Formula 1: Winners and Losers From the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix

The intense heat of Budapest didn't just destroy tyres, as some lost their heads in combat while others were gasping for air.

But who left Budapest walking on sunshine and needing to cool down from the heat?

Winner: Oscar Piastri

Like Al Pacino's maiden Oscar award, Piastri's maiden Grand Prix victory was well overdue and richly deserved. The Australian was right with teammate Lando Norris during qualifying, and at the start, he squeezed past the Brit into the lead.

In typical Piastri fashion, he put his foot down and let his rivals fight it out, building up a gap of around three seconds. Despite an off on Lap 41, he held the lead until the second round of stops when Norris inadvertently took the lead before letting his teammate through with two laps to go following some inter-team bargaining.

That shouldn't take any of the shine off Piastri's triumph, as he showcased in Budapest why he's a formidable talent and future world champion.

Loser: Daniel Ricciardo

Including Ricciardo in the losers sections feels harsh, considering he didn't do anything wrong. However, on a weekend where he had the pace to score, nil point will leave a bitter taste in the Australian's mouth.

Ricciardo left it late to book his spot into Q2, but when he did, he topped the times and knocked his chief rival for the second Red Bull seat, Sergio Perez, out of qualifying.

Ninth on the grid gave Ricciardo a good chance of points, but a bad decision to stop early for mediums left him with plenty to do and behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Although he briefly returned to the points-paying positions, the Australian fell back after the second pitstop window, eventually finishing 12th.

With a Red Bull seat potentially up for grabs, Ricciardo can ill-afford another pointless weekend, not least when his teammate scored with a one-stopper.

Winner: Yuki Tsunoda

When the going gets tough, Yuki gets going, and in Budapest, he showed his bosses why he should be in with a shot at promotion to Red Bull for 2025.

Another Q3 appearance was overshadowed by a heavy crash, which caused him to suffer some bruising on his back and to contend with a limp for the race.

Yet he showed tremendous grit and determination to complete the 70-lap race and produce an excellent drive to ninth.

He may be behind teammate Ricciardo in the pecking order at Red Bull, but his return to form is coming at the perfect time. If he keeps it up, the second seat alongside Max Verstappen might be his.

Loser: Alpine

In Hungary, Les Alpinearbles had a shocker. The Anglo-French team exhibited some dreadful on-track ineptitude in qualifying, ruining Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon's races 24 hours before lights out.

The pace wasn't there at Hungaroring, but both drivers had enough in their pockets to make Q2. However, neither Gasly nor Ocon remained in the garage after the red flag period. Staying in the garage turned out to be a horrendously bad call as the track rapidly improved, and as a result, both Alpines were related to the back of the grid.

With the Hungaroring not the easiest place to overtake, the race became a glorified test session for both drivers, with Gasly retiring early due to a hydraulic leak.

Winner: Lewis Hamilton

In April, it looked as though 2024 would be yet another lost year for Hamilton, with Mercedes' W15 being the fourth fastest car and well adrift of winning races.

Fast-forward to July, and things couldn't be more different with Hamilton regaining his positive mindset. Crucially, he also has the car that can enable him to fight with the best.

At a track that has historically been one of his best, Hamilton overcame a near Q2 elimination to qualify fifth. In the race, he remained in touch with Verstappen and even jumped the Dutchman at the first round of stops.

Verstappen tried to get past not once, not twice, but thrice, yet Hamilton kept him at bay. Despite a late-race collision with the Dutchman, he was able to come home a solid third, securing his 200th F1 podium.

Loser: Max Verstappen

If Verstappen wasn't feeling the pressure after his collision with Norris in Austria, he must feel it now after a weekend where he drove like someone clearly under the cosh.

Since Miami, McLaren has been snapping at Verstappen's heels, and now they are comfortably quicker than Red Bull. It means the reigning world champion has to work twice as hard as he did in 2023.

The Dutchman wasn't far off Norris and Piastri in qualifying, but his best efforts could not split the McLarens, and he punched the steering wheel in frustration.

Already ticked off by qualifying, Verstappen was apoplectic during the race when he had to give second place back to Norris on Lap 4 after using the run-off area at the start. The Dutchman spent the rest of his Sunday giving engineer Gianpiero Lambiase earache as he struggled for pace before another incident with old rival Hamilton.

With Leclerc getting by, Verstappen fell to fifth. At this point, Lambiase had enough and told him to stop with his childish rants, giving viewers a glimpse of how fractured the atmosphere is inside the Red Bull camp.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

The rot needed to stop at some point. Since winning May's Monaco GP, Charles Leclerc couldn't catch anything but rotten luck and seemed at a loss as to how to turn the tide.

A crash in FP2 could have kicked off a full-blown crisis, but in qualifying, he did a fine job wrestling his Ferrari, which looked painful to drive in the final sector to sixth.

Leclerc got a good start and settled down in a rhythm, running a steady fifth. He even enjoyed a brief run in the lead as Ferrari kept him out longer.

Hamilton and Verstappen's squabble for fourth meant Leclerc could join the back of the battle, and when the pair inevitably collided, the Mongasque graciously swept through to fourth, picking up his first top-five result since Spain.

Loser: Fernando Alonso

It's hard to watch Alonso struggle with a car that doesn't match his talents. The Spaniard seems tired of being promised a dream which quickly becomes a nightmare.

Aston Martin wasn't woefully off the pace like they were at Monaco and Spain, but being outside of the top six isn't where the team should be, and it's not what Alonso signed up for.

A chance to improve on seventh fell by the wayside as Aston Martin didn't have the tyres to do a second run. The pitlane was closed, and Alonso was seen throwing his team gear on the ground in disgust.

After a good start, Alonso couldn't keep up with the Ferraris, and after the pitstop window, he fell back through the order before dropping out of the points.