[Official] Hungarian Grand Prix 2017 - Round 11 of 20 - Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[Born Racer]

We now enter the second half of the 2017 Formula 1 season, as the Magyar NagydÃ*j (Hungarian Grand Prix) at the Hungaroring in Budapest hosts the eleventh round of twenty.

The first Hungarian Grand Prix was pre-Formula 1 world championship, in 1936 in Budapest and held in Népliget, the largest park in the capital. It was won by Scuderia Ferrari with Tazio Nuvolari driving an Alfa Romeo.

The Grand Prix was not revived until its modern incarnation in 1986 and the Grand Prix has become more highly regarded as time has gone by, somehow surviving on the calendar where some may have expected it wouldn’t. This will be the circuit's thirty-second consecutive Grand Prix; only Monte Carlo and Monza have hosted more consecutive races. It can be tremendously difficult to pass here, but Hungary has nonetheless thrown up some enthralling races.

High downforce and therefore sometimes simplistically described as ‘like Monaco without the houses’, it actually has some long, winding corners, which lend it a relentless nature; in Sector 2 particularly, there is little respite for the drivers. Some drivers love it for this reason and have talked about how it is great to be able to get into a groove here.

The Hungaroring is also considered one of the better races for spectators, with the hillside banking providing a good view of the circuit.

The downhill Turn 1 plunges tight-right, with another straight the critical preparation for a sort of hairpin at Turn 2, several approaches to it meaning that passes are possible here on the opening tour. After then shooting around 60 degrees right, a straight takes the drivers uphill before the quick left, Turn 4, is soon halted by a tight right, Turn 5. The track then heads into a quick chicane with a 90 right and a much more open left on the exit, daring drivers to push harder to gain more time through there.

After a left at Turn 8 and the 90-right Turn 9, the track sweeps through 10, goes 90 right at 11 and 12 and then goes into two long hairpins to end the lap, a constant test of balance and throttle control as drivers wait eagerly to stamp on the throttle again. The DRS detection zone is just before the final of these and there is activation on the start-finish straight and just coming out of Turn 1.

In the last ten years, only three drivers have won from pole and the last driver to win the race and also take the drivers' championship that year was Michael Schumacher in 2004.

In the inaugural world championship Grand Prix in 1986, Williams's Nelson Piquet put a great pass around the Lotus of Ayrton Senna at Turn 1 on opposite lock. After a wheel nut came off Nigel Mansell's car the following year on Lap 70, he took that one too. Derek Warwick took the final point in sixth despite driving with flu and conjunctivitis. Jonathan Palmer came seventh and won the Jim Clark Cup that year for normally-aspirated cars.

In 1988, Alain Prost made an audacious move on Ayrton Senna and the drivers they were lapping, Gabriele Tarquini and Yannick Dalmas. However, he ran wide at Turn 1. Senna went on to win from Prost and Thierry Boutsen, who often seemed to figure well at this circuit. Nigel Mansell retired, feeling unwell with chicken pox before he missed the next two Grands Prix.

The next year, Mansell made a decisive move on Ayrton Senna exiting Turn 3 as they caught Stefan Johansson's Onyx, and went on to win the race after scything his way through from 12th on the grid. Boutsen was once again third for Williams.

In 1990 Thierry Boutsen held Ayrton Senna at bay for lap after lap to provide himself with his final win and many people, rather unfairly, with fodder to say it’s too difficult to overtake here, instead of congratulating him on a decent defensive drive.

The following two years, Senna won and Nigel Mansell took his championship here in 1992.

First-time winners at the Hungaroring include McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Heikki Kovalainen (his only Grand Prix win) and Damon Hill.

Damon's first win was in 1993, following two races he had led and had failures in. As he usually did in 1994, Michael Schumacher won in his Benetton-Ford. He was followed home by Damon Hill and Jos Verstappen.

In 1995, Damon Hill won from pole position in a race in which Taki Inoue was hit by a marshal's car as he tried to put a fire out on his Footwork. Jacques Villeneuve won in 1996, followed home by team-mate Hill.

