Hungarian Grand Prix preview

The Hungarian Grand Prix was the first F1 race behind the ‘iron curtain’, with the first Grand Prix being held there in 1986.

The Hungaroring which is the host of the Hungarian Grand Prix is far from a popular circuit, as due to the twisty style of the circuit it is notoriously difficult to overtake, and a lack of other racing leaves the surface filthy off-line.

Hungarian officials tried their best and changed the circuit significantly 4 years ago, when they set up a more complicated circuit, with a short straight and numerous slow corners.

This meant that its average speed dropped, and it is one of the slowest circuits on the calendar, lying right next to Monte Carlo. Two corners are low speed – 90 km/h – while the fastest corner of the circuit brings the cars up to 170 km/h.

Former driver Martin Brundle once described it as “a street circuit without the houses,” summing up its claustrophobic, tight corners.

The hot circuit is tough to drive but not great for racing. Let’s hope the 2010 race provides some more entertaining racing than previous editions of the race!

Keep an eye on…

McLaren have won the last 3 races at this circuit, but it doesn’t look like they will be able to do it again, as they are struggling to fathom the workings of Ferrari and Red Bull‘s flexi-wing, with the latter two teams being much more probable winners of the Grand Prix.

It shall be interesting to see the inter-team relationship within Ferrari between Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa after the team-orders at the German Grand Prix. Massa has come out saying there will be no repeat of this incident, adding: “The time I say I’m number two driver, I will not race anymore.”

Robert Kubica should enjoy driving the Hungaroring circuit, it shall be interesting to see just how fast the Pole can be in the Renault R30.

Virtual lap

Drivers

“It’s a difficult track to set the car up for because there are long corners where you need very good front grip but also good rear stability. If it’s really hot, you can have a big drop-off from the tyres because there are so many corners and you’re working them to the limits. The natural thing is to have a bit of understeer to look after the rear end, but if you have too much you can lose lap time in the long corners. So it’s a difficult track to get right for both driver and engineers. For the driver, it’s physically and mentally demanding because there are so many corners and only one proper straight – and that’s not very long. You don’t have time to relax and you’re always concentrating hard.” - Robert Kubica

Engines

“The low speed, tight and twisty nature of the Hungaroring circuit renders its severity on the engine similar in ways to Monaco. The track is comprised of 14 mainly low to medium speed corners with the start-finish straight just 700m long. Engines are only run at full throttle for around 55% of the lap, the second lowest percentage of the season after Monaco, but that does not mean that engine performance does not play a key role in securing a competitive lap time. Drivers need good traction and good torque from the engine unit when exiting the lower speed corners in order to find a good rhythm when negotiating the next turn.

“A responsive engine is especially important exiting turn 14 to get a good run down the main straight heading to turn 1, arguably the only overtaking opportunity around the short lap. Because the majority of corners are slow speed, the engine needs good driveability at high revs and drivers need to be smooth on the throttle to avoid excessive strain on the unit. Cooling is often a problem at Hungary because of the lack of straights and the usual hot climate in Hungary at this time of the year. The engine gets very little in the way of breathing space around the lap, enhancing the risks of overheating over 70 laps.” - Cosworth

Tyres

(Super-Soft and Medium)

“The Hungaroring is a challenging circuit even though it is one of the shortest on the calendar. We expect to hear a lot of discussion about the track surface at the beginning of the weekend, as the circuit is not used as much as some, so the surface is quite dirty for the first sessions. We can expect to see some graining on Friday because of this. The ambient and track temperatures are often very hot here, but as the surface is quite smooth and there are no very high lateral forces we don t expect overheating to be too much of an issue if the tyres are managed well. Finding the maximum traction through the last corner is very important as it enables a good top speed on the short straight, leading into the first corner, where there is the main overtaking opportunity on the circuit.” – Bridgestone

Weather

Heavy showers are possible for Friday in Hungary, with scattered showers possible for qualifying day. The conditions are expected to be completely dry for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

At this race last year…

Most notable Felipe Massa was struck on the head with a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP. Thankfully the seemingly critical injuries have healed and it’s great to have the Brazilian back racing at the circuit this year. Rather eerily, reports suggest that tyre marks from the crash are still visible at the circuit.

Lewis Hamilton scored McLaren’s first win of the season from 4th on the grid after Fernando Alonso retired from pole position with a fuel pump problem. It was also the race where the Spaniard’s wheel fell off after it was not correctly attached on a lap 12 pit stop.

Hamilton passed Mark Webber with the aid of the KERS button on lap 5, before taking the chequered flag.

Race times

(All times BST)

Fri 30 Jul: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430

Sat 31 Jul: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300

Sun 01 Aug: Race 1300