Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2015: All you need to know

Race details

Race name Formula 1 Pirelli Magyar NagydÍj 2015 Round 10

Circuit Hungaroring First race 1986 Grands Prix held 29

Laps 70 Race distance 306.63km Circuit length 4.381km Lap record 1:19.071 by Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2004

Chance of safety car Medium

Most wins by driver Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton x4 Most wins by team McLaren x11

2014 result

Daniel Ricciardo AUS), Red Bull 1:53:05.058

Fernando Alonso (ESP), Ferrari +5.225s

Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes +5.857s

2015 schedule

July 24 – Friday practice 1 1pm to 2.30pm Friday practice 2 5pm to 6.30pm

July 25 – Saturday practice 3 1pm to 2pm Saturday qualifying 4pm to 5pm

July 26 – Sunday race 4pm to 6pm

All times UAE

TV schedule All sessions to be broadcast on BeIN Sports HD6

Best places to watch

Click here to find out where the best bars to watch the Grand Prix live are. 

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The atmosphere

Hungary may not have a racing hero of its own, but that doesn’t stop a huge crowd turning up each year.

Traditionally a lot of Finnish fans make the trip to Budapest to support their drivers, and certainly since the 1990s they haven’t lacked heroes – Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Heikki Kovalainen, and now Valterri Bottas.

Hungary’s Grand Prix being held in the middle of summer also helps lift attendances, with many Europeans making a long weekend of it.

The circuit also sits in a natural amphitheatre which offers excellent views for spectators.

Weather forecast

Hungary has a mixed history with weather over race weekends. This year rain is expected on Friday and Saturday, while race day is forecast to be warm and sunny with highs of 33 Celsius.

However, if practice is wet and the race is dry, teams will struggle to find a decent setup, and should qualifying be wet then the grid will be completely unpredictable.

A bit of history

The first Hungarian Grand Prix took place in 1986 and was the first ever F1 race to take place beyond the Iron Curtain. With the USSR starting to crack and the onset of the elitist menace of Western capitalism seemingly an inevitably, the Grand Prix was an excellent way of showing the world that communism didn’t work, and that those living under its hammer and sickle were ready to join the rest of the world.

The inaugural race was won by Nelson Piquet.

Hungary has been the location for several notable first wins, not least for World Champions Damon Hill in 1993, Fernando Alonso in 2003, and Jenson Button in 2006. All three races were significant in their own rights too. In Hill’s case, he became to first ever son of a Grand Prix driver to win, Alonso was the first ever Spaniard to win a Grand Prix and the youngest ever race winner at the time, and Button won the first ever wet race at the Hungaroring. Indeed when Finn Heikki Kovalainen won his first – and only – race at Hungary in 2008, he was the 100^th different Grand Prix winner.

In 2009, Felipe Massa was struck on the head at 150mph by a 1kg spring, which had come off of the Brawn of Rubens Barichello. He was knocked unconscious and crashed into the barriers. He need surgery and was lucky to survive.

Best overtaking spots

Soon after it joined the race calendar in 1986, the Hungaroring gained a reputation for offering somewhat processional races. This was underlined in 1990 when Belgian Thierry Boutsen, in an inferior Williams, was able to hold off Ayrton Senna in a dominant McLaren, and win.

In 2003 the main straight was lengthened and turn one re-profiled to offer more overtaking opportunities, and largely this did make a difference. However the rest of the track remains quite narrow, and since the circuit doesn’t get much use throughout the year, it is often very slippery off line.

The main straight leading into turn one is the best spot for overtaking, although turn four is also more popular these days. Due to the nature of the circuit, the Hungaroring is traditionally more of a strategy circuit, so expect most overtaking to happen in the pit lane…

Writer’s winner

As the 2015 season continues to look more and more like a Mercedes-AMG benefit campaign, only a fool would bet against one of the Silver Arrows taking a win. Lewis Hamilton could become the driver to have won the most amount of races in Hungary if he wins on Sunday, so we’ll go with him.

However, if qualifying is wet on Saturday, then it really is anyone’s guess.

Classic races

1997

After winning the World Championship with Williams in 1996, Damon Hill moved to the woeful Arrows team for 1997. Remarkably, even after a dismal year, Hill qualified third on merit and soon passed Michael Schumacher to take the lead. With two laps to go, and Hill leading from Jacques Villeneuve by 35 seconds, disaster struck. Hill’s Yamaha gearbox got stuck in second, and while he was able to carry on, Villeneuve passed him on the last lap to take the win. Hill was second.

2006

Jenson Button had been on the fringes of winning for some time, but still hadn’t cracked the case after 112 races. His 113^th race, at Hungary, didn’t look especially promising either. After qualifying in a lowly 14^th place, Button used his skills to master the wet-damp-dry-wet conditions better than anyone else, even better than Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso – who crashed out thanks to a loose wheel nut. A popular win? Very much so.

1989

Riccardo Petrese slowed with a broken radiator, allowing Ayrton Senna and a hard-charging Nigel Mansell to pass him. Mansell was clearly the on-form driver, but his Ferrari engine wasn’t a match for Senna’s McLaren Honda. However, the lead pair caught up with backmarker Stefan Johansson, and Senna struggled to get by. Mansell pounced, catching the Brazilian off-guard, and the rest is history.

Record holders