Mark Hughes

Managing Director, Mrk1 Consulting and Grand Prix Editor at Motor Sport

F1 for Motor Sport magazine, https://t.co/QaASJWBZJ4, https://t.co/g5CWHSJCR3 and SkyF1.

Articles

MPH: The one element giving Piastri the edge over Norris

1 week ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

Ten races down, 14 to go and Lando Norris lags 22 points behind team-mate Oscar Piastri at the top of the championship table. Piastri has won five times, Norris twice (with two for Max Verstappen and one for George Russell). Off the back of Norris’ disastrous race-ending collision with the back of Piastri’s car in Canada, it may feel inevitable that Piastri is going to prevail.
Mark Hughes: McLaren F1 driver falls for Montreal trap... again

1 week ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

As Lando Norris, in trying to pass Oscar Piastri, hit the other McLaren‘s rear wheel and bounced hard into the pitwall, the parallels with the 2011 incident here between McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were irresistible. “Yes, I know,” sighed team boss Andrea Stella some hours after Sunday’s Montreal race.
Mr Saturday: How scorching pole secured Russell's Montreal win

1 week ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

Or at least they were until Norris stole even Russell’s headlines with a disastrous passing attempt on Piastri late in the race. A three-wheeled Norris rolled to a halt against the end of the pitwall. He took full responsibility but no points. Fortunately for Piastri, the big hit taken by his left-rear wheel from the other McLaren had incurred no discernible damage.
MPH: Ferrari to sack Vasseur? It's the same cycle of F1 failure

2 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

So it starts again: the inevitable Ferrari cycle of questioning the future of the team principal for the Scuderia’s on-track difficulties. When it gets reported in more than one publication of the Italian press on the same day that Frederic Vasseur is under pressure, it has all the hallmarks of senior corporate management no longer protecting its man.
MPH: The pattern that got Verstappen close to an F1 race ban

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

As you’ve probably heard, Max Verstappen is currently sailing a little close to the wind regarding the penalty points on his F1 licence. His deliberate contact with George Russell in Barcelona last weekend incurred three points, bringing his total to 11. Just one more point in either of the next two races and he will receive a one-race ban.
Mark Hughes: Overhyped flexi-wing clampdown repeated a 2001 F1 story

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

Even in the weeks leading up to the Spanish Grand Prix Red Bull had already begun rowing back a little on its early-season predictions that the new Technical Directive taking effect from Barcelona restricting the flexibility of the front wings would see a competitive reset. One where McLaren was no longer the dominant force.
Gaming the system, but result is the same

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

After last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was red-flagged on the opening lap following a three-car accident between Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars up the hill out of Ste Devote, everyone got their regulation tyre change without making a pit stop. Which around a circuit on which overtaking is so near-impossible, it made the race something of a non-event, the top-10 result being identical to the top 10 grid positions.
Racing to the guidelines

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

In the opening seconds of the Miami Grand Prix it looked like Lando Norris was going to wrest the lead from Max Verstappen into Turn 2, as the McLaren driver got the power down out of Turn 1 while the Red Bull was squirming on the kerbs, having run out wide. Turn 2 is a quick left-hander and although Norris was on the outside as they charged towards it side by side, he had more momentum and a less compromised approach angle.
Mark Hughes on why no one should write off Max Verstappen

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

This sequence gave us three very distinct circuit characteristics to further piece together the competitive jigsaw of how the 2025 cars compare. Miami confirmed with more certainty two things suggested in earlier races: that if the circuit layout doesn’t punish the Red Bull’s narrow balance window too much, Max Verstappen can spoil McLaren’s party – in qualifying. Secondly, the higher the rear tyre demand, the bigger McLaren’s race advantage becomes.
Did McLaren design error lead it to F1 success?

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | Mark Hughes

Sometimes in F1 when a technical problem is encountered, the learning taken from it can be competitive gold dust. McLaren’s current rear brake duct design has been the focus of intense scrutiny from rival teams as the car’s ability to keep its rear tyres cool when everyone else’s are overheating has been a crucial part of its sometimes-dominant performances.