F1 Paddock Notebook – Hungarian GP Thursday

- Max Verstappen may have arrived in Hungary on Thursday as Formula 1’s form driver after two wins in the last three races, but the Dutchman was quick to downplay Red Bull’s chances of another victory. “Mercedes have been the most dominant so far this season,” he said. “After last weekend, I’m sure they will come here trying to bounce back from that.”

- In particular, Lewis Hamilton will be aiming to bounce back from a difficult weekend at Hockenheim that saw him battle flu for a number of days. Hamilton confirmed early on Thursday he had been resting up and was feeling better. “I have been fighting off some bug but I feel like I am in much better fighting shape for the weekend,” he said. “I cannot tell you how good that feels. I am looking forward to getting back in the car, and that is completely different to how I was feeling last weekend.”

- Hamilton clarified that his call to retire the car when running outside of the points in Germany last weekend was in a bid to save mileage on his Mercedes engine and gearbox. The Briton ultimately picked up two points for P9 after both Alfa Romeo drivers were hit with a post-race penalty.

- Talk of who Hamilton’s teammate for 2020 could be has been rife in the last week or so after Toto Wolff confirmed a decision on Valtteri Bottas’ future would be taken this month. Bottas said he is trying to “minimise” thinking about the chat around his future as he looks to bounce back from his crash at Hockenheim that cost him a possible podium finish.

- A report from the Daily Mail since Hockenheim had linked Williams’ George Russell with the Mercedes seat for 2020, but Russell said he thought such a move up for next year was “very, very unlikely”. “I think what is really great is that I know one way or another, my future is secure, and I can just purely focus on the job at hand,” Russell added.

- Asked about the prospect of Max Verstappen becoming his teammate in the future, Hamilton said: "I honestly have no problem with it. I see stories saying that we have different cars, so that's the only way [I am beating him], so it gives me an opportunity to show that's not the case.”

- Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were both uneasy about the team’s chances of repeating its impressive Hockenheim pace in Hungary given the track layout should work against the SF90 car. The team will bring some more updates for its car this weekend, as well as looking to get to the bottom of its reliability issues.

- Leclerc said Ferrari had completed its analysis of what caused Vettel’s problem in qualifying at Hockenheim, and although he still needed a full answer for the issue on his own car, he was confident the issue would not re-emerge.

- Leclerc had been “surprised” to see the video of Lewis Hamilton going off-track while he was walking through the gravel trap at Hockenheim after some concerns were raised, but added: “On slicks it was very, very tricky. Not much anyone could have done.”

- Still riding high after a remarkable 24 hours that saw him become a father for the first time and then score Toro Rosso’s second F1 podium finish, Daniil Kvyat was upbeat through Thursday’s press conference. Kvyat flew straight home on Sunday night after the race to visit his partner, Kelly, and his new daughter. The Russian also received a special Toro Rosso race suit baby grow from the team on Thursday.

- The drama at Haas between Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean rumbled on as team boss Gunther Steiner confirmed there would be a firmer approach to avoid a repeat of their recent clashes. Steiner said it would be a “desperate” move to replace either driver mid-season to stop their clashes, but added he did not need them to get on personally, so long as it did not seep into the team.

- Magnussen and Grosjean downplayed their clash in Thursday’s press conference, stressing they still had a good relationship off-track. “I think in the heat of the moment, we’re blaming each other on the radio and stuff like that,” Magnussen said. “But what people don’t see is that we get together between the races and talk it through and try to be constructive and move on in a constructive way.”

- Alfa Romeo confirmed it has lodged its appeal against the penalties given to both Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi at Hockenheim that cost both cars a points finish. Raikkonen said there had been no gain found by the clutch issue flagged by the FIA, but was non-plussed as to any resolution.

- Robert Kubica admitted he had “mixed feelings” over scoring his comeback F1 point in Hockenheim almost nine years after his most recent top-10 finish, having inherited the positions from the penalised Alfas. “It’s good to have this one point on the scoreboard, but the way it came is for sure is not the way you would expect.” Kubica is set to enjoy support from an estimated 40,000 Polish fans in Hungary this weekend.

- For the final race ahead of the summer break, the F1 paddock was given a fitting feel with the arrival of a paddling pool and deckchairs, as well as an inflatable shark and crab. One wonders who will be the first person to take a dip…