Hungary Race Report

Bradford wins in Hungary despite taking the Straßenbahn – S. Jones suffers catastrophic brake and temper failure

Definitely not AI generated image of S.Jones' brake failure aftermath

Rum Balls Bradford has won the FormulaOdin Hungarian Grand Prix, leading from Elgu Lorenzo-Quaker and Phoenix Deutschland. Towards the end of this eventful race, which had already featured three full safety cars, Bradford was trailing S. Jones by about six seconds into lap 33. This is when Jones’ car refused to brake into turn 7, leading to a terrifying crash into the barriers at almost 150 kph. Jones thankfully only suffered minor bruises but was visibly upset in the post-race press conference. Bradford, who happily took the race lead, proceeded to defend his 10 second lead and cruised not just to his first Grand Prix victory in FormulaOdin, but also to the lead in the world championship. Continue reading for more highlights and insights into the Hungarian GP:

Jones' arriving to the Williams garage after his crash. Reports claim that the mood in the team has soured after two disappointing results.

Wheel Spin Disabled

Straight from lights out, both AlphaTauris were looking for blood in Hungary. A formidable start by Bradford saw him take the lead into turn 1 after a clean pass on MäkLaren’s Lorenzo-Quaker. An even more resounding launch off the line was performed by Eris Bernoulli-Bruschetta, who immediately passed both Haas cars and even put Williams driver S. Jones under pressure.

While both Haas drivers’ poor rear grip saw them merely crawl off the grid box, BB13’s Alpha seemed to have wheel spin disabled entirely and launched itself straight into P5. Fueled by the mesmerizing start, Bernoulli-Bruschetta proceeded with an ambitious attempt at a move on Phoenix Deutschland into turn 5. This treacherous move however did not just end in contact but, as a result, in both drivers spinning out. Affected by this collision was Haas driver Y. Svensson, who, despite being known for his lightning-fast reflexes, crashed into Bernoulli-Bruschetta's AlphaTauri head-first. Already on lap one, this collision cascade then triggered the first safety car in the race - which was not to be the last one.

Beached in Fucker 4

MäkLaren’s Kainalo Jones, who seems to have been cursed by misfortune through the 2024 F1 season, started the race with confidence and took advantage of the poor Haas start. Making up an incredible six positions in one lap, he found himself in P4 behind Sajiki Jones when the safety car hit.

The MäkLaren garage then called him in for his first pit stop to exchange track position for a fresh set of medium tires and a resulting P8. The medium tires however proved very difficult to warm up for Jones, who lost control of his car after touching grass in the infamous Fucker4 corner after the first safety car restart. Ferrari’s Silver Carlos, who had reportedly been seen playing Assetto Corsa until late at night prior to the race in Hungary, crashed into Jones and subsequently caused the safety car to come out straight away again. Jones found himself stranded on a patch of grass, barely able to maneuver the car, when the order from race control suddenly came to crane the car into an early retirement. Stunned MäkLaren fans watched the car disappear from the race track, leading to the third consecutive one-point Finnish finish of Kainalo Jones.

Kainalo Jones ends his race like a helpless turtle flipped on its back, unable to move.

AlphaTauri more like AlphaTremendousStrategy

A series of pit stops saw the running order shuffle to a most intriguing AlphaTauri one-two after the second safety car. The strategic decision to keep Bradford on the track to extend his stint on the soft compound proved to be a touch of genius for the team and opened up the race tremendously for the German-British driver.

While Bradford got away with an impressive launch, Bernoulli-Bruschetta’s ensuing defense was nothing short of spectacular. The Italian masterfully held off the rest of the field for almost three laps. When he did finally get passed by a compellingly rapid Sajiki Jones, Bradford had already extended his lead to more than nine seconds. Carried away by his fantastic first stint however, Bradford lost his car by getting “a little to friendly with a kerb” and found himself in P3 behind S. Jones and Lorenzo-Quaker. Bernoulli-Bruschetta who was fighting hard with Williams’ Jacking Tosh in lap 18, forced the latter into a driving error, leaving the car and lots of debris stationary on the track. When the dust settled, the safety car was once again exiting the pit lane. An exciting second half of the race was inbound.

Promising Haas Duo Almost Looked Like Rockstars

Yisk Svensson, who had been involved in a near-terminal crash into the side pod of Bernoulli’s AlphaTauri in lap one, found himself in a promising P4 when the field accelerated again. The Swedish driver had impressive pace throughout the race and fended off relentless attacks by Ferrari’s Phoenix Deutschland lap after lap. When Lorenzo-Quaker, who at that point was just ahead of Svensson, had a moment in the uphill section of turn five (lap 23) and went off the track, Svensson moved up a place into P3.

