Mark Hughes

Formula 1

Ricciardo’s McLaren nightmare overshadowed Norris brilliance

An almost incomprehensible fall from grace for Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren had devastating consequences in a tight 2022 Formula 1 midfield. It also meant the brilliance of Lando Norris rarely got the time in the sun it deserved

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The 2022 F1 team-mate battle settled by ‘top-drawer’ peaks

Aston Martin wasn’t a regular Formula 1 points threat in 2022, especially at the beginning of the season. But there were still opportunities to be had, and when they arose Sebastian Vettel was more often able to convert them

Formula 1

Newey in-depth: Aborted Ferrari switch, Verstappen and retirement

Adrian Newey is the subject of the 10,000th article to be published on The Race. In a candid interview with Mark Hughes, the Formula 1 technical guru opens up on a range of topics, including retirement, his aborted Ferrari switch and why he likes Max Verstappen’s approach

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How Magnussen’s arrival contributed to Schumacher’s F1 exit

A more competitive car from Haas and a proper benchmark team-mate in Kevin magnussen put Mick Schumacher under much more pressure than in his rookie F1 campaign. As Mark Hughes explains, those factors probably contributed to him losing his drive at the end of the year

Formula 1

Latifi shows how Albon’s Williams heroics compared to Russell’s

On dry qualifying times, no 2022 Formula 1 team-mates were split by a bigger gap than Williams pair Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi. And Latifi offers the best benchmark for how Albon’s Williams performances compared to his illustrious predecessor George Russell

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Flawed and unwieldy, 2022 McLaren was flattered by its peaks

Lando Norris and a favourable trait made the MCL36 sing in qualifying – but McLaren’s 2022 F1 offering was ultimately a disappointment

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Why F1 2022’s shortest car had a Ferrari-esque season

The compact Alfa Romeo C42 peaked at the start of the F1 season – and, unlike supplier Ferrari, maximised said peak

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Mark Hughes: Sainz deserves more credit for challenging Leclerc

Charles Leclerc was clearly Ferrari’s strongest driver across the 2022 Formula 1 season. But what Carlos Sainz is achieving against what Mark Hughes calls “maybe the most exciting performer on the grid” can’t be underestimated

Formula 1

2022 F1 car wasn’t Williams’s priority – and it showed

Williams will likely have low-hanging fruit with its 2023 Formula 1 car. But that’s in part because it’ll be freed of some of the constraints of what will be considered a disappointing 2022 design

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Haas’s sacrificial F1 gamble paid off – but it still underdelivered

Haas returned to a respectable level this season after sacrificing 2020 and 2021 to maximise the new regulations. That gamble paid off – but it could have been even better than the final points tally suggested

Formula 1

Binotto’s exit could start a Ferrari decline, not a recovery

Ferrari will want Mattia Binotto’s exit to trigger a process where it recovers to the front of the Formula 1 field. Mark Hughes says it’s more likely to be the “beginning of deeper problems” for the team

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Patrick Tambay: 1949-2022

Patrick Tambay has died at the age of 73. Mark Hughes pays tribute to a two-time grand prix winner for Ferrari, who was one of the stars of Formula 1 in the late 1970s and early 1980s

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Ex-Mercedes appointment Rao leaves interim FIA role

Shaila-Ann Rao will leave her role as interim secretary general for motorsport at the FIA, six months on from the ex-Mercedes F1 employee’s controversial appointment

Formula 1

Ferrari admits early unreliability forced F1 engine power drop

Ferrari admits it was forced to “lower the power” of its Formula 1 engine during the 2022 season, following numerous failures suffered in the early part of the campaign

Formula 1

Mark Hughes: Verstappen’s winning pace let Ferrari trap Perez

Much has been made of Ferrari’s strategic shortcomings in 2022, but at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix it was able to force the issue against Red Bull and Sergio Perez. That was only possible – inadvertently – thanks to race winner Max Verstappen

Formula 1

Mark Hughes: Why Perez will need more Verstappen help on Sunday

Max Verstappen made the difference in Sergio Perez’s fight for second on the grid in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying, and Perez will need more help on Sunday if he’s to outscore Charles Leclerc and secure Red Bull’s first ever 1-2 in the drivers’ championship

Formula 1

Mark Hughes: Red Bull has recovered – but Mercedes surprised

Red Bull doesn’t appear to have left the door open in Abu Dhabi like it did in Brazil, so a repeat slump seems unlikely. But Mercedes ended Friday pleasantly surprised by how close it was at a track expected to suit the 2022 Formula 1 pacesetter

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Mark Hughes: If Ferrari’s learned anything, it will back Binotto

There’s clearly some smoke to the fire of Mattia Binotto’s Ferrari position being under threat – but removing him would be a grievous error

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Ferrari’s unusual logic for rejecting Leclerc’s team orders request

Charles Leclerc says it was “very frustrating” that Ferrari didn’t ask his team-mate Carlos Sainz to move aside at the Brazilian Grand Prix. But there was a key valid reason why Ferrari elected to not swap the cars at the end of the race

Formula 1

Mark Hughes: How Russell’s flawless win became possible

The 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix was only the third time in George Russell’s Formula 1 career he’d had a car good enough to win. All he had to do was beat Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight…

