Formula One has landed in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the first of back-to-back venues before the summer break.
The FIA Formula One World Championship arrives in Budapest, home for Round 13 of the 2024 season, the 39th edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix, featured on the F1 calendar permanently since 1986 at the Hungaroring.
Spanning 4.381 km (2.722 mi), the bumpy Hungaroring poses several challenges over 70 laps, where overtaking demands a masterpiece of a maneuver from the drivers as exquisite defense skills to hold position throughout 14 corners.
Six turns to the left and eight to the right add to the circuit layout, featuring only one straight, taking a toll on the breaks and requiring a high downforce configuration for the cars.
Toto Wolff, CEO of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, who two weeks ago saw seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton capturing a thrilling victory in Silverstone, his first since 2021, assessed the challenges of the upcoming race weekend.
“The Hungaroring is different in character from the past couple of circuits,” he outlined. “Unlike Silverstone, it features plenty of tight and twisty sections, with just one meaningful straight. It will be another good examination of the gains made across the corner speed range.”
Adding: “We head into the weekend focused on doing the best job we can. We hope to maintain this positive trajectory and finish the first half of the season as strongly as possible.”
Last year, the race track located 20 km away from the city capital, welcomed 303,000 spectators over four days, packing the stands to watch double world champion, at the time, Max Verstappen in a duel against pole sitter Mercedes’ Hamilton before Turn 1 for the lead.
Once ahead, the Red Bull Racing driver never looked back, sealing a start-to-finish triumph, crossing the finish line to claim a record 12th consecutive triumph of the season for the team and driver who became a three-time Formula 1 champion by the end of 2023.
In 2024, a highly competitive battle for the championship has seen six drivers stepping on the top of the podium, including Verstappen, Scuderia Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris with McLaren, and the Mercedes of George Russell and Hamilton.
After Round 12, the British Grand Prix, Verstappen holds his lead in the driver’s standings with 255 points over Norris (171) and Leclerc (150) in the title race.
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