2022 Hungarian Grand Prix

The **2022 Hungarian Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 31 July 2022 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary over a distance of 70 laps. The race was the thirty-seventh Hungarian Grand Prix to be held as part of the Formula 1.5 World Championship.

## Background

The event was held across the weekend of the 29–31 July. It was the thirteenth round of the 2022 Formula 1.5 World Championship.

### Championship standings before the race

Lando Norris lead the Drivers' Championship by 3 points from Esteban Ocon , with Valtteri Bottas third, a further 24 points behind. Alpine lead the Constructors' Championship, leading McLaren by 45 points and Alfa Romeo by 121 points.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. Robert Kubica drove for Alfa Romeo in place of Valtteri Bottas during the first practice session

### Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

## Practice

The first practice session took place at 14:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on 29 July 2022. Lando Norris was quickest, with Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon in second and third respectively. The second practice session took part on the same day at 17:00 local time. Lando was quickest, with Daniel Ricciardo and Alonso in second and third respectively. The third practice session started at 13:00 on 30 July 2022. Sebastian Vettel crashed out at turn 10, causing a red flag. Once the session restarted, Nicholas Latifi went fastest, with Albon and Alonso in second and third respectively.

## Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 16:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on 30 July 2022, and lasted for one hour. The qualifying session was held in dry but overcast conditions throughout.

The first part of qualifying (Q1) saw the bottom five drivers eliminated from the rest of the session. The pace setter in the third practice session, Nicholas Latifi, was unable to replicate his earlier form being knocked out in Q1 and qualifying 20th and last having made a mistake at the final corner on his final attempt in Q1. Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Sebastian Vettel, Pierre Gasly and Latifi were eliminated.

In Q2 Zhou Guanyu, Magnussen, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher were eliminated.

### Post Qualifying

Gasly was critical of the stewards' handling of track limit violations. Williams were fined €1,000 after they were found to have used a set of soft tyres in Q1 on the car of Albon which the team had already electronically returned—which is illegal under the sporting regulations. The stewards chose not to impose a sporting penalty after accepting that no unfair sporting advantage had been gained by using these tyres and that the rule breach was purely an administrative error.

## Race

The race started at 15:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on 31 July 2022, and lasted for 70 laps.

Off the start Norris kept the lead whilst Esteban Ocon defended from his Alpine teammate, Fernando Alonso, who later complained about Ocon's moves on the team radio. Contact between Lance Stroll and Alexander Albon meant the latter had to pit due to front wing damages. Kevin Magnussen was also forced to pit after he was shown the black and orange flag, due to damage to his right end plate. The virtual safety car (VSC) was called out to pick up debris caused by the collisions.

As the rain started to appear, Yuki Tsunoda spun, causing a brief yellow flag. Stroll attempted to overtake Daniel Ricciardo, but the latter locked up and spun around Stroll. Neither drivers received damage and both carried on, though Ricciardo was judged to be at fault and was given a 5-second time penalty. Valtteri Bottas had a power unit issue on lap 66, leading to his retirement and the second VSC of the race. The rain began to come down heavier as the VSC ended, but all drivers managed to reach the checkered flag.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

  1
  1

;Constructors' Championship standings

## External Links

1. ↑  Pierre Gasly qualified 13th, but he was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. The new power unit elements were changed while the car was under parc fermé without the permission of the technical delegate. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane.
2. ↑ Includes 1 point for fastest lap
3. ↑  Daniel Ricciardo finished 7th, but he received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Lance Stroll.
4. ↑  Valtteri Bottas was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.