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Mark Hughes: Why Red Bull is struggling, and Mercedes isn’t

Red Bull ended the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint behind both Mercedes and Ferrari – and the reasons for that look like they’ll affect its performance in the main event too

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Mark Hughes: What makes Magnussen (and Haas) so good in the wet

Kevin Magnussen and Haas’s shock pole came as a result of circumstance but also a key advantage it has repeatedly shown in 2022 – a prowess in mixed conditions. Mark Hughes explains what makes Magnussen and Haas so effective in those conditions

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Mark Hughes’ tribute to Ferrari engineering genius Forghieri

Ferrari design legend Mauro Forghieri – who has died aged 87 – was a remarkable engineer across both chassis and engine technology, as Mark Hughes explains

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The compromise that forced Ferrari into a dire F1 weekend

Ferrari’s race-ending deficit in Mexico was its largest of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Ironically, part of the reason for that was a compromise it made based on the lessons from the last race it won – the Austrian GP in July

Formula 1

Red Bull’s confidence ensured conservative Mercedes’ defeat

Mercedes was almost as fast as Red Bull at the Mexican Grand Prix, but it lost any chance of a first Formula 1 win of 2022 because it didn’t have the confidence to match Red Bull’s gung-ho strategy approach, as Mark Hughes explains

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Mark Hughes: How Mexico quirks changed F1’s lead fight

Red Bull was on top in Mexican GP qualifying, but Mercedes, not Ferrari, was its closest challenger – by some margin. Mark Hughes explains what’s allowed Mercedes to get so much closer

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What upgrades have F1 teams brought to Mexican GP?

Though it’s late in the 2022 Formula 1 season and the last race was just a week ago, seven of the 10 teams declared upgrades for the Mexican Grand Prix

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Mark Hughes: Ferrari’s Mexico Friday pace edge is deceptive

Ferrari topped the Mexican Grand Prix Friday practice times, but Red Bull and Mercedes are both faster than they looked

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How F1 rivals might view the size of Red Bull’s penalty

Red Bull’s Formula 1 rivals have made plenty of assessments of what laptime various degrees of cost cap breach might ‘buy’. Now we know Red Bull’s exact overspend, will they think the penalty fits the crime?

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Hamilton in-depth: 2021 fallout, W13 letdown and his F1 future

A big interview from Lewis Hamilton reveals how he responded to the 2021 finale, his battles with George Russell and the W13 this year and how he sees his future with Mercedes and F1

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Mark Hughes: Why Mercedes briefly looked like a winner again

On the weekend where Red Bull lost its founder and benefactor Dietrich Mateschitz, Max Verstappen delivered a fitting tribute with a record equalling 13th victory of the season at the United States Grand Prix. But it was briefly at genuine risk of losing to Mercedes, and not just because of the pit

Formula 1

Mark Hughes: Element that gave Ferrari edge tripped Red Bull up

Not for the first time in 2022, there was little to separate the top three when it came to qualifying for the US GP. But one differentiator that Carlos Sainz got a handle on early gave him and Ferrari a handy edge over Red Bull

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Mark Hughes: Clues from US GP’s truncated Friday

Friday at the United States Grand Prix was hard to read considering the tyre testing conducted on Pirelli’s behalf meant only the first session was relevant. But even then the data available offered few surprises, as Mark Hughes explains

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Mark Hughes: Ambiguity made F1 look amateur – but not Verstappen

Did Formula 1 and the FIA cover themselves in glory with the way the Japanese Grand Prix was handled? Not particularly. But Mark Hughes says that needn’t take anything away from Max Verstappen, who took apart the opposition on his way to his second title

Formula 1

Mark Hughes on Ferrari’s most emotional Suzuka F1 triumph

Ferrari’s latest Formula 1 title bid may well come to an end at Suzuka. But in 2000, the Japanese Grand Prix was the scene of its most emotional triumph. Mark Hughes looks at the crucial details of how Michael Schumacher and Ferrari finally overcame Mika Hakkinen and McLaren

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Mark Hughes: How Ferrari’s biggest 2022 F1 advantage has eroded

Earlier in the 2022 Formula 1 season, it could be almost taken for granted that the Ferrari would out-qualify the Red Bull but even that advantage has slipped away from Ferrari in recent weekends as Japanese GP qualifying showed

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Mark Hughes: The takeaways from Japanese GP’s lost day

It takes a special set of circumstances for 2h30m of running to leave F1 teams as blind going forward as Friday practice at Suzuka did

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F1 teams’ Japanese Grand Prix upgrades announced

Not many Formula 1 teams have brought upgrades for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, but there are potentially significant changes at Ferrari and Alfa Romeo

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Mark Hughes: Perez maximised chances Singapore rain gave him

Several elements of the Singapore Grand Prix worked in Sergio Perez’s favour, but he did everything he had to – and a little more – to make sure he converted those chances into victory

Formula 1

Verstappen-angering Red Bull ‘error’ not the howler it seemed

Red Bull’s Singapore Grand Prix qualifying strategy failed to yield pole position for Max Verstappen and he instead ended up eighth. But how did it go so wrong and just how much blame should be placed on Red Bull? Mark Hughes takes an in-depth look at the decision-making process