July 28, 2022
We have made it to summer break! This weekend is the Hungarian Grand Prix and after this, we don’t have another race until the end of August. This race will be important for many teams: Ferrari wants to redeem themselves and enter summer break on a high, Haas needs to test their upgrades package, and McLaren wants to get back ahead of Alpine in the championship. Here is everything you need to know for the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Weekend Schedule (in EST):
Practice 1: Friday 7/29, 8:00-9:00 AM
Practice 2: Friday 7/29, 11:00-12:00 AM-PM
Practice 3: Saturday 7/30, 7:00-8:00 AM
Qualifying: Saturday 7/30, 10:00-11:00 AM
Race: Sunday 7/31, 9:00 AM
The Hungaroring is a short, tight and twisty track with medium-to-low-speed corners that demand high amounts of downforce. The Ferrari is better at such tracks than the Red Bull, making the Prancing Horse the favorite for the weekend. In Hungary, Qualifying is very important. The track is narrow and the amount of turns makes it very hard to overtake. Getting a good Qualifying result is often the key to winning in Hungary. The weekend is expected to be very hot with some rain showers scattered throughout. The forecast currently shows that the rain will probably fall on Saturday. If this is the case, Qualifying will be much harder and subsequently, the race could be very interesting.
The Hungaroring
Ferrari isn’t just going for the win this weekend, they are aiming for a one-two finish in Hungary. The track favors them over Red Bull, so as long as they don’t make stupid mistakes, they should be able to pull it off. My guess is one of the Ferraris wins (preferably Charles Leclerc), Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in P2, and the other Ferrari (probably Carlos Sainz) in third. I have a feeling that Verstappen would either upset the Ferraris in Qualifying by getting a front row position, or he would overtake one of the Ferraris at the start of the race.
Mercedes has been on a roll. They have scored podium finishes at every race since Canada and scored their first double-podium finish of the season in France. The Hungaroring isn’t a track that would suit the W-13, but Mercedes has been making changes that could make them perform better than we expect.
Haas is FINALLY getting upgrades. They were originally scheduled to debut upgrades at the French Grand Prix but issues with production forced the team to push the debut to Hungary. Even now, they don’t have enough parts to fit both cars. Since he is ahead in the championship and more experienced, Kevin Magnussen will run the new upgrades package for testing this weekend and Mick Schumacher will be like a control group. This means that Schumacher might be towards the back of the pack again, but it’s ok. This is all for the sake of the team performing better after summer break.
McLaren is just four points behind Alpine in the Constructors Championship. The team is feeling good about the upgrades they ran in France and their aim for this weekend is to try and get good points in Hungary. Daniel Ricciardo has a good history with the Hungaroring, having finished on the podium multiple times. Lando Norris hasn’t had as much luck as Ricciardo, but hopefully the luck can just spread to him and we will finish ahead of the Alpines.
Daniel Ricciardo won the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix
AlphaTauri was one of the many teams who debuted upgrades at the French Grand Prix. Unfortunately, they were not able to maximize the potential of the car during the race and Pierre Gasly finished P12 while Yuki Tsunoda retired from the race. Gasly normally does pretty well at the Hungaroring, finishing sixth, sixth, and fifth in his last three races here, but I’m not sure if P5 or P6 are possible this year. I think the ideal finish for AlphaTauri would be P8 or P9. 
Honorable Mentions:
Sebastian Vettel announced that he is retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season. The four time world champion said he wants to focus on his family and other passions as he steps away from the sport. With fifty-three wins, Vettel is third on the list of all-time winners and he still holds the title of youngest world champion the sport has ever seen. Thank you Seb, for your contribution to the sport. We will miss you. All of my honorable mentions are now just going to be Lando Norris doing stupid things, we won’t have anymore meaningful activism from Seb to highlight.
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Sebastian Vettel after winning the 2013 World Driver's Championship |
Last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix was VERY chaotic. This was the race where Valtteri Bottas hit Lando Norris and the two of them went spinning into a few other cars. Then, trying to avoid the collision, Lance Stroll drove into Charles Leclerc. About five cars were out of the race before they even reached the first corner. This led to Esteban Ocon getting his first Grand Prix win and to some very memeable moments.
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During the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was the only person on the starting grid during the Red Flag restart. All of the other drivers had gone to the pit lane to change tires. |
Happy Race Weekend!
~ Divya
Where I got these
from:
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2022/hungarian-grand-prix/everything-you-need-know-hungarian/
https://scuderia.alphatauri.com/en/2022-hungarian-grand-prixview/
https://www.haasf1team.com/news/hungarian-grand-prix-preview-1
https://www.racefans.net/f1-information/going-to-a-race/hungaroring-circuit-information/
Pictures: