Hamilton's demise, Mercedes' conundrum and the Verstappen dilemma - F1 at the summer break

With Lando Norris's impressive performance, punters may focus on McLaren drivers as potential frontrunners in the upcoming races, while Lewis Hamilton's struggle could shift betting odds towards his rivals.

Lando Norris delivered a masterclass of tyre management on the one-stop strategy at the Hungaroring, fending off team-mate Oscar Piastri during the closing laps to deliver his fifth victory of the season, and his third in the past four race weekends.

The gap between the two McLaren drivers now stands at nine points with 10 races left to play out, and with Zak Brown and Andrea Stella committed to letting their drivers settle this on the track, we’re in store for a nail-biting run to the line in Abu Dhabi.

It’s hard to remember a time when the seven-time world champion looked this jaded with life in Formula One. While Hamilton denied that his love for the sport was fizzling out after a miserable Hungarian GP, there is no doubt that the series veteran faces some soul-searching during the summer break.

With 10 races remaining, Hamilton is still without a podium finish in 2025, and he now sits 42 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the standings. Worse still, his confidence is at rock bottom, and his comments after the race in Hungary suggested that there is more at play behind the scenes than meets the eye.

Can F1’s most decorated driver bounce back and end the ground effect regulations on a high after the break? That remains to be seen.

Shuffled out of the limelight in Hungary was the fact that Red Bull have regressed to a midfield team. Verstappen crossed the line down in ninth after an unfavourable strategy call cost him a shot at beating Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, and Liam Lawson, while team-mate Yuki Tsunoda performed even worse in 17th.

The 25-year-old has now finished 12th or lower in each of the last seven Grands Prix, and while team principal Laurent Mekies maintains that Red Bull will give the Japanese driver time, Tsunoda will be feeling the heat as he heads to the simulator for extra work this week.

After his podium on Sunday, Toto Wolff confirmed that Russell would “definitely” be driving for Mercedes next season. While it has been hinted that Kimi Antonelli faces the same fate, the Italian teenager’s form makes him a difficult case to manage heading into the break.

The 18-year-old recovered from another disappointing qualifying to score a solitary point at the Hungaroring, but the gap in performance compared to Russell continues to grow as the season progresses.

The summer break arrives at the right time for several key F1 figures.

Express