#First pictures from the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend

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First pictures from the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend | F1 Pictures

Pictures from the build-up to the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Guenther Steiner, Haas, Hungaroring, 2023 Alexander Albon, Williams, Hungaroring, 2023 Bernd Maylander, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri, Hungaroring, 2023 Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free More images will be added here via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

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Daniel Ricciardo gets surprise visit from friend Sebastian Vettel at F1 testing AlphaTauri

Daniel Ricciardo's eyes light up when he gets a surprise visit from a very good - and very famous - mate as Aussie prepares for his F1 return with AlphaTauri Ricciardo was testing at Silverstone during British GP  Aussie will return to the grid with AlphaTauri  Had a very special visitor at Red Bull tyre test  By Shayne Bugden For Daily Mail Australia Updated: 03:16 BST, 13 July 2023 Daniel Ricciardo got a very pleasant surprise when an old teammate of his ambushed him as he took Red Bull's car through its paces at Silverstone during last weekend's British Grand Prix. The Aussie was impressive during the tyre test in the all-conquering Red Bull RB19 and was named to replace AlphaTauri's rookie Nick De Vries for the rest of the season shortly afterwards. Ricciardo was stopped in pit lane with his helmet off when the famous figure walked up and handed him a drink and a clipboard.  The Aussie looked up and his eyes went wide in amazement as he recognised his former Red Bull teammate and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. A split second later Ricciardo broke into one of his trademark beaming grins before the old friends shared a chat and a laugh. Ricciardo was shocked when he first realised who was handing him a drink and a clipboard as he put the Red Bull through its paces at Silverstone last weekend Once the Aussie soaked in who he was speaking to, the old Red Bull teammates shared a laugh and a quick chat Vettel spent the 2014 season with Ricciardo at Red Bull before leaving for Ferrari, but the pair have remained good mates. Last November the 34-year-old said the German superstar had been a 'true friend' as he struggled through a horror year with McLaren. 'He's picked up the phone multiple times this year, and just been a friend, and just, like, showing care, just checking in, checking in as a true friend would do,' Ricciardo said. 'To have friends like that is so important. But it's also not that common, in terms of the grid. 'We get on with drivers, and you do build friendships, but to have that kind of deeper level of friendship ... some gestures he made this year, and some of the kindness he showed towards me was, in a way, kind of unexpected.' The pair drove for Red Bull in 2014 and have stayed close since, with Ricciardo praising Vettel for being a 'true friend' as he struggled through a horror season with McLaren last year The Aussie (pictured during testing at Silverstone last weekend) is finally getting another start on the F1 grid, this time with AlphaTauri Ricciardo can finally look at those troubles in the rear-view mirror after securing his return to the grid with AlphaTauri, which is owned by Red Bull. He'll drive his first race for them at the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend. 'I am stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family,' the Australian said in a statement. AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost added: 'I’m very pleased to welcome Daniel back into the team. There’s no doubt about his driving skills, and he already knows many of us, so his integration will be easy and straight forward. 'The team will also profit a lot from his experience, as he is an eight-time Formula One Grand Prix winner.'  De Vries hasn't been able to replicate his form in lower-tier racing in his first season with Alpha Tauri and, along with fellow rookie Logan Sargeant, is the only driver yet to score a point this year. Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as reserve driver this year after parting ways with McLaren 12 months earlier than planned following two unsuccessful seasons.  Share or comment on this article: Daniel Ricciardo gets surprise visit from friend Sebastian Vettel at F1 testing AlphaTauri via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Mercedes explains Belgian GP upgrades to sidepod floor and rear wing | 2023 Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes has confirmed details of the changes it has made to its W14 for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, including the latest evolutions of its sidepods. Having dropped its ‘zero’ sidepod design after the Miami Grand Prix, a new iteration of the design seen for the first time at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend includes a steeper ramp at the rear, intended to improve the flow of air at the back of the car. In its submission to the FIA explaining its changes for this weekend, Mercedes says the steeper camber of its new sidepod “camber improves onset flow to the rear of the car, notably the rear wing.” Mercedes note that the increased downforce this generates also causes the rear wing to generate more drag. However they have a further alteration to the rear wing specifically for this weekend’s race on one of the quickest tracks F1 visits, with several long straights. The team has a new rear wing design with a smaller upper chord which gives “less downforce and drag than standard”, says Mercedes. Rivals Red Bull have achieved notable success by increasing the downforce generated by their car’s powerful floor, allowing them to run thinner wings and generate less drag, improving their straight line speed. This is clearly a trait Mercedes is hoping to recreate on its W14. Mercedes have made other changes to their sidepods, increasing the height of the inlets so they can provide more cooling to its power unit. This bring an aerodynamic advantage, as they will be able to run fewer cooling vents on the car, further reducing drag. This is unlikely to be a significant problem in the cool temperatures at Spa this weekend, but will pay dividends at later hot races in Singapore, Qatar and elsewhere. Although changes to the car’s floor cannot easily be seen, Mercedes say there is a “small” revision to the bodywork beneath in order to redirect the airflow. The team say the “volume distribution [was] adjusted to extract more local load from forward floor vortex system, which in turn improves flow to the diffuser.” The team will have little opportunity to test its changes before qualifying for this weekend’s race. Only a single hour of practice is available during the sprint race weekend at Spa. That is also likely to be disrupted by rain, though dry conditions are expected for Sunday. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Mercedes’ old and new sidepods Mercedes’ sidepod, Hungarian Grand Prix, 2023 Mercedes’ sidepod, Belgian Grand Prix, 2023 Pictures: Mercedes’ new sidepods at Spa Mercedes’ sidepod, Belgian Grand Prix, 2023 Mercedes’ sidepod, Belgian Grand Prix, 2023 Mercedes’ sidepod, Belgian Grand Prix, 2023 Mercedes’ sidepod, Belgian Grand Prix, 2023 Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Belgian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Belgian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

