Hungary for some track action?
F1 fans are certainly licking their lips at the prospect of another clash between championship leader Max Verstappen (by only 8 points) and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton. Hopefully this time around, any meetings on track will be clean and not cause a stir online, regardless of the rising heat in times of battle. Mercedes have closed the gap in the constructors’ fight to a small 4 points behind Red Bull, and the team will be hoping for another strong finish from both drivers to regain the lead.
If you need a refresher on last year’s race at the Hungaroring, Lewis Hamilton won relatively comfortably ahead of Max Verstappen with a buffer of over 8 seconds. It should be taken into consideration that Max had a brilliant recovery drive to finish second- it was a rough qualifying for Red Bull that saw Max Verstappen in P7 and Alex Albon in P13, behind George Russell. This time around, Red Bull will be hoping for a more stable qualifying which provides them a secure haul of points.
The Hungaroring is perhaps one of the lesser known and remembered tracks on the F1 calendar- certainly not as prestigious as Monaco or Silverstone. This is probably because it doesn’t have such a rich history, as it first entered the Formula One stage in 1986- only nine months after work began on the circuit, in 1985! Let’s delve deeper into the Hungaroring, and the race which this year will be known as the “Formula One Magyar Nagydíj Grand Prix”.
Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be able to pronounce that very well.
The Finer Details...
As briefly mentioned above, the creation of the Hungaroring commenced in 1985, and was ready to host its first Grand Prix just nine months later in 1986. There was actually a possibility that this wouldn’t be Hungary’s bid to make it onto the F1 calendar- the government contemplated reviving the Nepliget park circuit located in Budapest- but they settled on a new, purpose-built design. This was a good choice, which nearly wasn’t made as Bernie Ecclestone was advised that Budapest would be a more suitable location- which in some ways turned out to be wrong, as a survey conducted by the Hungarian Tourism Office found Mogyoród to be the third most visited location in Hungary, ahead of Budapest.
The circuit resides in a valley and is described as sitting in “a natural bowl”, meaning from wherever you choose to sit you can likely see the rest of the circuit. Its setting is as far away from Monaco as you can get, and yet it has been compared to the tight, twisting circuit surrounded by buildings. The design has been compared to a karting circuit mainly because of its corners, and due to this, teams often prioritise a car with a strong set-up and Monaco downforce levels as the corners are more important than its short straights for lap time. It’s likeness to Monaco also makes it difficult to overtake and as a result, though many drivers have good memories from the circuit, it’s not a favourite. Qualifying is very important for a good weekend as it’s hard to progress through the field.
In over 4.381km of track, there are 14 corners and after the full race length (70 laps) the cars cover a distance of 306.63km. Most of the 14 corners are very closely spaced so that drivers press down on the brakes for 18% of the lap. Turns mean that this circuit relies very little on power, and in 2019 it ranked as the least power-dependent circuit on the calendar. There is only one DRS detection point but two zones to use it in: the start/finish straight, and out of Turn 1. DRS has an important impact at the Hungaroring for two reasons- the circuit is hard to overtake at, and the high downforce set ups increase drag (which the DRS combats).
Notable Moments...
One of the most exciting and perhaps more memorable races in Hungary of more recent times occurred in 2006. Wet weather are the only words I need to say to get your heartbeats racing.
But if you need us to jog your memory, or you weren’t watching F1 back then, Jenson Button ultimately won the race which was determined heavily by strategy and skill. It was the first victory of his career and was earnt through a stunning drive from P14 on the grid. Kimi Raikkonen took pole position, with Massa and Barrichello starting behind him on race day, but none of them even finished on the podium. Sharing the podium with Button was Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld who battled from P4 and P10 respectively. The race was pretty unpredictable- Bridgestone wet tyres were the optimal rubber for the wet conditions of the race, and yet on this occasion the cars using were struggling, for example the Ferraris. Meanwhile, Button had found a rhythm and managed to slither past Massa, Fisichella and Schumacher in under two laps. A safety car inevitably made an appearance when the pole-sitter, Raikkonen, crashed into the back of a Toro Rosso in the wet conditions on his second tyre set. Unlike many other drivers, Button did not pit during the safety car period and ascended to P2 behind Alonso. When eventually the Brit was released to battle the Spaniard, the fight was cut short as Button’s car needed fuel, and when Alonso opted to switch to dry tyres, his right rear wheel nut detached leading to an unfortunate crash for the lead driver. Button was handed the lead and never truly challenged from behind. Behind the winners’ celebrations, was Honda who had scored their first race win (as a constructor) since 1967. All in all, there were 8 retirements and 1 disqualification (a young Robert Kubica on his debut).
Further back in time, the 1986 Grand Prix can be remembered as a battle between the Brazilians- Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. Senna began on pole but in the end lost out to Piquet on lap 57 who led from there onwards. Piquet however, was not a popular winner with the British press and fans. Allegedly Piquet had withheld details of a more efficient setup from British teammate Mansell (who finished third, yet a lap down) but it was later revealed that Mansell had tried the setup in practice and preferred his old one.
When To Watch:
Formula 1:
(FRIDAY) F1 resumes order this weekend with three sessions of practice, the first hour within 11:30 - 12:30 local time (10:30 - 11:30 BST).
(FRIDAY) The next practice session spans 15:00 - 16:00 local time (14:00 - 15:00 BST).
(SATURDAY) Normally the true indicator of future pace, FP3 takes place 12:00 - 13:00 local time (11:00 - 12:00 BST).
(SATURDAY) Qualifying moves back to Saturday from a limited edition Friday spot during 15:00 - 16:00 local time (14:00 - 15:00 BST).
(SUNDAY) Both top teams will be hoping for a cleaner race, which begins at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST), but also working for those precious points.
Formula 3:
(FRIDAY) F3 drivers only get one practice session lasting 45 minutes from 10:05 local time (09:05 BST).
(FRIDAY) Three hours later, a period consisting of data analysis and a quick lunch, qualifying begins at 13:50 local time and ends at 14:20 (12:50 - 13:20 BST).
(SATURDAY) The first race of the weekend runs from 10:35 - 11:15 local time (09:35 - 10:15 BST).
(SATURDAY) The second race provides more entertainment at 17:55 - 18:35 (16:55 - 17:35 BST).
(SUNDAY) The final part of the F3 weekend concludes during 10:45 - 11:25 local time (09:45 - 10:25 BST).
W Series:
(FRIDAY) The only practice for the drivers commences at 12:55 local time (11:55 BST) and lasts 30 minutes. For many this will be their first chance to discover the circuit, as it didn’t feature on the 2019 calendar.
(FRIDAY) The 30 minute qualifying session doesn’t take place too much later- beginning at 16:30 local time (15:30 BST).
(SATURDAY) The first race for the W Series drivers at the Hungaroring sets off at 16:30 local time (15:30 BST).
(All times collected and calculated from the official Formula 1 website)
(Information for this post uses previous race data collected from the internet and official sources. No copyright intended)
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