Championship Battles, Verstappen Stays, and Antonelli's Future: What to Watch at The 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix
The last race before the summer break is officially upon us. Despite the lack of overtaking opportunities around the track, the Hungaroring never fails to deliver a race packed with action. In 2021, Esteban Ocon’s unexpected win was a result of the famous turn 1 incident, where Valterri Bottas took out half of the field like a bowling ball. Last year, Oscar Piastri secured his maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a victory that sparked controversy due to a team order from McLaren. With a heated title fight, contract news, and rookie pressure all in play, who’ll shake up the field this weekend?
🏆 Championship Battle Continues
Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris by 16 points (266 to 250) after winning the Belgian GP. The McLaren duo’s title fight is tighter than ever as both of them would like to solidify their place in the campaign before the summer break. After Spa, Piastri has extended his lead, but Norris will be desperate to close the gap by making minimum mistakes at a track he excels at.
In 2024, a McLaren strategy blunder caused a frenzy between the two drivers. McLaren radioed Norris to swap positions in the final laps, claiming he is going to “need Oscar and the team” in the future. Norris resisted but ultimately let Piastri back through, handing Piastri his first F1 win.
The Hungaroring is nicknamed “Monaco without walls”: a tight, twisty circuit with many slow, winding turns. High downforce and minimizing tire degradation are crucial. Qualifying is extra important here since overtaking is notoriously hard. Mistakes are heavily punished. In short, it’s a technical track where cars with a balanced package excel.
By those measures, McLaren should be very strong. The MCL-39 has been mighty this season, and it looks especially dialed-in on high-downforce layouts. Almost every team is expected to run into issues with cooling down the tires this weekend, but the MCL-39 is in a league of its own when it comes to tire wear. So, do expect a McLaren domination at Hungary if everything goes to plan.
🔵 Verstappen Stays at Redbull for 2026
Sorry, Silly Season fans—this one’s over even before the summer break. Any whispers of Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes in 2026 have been stamped out as the four-time World Champion cleared his future on Media Day. Verstappen told the media that “it's time to basically stop all the rumors, and for me it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway."
Earlier in the week, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko confirmed, “Max will drive for Red Bull in 2026”. Journalist Erik van Haren, who covers the Dutch driver closely, reports that the exit clause in Max’s contract has expired and that Verstappen “already decided he wants to stay”.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has made it clear Mercedes’ focus is on George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli for 2026. He said he wants “to stay with Kimi and George as it stands”. In other words, the door to Brackley will remain closed to Verstappen for next year. It sounds like talks between Wolff and Verstappen simply ended in mutual understanding, as Verstappen claimed on Thursday that they have a “personal relationship”.
With Redbull’s new leadership, Verstappen is looking to work closely with Laurent Mekies to look out for ways to improve the car to be more competitive at the top. New team boss Laurent Mekies has already begun holding deep-dive meetings with Max, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, and key engineers to dissect the RB21’s performance issues.
🔊 Mercedes News: Russell Contract Update & Antonelli’s Form
George Russell is technically out of contract at the end of 2025, which has led to talk about his future. However, with the Verstappen rumor dying down, everything points toward an extension. Reports indicate that Mercedes is preparing a multi-year deal for Russell, which will include a significant salary increase. Russell himself expects to continue with Mercedes, and that “everything will work itself out in due course”. Toto Wolff has even suggested they’ll try to finalize Russell’s new deal before the summer break so he can “sleep well” during the shutdown.
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, Kimi Antonelli started strong with his first podium in Canada and a Miami Sprint pole. But since then, he’s struggled big time. The Italian rookie had four retirements in the last seven rounds and scored zero points in Belgium (17th in the Sprint, 16th in the GP). Granted, most of the DNFs were not of his own mistakes, but results like these can impact the driver’s confidence in the car.
Mercedes’ James Allison admitted the team has taken “wrong steps” in development. The car has been tricky, and Antonelli has paid the price. Lewis Hamilton offered support post-Spa, reminding people how rare it is for an 18-year-old to even be in F1. Antonelli will look to reset before the break, as contract talks with Mercedes are also underway.
🔴 Fred Vasseur Signs a Multi-Year Contract Renewal
On Thursday, just before the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari ended the speculation by extending Fred Vasseur’s contract through 2027. The multi-year deal ends talk of ousting him for Christian Horner (which was probably never a possibility) —and signals that Ferrari wants consistency, not panic moves, heading into the 2026 regulation changes.
Star drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both publicly backed Vasseur, calling him the steady hand Ferrari needs during a season where results haven’t matched lofty expectations. Leclerc noted Vasseur’s vision and ability to ignore the noise around the Italian team. Meanwhile, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna framed the extension as a statement of ambition—“We know what’s expected and we’re fully committed,” he said.
📊 My Race Predictions
At this highly technical track, where downforce and tire cooling are key, the McLarens should be way ahead of the field. Lando Norris’s driving style suits this track, and after losing out last year, he’ll be hungry to finally clinch that Hungarian win. Piastri should be right behind. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who’s won eight times here, might just grab his first podium with Ferrari, especially with the recent upgrades.
As for Red Bull, the RB21 struggles in slow-speed corners and has a narrow operating window — not a good combo at the Hungaroring. Max had a nightmare race here last year, and unless things drastically improve, a lower points finish wouldn’t shock me.
Charles Leclerc has openly called this his “worst track” on Thursday — the low-speed corners don’t match his style. He might be missing the comfort of Monaco’s walls, after all.
The Mercedes car is very inconsistent - on a good day, it could secure them a double podium in Canada, but could also struggle big time, even at races where they performed well last year. The car’s form fluctuates wildly, and they seem most affected by the recent flexi-wing directive.
Pierre Gasly has had some strong qualifying results at Hungary; hopefully, he can bring home some big points for the struggling Alpine team.
Race Winner: 🏆 Lando Norris
Podium: 🥇Lando Norris 🥈Oscar Piastri 🥉Lewis Hamilton
Dark Horse: Pierre Gasly
Wildcard Prediction: Two drivers DNF the race
Drop your predictions in the comments or reply—who’s completing the podium in Hungary? I’ll be back with full race reactions post-Sunday—see you then.
