Mario Isola says fans around the world can rejoice after three teams fought for victory in last Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the first time this season where this occurred.
Before the race at the Hungaroring, it had been a clear fight for race wins between Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari, but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team were also involved in the battle in Hungary having been only the third best outfit up until then.
George Russell took his maiden FIA Formula 1 World Championship pole position on Saturday and looked settled in the lead, and although Red Bull and Max Verstappen would go onto take the victory on Sunday, Russell and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton joined him on the podium, ahead of both Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc, and the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez.
Isola, the Motorsport Director at Pirelli, was pleased to see Mercedes join the battle at the front for the first time in 2022, while he was also happy to see all three available compounds used to good effect throughout Sunday’s race in Hungary.
“I’m very happy for the hundreds of thousands of spectators who came to the track and all the other fans around the world who saw three teams in a close fight for victory for the first time this season,” said Isola.
“This is a win for everyone in Formula 1, and it was also great to see around 10 different tyre strategies during the race – with every compound used – which all played their part in delivering an exciting and spectacular grand prix, just as we have seen all year so far.”
Before Pirelli could celebrate the end of the first half of the season and the summer break, they stayed in Hungary for two days of tyre tests at the Hungaroring.
“Budapest now marks the beginning of the summer break, but not straight away for us: on Tuesday and Wednesday we stay here at the Hungaroring to continue our 2023 testing programme,” he said prior to it commencing.
“It’s the final push before the holidays, which we will tackle safe in the knowledge of all the work that has been carried out thanks to the efforts of everyone at Pirelli: both present on the track, and back at base in Milan.”
