In the round-up: This weekend’s race at the Hungaroring is likely to be the hottest of the season so far.
In brief
Hungarian GP to be hottest race so far
Parts of Hungary have experienced heatwave conditions in recent days and conditions are expected to remain hot as F1 teams arrive at the circuit for this weekend’s race. Temperatures of up to 35C are expected on race day which would be the hottest seen so far this year and at any round since 2022.
“It looks like conditions will be extremely hot,” said Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, “so the full race distance will be a really tough one for all the drivers from a physical point of view.”
Harvey’s absence means ninth driver for Coyne
Coyne has confirmed its ninth different IndyCar driver this year. With Jack Harvey set to miss a second race due to injury, newcomer Hunter McElrea has been confirmed as his replacement. McElrea finished second in the Indy Nxt series last year and tested for Coyne at Mid-Ohio last week.
The team has also fielded Nolan Siegel, Colin Braun, Luca Ghiotto, Katherine Legge, Tristan Vautier, Toby Sowery and Conor Daly over the previous 11 races this year.
Ferrari “helpless” after Interlagos defeat
Ferrari’s head of endurance Antonello Coletta said it was “impossible” for his team to perform any better in last weekend’s Six Hours of Sao Paulo, where the two works 499Ps finished fifth and sixth.
Following their victory in the previous round at Le Mans, the FIA added 17 kilograms to their cars and cut 5KW from their maximum power under the Balance of Performance regulations. The team was also permitted an extra 3.5% of power at speeds over 250kph and allowed 16MJ more energy per stint.
The adjustments meant the 499Ps weighed more than any hypercar besides the race-winning Toyotas, though the Japanese cars had 3KW more power. Teams are forbidden from publicly criticising the BoP – Toyota was given a suspended fine for doing so during the Interlagos race weekend.
Coletta said it was “difficult to find the right words to express the team’s frustration and sense of helplessness” after their result in Brazil, where they also brought performance upgrades for their 499Ps.
“Despite impeccable work in preparing for the event and during the race, it was impossible to achieve a better result on the track. We knew we couldn’t compete for victory, and unfortunately, what occurred in the simulations was confirmed by what happened in the race.”
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