Hungarian Grand Prix: timetable, standings, track info

France GP timetable

It’s time for the last GP before the summer break. The Hungarian Grand Prix takes place at the time you are used to from most European GPs. That means that the race starts on Sunday at 3 PM Dutch time. It’s also a traditional race weekend again, so there’s no sprint race, just three free practice sessions and a qualifying session before the race.

Championship standings

Max Verstappen has firmly extended his championship lead in France. Not only by winning, but also by the blunder of rival Charles Leclerc. As a result, the Monegask is now no less than 63 points short of Verstappen. Sergio Pérez is crawling back a bit from Carlos Sainz, while George Russell in turn is now on Sainz’s heels in the battle for P4 in the championship.

In the battle between the constructors, Red Bull Racing is again taking some distance from Ferrari. The gap in France grew from 56 points to 82 points. Moreover, Mercedes is slowly but surely getting closer to second place and Ferrari is now also having to look back. Furthermore, on P4 there was a change between Alpine and McLaren. Those two teams are still chasing each other, only things are now slightly better for the Alpine team.

Circuit

The Hungaroring is an integral part of Formula 1. The first Grand Prix was held here 36 years ago and since then there has been a GP every year. The circuit was opened in 1986 and it was quite special that Formula 1 came directly there that year. Hungary was, after all, still behind the Iron Curtain. However, it turned out to be a great success and for many years the Hungarian Grand Prix has attracted a lot of attention, also from abroad. Among the Dutch it is also a relatively popular GP to visit, as it is cheap and the circuit is close to Budapest.

The Hungaroring is quite a short and winding circuit and is also jokingly referred to as a ‘Mickey Mouse track’ by some drivers. Overtaking is by no means easy and due to its location there is often a chance of treacherous weather. A heavy shower can just appear over the hills and hang over the circuit. Last year this led to chaos at the start, when Valtteri Bottas shot straight on the wet track in Turn 1 and several drivers collided with each other. Max Verstappen, among others, was the loser, although he managed to finish ninth despite the damage to his car.

Esteban Ocon was the surprise winner in Hungary last year. It was his first win in F1. (Photo: ANP)

Next Sunday, if everything goes according to plan, the drivers will drive 70 laps over the Hungaroring. The Hungarian Grand Prix will then be flagged after 306.63 km. The fastest race lap is now in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, who completed the track in 1:16,627 in 2020. Incidentally, last year he took pole position on the circuit with a time of 1:15.419.