The F1 Hungarian GP Preview: All you need to know

The F1 now sets up camp at the Hungaroring, a circuit where overtaking is all but impossible... unless you're very, very courageous. This follows Silverstone, the Red Bull Ring, and Paul Ricard.

F1 races, till now have been exciting and not to forget, dramatic as well, with lots of things going inside the ring. From brilliant overtakes to dangerous crashes, from spectacular fires to pole positions, and not to forget the strategic mishaps that have been done during these races, well there was everything an enthusiast would want from F1 races.

Now, things are going to be more exciting as the next F1 race is on a track that is notorious for many reasons. You ask why? Well, this race will take place in Hungaroring. And honestly overtakes are near-to-impossible for anyone, anyone except for the brave.

The usual configuration incorporates maximum downforce due to straightaways being short and the drivers have to take the corners at the proper pace. The vehicles only travel straight for around ten seconds during a lap and spend the remaining 65 seconds or so turning, resulting in one of the season's lowest top speeds.

Let’s understand this statistically, with the full throttle percentage. With only 65 percent of the lap distance covered with the accelerator pedal fully depressed, this makes it one of the lowest ratios in Formula One.

Take a look at the circuit:

Turn 11 and the kerbs in the final corner are very aggressive making it harder for any driver to overtake. However, the kerbs in Hungary are crossed at slower speeds than on faster tracks like Spielberg from a few weeks before. On the other hand, the chicane (Turns 7 and 8), which can be difficult, especially in the rain, can surprise the drivers.

This circuit is particularly hard on the rear tyres because good traction is crucial when navigating several slow turns. Hungary's driving style frequently veers between a one-stop and a two-stop approach, and if the tyres suddenly "slip over the cliff" toward the conclusion of a stint, the driver could lose a significant amount of time.

Okay, yeah, we need not to focus just on the negatives.

The Hungaroring has produced many exciting and unexpected races over the years, not the least of which was last year when, in appalling conditions, Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, with a little assistance from Lando Norris, kindly took out both Red Bulls at the start, while Lance Stroll put an end to Charles Leclerc's efforts.

Red flagging the race brought about more drama, as everyone chose to start from the pit lane after swapping to slick tyres, leaving only seven-time world champion Hamilton on the starting row.

The British driver pitted after just four laps, handing Alpine's Esteban Ocon the lead, which he would never give up. Ocon went on to win his first race in Formula One.

Sebastian Vettel finished in second place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, but the German driver was disqualified because the stewards were unable to retrieve the requisite one litre of gasoline during the post-race scrutineering.

With air and track temperatures averaging 27 and 43 degrees Celsius, respectively, the Hungary weekend is typically one of the hottest race weekends of the year. However, after last year's rain, we are anticipating challenging weather this time around, with showers throughout the weekend and even talk of storms.

Leclerc will be eager to make up for his dismal performance at the French Grand Prix; the Monegasque is currently 63 points behind Verstappen. In actuality, the Ferrari driver should be more worried about losing to Sergio Perez than about catching the Dutchman because he only has a 7 point lead over the Mexican.

Going back just one race, in Austria, we saw both Sainz and Perez experience problems that forced them to retire; as a result, Leclerc must be concerned about the Ferrari's glaring reliability flaws in addition to "human error."

Red Bull has completed 90.6 percent of the season's laps and has finished 21 times from 24 starts, while the Ferrari duo has completed the fewest laps (80.1 percent) and had the fewest finishes (17 from 24 starts).

Mercedes is approaching from behind, of course, and although though the German team cannot hope to win either title, it is undoubtedly on the verge of capturing its first victory of the year and stealing significant points away from the title contenders.

The Mercedes driver could very well be in with a chance given that Hamilton had another strong performance last week and earned his second consecutive podium. The Briton is the most successful driver in this race, having won eight times, which is twice as many as Michael Schumacher, who is the next driver on the list.

Due to the nature of the circuit, we have witnessed drivers stake their positions over time before essentially challenging competitors to take them away. Due to the possibility that teammates may be asked to ride shotgun in this situation, qualifying will be essential, particularly for Perez.

This weekend's race between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, another veteran, will be interesting to witness on the day Vettel announces his retirement.

The Spaniard has been utilizing everything of his abilities to hold off his competitors this season, aside from his stellar starts. Given the difficulty of passing on this track, he may spend Sunday afternoon thwarting the efforts of drivers in better cars.

Naturally, Alpine and McLaren are engaged in a fierce competition for fourth place in the standings, and this particular race on Sunday between Alonso, Ocon, Lando Norris, and Daniel Ricciardo may be worth the ticket price alone.

Sadly, the upgrade is only available for Kevin Magnussen. However, there are rumors that the package has essentially given the American squad a "white Ferrari," thus this Sunday might bring up yet another big surprise.

The fact that this race is the last one before the three-week summer break should also be taken into account. For those of you who can remember so far back, you may remember your last day of class.

Some people saw it as business as usual, while others daydreamed about the next break. This is the ideal time to become distracted and lose focus, which is the opposite of what you want in Formula 1.

2022 Formula 1 World Driver's Championship Standings After Round 12, French GP

| Pos | Driver | Team | Points ||-----|------------------|----------------|--------|| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 233 || 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 170 || 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 163 || 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 144 || 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 143 || 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 127 || 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 70 || 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 56 || 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 46 || 10 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault | 37 || 11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 22 || 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 19 || 13 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 16 || 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 15 || 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 12 || 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 11 || 17 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 5 || 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 4 || 19 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 3 || 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 0 || 21 | Nico Hulkenberg | Aston Martin | 0 |

2022 Formula 1 World Constructor's Championship Standings After Round 12, French GP

| Pos. | Team | Points | Points ||------|----------------|--------|--------|| 1 | Red Bull | 396 | 233 || 2 | Ferrari | 314 | 170 || 3 | Mercedes | 270 | 163 || 4 | Alpine Renault | 93 | 144 || 5 | McLaren | 89 | 143 || 6 | Alfa Romeo | 51 | 127 || 7 | Haas | 34 | 70 || 8 | AlphaTauri | 27 | 56 || 9 | Aston Martin | 19 | 46 || 10 | Williams | 3 | 37 |