F1 manages to be interesting for five minutes – Up and Down in Hungary

So close, yet so far – boredom snatched from the jaws of mild interest yet again.

The Hungarian GP qualifying session went someway to providing the excitement all F1 fans crave, before Max Verstappen told everyone not to worry – it was all a competitive mirage.

Red Bull’s GP king took full plaudits for a record-breaking achievement, scything down the inside of surprise pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton at the opening to lay any chance of a thrilling contest to bed.

The usual chaos unfolded on and off-track behind though – here’s what was going up and down the sliding scale in Budapest.

Knockout punch

As much as Verstappen and Red Bull do their best to be the grid’s most antagonistic wind-up merchants, there’s no arguing that they’ve embarrassed the rest of the grid over the past 18 months.

The team’s brilliance has been emphasised that its first car of this rule set, 2022’s RB18, was developed in the midst of the 2021 title fight, and it has only improved since then with the RB19.

Horner sounded like he was about to kick back, cheers Adrian Newey and sip on a glass of Pimms during his mid-race interviews, so relaxed was he.

Now the Milton Keynes kids have a record 13 consecutive race victories – fully deserved.

Tots’ F1 TV

Grand prix fans might be forgiven for thinking the world championship already has an ‘F1 for kids’ programme – F1 TV.

However, the debut of a joint venture between Sky and F1 in the form of a children’s broadcast showed just how much the sport commendably pushes on to engage new audiences in what is still a niche competition with plenty of idiosyncrasies.

To be fair, the questions the kid presenters asked were actually marginally less dreary than the usual efforts asked by the adults in press conferences – “Can we get your reaction to…” etc. Lord help us.

Charm offensive

As the Apex F1 movie continued with filming in Budapest, producer Jerry Bruckheimer gave simply the loveliest interview to Martin Brundle on the Budapest grid, following on from Brad Pitt’s charming chat at Silverstone – clearly trying to make up for last year’s Austin snub.

Hilarious to watch.

Pick a Piastri

Despite struggling with ailing tyres towards the end, the young Aussie has now clearly showed he was the right pick for McLaren.

If its current form continues, could the team munch its way to second in the constructors’ championship?

Goin’ down

Chapeau Zhou

Alfa has its best qualifying in yonks with Bottas seventh and Zhou on the verge of a nosebleed in fifth.

Then the likeable Shanghai native stuffed it all at the very first turn by managing to skittle an unsuspecting Daniel Ricciardo into not one but two Alpines in something of a Tour de France pile-up.

Bottas did the same thing in 2021 – you think he would have warned his team-mate…

Radio reactions

Leclerc’s radio messages to Ferrari seem to be getting ever more irate, increasingly berating his team as the mistakes continue to flow like fine grappa.

The Monegasque claims it’s because his radio isn’t working properly – which knowing recent Scuderia events doesn’t sound outside the realms of possibility – but there’s likely more to it than that.

“Let’s stay calm, but come on,” he said to the ragazzi in qualifying following the latest traffic-related bungle.

The basics

And how Ferrari to continued to struggle to get its race operations in order – to be fair it’s only been competing since 1929 – leaving Sainz behind Leclerc when clearly faster, then botching the latter’s first pitstop.

Traditions.

Maybe it’s trying to placate its star driver by giving him strategic priority, to stop him moving elsewhere?

Time management

A Mercedes mix-up left Russell in Q1 qualifying traffic and saw him knocked out in the first round.

A fightback on race day showed how good the car was, being left to rue what might have been.