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Formula 1 Aramco Hungarian Grand Prix 2022 Race Start Image. Hungaroring, Mogyorod, Budapest, Hungary. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. 2023 Hungarian GP Preview, Hungarian Grand Prix Preview, F1 Hungarian GP Preview, Formula 1 Hungarian Preview.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – After Max Verstappen cruised to another dominant victory at Silverstone to extend his World Driver’s Championship lead to 99 points over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, round 12 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Hungaroring in Budapest, Mogyorod, Hungary this weekend for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Hungarian Grand Prix 2023. This will be the 37th edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix as part of the world championship. This will be a back-to-back race with the Belgian GP before the sport’s traditional summer break.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – 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.
Lewis Hamilton holds the fastest lap record set at the 2020 event with a 1:16.627 in his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 W11 EQ Performance racer.
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most wins at the Hungarian Grand Prix with eight to his name.
McLaren are the most successful constructor at the Hungarian Grand Prix with 11 victories.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – Onboard lap of the Hungaroring
Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Hungaroring from last year’s event, set by George Russell in his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 W13 racer. The Briton posted a blistering 1:17.377. You can watch the footage right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnJn7OSwiGM
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2022: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2021: Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team. 2020: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – Tyres
Sole-tyre supplier Pirelli will be bringing with them to the Hungaroring, the white-side walled C3 (Hard) tyres, the yellow-branded C4 (Mediums) and red-marked C5 (Soft) rubber alongside the green-marked (Intermediates) and blue-branded (Full Wets) in case of rain.
The Alternative Tyre Allocation will debut this weekend at the Hungaroring. A reduction in tyre allocations from 13 to 11 will be trialled with the intention to make tyre usage more sustainable. The usage of tyre compounds sees the qualifying format changed and drivers must use the harder rubber in Q1, mediums in Q2 and softs in Q3.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – 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.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speeds will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Verstappen clinches sixth consecutive victory ahead of Norris.
Verstappen British GP Victory – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his sixth consecutive victory at the British GP and ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who completed the final podium places at their home Grands Prix.
When the 52-lap British GP began, McLaren’s Norris got a solid jump over pole-sitter Verstappen into the first corner to take P1, whilst the other MCL60 entry of Piastri battled the Dutchman for second place, but the Dutchman held off the Australian at Copse to remain in second place.
At the end of the opening tour, Norris was 0.704 seconds clear of Verstappen with Piastri third, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth and Mercedes’ George Russell completing the top five.
In the battle for the lead on lap five, Verstappen reclaimed the lead with DRS assistance and dived on the inside of Norris on the Wellington Straight into Brooklands to make the move stick.
Behind them Leclerc covered Russell down the Hangar Straight in the fight for fourth.
On the sixth lap, Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton made his way by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin with DRS down the Wellington Straight and overtook the AMR 23 entry on the inside of Brooklands to take seventh place.
On lap 10, Verstappen was 0.928 seconds clear of Norris with Piastri holding third, Leclerc fourth and Russell rounding out the top five.
On lap 11, Verstappen received over the radio that they’re expecting “lightish rain” in a few minutes meanwhile Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was the first retiree of the Grand Prix and parked it in-front of the team garage.
On the 12th lap, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez made up another two places to be in 11th place in his recovery drive from 16th on the grid after another horrid qualifying session.
The 15th tour saw race-leader Verstappen increase his gap to Norris to over three seconds, with Piastri sitting third, Leclerc fourth whilst Russell was very close behind the Ferrari in fifth.
On the 16th lap, Perez made his way by Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon to move into the top ten.
Lap 19 saw Leclerc the first of the top five to pit for a set of the C1 white-branded harder tyres and emerged in 12th place behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
On lap 20, Verstappen’s lead to Norris was up to 4.398 seconds with Piastri third, Russell fourth and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completing the top five.
Lap 23 saw Hamilton closing in on Sainz in the battle for fifth place.
On the 26th tour, Leclerc on his fresher set of hards, finally found his way by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to take 11th place.
On lap 27, the other SF-23 entry of Sainz pitted from fifth for a fresh set of hards and came out in 12th place behind Stroll.
Mercedes’ Russell pitted from fourth and put on a set of mediums and emerged behind Leclerc in ninth place.
