Sainz on Williams taking encouragement from Aston Martin turnaround
Carlos Sainz says Williams should take encouragement from Aston Martin’s improvement in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix, as he believes it shows his struggling team can also deliver a significant turnaround. Sainz said: "As a team, we need to see it in a positive manner, and I want everyone to be positive about it rather than scared. If anything, for me it just proves that when you understand what your limitations are and you see another Formula 1 team with similar facilities to you, having such a big turnaround and adding so many points of downforce to the car within six months, the courage is there for us to prove to them and ourselves that we can do the same."
Struggling Williams must be inspired by Aston Martin's improvement - Carlos Sainz
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Tech: McLaren Hungary upgrades bring cure to key season-long F1 weakness
Drivers concerned by Hungaroring resurfacing
F1 drivers have raised concerns that a patchy resurfacing at the Hungaroring has left the track surface feeling like a “lottery” ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, with a “huge bump” at Turn 1 seen as a potential first-lap flashpoint. George Russell said: “They've resurfaced a third of the track and unfortunately they've done a really bad job”, while polesitter Lando Norris described it as “grippy in places and not grippy in others”. Overnight grinding work was carried out after Friday’s briefing, but several drivers said the bumps and inconsistent grip remain.
F1 drivers concerned over ‘lottery' track surface at Hungarian GP
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Hulkenberg on bigger-than-expected gap despite Q3 run
Nico Hulkenberg said the gap to the cars ahead was “bigger than what we thought and expected” after qualifying 10th for the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite a “trouble-free” session. Hulkenberg said: "Pretty much it was trouble-free. It's nice for once to have a clean one. I feel like we maximised it. Very positive to be in Q3. I'm not so happy about the distance, the gap to P9, and then from P9 actually to P8 and then onwards again. It's bigger than what we thought and expected but I feel we maximised what we had, so that's all we can do."
Hulkenberg concerned by ‘bigger gap' to rivals in Hungary
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Antonelli on Mercedes lacking a recent downforce upgrade
Kimi Antonelli said Mercedes expected to be behind McLaren and Ferrari in Hungary qualifying because their rivals had brought upgrades while Mercedes have not introduced a downforce update for some time. Antonelli said: "We expected it, also because they all brought upgrades. Ferrari brought a new rear wing, McLaren brought a new floor, and we haven't brought an upgrade for downforce for a long time. So we knew."
Antonelli admits Mercedes losing ground in development race
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Antonelli fears Mercedes under threat as rivals exploit upgrades
Sainz on Williams timeline to return to race-winning contention
Carlos Sainz says his plan to get back to winning races in Formula 1 with Williams has been pushed back by “a year or two” because the team’s 2026 car has fallen short of expectations. Sainz said: "I think there's no secret that my expectations – or, let's say, my timeline for how long it would take me to win a race again and for Williams to be the place to do that – have been delayed by a year or two. It depends on how quickly we manage to bounce back from this situation. It's just that this year's car, for whatever reason – or reasons – has been very underperforming and has fallen very short of our expectations."
Carlos Sainz timeline ‘delayed' as final Williams decision looms
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Bottas on Aston Martin's Hungaroring upgrade impact
Valtteri Bottas says Aston Martin’s major upgrade at the Hungaroring has made the team “really strong” through the corners, but he expects it could be vulnerable at future races on circuits with longer straights. Bottas said: "It's pretty clear they made a big step with the car, especially in sector two where all the corners are - they are really strong. I think against them, this is probably one of their better tracks. I still think on tracks with longer straights, they might be in trouble."
Rival spots potential weak point in Aston Martin's F1 recovery
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What Ferrari told Lewis Hamilton before costly Oscar Piastri block
The data behind McLaren's analysis: Does Ferrari have the best chassis in F1?
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