The final race before the four-week summer break takes place in the small town of Mogyoród situated 18km from Budapest. The Hungaroring has been ever-present on the Formula One calendar since its introduction in 1986. Originally, Bernie Ecclestone preferred a Grand Prix to be held in the USSR however a friend advised him to choose Budapest instead. The Hungarian Grand Prix became the first Formula One race to be located behind the Iron Curtain.
The first Hungarian Grand Prix saw 200,000 spectators attend however in the present day, the Hungaroring has a capacity of 70,000 people with spectators predominately from Finland. Nelson Piquet won the inaugural race in 1986 for Williams ahead of Ayrton Senna. The first wet race in 2006 saw Jenson Button take his first career victory after starting fourteenth on the grid. The 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix will be remembered for the accident which took place in qualifying where a spring fell off the Brawn of Rubens Barrichello which struck Felipe Massa on the head – this left the latter in a life-threatening condition which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Michael Schumacher (1994, 1998, 2001 and 2004) and Lewis Hamilton (2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013) are the most successful drivers at the Hungarian Grand Prix winning on four occasions. Hamilton is looking to make history this weekend where he can win in Budapest for a record fifth time. Due to the nature of the track – narrow and twisty, the Hungarian Grand Prix is associated with processional races, with sometimes many cars following one another, unable to pass.
Many drivers have won their maiden Grand Prix at the Hungaroring. Damon Hill (1993), Fernando Alonso (2003), Jenson Button (2006) and Heikki Kovalainen (2008). Kovalainen’s win was very fortunate as Felipe Massa suffered an engine failure on the final lap after dominating the race.
Looking forward to this year’s race, once again the battle for the race win looks to be between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg who won his home race at Hockenheim a few days ago. The tight and twisty nature of the Hungaroring means a high-downforce package is required which will suit the WO5 however Red Bull are confident they can get within a few tenths of the championship leaders. The weakness of the RB10 is its lack of straight line-speed however the Hungaroring has shorter straights thus the loss will not be as apparent compared to circuits such as Spa, Monza and Austria.
Since the Canadian Grand Prix, Williams have established themselves as the second fastest team. Valtteri Bottas has finished on the podium on three occasions which have allowed Williams to rise above Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. Williams are set to bring a new high-downforce rear wing to Budapest – they did so also in Monaco however it did not produce the results as expected. The debate between Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen rolls on after the pair collided on the opening lap of the German Grand Prix – no doubt there will be questions in Thursday’s press conference if either driver is present.
Force India’s form has dipped as the team have struggled to match the development of their rivals, despite this Nico Hulkenburg has finished in the points paying positions at every race and the German has labelled this season as his best yet. On average, Hulkenburg has qualified one second ahead of Sergio Perez showing the gulf in speed between the two Force India drivers. Similarly, the gap between Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen remains gigantic with the latter failing to out-race Alonso this season. Despite the Finn’s struggles, team principal Marco Mattiacci wants to keep the 2007 world champion at the team. Raikkonen has only scored nineteen points this season, eleven less than the man he replaced at Ferrari – Felipe Massa.
High levels of downforce are required at the Hungaroring which will benefit Red Bull however the Mercedes duo are once again clear favourites. Historically it is one of Hamilton’s best tracks but so was Canada which he failed to beat Rosberg to pole position and was behind for majority of the race before retiring.
