F1 Team Preview: Red Bull Racing look set for a win in Hungary

It may be too early to predict who will win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, but going by the practice results, Red Bull seem to be in the driver’s seat. The first and second practice sessions at Hungaroring saw Red Bull drivers world champion Sebastian Vettel and his team mate Mark Webber setting up the fastest and the second fastest laps respectively. Vettel has never won in Hungaroring but the early signs are good and he has every chance of breaking his Hungarian jinx this weekend just like he broke the German jinx in the previous race.

Both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have been on a good run of form and expectations will be high from both of them. Being the current world champion and championship leader, all eyes will be on Vettel, with the team and the fans hoping for the German to grab his first win in Hungary. Mark Webber is also in a good form and having won in Hungary once, he is very much in hunt for a win on Sunday.

Another entity that is sure to grab everyone’s attention this weekend is the new set of tyres from Pirelli. After the previous tyres faced flak for unreliability, Pirelli decided to introduce new tyres starting with this weekend’s race. The new tyres will use the 2012 structure with a new softer compound. Red Bull got to test the new tyres in Silverstone, and they performed exceptionally well, raising hopes that the new Pirelli tyres will aid them in their endeavor.

The Red Bull cars have been very consistent for the last three seasons,and the 2013 RB9 is no different. The RB9 has been competitive throughout the season, and it is unlikely that the challenging conditions of the Hungaroring will change that much. Temperature was recorded at 30 degrees Celsius and with the track temperature hitting 44 degrees, its going to be a tough test for both the drivers and the engineers.

The Hungaroring is famous for being the slowest permanent track and with the slow corner traction, it will live up to its reputation of a difficult track to negotiate. But with a driver as competent as Vettel leading the charge and backed by a team which has won the Constructors’ Championship for three consecutive seasons, Red Bull undoubtedly, are the favourites.