Stake F1 Team Advances Pace yet Misses Points

Stake F1 Team displayed improved pace but failed to secure points, with Bottas fighting hard to finish 16th.

The Stake F1 Team fought valiantly at the Hungarian Grand Prix, yet unfortunately failed to secure points once again.

Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou delivered solid drives, but race difficulties prevented them from contending for a top 10 finish. Despite this, enhancements to the vehicle demonstrated their worth with improved single-lap pace, and the team is showing signs of progress.

Bottas finished 16th, but within the group battling for 10th place.

“In the end, there wasn’t enough happening around us to make much of the race. At times, we were slightly unlucky with the timing of the blue flags and lost time as a result, but the main issue remains our race pace,” Bottas remarked.

“We don’t have the pace to break into the top 10 on merit, and today, with the straightforward race we ran in the mid-pack, we couldn’t make any progress. The race actually started well, but once things settled, we couldn’t keep up with the RB F1s: we made our first stop quite late to gain the advantage of fresher tyres at the end, but as always, it’s not easy to advance even with the tyre advantage.”

“Nonetheless, our overall performance this weekend was better than in the last two events: the developments helped and will do so again at Spa, so we must continue to make progress in this direction. The team is improving, but we must keep pushing together to make another step forward.”

Zhou, who had no upgrades on his C44 this weekend, finished 19th and last on track since Gasly had retired.

“This weekend showed that our single-lap pace has taken a step in the right direction, but we are not seeing the same in terms of race pace. Today, my race was compromised after the first stop: the early pit stop was intended to cover our rivals and protect Valtteri, but it didn’t go as planned,” Zhou explained.

“This meant I had to manage my tyres, which resulted in a lonely and uneventful race. While the new upgrade package on Valtteri’s car indicates progress, we still struggle with high fuel loads, and neither of us had the chance to score points.”

“Our biggest task now is to stay focused and motivated as a team: we need to understand and learn more about the upgrade package when we both have it after the summer break, so we can start afresh, close the gap, and become more competitive.”