It was, in fact, Damon who was the star of the slightly bizarre 1997 race, which he so nearly won for Arrows before lugging the car home runner-up. There were few Bridgestone-shod teams in that first year for the Japanese manufacturer and that day the Bridgestones were the tyres to have. Damon came within a whisker of a win, a hydraulic pump failure three laps before the chequered flag giving him an intermittent throttle and only third gear at his disposal. Villeneuve again took the win.

1998 was another notable race, where Michael Schumacher was ordered by Ferrari to build an enormous lead (24 seconds) in order to emerge from his final splash-and-dash stop ahead of McLaren’s David Coulthard. He managed 27 seconds. Mika Hakkinen won the next two races, in 2000 jumping ahead of Schumacher and Coulthard off the grid to take the lead.

A Ferrari one-two for Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in 2001 meant that the Scuderia clinched their third consecutive constructors’ championship, while Ferrari grabbed their fourth in a row the next year as this time it was Barrichello who finished in front of Schumacher, with Ralf Schumacher in third.

Alonso led home Räikkönen and Montoya to take his first win in 2003, becoming the youngest driver to win a world championship Grand Prix until Vettel beat that record. It was another Ferrari 1-2 for Schumacher and Barrichello in 2004, while Räikkönen led home Michael and Ralf Schumacher in 2005.

Button’s first Hungarian Grand Prix win in 2006, and first Grand Prix win overall, was from 14th on the grid, the furthest back anyone has won at the circuit, in a wet race. Pedro de la Rosa was second for McLaren.

In 2007, we saw the McLaren qualifying controversy when Fernando Alonso waited in the pits to stop Lewis Hamilton from getting around to the start-line in enough time to make it for a hot lap and a livid Ron Dennis could be seen on the pitwall. Lewis turned the tables in the race. Lewis’s team-mate Heikki Kovalainen took his only win in 2008 after Felipe Massa’s engine blew up on Lap 67. Timi Glock followed home in second for Toyota.

The next year, it was Massa who was injured in qualifying when a spring from Barrichello’s Brawn flew off and hit him in the helmet. Hamilton won the race. In 2010, Mark Webber went back into the lead of the world championship after winning with Red Bull.

McLaren took the next two wins, with Button in 2011 and Hamilton in 2012.
Hamilton took his first win for Mercedes in 2013, the last race of that season that was not won by Sebastian Vettel.

In 2014, one of the stars of the season, Daniel Ricciardo came through from 4th on the grid to take the last of his three 2014 wins.

In 2015, both Mercedes drivers had particularly scrappy runs. Daniel Ricciardo collided with Hamilton and Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel took the victory.

In 2017, Lewis Hamilton arrives in Hungary just one point behind the championship leader. It was the same last year too. Rosberg was in front going in, but Hamilton’s win, just ahead of the eventual world champion, meant he got the championship lead.

This year, most drivers have gone for similar tyre allocations, with nine sets of supersofts and three sets of softs for who are likely to be the main contenders and one more set of supersofts and one less of softs for most the rest. Last year’s winning strategy was two stops, one on Lap 16 and the other on Lap 41, with two sets of softs following the starting tyres of supersofts.


To join in our predictions contest on Ten-Tenths, go here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147500

Our Fantasy F1 contest is here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149774

Constructors’ championship standings: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2017/team.html

Drivers’ championship standings: https://www.formula1.com/en/results....7/drivers.html

Hungarian Grand Prix tyre selections: http://www.fia.com/news/f1-hungarian...x-tyre-choices


Circuit length: 4.381km
Number of laps: 70
Race distance: 306.63km
Dry weather tyre compounds: Medium, Soft and Supersoft
DRS Detection Zone: just before Turn 14 (final corner)
DRS Activation Zone 1: Start-finish straight
DRS Activation Zone 2: Just after Turn 1
Lap Record: 1:19.071 (2004 – Michael Schumacher – Ferrari)
First Hungarian Grand Prix: 1936
First World Championship Grand Prix: 1986