Hungarian GP Preview

Sebastian Vettel is looking for his first win in Hungary

There are many questions that are being asked this weekend surrounding F1, and most of them have little to do with the actual race at the Hungaroring.

Will the new compound of tyres that Pirelli have brought to this weekend’s race hold up, are they any good at all, and will they cope with the 30c+ temperatures that have been predicted?

Will Lewis Hamilton be able to make up ground, get a good stock of points and make sure his title challenge is not dead in the water?

And will Lotus be able to get another win soon? After all, they are trying to keep Raikkonen in the team, and if he sees Red Bull run away with another championship whilst his own team are struggling to keep up, who can blame him if he leaves Enstone for the Milton Keynes outfit at the end of the season.

The more pressing matter for this preview, is of course of the track and the race itself, which I will progress onto now.

The Hungarian GP itself is not a particularly old race. The first “race” that was held in Hungary was all the way back in 1936, but was not held there again until 1986 – the first race to held behind the Iron Curtain. Admittedly, the reason for the race not being held here for all that time was the Cold War rather than any sporting issues, but it has remained a permanent fixture on the calendar since then.

It is a fast, flowing track – especially the middle sector – and demands a good amount of downforce to cope with the fast corners. Red Bull, who have managed a 1-2 in this morning’s first practice, obviously have brought a good car here, which will strike fear into their competitors.

Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who are Vettel’s main competitors in the championship, as they were last year, were third and fourth behind the Red Bull duo, and not far off at all in terms of time. Lotus did well here last year, and Raikkonen was not far off from taking first off Lewis Hamilton, who eventually won, which bodes well for this weekend’s chances.

In the past, Jenson Button has won twice (the first time in 2006 was his first ever win in F1), and Hamilton has won it three times, which makes him the most successful current driver around the Hungaroring. Michael Schumacher, of course, has the record number of wins here, with four to his name, so Hamilton can match the great German win a win here this weekend. Strangely, Vettel has never won in Hungary, so he will no doubt want to break his duck there and extend his lead in the championship.

McLaren have, by far, the most successful record at the Hungaroring and have 11 wins to their name. Going by their recent form, it would take an extraordinary occurrence for McLaren to take a win this weekend. However,stranger things have happened in F1 over the years, including Jenson Button’s first win in F1 here back in ’06, which he won from way down the grid in an inferior car.

Ferrari and Lotus will want to close the gap to Vettel and Red Bull in both championships and will want to get a good haul of points, and hope that Vettel does the opposite to add a bit of fuel to the fire of their title ambitions.

Mercedes will try to recover slightly lost form with a good performance this weekend. Hamilton was trying a long run in FP1 to see how well the tyres – and indeed his car – hold up in a race simulation. In the end, the Mercedes duo finished 8th and 13th, which is not what they would have hoped, but practice sessions aren’t really a true display of pace, especially if the cars had a load of fuel on board to do long runs.

It looks to be a hot one this weekend in Hungary, so let’s hope that the tyres and drivers hold up in the intense heat around an intense track.