Haas was in prime position for the first podium finish of the season. Deutschland, who pitted for a set of hards, was constantly in the mirrors of Svensson and a thrilling battle between the two unraveled. Svensson’s team mate Pietro Pepovic on the other hand, was on a recovery drive from a drive-through penalty and proved to be of little help in the battle for P3. The drive-through penalty was handed to him due to a grave error by his race engineer Giorgio (recently acquired by the team), who did not warn Pepovic about his delta during the third safety car. It was maybe this mistake that denied Haas from reaping the sweet fruit of victory apart from the drivers’ strong performance. Svensson eventually faltered, as slight contact between him and Deutschland in lap 30/35 led to Haas driver losing his temper, spinning out and finally burying his chance at a first podium.

Bradford Bliss, Jones in the Junkyard

At the top of the field, Williams driver Sajiki Jones was lightning-fast and fended off repeated attacks by AlphaTauri’s Rum Balls Bradford.

A faulty radio button led to a misunderstanding between the Williams garage and their drivers, leading to Jones switching to the unfavorable hard tire with only 13 laps to go, putting him at a disadvantage to Bradford in P2 and Deutschland in P3, threatening his race win. Regardless, Jones’ pace was so strong that Bradford was led to declare “He can just cruise home, it sucks. Actually like Max Verstappen.” (of course referring to the dominant Belgian Formula1 driver Jos Verstappen, Editor’s note). However, the race would not quite be over.

Bahrain Moment

In lap 33, the Williams of Jones suffered a disastrous brake failure. He crashed head-on into the wall at very high speeds. Miraculously, he walked away from the accident only with minor bruises leaving both his car and morale in shambles. Many spectators were left puzzled as race control decided to neither red-flag the race nor bunch up the field with the safety car.

Investigations at Williams are reportedly ongoing but the final cause has not yet been determined at the time of the writing of this report. After an overall strong drive, Rum Balls Bradford takes his first race win and the lead in the drivers’ championship. With an impressive P6, Eris Bernoulli-Bruschetta cements AlphaTauri’s lead in the constructors’ championship. Jones, visibly upset by the devastating turn of events, produced an iconic picture as he threw a kick at his utterly wrecked car on the side of the road.

Lead Changes in Both Championships

The previous championship leaders Williams on come out of the summer break with a weekend to forget. Jacking Tosh loses out to mid field rival Bernoulli-Bruschetta to finish P7, netting the team a total of only 8 points for the weekend. Had it not been for competitor Silver Carlos’ disastrous moment two corners before the finish line, the blue cars would have finished in P8 and P9 – by far their worst result of the season. Carlos reportedly got distracted by a fan wearing a Team Juan t-shirt in the stands and broke the front axle of his Ferrari by slightly kissing a concrete wall at turn 15. Carlos, who already got the bird for too much Assetto Corsa before the race, finished a mediocre weekend with a surprise for his engineers, who now have to fix the car for Portimao.

Carlos' Ferrari barely scraping the barriers in an unfortunate crash

Captain Pepovic Sails to Driver of the Day

Pietro Pepovic cemented himself as a stout mid field competitor against the odds of a drive-through penalty. The Croatian driver gained a place and went from P5 to P4, delivering an outstanding performance in the wet qualifying session, even challenging the leading S. Jones. For his recovery drive, the fans named him driver of day. The additional world championship point was thoroughly reveled in the team.

Elgu Lorenzo-Quaker drove a rather silent but consistent race to P2. His pace was behind the leading Jones and Bradford, but a consistent performance kept his MäkLaren out of trouble and the wall. A mere three points behind Bradford in the world championship, he remains in pouncing distance for the next race. Phoenix Deutschland seemed to lack focus here and there which got him tangled up in a few incidents, leaving him unable to compete for P1 in Hungary. Nonetheless, his P3 finish should give him confidence for the upcoming races in Portugal and Monaco. Svensson ended his eventful drive in P5, with Bernoulli-Bruschetta P6 and Tosh in P7. Jacking Tosh had a rough race and unfortunately couldn’t tie in with his strong drive in Zandvoort.

Final race classification

Full driver statements:

Well, it was just another very relaxing Sunday drive. Managed to beat my spin PB clocking in at an impressive 4 spins, yet still being the only Williams Master to finish thanks to some innovative new technology from our engineering team. There are rumours of Monsieur Jones taking a baseball bat to the senior lead after the race but it’s all hearsay, I found him sipping on a chamomile tea with his feet up and neck brace on in the foyer. I’d like to thank Ludacris once again for his words of encouragement, I don’t know what I’d do without you my angel. See you at Visit Portugal, rear destroyer.

