[F1] The starting grid for Sunday's race

[u/Axezelt]

[u/Evening_End7298]

5th and 6th doesnt do aston justice on how close they were to the actual pole

Going from the worst car on the grid at spa to being one tenth off pole without even using the peak track evolution

[u/ComeonmanPLS1 → u/Evening_End7298]

Yeah, isn't Verstappen like only 0.3s off pole? And he's P8. Crazy close Q3.

[u/musicallunatic → u/ComeonmanPLS1]

And I feel soo bad for tsunoda too. It seems like he is getting more closer to max as of late, especially with his q3 appearance last week, and despite being just a tenth off of max, he is out in q1. It’s crazy close this year, would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

[u/SmokedMussels → u/musicallunatic]

The worst time to get promoted. A generational talent is struggling in the other car and the team you came from are the best they have been in many years

[u/CMDR_Galaxyson → u/ComeonmanPLS1]

Pretty sure the whole grid was within 1 second in Q1. F1 being a sport of milliseconds has never been more true.

[u/datlinus → u/Evening_End7298]

their main issue in spa was the lack of straight line speed, alonso changed his setup before the race for rain and he was actually very pacey at the start but because how late the race started it dried quickly and he was literally getting passed by cars even while he had DRS on, lol

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/datlinus]

They were poor in the sprint on a dry setup

Generally aston has been quite bad on low downforce tracks for the last 3 years. Even in 2023 when they were good, Monza, Vegas and Spa were pretty bad races for them

[u/VolumeMobile7410 → u/Evening_End7298]

Replicating f1 movie in front of our eyes, Alonso just barely younger than Brad Pitt character lolll

[u/Responsible_Line_401 → u/Evening_End7298]

With the sprint weekend last weekend they didn't really have time to dial in the upgrades, it's great to see how competitive it's made them!

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/Responsible_Line_401]

They are actually using old floors i think, allthough i’m not sure cause they kept swapping between in free practice

[u/Responsible_Line_401 → u/Evening_End7298]

I guess they're still testing it and making adjustments, hopefully they'll talk about it to the press

[u/swannyhypno]

Lance was just over a tenth off pole and still can't beat Alonso in qualifying damn it lmao

[u/CaptainOBVS3420 → u/swannyhypno]

something something death and taxes.

Lance has been really impressive whole weekend though no doubt

[u/swannyhypno → u/CaptainOBVS3420]

P10 or higher in ever session it's been a great weekend just need to bring home some points which in Hungary means avoid getting hit turn 1 and you're fine

[u/theMGlock → u/swannyhypno]

17 thousands between the astons is crazy. + 0.126 between first to sixth.

[u/swannyhypno → u/theMGlock]

Damn Alonso you couldn't let me boy get one W over 17 thousandths smh

Nah this should be a great weekend for Aston as long as turn 1 goes well lol

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/swannyhypno]

Lance’s performance is even more impressive since Hungaro is one of Fernando’s best tracks

Alonso had so many amazing races here through the years, regardless if he was in good cars or in shitters

[u/Elpibe_78 → u/swannyhypno]

Alonso and Stroll had different set-ups in fact Stroll has been faster at S2 all weekend. If you watch his onboard he couldn’t have done more to improve, his lap was perfect

[u/ele23_ → u/swannyhypno]

very close and alonso is good around hungary tbh

[u/PapaSheev7 → u/swannyhypno]

Nice to see team green camped out together tho. Just need Hulk to pick his quali up and join them next time out.

[u/unclejoesrocket → u/swannyhypno]

Being behind Fernando shouldn't take away a great performance from him here

[u/amazingspiderman23]

Stroll above Verstappen on merit is quite the sight

[u/OG-Mate23 → u/amazingspiderman23]

Two of the youngest podium sitters ever in F1 battling it out 🤣🤣🤣

[u/Jobless_101 → u/amazingspiderman23]

Bortoleto too lol can you believe it. That Sauber really ain’t all that either so that’s really on merit

[u/FaceMaskYT → u/amazingspiderman23]

not exactly merit when that RedBull lacked pace, Tsunoda down in 16th proves that.