Piastri followed suit on lap 30 for a fresh set of hards and came out in sixth place behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly meanwhile Sainz blasted his way ahead of Stroll to grab 10th.
Lap 31 saw Russell overtake Leclerc around the outside of Luffield to snatch eighth place from the Ferrari.
With 20 tours remaining, Verstappen was 9.620 seconds ahead od Norris with Hamilton third, Alonso fourth and McLaren’s Piastri rounding out the top five.
The virtual safety car was deployed on lap 22 after Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen suffered an engine failure and parked his VF-23 racer on the Wellington Straight.
Albon and Leclerc both pitted to take advantage of the VSC and emerged in eighth and ninth respectively.
On lap 34, it saw the full safety car deployed as the front runners Verstappen, Norris, Hamilton and Alonso all stop.
The order behind the safety car was Verstappen in the lead with Norris second, Hamilton up into third, Piastri fourth and Russell completing the top five.
When the race went green on lap 39, Verstappen made a solid jump as Hamilton was on the tail of Norris with Russell right behind Piastri.
The battle of the Brits saw Norris cover Hamilton around Brooklands into Luffield and fended off the Mercedes through Copse to hold second.
Lap 40 saw Verstappen over 2.157 seconds over Norris with Hamilton third, Piastri fourth and Russell fifth.
Hamilton once again got a solid slipstream and made a late dive on Norris into Brooklands and was side-by-side of the McLaren through Luffield before the straight-line speed of the MCL60 managed to keep the Mercedes at bay as they reached Copse.
With ten tours remaining Verstappen was 2.739 clear of Norris with Hamilton third, Hamilton fourth and Piastri rounding out the top five runners.
At the end of lap 43, Perez made his way by Sainz into seventh place, whilst Albon overtook the latter into the opening corner and then Sainz fell behind his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and lost three places in the space of a lap.
Verstappen crossed the line to take the British GP victory by 3.375 seconds over Norris with Hamilton completing the podium.
Piastri placed fourth in the other MCL60 entry and in-front of Russell who was fifth and Perez who recovered to finish sixth.
Alonso fended off Albon to finish seventh as the Ferrari pairing of Leclerc and Sainz came home in ninth and tenth respectively.
Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant came home outside the top 10 in 11th place and in-front of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who took 12th and Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th in the classification.
Stroll after being hit with a five-second time penalty for causing a collision and ending Gasly’s race wound up 14th and ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who placed 15th and the two AlphaTauri entries of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries who ended the Grand Prix in 16th and 17th respectively.
2023 Hungarian GP Preview – The Situation
Daniel Ricciardo’s return to the Formula 1 grid with AlphaTauri is part of what promises to be an action-packed Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.
Red Bull will be looking to set a new record for consecutive victories by a constructor in the sport as they chase their 12th straight win, having won the British Grand Prix last time out to equal McLaren’s streak record in their dominant 1988 season.
World Driver’s Championship leader Max Verstappen is also chasing history as the Dutchman seeks to become the fourth driver in Formula One history to win seven races on the trot.
The reigning world champion’s sensational form has put him right on course for a third consecutive title, with his victory extending his lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to 99 points.
Meanwhile, Red Bull, are 208 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructor’s standings, with another podium for Sir Lewis Hamilton at his home Grand Prix having assisted the Silver Arrows to extend their margin over Aston Martin.
Despite Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance of the 2023 campaign so far, there remains plenty of interest as the sport travels to Budapest, with one of Formula One’s most popular drivers in Ricciardo returning to the grid after replacing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri with the rookie harshly dismissed just ten Grands Prix into his debut season.
The aforementioned Verstappen returns to Hungary sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 255 points and a 99-point lead over Red Bull team-mate Perez who is second on 156 points, whilst Fernando Alonso is a further 118 adrift of the Dutchman on 137 points.
Oracle Red Bull Racing head to the Hungaroring in P1 of the World Constructors Championship with 411 points and a 208-point advantage over nearest rivals Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team who are second on 203 points, whilst Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team are a further 230 off the Milton Keynes based-outfit on 181 points.
Click here for the 2023 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.
The Formula 1 Qatar Airways Hungarian Grand Prix 2023 weekend begins Friday July 21 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday July 22 and the 70 lap Race Sunday July 23.
