More fragile trophies and 'another' 9th Hamilton win? Hungarian GP preview
F1
Lewis Hamilton will be looking for his second successive F1 win at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, but Ferrari could spring a comeback. Here's what to watch out for at the Hungaroring, including fragile trophies, porcelain-effect helmets and scorching temperatures
Last year's Hungaroring polesitter has victory in sight
With six different grand prix winners this season, what are the chances of adding a seventh this weekend? Not bad, you’d have to say, given Hungary’s record of unexpected F1 results over almost 40 years.
As we’ve seen in recent races, though, he’ll have to fight hard, perhaps even harder. Oscar Piastri is still without a win in a McLaren that may well be the fastest car on the grid, while Ferrari could make a breakthrough with its promising new upgrade at a circuit with plenty of similarities to Monaco — where Charles Leclerc last won.
Ocon will be hoping for another dose of the unexpected, and otherwise appears resigned to dwelling on past glories, wearing a commemorative helmet in the style of his winning porcelain trophy from 2021. He’s not the only one with a porcelain-effect helmet either: after breaking Max Verstappen‘s winning prize last year — which had to be remade — Lando Norris commissioned his own hand-painted lid from the factory.
McLaren has already suffered a breakage of its own, after a storm ripped the roof from its hospitality unit — only recently repaired after a fire, so will be hoping for a smoother race weekend, as will Kevin Magnussen who starts his last F1 race at the Hungaroring for Haas. Here’s all you need to watch for at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hungary heatwave
It will be hot in Hungary.
Storms on Wednesday damaged McLaren’s paddock hospitality unit, but the rest of the weekend will be about dealing with the sun. Temperatures are forecast to reach more than 30C on each day of running, peaking at 33C on Sunday, when there are expected to be clear skies and little wind.
McLaren’s hospitality unit didn’t fully survive a Wednesday night storm
Kym Illman/Getty Images
While humidity is set to be considerably lower than the 71% that brought health concerns at last year’s Qatar GP, held in 36C heat, it will still be an uncomfortable race, given the physical demands that the twisting circuit brings; drivers having to wrestle their car through corners at pace, with few straights to recover.
And that’s before we turn to the toll it will take on the car. The circuit is tough on rear tyres anyway because it demands repeated acceleration out of slow-speed corners several times per lap, and higher track temperatures add to the strain.
But it’s brake cooling where cars will really be tested. The accelerate-brake-accelerate-brake pattern of a slow-speed circuit takes its toll, with ten braking zones that require over 14 seconds of braking per lap, according to component manufacturer Brembo.
Verstappen in ice vest at the 2023 race. Hopefully Red Bull put it back in the freezer for this year
Mark Thompson/Getty via Red Bull
The low average speed reduces airflow to the brakes, even in clear air, so expect to hear plenty of messages about managing brake temperatures.
Drivers stuck behind the hot exhaust fumes of another car on the tricky-to-overtake circuit will have to do even more, putting them in the enviable position of trying to close and pass, only for their brakes to overheat, requiring them to slow down and drop back.
Spectators won’t have it easy under the full glare of the sun, but will benefit from “mist gates” to cool down, extra water supplies at the circuit and additional ventilation in the form of a 60m bungee jump — for 79 euros per leap (£66).
Hamilton aims for another ninth win
Hamilton has the chance to be a nine-time Hungaroring winner after setting the same record at Silverstone
Mercedes-AMG
No circuit had ever held nine world championship races won by the same driver until the British Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton claimed his ninth Silverstone victory.
Now he could do it all again at the very next race by adding to his tally of eight Hungarian Grand Prix wins so far.
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You might even think it likely, after Mercedes’ remarkable return to form that has seen it win the past two races. Even when mired in the doldrums it was competitive here. Both drivers finished on the podium in 2022 and Hamilton started on pole last year.
That said, the Hungaroring will expose any remaining Mercedes weakness. Earlier in the season, the car failed to cope well with the heat of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and the team was also unable to find a set-up that suited both high- and low-speed corners, as insiders explain in Motor Sport’s latest issue.
