Hungary: Daniel plays the long game after first-lap incident
Pushed to the back after being hit by a rival on lap one, Daniel's experience and cool head shows in a drive back to 13th place on his F1 return.
Race data
Hungary (Round 11 of 22), 23 July 2023
Hungaroring, 70 laps, 4.381km
Qualified: 13th
Finished: 13th
Laps per position: 9th (2 laps), 10th (1 lap), 11th (2 laps), 12th (1 lap), 13th (27 laps), 14th (6 laps), 15th (1 lap), 17th (5 laps), 18th (24 laps)
Pit stops/tyres: Lap 18 (medium/hard), Lap 29 (hard/medium)
Fastest lap: 1min 23.934secs (19th), lap 67
Points this event: 0
Points this season: 0 (21st in world championship)
Daniel's download
"Other than turn one on lap one, that was a good day. I was hoping that I didn't have so much damage that I could continue after Zhou (Guanyu) hit me as I needed to do the race, for my fitness for one thing and also to get some more time in this car. I needed to learn and test myself physically, so that was the really encouraging thing that came out of it.
"We're a team that's really needing everything to go well to get points, so I knew from lap one that it was pretty much impossible to get back into the top 10. But I was glad the car wasn't damaged and I could continue and learn about it. Being out on lap one would have been the worst possible outcome – we needed laps! So in the end I'm happy with the race I did, and it was good to make 40 laps on the medium tyre work and run in some clean air so I can begin to understand what we have and learn the car.
"Hungary is always hot and one of the most physical races we do at any time, let alone after not doing this for eight months or so and getting straight into a race stint. I actually thought that I'd be desperate for some fresh air after 30 laps or so, but I actually felt really good in the car and physically felt good at the end of the race, so that was one of the reasons for the big smile afterwards.
"The whole weekend has been good and to come back, really feel all the things I've missed in the last 12 months, I can't ask for more on the first weekend. It gives me confidence. Our pace wasn't bad, maybe we could've been in the points, but we were just a bit unlucky."
DR’s race recap
* Qualified 13th, advancing to Q2 by 0.011secs ahead of Albon/Williams, and beating AlphaTauri teammate Tsunoda by 0.013secs.
* Hit by Zhou/Alfa Romeo at Turn 1, dropped to 18th place. Zhou later penalised five seconds for causing the collision.
* Pitted from ninth on lap 18, switched from medium to hard tyres, dropped to 18th.
* Pitted again on lap 29 to switch back to medium tyres for long final stint, returned to the track in 18th place.
* Advanced to 13th on lap 45 as rivals took their later second pit stops.
* Set his fastest lap of the race on 38 lap-old medium tyres on lap 67 of 70.
* Finished 13th, one lap down on race-winner Verstappen/Red Bull, six seconds behind Bottas/Alfa Romeo in 12th and 15 seconds ahead of Hulkenberg/Haas in 14th.
DR’s next destination
Round 12: Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps), 30 July
Belgium in 2022: qualified 7th, finished 15th
In F1: 12 races, 1 win, 3 podiums, 1 fastest lap, 80 points, 7 points finishes
Best finish: 1st (2014)
Spa highlights: Took the second of his eight Grand Prix wins at Spa in 2014, and finished on the podium in 2016 (second) and 2017 (third), all for Red Bull Racing. Set fastest lap in the 2020 race for Renault. Has made the top 10 in qualifying on his past nine visits to Belgium.
