Autosport – 01 August 2019

Kevin Turner

Editor

[email protected]

COVER IMAGES

Motorsport Images/Hone; Jones

PIT & PADDOCK

4 Motorsport Games inspired by Olympics

6 Formula E’s countdown to London return

9 Hungarian Grand Prix preview

11 F1 technical focus

13 Opinion: Edd Straw

14 Opinion: Adam Cooper

15 Feedback: your letters

RACE CENTRE

16 German GP report and analysis

32 Porsches battle to the end of Spa 24

38 World of Sport: IndyCar; Australian

Supercars; NASCAR Cup; Porsche

Supercup; Formula Renault Eurocup

43 Silverstone Classic extravaganza

INSIGHT

50 Formula 1’s greatest loser?

CLUB AUTOSPORT

64 Driver fatality at Kirkistown

66 Caroline to make British GT debut

68 Motorbase expands into historics

69 Opinion: Matt Kew

70 National reports: Brands Hatch;

Snetterton; Cadwell Park;

Mallory Park; Kirkistown

FINISHING STRAIGHT

78 What’s on this week

80 From the archive: 1922 French GP

82 Pit your wits against our quiz

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8 AUGUST

Will Ferrari finally break

its 2019 duck in the

Hungarian GP?

1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 3

Three good grands prix in a row! Few would have predicted that

after the French GP in June, but last weekend’s Hockenheim race

continued the recent trend of drama and wheel-to-wheel action.

Wet races are often entertaining, but in recent years Lewis

Hamilton has been unbeatable when the going gets slippery. Before

the 2019 German GP the Mercedes star hadn’t lost a rain-aff ected

Formula 1 race since the 2014 Hungarian GP. In that time he racked

up a record nine consecutive ‘wet’ wins, but the calamitous day

Mercedes experienced at Hockenheim means Hamilton is still

on 13 rain-aff ected successes, tied for second on the all-time

list with his hero Ayrton Senna.

Max Verstappen seems the driver most likely to take over

Hamilton’s mantle at the top of F1, both generally and in terms

of wet-weather prowess, so it was entirely appropriate that the

Red Bull ace ended Hamilton’s streak with his fi rst wet victory.

It will surely be the fi rst of many.

It’s been a long time since Hamilton made a signifi cant error in

a race, and when was the last time a top team had such a farcical

pitstop as Mercedes experienced (perhaps Ferrari at the 1999

European GP)? Nevertheless, Hamilton extended his points lead,

helped by Valtteri Bottas crashing out at a key point in the year.

As Edd Straw shows in our report on page 16, there were several

other drivers who could have won last weekend, not least Charles

Leclerc, who was impressive until he fell off and crashed out on the

now notorious Hockenheim drag strip. Sebastian Vettel’s drive to

second was also noteworthy, partcularly given his recent trials, but

Ferrari’s last win – Kimi Raikkonen’s at the US GP last year – now

seems a long time ago. Can it hold off the growing Red Bull threat?

Verstappen’s moment,

Hamilton’s nightmare

SUTTON