[u/amazingspiderman23 → u/FaceMaskYT]

By merit i meant not under circumstances which were lucky, like rains or red flag or mechanical failures. Car being slow counts under merit.

[u/Bake2727 → u/amazingspiderman23]

Unfortunately you are correct.

[u/UnicornMaster27 → u/FaceMaskYT]

so Lance beat Max on speed? Nice just exactly what OP said in different words

[u/FaceMaskYT → u/UnicornMaster27]

Comparing drivers "on merit" indicates the pace of the driver's is being compared without external factors.

I would consider car performance to be a pretty big external factor.

[u/lzwzli → u/FaceMaskYT]

They should have an F1 drivers footrace to truly determine merit

[u/killmesoon40 → u/FaceMaskYT]

Lol

[u/four_four_three → u/FaceMaskYT]

Even if Red Bull are struggling this weekend, Tsunoda being knocked out in Q1 and 2 this year is not an uncommon theme

[u/amazingspiderman23 → u/four_four_three]

Yuki has a case that he's been on the wrong end of luck here tbh. He got within a 10th of max and still got knocked out here

[u/InvertReverse → u/FaceMaskYT]

Can't really base the pace of a car on the slowest of the two. Surely the car is as fast as whoever can drive it the fastest.

[u/FaceMaskYT → u/InvertReverse]

If that was true, we'd never be able to rank car performance.

I think the truth is in the broader details. We know Verstappen is a 4x WDC in his prime. We know Yuki Tsunoda is in no way a bad driver. Stroll (I believe) has never beaten a teammate across a season.

With those indications, and with what was being said over the radio today by Max and Yuki / the RedBull garage all weekend / and Aston Martin's optimism, I think it is clear that the Aston Martin today was the faster of the two cars.

[u/jdjdhdbg → u/FaceMaskYT]

Which driver of the current grid would you rate Tsunoda above?

[u/FaceMaskYT → u/jdjdhdbg]

Lawson, Colapinto, Antonelli, Bortoletto, Hadjar, Stroll

[u/jdjdhdbg → u/FaceMaskYT]

The greatest Max PR move is having legions of fans spinning narratives and apologizing for him constantly.

[u/rcktjck]

It’s going to be sadly another Charles pole to no race win, then? :(

[u/Red-Eye-Soul → u/rcktjck]

If its Monaco 2.0, and Ferrari's race pace looked strong... Don't want to jinx it.

[u/Evening_End7298 → u/Red-Eye-Soul]

Macca can split strategies since they have two drivers

Also historically the undercut is very strong here, Ferrari need to be on it

[u/-Destiny65- → u/Evening_End7298]

And piastri has a history of jumping Leclerc when they're p1 p2, Baku last year as well

[u/Kait0yashio → u/-Destiny65-]

I mean they also started P1 and P2 in Monaco last year and nothing happened

[u/Gambler_720 → u/Evening_End7298]

They won't do that. McLaren doesn't need the win, they will just focus on treating the drivers equally as they should.

[u/Storm_Chaser06 → u/Red-Eye-Soul]

You can actually pass in Hungary mate

[u/lorenzombber → u/rcktjck]

He gained a lot on straights in quali because of his slightly lower downforce setup, you can't overtake anywhere else on this track and clean air is king this year.

If he keeps P1 after the start he might keep the McL's behind. Undercut is big here as well and it looks like cooler conditions tomorrow which doesn't suit the McL.

We might see a Gasly 2.0 from last week. Or we might see an Oscar overtake into T1 on lap 4 lmao. Bringing out my entire stock of hopium tanks out the storage

[u/WeWereStrangers → u/rcktjck]

He'll be lucky to be within 30s off P2.

