Canadian James Hinchcliffe, an IndyCar veteran with six American Series victories to his credit, is partnering with the official Formula 1 website this year to comment on events in the World Championship in his own way. During the summer break, he named the top five drivers who impressed him the most in the first half of the season.
Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda’s work this year, if you look closely, is very impressive. In the first four races, he was 11th twice and 10th twice, after which everyone decided that the AlphaTauri had a pretty fast car.
The advantage over Nick de Vries, his partner, was attributed to the inexperience of the Dutchman, but there were suggestions that he would soon add and also begin to claim points.
But de Vries did not succeed, and besides, it became clear that the AT04 was not as good as it seemed at first. But this only underlined how strong the Japanese was in the races in which he finished in the top ten or close to it.
We then learned the shocking news that Daniel Ricciardo had replaced de Vries. For any rider, this is a very serious test of mental toughness, and although in Hungary it looked like the Aussie easily dealt with his new partner, in Spa Yuki bounced back well, finishing tenth.
When a driver overcomes this kind of pressure and performs with such confidence, it is a sign that Tsunoda’s third season in Formula 1 can turn out well.
Nico Hulkenberg
When at the end of last year Haas were faced with a difficult choice – either to give Mick Schumacher another year to improve the results, or to invite Niko Hulkenberg, although he had not raced for a long time – it is quite excusable if you then thought that the American team accepted wrong decision.
It is very difficult to assess the motivation and ability of the rider after such a long break. Although Kevin Magnussen performed very well, missing a year, and Fernando Alonso, returning to Formula 1 after two years, went as fast as before. It looks like Hulkenberg proved that a three-year break is not a problem.
Niko immediately went to the final of the qualification and before the stage in Miami he was ahead of his partner both on Saturdays and on Sundays. By the summer break, the score of their qualifying duels was 9 – 3 in favor of Hulkenberg, and he is 7 points ahead of his partner in the individual classification. This difference could be much greater if the ending of the Australian Grand Prix would have been somewhat different.
The way Nico has been re-acclimatized in Formula 1 is really impressive and if Haas could improve the racing pace of the car, he could very well earn points on a regular basis.
Fernando Alonso
Team Aston Martin last year was in 7th place in the Constructors’ Championship, but in the first races of this season, it was she who became the main rival of Red Bull Racing. It is likely that Alonso’s run of podiums and the speed he showed gave a few more riders hope that they, too, would be able to compete for high results when they exchanged the fifth decade.
The Spaniard has not lost any speed or ability to work tirelessly, and it is clear that it was the incredible racing prowess that helped him win two titles and scoring 32 Formula 1 victories.
Although now the level of competitiveness of his team has decreased somewhat, Alonso himself has not become worse, and watching him work on the track is a real pleasure.
Oscar Piastri
When a driver from F2 moves into Formula 1, he has to solve very serious problems, and in the past we have seen that not everyone coped with this. But experienced Mark Webber, his manager, helps Oscar Piastri overcome these difficulties.
In addition, at the beginning of the year he did not have the best car. But Oscar kept his composure and made almost no mistakes, because he did not try to somehow compensate for the lack of speed of the MCL60 at the expense of his own efforts. He tried to understand how to work in Formula 1, while remaining in the shadow of Lando Norris, the rising star of the championship, which did not upset the young Australian at all.
When the team introduced innovations in Hungary that made it possible to increase the speed of the car, Piastri immediately added and the whole weekend was almost at the level of Norris – he could even climb the podium, but the virtual safety car mode was introduced at an unfortunate moment for him.
At the next stage in Spa, McLaren again had a competitive car, and this time he was already pushing his partner. Although Piastri has achieved high results only recently, signs of his potential were already visible from the stage in Bahrain. It will be interesting to watch him in the second half of the season.
Max Verstappen
Everything has already been said about Verstappen, there is little to add to this. It seems that in the remaining races of the year he will retain his overwhelming superiority. He has a phenomenally fast car, there is no doubt about it, but he himself always, in any circumstances, demonstrates truly champion qualities.
Sergio Perez is also a good guy, but his situation can be compared to what Nico Rosberg understood when he was Lewis Hamilton’s partner, or when Mark Webber was on the same team with Sebastian Vettel, and Rubens Barrichello was with Michael Schumacher. It’s just that sometimes a driver appears who is distinguished by incredible skill, and all his rivals have to accept their fate – they can only fight for second places.
This year, Max has already broken a number of records, and there is no doubt that he will continue to do so in the future.
2023-08-15 15:35:00
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