive at the time. Today, the support is still very enthusiastic, particularly from Finns. Due to the nature of the track, narrow, twisty and often dusty because of under-use, the Hungarian Grand Prix is associated with processional races, with sometimes many cars following one another, unable to pass. Thierry Boutsen demonstrated this perfectly in 1990, keeping his slower Williams car in front of champion-elect Ayrton Senna, unable to find a way by. The secret to a winning perfo...

Yeah right . Try that on McLaren. Even a small and simple mistake must be punished until the end of the world. I like this crap here: The Court described some of Renault's pit lane procedures as "flawed" but said the decisions and actions in Hungary were "taken in good faith." Good faith? You'll never see "good faith" in any of Mclaren's cases. I like what Mercedes' motorsport boss Norbert Haug had to say about it: "It's good to see that a harsh punishment is sometimes reversed. I would like to know what that's like," he said jovially during a teleconference with German media. Incidentally, McLaren supported Renault at the FIA hearing and even submitted a letter of support together with 3 other teams.

McLaren is confident that it can carry its race-winning form from Hungary into this weekend's European Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton scored the team's first victory of 2009 at the Hungaroring three weeks ago and team boss Martin Whitmarsh believes the latest raft of upgrades to the MP4-24 will give McLaren the opportunity to repeat its winning form on the streets of Valencia. "It's very important that we are able to maintain the winning momentum into this weekend's race," said Whitmarsh. "Fortunately, we have made a structured effort to bring further improvements to the car in Spain. "The whole team has been buoyed by that win and is really looking forward to another strong set of results this weekend. I've no doubt that we'll certainly hit the ground running on Friday." Hamilton says that he is still on a high after his Hungary victory and is hoping to be able to challenge for another win. "It's great to be getting back to bu...

Re-published from www.f1technical.net . McLaren is pushing ahead with its car development, and this time has come up with a revised aerodynamics package around the exhausts. The change resembles much that of Renault or Ferrari early on in the season as they decided that it is better to let hot air out of the sidepod sooner rather than later. Hence McLaren did the same, as the exhausts are now part of a large air outlet opening, following which the car's shell is much more tight. Still, the system is assymetrical with the left side allowing more hot air to exit. Also marked it the revised engine cover which Hamilton already had at the Nürburgring. The previous version that was used without change in the first half of the season is now replaced by a more traditional layout with a straight slope towards the rear crash structure. The change effectively reduces the surface of the cover and is an opposite development of the extending shark fin covers.

We are at the halfway point of the season where the championship takes a breather for 3 weeks. Everybody gets a chance to rest and recuperate, especially Felipe Massa after his accident at the Hungaroring last week. He is reportedly fine for now but long term damage is unknown. His personal physician reports that his eye is undamaged but whether he can race again is too early to tell. But then again, if Webber could do it, so can he. One thing for sure is that he won't be racing for the rest of the season. The question is who will replace him? Ferrari have 2 good test drivers that could do it but isn't it more interesting if Schumacher was the one ? Another twist to the season is that Renault has been banned from the next race at Valencia (Alonso and Piquet won't miss much as that race is boring) because of the incident where Alonso's front right wheel was not attached properly during the pitstop, he was released anyway and the wheel flew off onto the track which cou...

Sunday 26th July 2009 Lewis Hamilton claimed his first grand prix victory of the season in Hungary as McLaren put their early season woes behind them to return to winning ways. Starting from fourth on the grid, the defending World Champion put his KERS to good use, easily sliding his way past his rivals and up into second place by the end of the first lap. From there it was just a case of chasing down Fernando Alonso, which he easily did, taking the lead as the Spaniard pitted. Alonso's pit stop, though, proved to be the Renault driver's downfall as his front right wasn't secured properly and came off on his out-lap. With the wheel hurtling across the track, F1 proved for the second time this weekend that its safety standards still need to be improved. The damage from driving back to the pits on three wheels resulted in Alonso retiring on the next lap. Meanwhile, with Hamilton pulling away from the chasi...

Finally, a race worth watching. And what a race. The supposedly boring Hungarian GP turned otherwise. Alonso who was on pole and looked to have at least been on the podium ended up DNF because of a loose wheel which came off flying in a dramatic way. Sebastien Vettel also retired due to a problem with his car and Mark Webber really didn't have the pace although he did end up 3rd. Rosberg quietly finished in 4th and Kovalainnen got some more points for McLaren in 5th. He really is no match for Lewis even with the same car. The 2 Toyotas were surprising finishing 6th and 8th after a poor practice and qualifying. The Brawns seems to have lost some steam with Button 7th and Barrichello 10th. Looks like Rubens won't be racing next year. The race was watchable, I'd definitely watch it again. The start was nail biting, there were some overtaking moments and McLaren are back.

Saturday 25th July 2009 Fernando Alonso may have claimed pole position for Sunday's Hungarian GP but he did it with a very, very light car. Alonso took the coveted grid slot on Saturday, afterward hinting that he could be running light compared to the others in the top ten. And that proved to be a fact when the weights for revealed. While Alonso came in at just 637.5kgs, second placed Sebastian Vettel almost 20kgs heavier while third placed Mark Webber is on a similar strategy to Vettel. Lewis Hamilton, who qualified fourth for the Budapest race, is slightly lighter than the Red Bulls and given that he also has KERS should have an advantage off the line. Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen are on similar strategies while the man behind them on the grid, Kimi Raikkonen, is marginally lighter. As for Jenson Button, the Brawn GP is the heaviest of the top eight which could play into his favour as the race progresses. ...

Saturday 25th July 2009 Mass confusion reigned at the end of Hungarian qualifying as the live timing went down in the final minutes with the general consensus being that Fernando Alonso was in pole position. Only nine drivers competed in the pole position shoot-out after Felipe Massa crashed heavily in the final few seconds of the previous session. The Brazilian appeared to be hit by a piece of flying debris from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car, which resulted a huge impact into the Turn 4 barriers. The final qualifying segment was delayed while marshals fixed the tyre barrier but once underway it was Alonso who had the measure of his rivals taking his first pole position of the 2009 campaign with a 1:21.567. Red Bull racers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were next in line while Lewis Hamilton completed the second row. However, none of this was known immediately after qualifying as the track's live timing we...

Sunday 26th July 2009 Ferrari have given an encouraging update on the condition of their driver Felipe Massa, reporting that the Brazilian remains 'stable' as he recovers from his horrible crash in qualifying for the Hungarian GP. In a statement, the team were able to report that Massa had suffered "no further complications" overnight after undergoing emergency surgery on his fractured skull on Saturday night. "After undergoing an operation yesterday afternoon, Felipe Massa's condition remains stable and there were no further complications through the night," said the Ferrari statement. "He will be given another CT scan today, which will provide more precise information." Source : Planet F1

Alonso secures pole on fumes. 25/07/2009 By Race Number No Driver Car Weight 1 Hamilton McLaren 650.5 2 Kovalainen McLaren 655.5 3 Massa Ferrari - ...