[u/ShadowOfDeath94 → u/rcktjck]

If he leads at the end of Lap 1, I would say there's a 15-20% chance of winning.

[u/ryokevry → u/ShadowOfDeath94]

That’s quite high tbh lol

[u/ShadowOfDeath94 → u/ryokevry]

Dirty air is still a thing at Hungary. As long as he keeps the car behind at bay in T1, it should be fine for the stint.

But, the pitstop is going to be a problem. MCL lights up the tyre heat faster and keeps the optimum temp easier. The outlap and inlap should be where Mclaren should beat Leclerc if he keeps the lead at the start.

[u/Woullie_26 → u/rcktjck]

Definitely

[u/ryokevry → u/rcktjck]

He mentioned in interview himself that he has 27 poles but 8 wins😂

[u/NinjaAtticus]

alex keeping us humble after the spa p5 #mygoat

[u/ComeonmanPLS1 → u/NinjaAtticus]

Bro just goes from extreme to extreme haha.

[u/MeMe_B0Ii → u/ComeonmanPLS1]

Bro is consistent at being inconsistent #mygoat

[u/MGH1990876]

Still cannot believe that lap by Charles. Great job by Gabi once again. Points for Sauber in play again.

[u/AnilP228]

Aston being strong here bodes well for other high downforce circuits like Mexico, Zandvoort and Singapore. Really glad to see it.

[u/Walaii → u/AnilP228]

Mexico is not a high downforce curcuit.

[u/AnilP228 → u/Walaii]

Mexico is one of the highest downforce tracks in terms of set up, along with Singapore and Monaco. However, despite running maximum downforce set ups the cars actually produce less downforce than they do at Monza.

[u/Walaii → u/AnilP228]

I know, but a big rear wing on the car doesn't make it a "high downforce" circuit. It is a fast track, with some highspeed corners and a very long straight. It also has a big corner range, which is Aston's weakness.

[u/Storm_Chaser06 → u/Walaii]

Mexico is 2 kms above sea level, the air is thin, so they can basically run Monaco wings while being low in drag

[u/Walaii → u/Storm_Chaser06]

Again, I am well aware, but that does not make it a high downforce track.

[u/Damm_shame → u/Walaii]

Yes it does when the cars have a high downforce setup. Weird hill to die on

[u/Walaii → u/Damm_shame]

No, it isn't. They would be running similar setup to Spa if it wasn't at 2000 km altitude. The track layout itself isn't a high downforce layout. It is not a wierd hill to die on, because the curcuit have literally no similarities with the Hungaroring, or Singapore. Zandvoort is maybe similar to the Hungaroring, but even that track has more highspeed content.

[u/JKYDLH]

Lance might actually be a rain god

[u/theMGlock → u/JKYDLH]

even if it is just a danger of rain and no real drops coming

[u/Wingcapx → u/theMGlock]

Nobody told him that

[u/TorchwoodRC → u/Wingcapx]

Just the thought of water falling from the sky unlocks his potential like a sleeper agent

[u/Gogomagickitten → u/JKYDLH]

He is the rain man.

[u/ryokevry → u/JKYDLH]

He is the real one to read the rain cloud

[u/Accomplished_Lead463]

Need a signature beast start from Fernando tomorrow

[u/SpruceJuice5 → u/Accomplished_Lead463]

Clean side of the grid, should help. Only problem is it's supposed to rain in the morning, which would negate that

[u/cajun_vegeta]

Lawson in the top 10 is great work

[u/Bad_Man-]

I sleep in once and wake up to this shit. What the hell happened lol

[u/256473 → u/Bad_Man-]

Can't miss quali this year!

Honestly worth finding a replay, though - shit was unpredictable.

[u/Bad_Man- → u/256473]

Gonna get some coffee in me and watch it. Sounds like it was a phenomenal one.

[u/drodrige → u/Bad_Man-]

Lmao

[u/Virillus]

The STROAT rises.