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Russell beat Mercedes strategy simulation with 12-place climb to sixth | 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix

George Russell says he beat the predictions of Mercedes’ strategists by gaining 12 places to finish sixth at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He crossed the finishing line in seventh place but gained another position from Charles Leclerc, who was given a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pits. Russell qualified a lowly 18th after being eliminated in the first round of qualifying yesterday. Mercedes did not believe he would be able to finish as high as sixth, just two places behind team mate Lewis Hamilton, who claimed pole position. “The strategist was telling me this morning P11 is most realistic and P7 if we maximise everything,” Russell told media including RaceFans at the Hungaroring. “But to come away P6 with no Safety Car, no VSC, on merit was a really great result.” However he believes the result shows he could have achieved much more had he qualified as well as his team mate did. “Equally, it’s proof that this weekend was probably a missed opportunity,” said Russell. “I’m confident I could have been up there with Lewis yesterday. “This is one of my favourite circuits, the car always performs well here and when you’ve got two cars up there fighting for, let’s say P2, it gives you a lot more options. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free “Lewis was really strong as well, and if things panned out slightly differently he would have been P2 as well. So, a missed opportunity, we’ll learn from it, but the positives are we’re moving ahead of Aston and Ferrari.” Gallery: 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix in pictures Russell made his way through the field after being one of only two drivers to start the race on the hard tyre compound. Pirelli brought tyres which were one stage softer than those used last year, and Russell did not expect to four other drivers taking the start on the softest compound. “This year’s hard is last year’s medium, so I was quite surprised how many cars started on the soft. I was really surprised any car started on the soft, and I was surprised only two cars started on the hard. So I think we made the right strategy in that case.” In the closing stages of the race, as Russell caught Carlos Sainz Jnr, he suggested to his team that they make a third pit stop. They chose not to do so, a decision which paid off, as he was able to pass the Ferrari and close on Leclerc. “The three-stop was potentially on the cards for a few teams,” said Russell. “I was almost calling for it at the end, but as things panned out the two-stop was quite comfortable.” Bringing the F1 news from the source RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing. We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

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Ferraris result much worse than what it felt like says Leclerc after litany of problems | 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc said Ferrari’s result in the Hungarian Grand Prix looked worse than it was after enduring a litany of problems during the race. He finished seventh after a penalty for breaking the pit lane speed limit dropped him behind George Russell. He also lost ground earlier in the race when a crew member had to swap wheel guns when he came in to change tyres. “The pit stop was quite slow and we had a five seconds penalty for speeding in the pit lane,” said Leclerc. “So it’s again a weekend that is difficult. “Honestly it’s frustrating overall because I felt that with the pace we have today, even as a driver, when you are feeling like you are doing a good job with a car you have, nobody really notices it. And whenever you are doing a bad job, everybody notices it. So it is difficult, but at the end it’s part of the game.” Leclerc said the team need to “do a step forward, as McLaren did” with their car. “Now we are on the back foot and it’s been confirmed since the last three weekends, so there’s a lot of work to do again.” Having finished second two races ago in Austria, Leclerc has taken ninth and seventh in the following rounds. “Honestly, today I feel like the result is much worse than what it felt like,” he said. “The first stint felt pretty good, then with the slow stop it really put us on the back foot being behind Lance [Stroll]. I had to push a lot, then we were with Carlos [Sainz Jnr] and we lost a bit of time there. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free “Then in the third stint I pushed again and there again the car felt quite okay. So I feel like the result looks worse than what it actually is, but it’s clear that compared to Lando [Norris] especially we are still behind.” Gallery: 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix in pictures The Ferrari driver endured other problems during the race. Before the start he discovered his drink tube was too short to reach his mouth. “I had no water,” he said. “Just before the start I realised that the tube was too short so I couldn’t reach the water. So it was really frustrating.” He also had more difficulty communicating with his race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros at times. In one radio message broadcast on the world feed during the race he told his team their strategy “doesn’t make sense” and was confused to be told “we are discussing and we will do it at the end” in response. “We have also a lot of problems with the radio,” Leclerc explained. “”One out of four words is not understood by an engineer because there’s just problems with our radio [for] three or four races. So we need to fix that. “Obviously my tone of voice is quite high because I need to make myself heard. But I just wanted to make sure that they understand me wrong and that I wanted to go aggressive early and not aggressive late. So it was just about clarifying because of our radio issues.” Bringing the F1 news from the source RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing. We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

