[deetjohn]

Since hosting its first Grand Prix in 1986, the Hungaroring has changed very little and with the advent of DRS wings, now provides overtaking and exciting racing. The mixture of tricky slow corners are balanced out by two fast chicanes towards the end of the lap. The blind Turn Four, over the crest of a hill, is a distinctive corner.



Hungaroring is a very strong track for Lewis


Located in an amphitheatre setting, within half an hour of Budapest, Budapest is the last race before F1’s three week summer break. Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory for Mercedes here in 2013, his fourth win here. It is also the sole circuit that Sebastian Vettel has raced on but never won.

Track Layout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMw0FKE95I0

Being bold is the key to doing well, as Lewis Hamilton proved with some overtakes in unusual places last year or as Michael Schumacher and Ferrari proved in 1998 with a brave strategy change mid-race, which led to one of his most exciting victories.

This year, the teams are still dealing with the aftermath of the FIA’s decision to ban FRIC suspension, which has meant them all having to work harder to set the cars up and to manage the tyres. Hungary, with its range or corners taken in second to fourth gear, will show up the absence of FRIC more than Hockenheim, so losses that were perhaps masked for some teams there will be more obvious this weekend.

Race Strategy Briefing



Likely Tyre Performance
Tyre choice for the race is Soft (yellow markings) and Medium (white markings). This is the same as the last two years. This combination of tyres was used in Australia, Bahrain and China. There was around 0.6s performance difference between them in Bahrain. The performance of the tyres in the Friday practice session will indicate whether this is likely to be a one, two or three stop race, although it’s easy to underestimate the track improvement from Friday to Sunday which tends to cut the number or stops.

The crucial thing for teams to understand will be the crossover point where the medium becomes the better tyre over the long run. The Hungaroring is notoriously hard on the front tyres, partly due to all the long corners and partly due to the balance of the car being much more forward. High temperatures will also take their toll.

Overtakes
In the past, overtaking was extremely difficult at the Hungaroring and it still is. But the two DRS adjustable rear wing zones, situated on the pit straight and out of Turn 1, has helped create some overtaking opportunities in the last few seasons. Last year there were 23 overtakes in total, of which 14 were DRS assisted.

courtesy: F1Fanatic, JAonF1

[zenren]

Looks like Ferrari might have a weekend that they can look forward to - Kimi and Alonso P3 and P4 in the FP1. Lets see how the FP2 pans out.

[muditgrover]

Hamilton is reminding me now of a 2005 Raikkonen
Super car but just a shit run of luck

[zenren]

That was one hell of a qualifying! Finally, one Mercedes out in Q3 and the other Mercedes still needed to sweat it out till last minute to retain the pole. Good performances from Vettel, Bottas and Ricciardo. challenging the lone Mercedes.

With Red Bull and Williams looking reasonably close, it would be an uphill battle for Lewis to finish higher than around P7 or so this time.

McLarens and Force Indias doesn't seem to have as much performance as last week. Toro Rosso might be able to put in a decent performance tomorrow.

Ferrari getting it wrong again with Kimi's strategy. They should have at least sent him out on used mediums even if they wanted to save the soft tyres. That would have been probably enough to get a couple of cars between him and the Marussias and Caterhams. He had enough pace to get near P10.

[anachronix]

Oh the mega italian screw up in Hungary, I am wondering how Alonso has influence on Kimi's side of the garage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X700GUzMXKo

[Hatari]

Been an interesting weekend.

Appreciated Horner's comments in the FIA Friday press conference, to focus on the positives and promoting F1 rather than only speaking about problems. Mattiacci too, comes across as a no nonsense guy who is extremely passionate about racing and F1.

Qualy.. Big screw up by Ferrari. With Kimi's form they should have focused on just getting him into Q3 rather than thinking of getting him into a good position for Q3.

Great lap by Bottas. Looks like Bernie will have a big smile on his face, another race with Lewis charging up the field, wont be that easy here though.

[arun_josie]

Kevin Magnussen is also starting from pits like Hamilton. Who will be in front during start Magnussen or Hamilton? If its going to be Magnussen then this will be also a challenge for Hamilton at least for a lap or two, he will not be getting a free run.

[shashi63]

Such terrible luck for Lewis! Well everytime Lewis has won here Kimi has had a Podium if I am not wrong.. so no podium for Kimi but history says a Ferrari has been on Podium.. so I guess Alonso will race as always and give 300%.

Hope Lewis does not lose too many points to Nico. Will not be surprised to see Vettel win today.

[deetjohn]

What an eventful race. Alonso looks good. Would love if Lewis can overtake Nico on track.

Edit:

What a move by Lewis on Vergne.

[deetjohn]

What an awesome race. So happy for Daniel and a great podium today. It would have been a disaster for Lewis to let Nico pass. Great recovery drive from #44. And stellar from Fernando to keep the car in P2 with those tyres.

Lovely!

[vb-saan]

Fantastic race and an excellent win for Daniel! Should say that the best three drivers on the current lot were on the podium.

Happy that Lewis did not let Nico through, or else it would have been the German on the podium again. Quite an achievement to start from the pit lane and finish third.

[zenren]

Great driving from Daniel, Alonso and Lewis. Even Raikkonen did a good job to get up to P6 after the disastrous Saturday.

[nggk5mr]

Two drivers who extract maximum from their machines were on podium P2 & P3.
Daniel was cool, calm & collected his second win. Humm, Hungaroring has lot of overtaking now compared to past.

[tharian]

The best drivers were on the podium.
One of the most involving race in a long time. I wanted Alonso to win so much, but he did a good job and deserves this podium more than any one else.
The Mercedes team gives us a good race between Hamilton and Rosberg. Rosberg was mentioning that he wanted a square and fair fight with Hamilton.
And Hamilton gives it to him and wins over him from the pit!
Amazing race before the mid-season break.

[Hatari]

Great race today.. Lewis looked quite dejected on the podium though, he just shortened the lead!?

The cooler/wetter track really spiced up racing, Williams clearly struggled in these conditions.

The WDC championship is really heating up.