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The grid for the Hungarian GP got a shake-up thanks to the new Alternative Tyre Allocation system in qualifying, and also thanks to a stunner from Lewis Hamilton who came out on top from Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. An unexpected triumph on Saturday for Alfa Romeo contrasted with disappointment for others including Sergio Perez and George Russell, but fortunes flipped in the race leaving us with a lot to mull over when it comes to assigning ratings.
Pierre Gasly (Lap 1, Accident damage): 5.5/10
After a decent start on Friday where he was third at the end of FP2, Pierre Gasly struggled on Saturday. He was 16th in final practice and nondescript in the new qualifying format, making it through to the second round but his progress then stalling leaving him 15th on the grid. From there he got caught up in a multiple car incident at the start triggered by Zhou Guanyu, which resulted in his team mate rear-ending him. Both Alpines crawled back to pit lane to retire, a nightmare outcome to the weekend for the team and both drivers. There's not really much more you can say, other than: onwards to Belgium!
Esteban Ocon (Lap 1, Accident damage): 6/10
Esteban Ocon shares the same narrative as his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly: a decent start on Friday where he was fifth at the end of FP2, but only 19th at the end of final practice indicating that he was likely to struggle in qualifying. Running the first round on hards saw him make the initial cut, and he fared slightly better than Gasly on the mediums to finish in 12th place. But when it came to the start of the race he was caught up in the same incident as Gasly, and he rear-ended his team mate after himself being hit and launched into the air by contact from behind in turn. The damage to both Alpines was sufficient to force them both to retire, the only two cars not to be included in the final classified results on Sunday.