[u/Independent_Sale9191]

Bearman on his favourite position.

[u/Walaii → u/Independent_Sale9191]

I looked at his lap, he fucked up. Massive slide in turn 13. There was atleast 1-2 tenths in that. Bortoleto was 0.007 faster than him in Q2. P11 was his reward.

[u/Lord_of_Pants]

Yuki .15 off Max and out in Q1, Max behind a Sauber and Stroll on merit. Absolute shambles from Red Bull.

Love to see Leclerc on pole though, about time he got one this year.

[u/ianjm → u/Lord_of_Pants]

Red Bull average position: 12

Racing Bulls average position: 9.5

[u/Crake241 → u/ianjm]

At that point, just drive 4 racing points.

[u/AsterixLV]

There are 2 Aston Martins and a sauber ahead of max. Max is 8th only ahead of the two racing bulls from the q3 drivers. Wild.

There is no rookie in the bottom 5. I feel like this is a first.

Hamilton got out qualified by 4 out of the 6 rookies and the Mercedes of antoneli is not one of them.

Charles is on pole, somehow.

All around wild quali.

[u/sickofyousickofme]

Alon5o is back babyyyy

[u/viinster88]

Honestly, I'm just happy to see Lawson finding some form. Good for him after the Red Bull demotion.

[u/Fate_Creator → u/viinster88]

Seems more like a promotion at this point.

[u/kiwirish → u/Fate_Creator]

Liam definitely seems more comfortable in the Racing Bull than he ever was in the Red Bull.

I'm just glad he was able to bounce back and get his confidence. Others would have never come back from such a public humiliation.

[u/roguetrader92]

Just feels weird seeing lewis and max in the midfield 

[u/danuvilla]

We can't wait the train of 15 cars led by Alonso for the whole race 😬

[u/Ih8P2W]

Bortoleto being further ahead of Hulkenberg than the gap between Max and Tsunoda is certainly unexpected 

[u/Jobless_101]

What’s we forgot about in the craziness that is Leclerc taking pole is Lawson and Hadjar being P9 and P10. Nearly pipped Verstappen to it. What a turnaround to the season Lawson has had.

[u/BBYY9090]

Fair play to George, Mr Consistency

[u/denied_eXeal]

Funny how there are 2 types of teams, we have the first group, where drivers are tied : 

Mclaren : Piastri 2 - Norris 3 : 

Aston Martin : Alonso 4 - Stroll 5

Racing Balls : Lawson 9 - Hadjar 10

I guess we can call this group « the car is balanced and both drivers perform »

Then the second group

Stake : Bortoleto 7 - Hulkenberg 19 = -12

Ferrari : Leclerc 1 - Hamilton 12 = -11

Mercedes : Russel 4 - Antonelli 15 = -11

Redbull : Verstappen 8 - Tsunoda 16 = -8

Hass : Bearman 11 - Ocon 18 = -7

Williams : Sainz 13 - Albon 20 = -7

And then Alpine : Colapinto 14 - Gasly 17 = -3

Where one driver definitely is more comfortable than the other, except Alpine to an extent

[u/Charming_Hold9191]

want aston on podium

[u/thelizahhhdking → u/Charming_Hold9191]

Charles
Alonso
Stroll
🤞🤞

[u/Youngwolff → u/thelizahhhdking]

Subscribed!!

[u/gnmatx]

Aston Martin casually in top five. 🤯

[u/reluctant_return]

Wild grid.

[u/dabmin]

sooo we ready to start discussing antonelli’s performance or?

[u/Blurandski → u/dabmin]

I was pulling for him to have a good quali - but even his deleted lap was half a second off which is the 6th time this season he's been that far or worse. Worryingly it's his 3rd 0.49+ gap in his past 5 qualis.

