This weekend sees groups and drivers compete in Budapest with the Hungaroring staging the Hungarian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship. F1Technical’s senior author picks out the key information ahead of right now’s Budapest F1 race.
Today’s Hungarian Grand Prix will probably be the thirty eighth F1 race in Hungary. The observe that’s located simply on the outskirts of Hungary’s capital Budapest made its debut in 1986 and has run uninterrupted since. Only Monza has a document of an extended run of consecutive races which has staged a race in each single yr since 1950 with the exception of 1980 when Imola hosten the Italian Grand Prix.
Long historical past – Although Hungary joined the F1 circus in 1986, one wants to look again additional to discover the first ever Hungarian Grand Prix. The first GP was held in 1936 over a 5km observe specified by Népliget, an enormous park in Budapest. That race was solely staged as soon as with Alfa Romeo’s Tazio Nuvolari taking the victory.
King of the ring – Lewis Hamilton nonetheless holds the document for many wins in Hungary. The Briton has received eight occasions, taking victory each for McLaren and Mercedes. Michael Schumacher is the second most profitable drivers with 4 triumphs adopted by Ayrton Senna with three victories.
The quickest lap – The British seven-time world champion not solely holds the document for many wins round the Hungaroring, however he additionally claims the quickest ever race lap. The Stevenage-born driver recorded a lap of 1m16.627s at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Short – With 4381m, the Hungaroring is one of its shortest tracks on the present calendar. Fans often love the brief nature of the circuit as throughout the race they will witness the automobiles 70 occasions roaring previous the grandstands. The whole race distance is 306.630km. Drivers have to adhere to the pace restrict of 80km/h in the reasonably tight and therefore barely harmful pit lane.
Other data – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen secured his first pole place on the Hungaroring, setting the quickest lap in the qualifying session for the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix. When it comes to quickest laps, it’s the German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who holds the document with 4.
Changes – New tyre obstacles have been put in on the right-hand aspect in Turn 2. Furthermore, the guardrail on the right-hand aspect in Turn 2 has been changed with a concrete barrier and particles fencing.
Drag discount system – There will probably be two consecutive DRS zones at the Hungaroring sharing a detection level 5m earlier than Turn 14. Activation factors are 40m after Turn 14 and 6m after Turn 1.
Bringing the artwork to life. 🎨#HungarianGP #GetCloser pic.twitter.com/Dkax5u91mE
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake (@alfaromeostake) July 19, 2023
Milestone – Five drivers have claimed a maiden F1 win at the Hungaroring. Damon Hill took his first victory in 1993, with Williams, Fernando Alonso scored his first win in 2003, with Renault, and Jenson Button scored his maiden victory right here in 2006 with Honda. In 2008, it was Heikki Kovalainen who scored his first F1 win following Felipe Massa’s engine blow-up in the closing phases of the race. 2021 noticed Alpine’s racer Esteban Ocon take his first F1 triumph in the rain-affected race.
The softest – Formula One’s tyre provider Pirelli introduced its softest compounds to the Hungaroring: C3 as the P Zero White arduous, C4 as the P Zero Yellow medium, C5 as the P Zero Red smooth. This is a softer allocation than it was final yr with the choice having been motivated by the incontrovertible fact that drivers had difficulties with warm-up on the cooler floor of the Hungaroring in 2022.
Traction – The twisty Hungarian race course isn’t a very high-energy circuit, with clean asphalt that’s generally bumpy in locations, and the calls for on tyres being extra about traction than braking.
Technical – The tight and twisty Hungaroring is usually likened to Monaco due to its nature. The 4.3km observe is one of the slowest everlasting tracks on the Formula 1 calendar and it is usually referred to as an outsized go-kart observe due to its gradual corners and large, elongated kerbs. In truth, it was even slower in the previous till 2003 when the structure underwent some modified: the size of the pit straight was prolonged by round 200 metres to make it 908 metres lengthy.
Home hero – Hungary has solely ever had one Formula 1 driver: Zsolt Baumgartner. The Hungarian made his debut in 2003 on residence turf when he was drafted in to exchange Ralph Firman, who crashed closely in practce. Baumgartner then joined Minardi for the following yr and scored a championship level at the United States Grand Prix.