Jacking Tosh (Williams)

Yeah, I think we had a good time out there and a good race. Of course the strategy was bad and the car was poor, the track had no grip, Bruschetta had no mirrors, Jones had no brakes, the Ferraris had no sportsmanship but we got some good points in the end.

Pietro Pepovic (Haas)

The race was a good recovery drive after being punted off by that reckless Italian. A win would have been in the cards if not for AlphaTauri’s dirty tactics. A podium and good points combined with the DNF of Jones mean the championship is very much on, though it will be hard to challenge the constructor’s title with Silver’s string of bad luck. We’ll get our head down and focus on Portimao now.

Xavi Ferrari, Press Representative, Ferrari Formula Odin Team

Felt like we had good pace throughout the weekend and despite a rocky start we were on for some really good points. Unfortunately Ferrari didn’t feel like overtaking normally so we didn’t quite finish where we wanted. But we brought it home, just have to focus on Portugal.

Yisk Svensson (Haas)

Mamma mia. Well the performance could have been better but I am a team player and FAMILY man so I drove slow to bottleneck everyone and let Bradford win. The car is insane and we will sure 1-2 in Portugal. The P6 is a great achievement but I will do greater. AlphaTauri is a dominant force and we will win Drivers and Constructors for sure. It’s in my contract anyway, so I have to.

Eris Bernoulli-Bruschetta (AlphaTauri)

I got beached.

Kainalo Jones (MäkLaren)

Crikey, that Hungarian GP was a wild one! Got a bit too friendly with a kerb on lap 13, slid over it like a bloomin’ Straßenbahn. Thought I’d binned it, but cheers to Sofia and her cracking strategy, we kept in the fight. And hats off to Eris – they blocked the opposition like a pro after the safety car, causing a bigger traffic jam than the M1 during rush hour. Ol’ Sajiki’s brakes decided to clock off early, giving us the opening we needed. Luck and skill, mate, that’s racing! Big thanks to the team for sticking with me. Time for a cuppa, I reckon! - Rum Balls Bradford (AlphaTauri)

So the race went pretty well. I wasn’t the first driver to wreck the car, so it’s a win in my heart. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the practice session since I fell asleep, but I made it in time for qualifying. Though just as we started the quali, I realized the team had mistakenly given me a truck steering wheel. So I had to complete that whole session while throwing the wheel all over the place to make it through the turns. Luckily I was able to get the correct wheel in time for the big race. During the race, I had mainly two big incidents, and they were both braking failures (trust me). One at turn 2 on the first lap, which led me to ram the rear of one of the Haas cars. The other one was on the last lap (no comment on that one – the team will make sure it doesn’t happen again). Overall, a good race. Only up-hill from here.

Silver Carlos (Ferrari)

Well you kno the quali was not optimal, I koult not get the tires in to the right temp, so I had a bad start but managed to still get pole since Sajiki Jones and Phoeniks were out. I assume weather got the better of em. Luky for me thät’s car racing. On race day we were plotting with Kainalo and Zach Brow to commit to the “MäkLaren Sandwich” strategy with Kainalo starting last and me at front, this way we can dicktate the race. Sadly this was compromised by Bradford’s dive on the outside in T1, I had to leave the space so my exit was slower than expected. After T3 I look into my mirror and I see a Ferrari… sideways at 300kph. I think to myself that Kainalo could hit them with their car and DNF, but Kainalo is a freat driver and manages to go past the rubble like a jampion. He gained 5 positions and would be now 5th for the restart but we really want that MäkLaren sandwich so he pits for mediums.After the SC start I have a clutch issue in my car, I gain 1s gap to Bradford and Sajiki pässes me, shid, now I’m 3rd. Oh well, I kan manage I think. I was keeping up with the guis but the wörst häppens: Kainalo sbins and now is stuk in the grass telling me “perkele, I’m beached”. He was so close of being able to get out but the FIA comes to Zack and says “Its over, shut the engine and we’ll lift the car out.” We were stunned. The car was so close to moving off. But FIA.. they seem to not like us. I have a flight to catch to Lapland so I need to go. I do hope well wishes to Sajiki on his recovery after the break failure and the impact, my sauna is always free if he wants to come and relöx. And congrats to Mr Rum Balls on the win. See you next week in Portimao.

Elgu Lorenzo-Quaker (MäkLaren)

Bro, what should I say, it’s a big cow shit. I was the beste driver but in the worste car? Oh well, it brings ja also nothing to talk around the hot oatmeal. We will not throw the gun in the corn even if this race in the end wasn’t the yellow from the egg. Whatsoever, we should look forward and stand with bright shoulders. You can take poison on that, that we will attack again and win again. The wagon is fast. Also a blind chicken finds a corn sometimes, Bradford. See you in Visit Portugal and greetings from Germany.

Sajiki Jones (Williams)