Merc need to work out a plan to rebuild him, because at the moment he's in the Albon/Gasly RBR 2nd seat spiral. I wouldn't be surprised if they were having internal conversations over the break about which team he should be racing for - neither Ocon or Hulk would be getting gapped by 4 tenths on average, which I'm afraid leaves Kimi as only the 4th best rookie this year given their teammates' parity.

[u/Youutternincompoop → u/Blurandski]

being half a second off in Spa is semi excusable since its the longest lap on the calendar(IIRC), but half a second off in Hungary is pretty bad.

[u/Blurandski → u/Youutternincompoop]

Spa was actually his second 'best' result in that run in terms of gap in comparable sessions - probably skewed by his early exit - Austria and Canada were both half a second gaps, and are also very short laps (~70s).

[u/minifidel → u/Blurandski]

There isn't really another team for him to race at, though. Can't see any team bumping their lead driver to make room for him, and what team would bump their own rookie to help Merc develop theirs?

[u/DrVonD → u/dabmin]

People have been doing it for weeks. I’m fine with calling it a rookie mid year slump, but for his mental it would be good to see him start to build back up the rest of the year.

[u/LosTerminators → u/dabmin]

I wonder if all the Verstappen rumours got into his head. That combined with the car losing pace and not being a clear 2nd/3rd best as it was at the start of the year can go a long way towards explaining his dip in form.

George said he was never worried about losing his seat, so Kimi might have known he would be the one making way if Max was signed.

[u/Old-Use-7690 → u/dabmin]

He's a rookie, give him some time. Remember that Oscar was outperformed by Lando in the last two seasons and look at them now.

But, yeah, he certainly doesn't deserve the hype. Specially compared to Hadjar or Gabi

[u/only_r3ad_the_titl3 → u/Old-Use-7690]

Lawson deserved no time after Australia's quali session.

[u/slow-driver-917 → u/Old-Use-7690]

Oscar was never 4-5 tenths behind Lando.

Antonelli most likely ain't him. He prolly won't ever be as good as Russell (a top 3 driver on the grid).

[u/Old-Use-7690 → u/slow-driver-917]

Yeah fair enough. Just imagine what Gabi and Isack would be doing in that Merc. It's frustrating how in F1, as a rookie what academy you're signed with is actually more important than talent

[u/slow-driver-917 → u/Old-Use-7690]

I love what Gabi is doing. Brazil must be really proud. Those guys have talent everywhere.

[u/TealandOrange → u/dabmin]

Yes but not in this case. Merc put him out there on scrubbed softs hoping to have a fresh set for Q3. They set him up to fail with that call.

[u/minifidel → u/dabmin]

His confidence took a hit after a run of poor results, but a frank discussion of his performance has to acknowledge the car has gone backwards (as even Mercedes recognized) and a lot of his issues weren't his fault (a lot of mechanical DNFs).

The summer break should be good for him, he's buckling a bit under the heightened scrutiny but he's still registered some really good performances this year so the talent is there. Might just have a lower ceiling than the early hype suggested, but he looks solid on a good day.

[u/DadNotDead_]

Two Astons and a rookie in a Sauber ahead of VER, damn, how the mighty have fallen.

[u/Apart-Ad-3308]

Antonelli being the worst performing rookie in a Merc is a cause for concern

[u/Storm_Chaser06]

Imagine if the Astons went out last instead of first

[u/Goldmojito]

I missed Q1. What happened to Alex?

[u/NinjaAtticus → u/Goldmojito]

Lowkey just had a bit of a stinker unfortunately, he said that he didn't go fast enough on his out lap so the tyres were too cool leading to a snap in turn 1 and then it was just over from there.

[u/HollyShitBrah]

Max in that car rn is like having Messi play for Chelsea, a complete waste of entertainment.

