British Formula One driver George Russell led a strong recovery drive in the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix after qualifying P17. He went on to finish eighth in the race, where he’d previously finished sixth in 2023.

Data collecting in the Hungarian heat

In the hot weather conditions, George and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team began the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend by gathering information to understand how the warmer temperatures affected the tyres.

George collected valuable data ahead of Saturday and Sunday’s sessions on both the Soft and Medium tyre compounds.

He finished the session in P4 after 28 laps of practice.

WATCH: 2024 HUNGARIAN FP1 HIGHLIGHTS

More practice on Soft and Medium tyres

George began the weekend’s second Free Practice on Medium tyres. However, a Red Flag interrupted the session, affecting valuable set-up and data-collection time.

When the session continued with 29 minutes to go, George came back onto the track on Softs.

George was able to get 20 laps in before the end of the session and classified P5.

WATCH: 2024 HUNGARIAN FP2 HIGHLIGHTS

More Soft running for George

George began the weekend’s final Free Practice by gathering more information on the Soft tyre compound.

As the track ramped up, George went first on the timesheet with a time of 1:16.826.

With just under 20 minutes to go, he came back out again on Softs and ultimately finished the session P4.

WATCH: 2024 HUNGARIAN FP3 HIGHLIGHTS

An unfortunate Qualifying

Rain hit the track right before Qualifying, but the warm conditions meant it dried quickly and George started on fresh Softs with more rain expected in the session.

With nine minutes of Q1 to go, the rain started to get heavier.

Following a Red Flag and further rain, George got straight out for another lap and reported that the track was damp.

George was unfortunately unable to complete his final push lap and finished P17.  

WATCH: 2024 HUNGARIAN QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

Points in Hungary

Starting from P17, George selected Hard tyres for the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix. He made up a position on the opening lap, moving into P16. A few laps later, he claimed P15.

After drivers ahead of him pitted, George was up to P10 and chasing Valtteri Bottas for P9.

Following a very long first stint on the Hards, George pitted from P7 at the end of Lap 34. He rejoined the race in P11 on Mediums.  

On the Medium tyres, George successfully passed Yuki Tsunoda and later Lance Stroll to claim P8.

Pitting again at the end of Lap 53, George retuned to the track on new Hards.

George finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in P8 and picked up an additional point for the fastest lap.  

The 2024 F1 season will resume on 26-28 July for the Belgian Grand Prix.

WATCH: 2024 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS

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George Russell, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team driver:

Congratulations to Oscar on his victory today. McLaren have been really strong, and he’s been driving really well so it is well deserved.

We knew after yesterday’s issues in qualifying that we were likely aiming for ‘best of the rest’ today. We struggle a little more in these very hot conditions, so we weren’t quite able to achieve that. The Red Bull of Sergio Perez was quicker than we expected but we gave it a good go to get ahead of him. Getting P8 and fastest lap was still a solid recovery.

We can also take the positives of the team being on the podium five races in a row. We have made consistent steps forward and the car has been performing much better in recent Grands Prix. Lewis drove a great race today and showed what the car was capable of. It is very close at the front between several teams now. We know we need to maximise every opportunity we have and execute clean weekends to score good points. We will be looking to do that starting next week in Spa.