#F1 Aramco #HungarianGP 2020 Preview. #HungaryGP

After Lewis Hamilton dominated the Styrian Grand Prix, round three of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary for the Formula 1 Aramco Magyar Nagydij (Hungarian GP) 2020. This will be the 35^th edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix as part of the world championship.

 

 

A look at the Hungaroring

 

 

The Hungaroring is a permanent racing circuit in Mogyoród, Hungary where the Hungarian Grand Prix has been held since 1986. In 1986, it became the first Formula 1 Grand Prix held behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wanted a race in the USSR (now held in Sochi), but a Hungarian friend recommended Budapest. They wanted a street circuit similar to the Circuit de Monaco to be built in Nepliget, Budapest’s largest park but the government decided to build a new circuit outside the city near the major highway.

 

Construction works started on October 1, 1985. It was built in eight months, less time than any other Formula One circuit. The first race was held on March 24, 1986, in memory of Janos Drapal, the first Hungarian who won motorcycle Grand Prix races. According to a survey put together by the national tourism office of Hungary, Mogyoród ranks third among Hungarian destinations visited by tourists, behind the Danube Bend area and Lake Balaton, but ahead of Budapest.

 

The Grand Prix is held in the middle of summer, which is usually very hot and dry in this region. It’s very first wet Grand Prix race was in 2006. The circuit is normally dusty due to underuse throughout the rest of the year and its sandy soil. As the circuit is in a valley about 80 percent of it can be seen from any point.

 

Normally, an underused circuit becomes faster over the weekend as the track surface gathers more rubber; however, with the Hungaroring this generally does not happen, because the track can get dusty so quickly. The track becomes faster during a qualifying session, which leads competitors to try for their best lap as late as possible. Described as “Monaco without walls” by Ricciardo, the Hungaroring is also a circuit less reliant on engine power meaning the field could be closely bunched than in recent races. Teams run their maximum downforce packages in Hungary to cope with the many slow corners. The issue that will occupy the minds of engineers during the practice sessions is the need to maximise traction to get the best return from the many low-gear acceleration points.

 

The twisty and bumpy nature of the circuit makes overtaking very difficult in dry conditions. Nonetheless, the Hungaroring has been the scene of some several memorable races such as the duels of Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell’s lost wheel in 1987, Mansell’s win from 12th on the grid after a dramatic overtake on Ayrton Senna in 1989, Damon Hill’s almost victory with Arrows in 1997,  Michael Schumacher’s change in strategy to beat the McLarens of Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard in 1998 and maiden victories for Hill in 1993, Fernando Alonso in 2003, Jenson Button in 2006 in the track’s first wet Grand Prix, Heikki Kovalainen in 2008, and the second win for Daniel Ricciardo in 2014, overtaking the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Alonso’s Ferrari using very degraded soft tyres in the penultimate lap, grabbing an incredible victory.

 

The current Grand Prix circuit layout is 4.381km (2.722mi) in length and runs in a clockwise direction with 16 corners.

 

Race distance is 306.663km (190.560mi) with 70 laps in total.

 

Max Verstappen holds the fastest lap record set at the Hungaroring in 2019 with a 1:17.103 in his Honda-powered Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15.

 

Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most wins at the Hungarian Grand Prix with seven victories.

 

McLaren are the most successful constructor at the Hungarian Grand Prix with 11 victories.

 

Onboard lap of the Hungaroring

 

 

Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Hungaroring from last year’s event, set by Max Verstappen in his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda RB15. The Dutchman posted a blistering 1:14.572. You can watch the footage right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvlHBDD2R2M

 

The Last Five Winners

 

 

2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2017: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari. 2016: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1. 2015: Sebastian Vettel, Scuderia Ferrari.

 

Tyres

 

 

As in Austria for both Grands Prix, Pirelli will be bringing with them to the Hungaroring for this weekend’s Hungarian GP, the white-side walled C2 (Hard) tyres, the yellow-branded C3 (Mediums) and red-marked C4 (Soft) rubber alongside the green-marked (Intermediates) and blue-branded (Full Wets) in case of rain.

 

All drivers will have two sets of hards (C2), three sets of mediums (C3) and eight sets of soft (C4) rubber available to them.

 

DRS Zones

 

There will be two DRS zones sharing a detection point 5 metres before turn 14. Activation points are 130 metres after the apex of turn 14 and 6 metres after the apex of turn one.

 

Pitlane Speed Limits

 

Pitlane speeds will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.

 

ICYMI: Styrian GP rewind – Hamilton scores dominant victory as disaster strikes Ferrari

 

 

Lewis Hamilton cruised to a dominant victory at the Styrian Grand Prix, beating Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, meanwhile Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided on the opening lap, causing race-ending damage for both.

 

In what was a more plain sailing race than last weekend’s drama-filled Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton controlled its entirety, while Bottas came out on top in an intense battle with Red Bull’s Verstappen for second and retained his championship lead.

