 |
| Track notes for the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest, Hungary. |
The last race before the summer break for Formula 1 comes this Sunday in Budapest, Hungary, at the Hungaroring. Going into the race, Nico Rosberg still leads teammate Lewis Hamilton by 14 points after a win in the German Grand Prix and 53% of the season completed:
Schedule:
- Practice 2: 8 a.m. EDT
- Qualifying: 8 a.m. EDT
- Race: 8 a.m. EDT
The Race:
The last two years Lewis Hamilton won this race in commanding fashion, he has also won it two other times, making him the most winning driver at this circuit in the current grid. Jenson Button is second on that list with wins in 2006 and 2011. Expect this year to be no different than the last two, Hamilton has been dominant at Hungary and amazing so far this season. The only driver more dominant than Hamilton at this track is the German driver Michael Schumacher.
Nico Rosberg is the driver that should be worried about his championship position to his teammate. Over the course of the last three years, his average finishing position here has been 12.6. This includes a 19th place DNF and only one top 10 finish. Hamilton’s average is 2.0, a 10.6 spread and enough to swing the points standings into Hamilton’s favor. If Hamilton was to win, Rosberg would need to finish 4th or better to keep his lead in the points.
If Hamilton does manage to get the lead, he certainly won’t be home free for the season. In the second half of the season (races after Germany) in 2013, Hamilton managed an average finish of 6.9. This is compared to his first half of the season results of 4.8. Rosberg is on the good side of this stat, improving to 6.7 in the second half from 8.3. Rosberg will be coming for Hamilton if he loses the lead going into the summer break. He should only get better when the season resumes in the fall.
Over at Williams Racing, Valtteri Bottas is coming off a huge third place in Germany and will hope to continue that form going into the break. With that finish, Bottas helped Williams move into third in the constructors championship ahead of Ferrari. Last year, Bottas suffered an engine failure but his teammate, Pastor Maldonado, managed to put the car into 10th position. We expect Bottas to do that easily and have a good chance of cracking the top five again as well.
A maximum of 250 points are available to any one driver throughout the duration of the remaining races. Look for the Mercedes duo, Ricciardo, Bottas and Alonso to all be in the hunt for podiums and points in the last ten races.
Who do you think will take home the Hungarian Grand Prix win and lead going into the break? Let us know in the comments or on twitter.
Hungarian Grand Prix Articles:
- Is Williams Regaining Their Success?
- The Battle For the Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship
- Current Points Standings
The Single Seater 