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Verstappen and Hamilton criticise new tyre rules for cutting track action | 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are unimpressed with Formula 1’s new tyre rule, saying fans saw less track action on Friday because of it. F1 is trialling its Alternative Tyre Allocation format this weekend. Under the rules drivers receive 11 sets of slick tyres for the three days instead of 13 and have tighter restrictions on when they may use the tyres. After first practice was affected by rain, most drivers used two sets of tyres in the dry second session. However Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers decided to maximise the number of fresh tyre sets they have for the rest of the weekend and only used a single set each. Verstappen, who did 18 laps in the second practice session, said the new format created a poor spectacle for fans. “We haven’t actually used a lot of tyre sets today,” said the Red Bull driver. “With this new format, you’re just super-limited with the tyres that you can use. Gallery: 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix practice in pictures “I didn’t want to use them today to at least have a bit more of a better preparation tomorrow. But it’s a bit of a shame, there’s so many people around and you basically don’t really run a lot. “So we’ll have to see what we can do to improve that because really you’re just saving times which I think is not the correct thing.” The ATA was introduced in order to reduce the number of tyres F1 takes to races and therefore cut waste, freight and emissions. However Hamilton believes this could be done more effectively by reducing the number of wet weather tyres taken to each race. “We only had one tyre that we were going to use this session so it’s not really a great format this change they made for this weekend,” he said. “It just means we get less running, so not ideal. “There’s a lot of wet tyres that I think they throw away after every weekend, like, a lot and maybe they should look at something like that rather than taking time on track away from the fans.” Bringing the F1 news from the source RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing. We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

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Stupid mistake forces Daniel Ricciardo's AlphaTauri F1 team to delete official photo of Aussie star

Stupid mistake forces Daniel Ricciardo's AlphaTauri F1 team to delete official photo of Aussie star Red Bull's junior outfit signed Aussie on July 11  Released official images of him in their colours  Fans picked up error that led to photo being deleted  By Shayne Bugden For Daily Mail Australia Updated: 00:54 EDT, 18 July 2023 Formula One's AlphaTauri team have been forced into an embarrassing backflip after posting a photo of new recruit Daniel Ricciardo that featured a glaring error. The Aussie joined the outfit on July 11 after spending the first 11 races of the year as a reserve driver for Red Bull and is due to make his debut for them at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.  But when AlphaTauri posted an official photo of Ricciardo in his new racing gear to social media on Monday, fans pointed out that they it was an image of the 34-year-old's head Photoshopped onto the body of the driver he replaced, Nyck De Vries. The team reacted by deleting the photo just hours after it went up and replacing it with a non-altered image of the Aussie in their colours. AlphaTauri had to backtrack after being caught out Photoshopping Ricciardo's head onto the body of the driver he's replacing, Nyck De Vries (pictured) The team quickly replaced the altered photo with the real thing (pictured) AlphaTauri's very public stuff-up comes after veteran F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz questioned the Perth-born driver's mindset and warned he could find life very difficult with the struggling team. 'It's all well and good to point to [Daniel's] testing times in the Red Bull RB19, which is the class car of the field, but the reality is Ricciardo's not driving that car,' Kravitz said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. 'He's driving probably one of the slowest cars on the grid, if not the slowest, which is the AlphaTauri. 'My only question is, not that they shouldn't have replaced Nyck de Vries – clearly it wasn't working ... the surprise is why Daniel Ricciardo would want to go into that car and a car that is worse than the McLaren he left last year, probably.' Ricciardo impressed when he drove Red Bull's RB19 at Silverstone (pictured) and was signed to AlphaTauri on July 11 The Aussie will drive for his new team for the first time at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix  Kravitz was also left puzzled after Ricciardo declared 'I am stoked to be back on track with the Red Bull family' in the press release announcing his move. 'That quote, I thought was odd. He can't even bring himself to say AlphaTauri,' he said. 'There might be some short-term pain [for Ricciardo] if he can't do any better than de Vries.' Last Saturday Ricciardo admitted he had to 'fall back in love with Formula One' after enduring two shocking seasons at McLaren and his eight-month break from racing. 'Falling out of love with it took a hit on my confidence,' he said. 'If you’re competing in a sport where you’re trying to be the best at something, the best in the world at something, obviously you need full confidence and belief. 'When that starts to diminish a bit, your enjoyment drops a bit as well. There’s a lot of factors. 'Getting back to Red Bull, just the reception I had walking back into that team was in a positive way a little bit overwhelming.' Share or comment on this article: Stupid mistake forces Daniel Ricciardo's AlphaTauri F1 team to delete official photo of Aussie star via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490