 

When the 71 lap Styrian Grand Prix went green, Hamilton made a comfortable getaway off the line, with Verstappen under pressure from McLaren’s Carlos Sainz on the outside of turn one.

 

As Hamilton moved clear, Sainz took an excursion through the first corner run-off, which cost the Spaniard momentum and allowed Verstappen to charge back on the attack as they approached the tight up-hill right of turn three.

 

The leaders ran through damage-free but in the pack behind, the Ferrari pairing tangled, with Leclerc bouncing off Vettel’s rear wing after a late lunge onto the inside of his team-mate, who was fighting with Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen after a slow start.

 

The rear wing of Vettel’s SF1000 racer was broken, and the German was forced to retire, as both Ferrari drivers came into the pits just as the safety car was deployed due to debris from their collision – the second in four races after last season’s penultimate Brazilian Grand Prix – with Leclerc being called back in the following lap to change his front wing.

 

The race resumed on lap four and Hamilton immediately pushed away from Verstappen, posting a series of fastest laps, whilst Bottas took until the sixth tour to overtake Sainz into turn four – where Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon clashed last Sunday.

 

Albon also passed the McLaren in the same spot two laps later.

 

Bottas started to chase Verstappen as Hamilton continued to increase his comfortable lead across the initial stint.

 

The Mercedes duo started to push intensely after the first twenty laps were in the books, which forced Red Bull to pit Verstappen on the 24^th lap to ease the threat of being jumped by an early Bottas stop – at this point Albon was too far behind to assist his team-mate.

 

Verstappen emerged on fresh C3 yellow-marked mediums in third, in-front of Albon and Hamilton remained in the net lead when he re-joined the track on the 27^th lap.

 

Bottas continued on for another seven tours before he stopped for mediums, as the Finn came out in third place and 8.2 seconds adrift of Verstappen.

 

Bottas at first, struggled to cut down the gap, but Mercedes told him he would have the opportunity to attack the Dutchman in the closing stages of the Grand Prix.

 

As Hamilton flew into bigger lead in the second stint to claim his first victory of the 2020 campaign by 13.719 seconds, Bottas rapidly began cutting the gap down to Verstappen – with the Honda-powered RB16’s front wing also sustaining damage on the right-hand endplate.

 

Bottas mounted an attack on the outside of the third corner on the 66^th lap and used DRS assistance to blast alongside Verstappen on the rundown to the right-hand turn four – but the Dutchman was not giving up that easy and pushed him wide into the sixth corner holding onto second place.

 

But it only took to the following lap for Bottas as he activated DRS to get further ahead into the fourth corner on the 67^th lap, defending on the outside to ensure second place was his.

 

Behind the top three was Albon, who survived a late tangle with Racing Point’s Sergio Perez at turn four – in an almost similar style incident as he had with Hamilton a week ago, although the Thai-Briton driver was on the defensive this time round – which damaged the Racing Point’s front wing.

 

The damage sustained outdone the Mexican’s impressive charge, who started a low 17^th on the grid, and as he limped to the line, he was jumped by McLaren’s Lando Norris – who had put in his own late push – at the penultimate corner.

 

Perez held on in a straight-drag to the line to beat Racing Point team-mate Lance Stroll – also having a rising from a lower grid-starting spot in 12^th – while Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was eighth as his alternate strategy starting on the mediums did not pay off.

 

Sainz gave McLaren team-mate Norris a place as the former opted to pit late on for a fresh set of C4 soft compounds in a bid to get the fastest lap bonus point, which Verstappen also did, with Sainz grabbing the extra point available.

 

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten – the sole driver to make the harder rubber work, after team-mate Pierre Gasly changed his strategy to a two-stopper and went back on the softs.

 

Gasly was hit by Renault’s Ricciardo at turn one and lost out to the Australian as they fought for seventh place at the start, but his race unravelled with the strategy switch and wound up 15^th, just in-front of Williams Racing duo George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.

 

Russell got a strong start from P11 but dropped to the back at the safety car restart when he tripped in the gravel traps at turn six as he battled Magnussen (who settled for 12^th and ahead of team-mate Romain Grosjean and behind 11^th-placed Alfa Romeo Racing C39 of Kimi Raikkonen).

 

Renault’s Esteban Ocon was the only other retiree due to a cooling issue, with his R.S.20 racer coming to a halt on the 25^th lap after he was battling with team-mate Ricciardo in the initial stint.

 

The Situation

 

 

Valtteri Bottas returns to Hungary sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 43 points and a 6-point lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton who is second on 37 points, while Lando Norris is a further 17 adrift of the Finn on 26 points.

 

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport head to the Hungaroring comfortable in P1 in the World Constructors Championship with 80 points and a 41-point advantage over nearest rivals McLaren Racing who are second on 39 points, whilst Aston Martin Red Bull Racing are a further 53 off the Silver Arrows on 27 points.

 

You can see the full 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship standings at the following link: 2020 F1 World Championship Standings

 

The Formula 1 Aramco Magyar Nagydij 2020 weekend begins Friday July 17 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday July 18 and the 70 lap Race Sunday July 19.