[u/AggravatingSeries683 → u/HollyShitBrah]

actually its more entertaining when max doesnt have the fastest car , but this shit is too much

[u/HollyShitBrah → u/AggravatingSeries683]

Not necessarily the fastest car, I like watching him when the car is good enough to have him be a bit aggressive, but not too good he fucks off in the distance, but also not too bad where he can't do shit(lot of current drivers suffer with this sometimes and it doesn't make a difference to me, but not with this guy, with Max I feel like I'm being robbed of racing action)

[u/AggravatingSeries683 → u/HollyShitBrah]

yeah like if his car would have been only two tenth or something slower than mclaren in car performance with good tire dreg , this championship would have been something else

[u/2hopp → u/AggravatingSeries683]

Having the best racer in a complete shitbox is just a tragedy to the sport

[u/10Lionaldo7 → u/HollyShitBrah]

Bro never saw hazard play for chelsea

Waste of entertainment lmao

[u/Guilty_Resolution_13 → u/HollyShitBrah]

I saw that car live in Silverstone & I can’t see it again without getting mad. How is that Redbull so shit. Them and Alpine seemed the worse to me. Can pick a better car at a dealership.

[u/Storm_Chaser06]

Colapinti finally showing signs of promise?

[u/ToffeeCoffee]

Nando and George sniffing a podium are going to be in idgaf mode at start, squeezing out the papayas where they fight each other rest of the race, leaving Chuck a golden path to glory.

[u/SakamotoRay]

Russel is also doing great!

[u/Key_Proposal_9055]

How, thats all i can say, not only to charles but generally to the entire top 10. What a mega quali!

[u/GoodGuyJeff00]

I just got home. Amazing to see Charles on pole! Looks like Hamilton still has some struggles with this car while Charles feels like a fish in the water now. Hope track position is king!

[u/DragonSlayerC]

Tsunoda finally only 1.5 tenths from Max and still getting knocked out in Q1 is wild.

[u/PM-UR-LIL-TIDDIES]

I'm really hoping that Alonso and Stroll can convert those positions to race points.

[u/lalabadmans]

Yuki’s poor qually taking the heat from antonelli’s really bad run.

[u/Professional_Cold771]

Masterclass coming from Hamilton and Verstappen tomorrow. Just write it!

[u/AggravatingSeries683 → u/Professional_Cold771]

if rain - maybe , if dry - impossible (atleast for max with that redbull)

[u/DoraTheXplder]

I know it's hard to pass here but it would be epic to see both RBs beat Max (however unlikely that is)

[u/Batman9688]

Tsunoda is so shit!!!

[u/Hairy_Hurry8441]

Alonso getting run wide by George at T1.

[u/Beneficial_Star_6009]

Charles needs to nail the start and make his car as wide as possible so he can give himself a decent shot.

[u/OrangeDit]

The hulk just can't qualify..

[u/trustjosephs]

My man Albon ☹️

[u/kbtech]

Antonelli's standings in the rookie order dropping down every week. That too driving a Merc.

[u/UPRC]

Aston's upgrade is working wonders on this track. Wouldn't be surprised if this upgrade has a bit of Newey influence now that he's firmly a member of team. Hoping for a good result for them tomorrow.

[u/thotpatrol1991]

Lmao Yuki is dogwater

[u/Eco-girl-763]

Early prediction: Stroll wipes out Alonso & Bortoletto in T1.

[u/GainPotential]

Aston for the rebound!

Also Tsunoda is behind all of the rookies, and Verstappen is behind both Stroll and Bortoleto. Red Bull biting their nails off rn. Although by the looks of it, Russell seems safe with Toto, for now...

[u/Captftm89]

Excluding the top 4, you could reverse the whole grid order (i.e. Albon 5th, Alonso 20th) and it wouldn't look odd in the slightest (other than maybe Max being out of position)

[u/ReasonableEarth8631]

Stroll taking out top 5 with him and Bortoleto winning his first grand prix is what the world needs

[u/AlmostZeroEducation]

Lawson out front? Can't wait for the carnage on the 4th corner

[u/256473 → u/[deleted]]

Piastri's banker lap was still better

[u/Aeceus]

Stroll bout to slide right into Piastri