28.07.10

Stuart Codling

The narrow, technical layout of the Hungaroring will make Saturday’s qualifying session even more important than usual

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Although the Hungarian Grand Prix has been a fixture on the Formula 1 calendar for a quarter of a century, the Hungaroring circuit sees little use for the rest of the year. This provides an additional challenge in what is already a difficult weekend: the track surface provides increasing levels of grip as the dust blows away and the tyres deposit a veneer of rubber on the asphalt. That makes it tough for the drivers and engineers to decide whether the mechanical adjustments they’re making to their cars are yielding improvements, or whether the changing track conditions are flattering their efforts.

The circuit itself is narrow and twisty, which makes overtaking difficult. Some drivers compare it with Monaco, others with a go-kart track. It rewards precision and demands good traction. Most of all, though, it calls for a good qualifying position, because it has just one corner that offers an overtaking opportunity.

That is the likely scenario in dry weather. If it rains, anything can happen – as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ Jenson Button found in 2006 when he took his first F1 victory. “I can still remember that race as if it was yesterday,” he says. “Actually, what I remember best were the moments after the race, when you finally realise that it's all real, and you get to see the reactions of everyone around you. It was a great moment in my career, and one that I still savour.”

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has won the Hungarian Grand Prix for the past three years but is still in the process of validating several major upgrades to the MP4-25, a process made more difficult by the lack of in-season testing. Scuderia Ferrari’s 1-2 finish last weekend shows that it is making progress with the F10 – the key to repeating that result will be to beat Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel in qualifying on Saturday. On Vettel’s current form, that will be difficult…