F1: at what time and on which channel to watch the Hungarian Grand Prix broadcast unencrypted and free on Sunday ?

Lewis Hamilton et Mercedes pourront-ils réitérer leur performance de Silverstone ? MAXPPP – ZSOLT CZEGLEDI

the essential Third consecutive success for Mercedes, McLaren finally effective or rebound for Max Verstappen and Red Bull ? The Hungarian F1 Grand Prix promises to be very close this weekend between the three teams which are now held in a pocket square, while the race will be broadcast unencrypted on Sunday July 21.

Two weeks after his moving victory in front of his home crowd at Silverstone, the Briton Lewis Hamilton, who has won eight times and scored 11 podiums in 17 GPs at the Hungaroring, will try to continue on one of his favorite circuits.

His teammate and compatriot George Russell, who had taken pole position in England and won the previous weekend in Austria, is, like the entire German team, also in trust.

"We've never been so close to the best. This proves our progress. I don't know if we will be this weekend and in Belgium next week, but if that's the case, we can probably fight for victories until the end of the season. , he estimated.

Verstappen: "We are no longer dominant"

Before the Canadian GP at the beginning of June, no one imagined the Silver Arrows having such a celebration after a mediocre start to the season. But they first overtook the Ferraris which were losing speed, and managed to catch up with McLaren and Red Bull.

Even the Dutch three-time reigning world champion admits: "We are no longer dominant and I don't expect that that changes this weekend. It will therefore be necessary to optimize the settings and maximize the opportunities", underlined Max Verstappen on Thursday.

While the Austrian team had won 21 races out of 22 in 2023 and 17 out of 22 in 2022, at mid-season 2024, it has already let 5 Grands Prix escape out of 12, a sign that the competition keeps getting closer.

McLaren lacks success

McLaren is regularly the fastest team and is racking up podiums, but is struggling to turn this dominance into victory by making a series of small mistakes or poor strategic choices, such as at Silverstone two weeks ago.

“We are regularly battling with teams that have dominated the discipline for years, so we have less experience. This is no excuse for making mistakes, but we continue to learn. Yes, for the past two months we have not seized certain opportunities, but we must not forget where we were a year ago", argued Australian Oscar Piastri.

Ferrari "not so far" of the best

And Ferrari in all this ? The Scuderia, second force in the field until the end of May, like Charles Leclerc's victory on home soil, in Monaco, hopes to get back into the fight.

"We are not that far away, we are only missing two or three tenths so I am confident that we can catch up and join the fight for victories in the second half of the season", explained the Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who has still not announced his destination for 2025.

The Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix will be broadcast from 3pm on Canal + and in the clear on C8.