“[Hungary] will be another good examination of the gains we’ve made across the corner speed range,” said Toto Wolff ahead of the race weekend. “We hope to maintain this positive trajectory”.
Ferrari’s return to glory?
Ferrari has the ingredients to do well in Hungary
Ferrari
The Hungaroring’s narrow turns prompt comparisons to Monaco, both in layout and set-up. “It’s basically Monaco-esque with the downforce,” says Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu.
A circuit that calls for a Monaco-like set-up can only be welcome news for Ferrari, which has had little to smile about since Charles Leclerc won his home race.
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Having started the season with five podium finishes in the first four races, the team has just one from the last four, and is on course to be overtaken by McLaren in the constructors’ championship this weekend.
Unless Ferrari finds its momentum once more. And it will have reason to believe that it can.
A high-downforce set-up will help, but much could rest on the team’s progress with its exacting upgrade, which brought so much high-speed bouncing at Silverstone that the team reverted to its Imola spec from almost two months before.
It told Motor Sport that its understanding of the package, which brings additional downforce, is improving. And bouncing should be less of a problem than at the higher-speed circuits that have preceded this one. If the upgrade starts delivering, then don’t be surprised to see Ferrari back at the front.
Qualifying traffic
All the drama of qualifying in Hungary
Florent Gooden/DPPI
While overtaking is actually possible on the narrow and twisting Hungaroring, it’s still not easy — particularly when the heat will make it more difficult to follow, so qualifying is crucial.
More specifically, the final seconds of qualifying are crucial, given the circuit’s dusty nature. Every lap of running cleans the circuit a little more, and so the very last cars in each qualifying session have a slight advantage that could reap handsome rewards in the current competitive climate.
So expect traffic in the run-up to the chequered flag as drivers fight for a prime position in one of the most important qualifying sessions of the season.
Last year saw virtual gridlock at the final corner, as drivers slowed to create a gap before their fast lap, and the logjam also meant George Russell was eliminated in Q1 after being overtaken by Pierre Gasly as he started his flying lap.
This year, with drivers forced to maintain a minimum speed during warm-up and slow-down laps in qualifying, tempers could boil over at the pit exit where drivers can stop to ensure a gap to the car in front.
Tiptoeing around the trophies
Last year’s trophy didn’t survive the podium celebrations
Mark Thompson/Getty via Red Bull
In what might be considered a brave move, race organisers have recommissioned porcelain trophies for this year’s race, despite last year’s podium catastrophe where Lando Norris destroyed Max Verstappen’s prize when he slammed his sparkling wine bottle down onto the top step, sending the fragile ornament toppling to the ground.
This year’s trophies — including a porcelain plate for the winning constructor — feature a similar design, including a hand-painted outline of the circuit and 18-carat gold decoration.
Perhaps in a bid to encourage greater caution on the podium this year, circuit officials have released a mesmeric video of the painstaking process of hand-making each trophy at the Herendi porcelain factory, assigning them a value of “tens of millions of forints”. At the current exchange rate, 10m forints are worth around £20,000.
Meanwhile, Norris has embraced the story by commissioning his own porcelain design helmet for the weekend’s race, hand-painted by Herendi itself. Although awkwardly, Esteban Ocon has had a similar idea to commemorate his 2021 Hungarian GP victory.
Norris's porcelain-effect helmet
Ocon's is inspired by 2021 trophy
Isack Hadjar’s moment to shine as Red Bull vacancy opens
Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar is currently top of the points table in F2, and his form hasn’t gone unnoticed at a Red Bull team in flux.
The story changes from race to race — at one point the line-up looked sewn up — but two seats currently appear to be at risk, with continued questions over Daniel Ricciardo’s pace and now Sergio Perez being briefed against, with suggestions that he could lose his race seat this summer — barely a month after signing a contract for the next two seasons.
Hadjar a winner at Silverstone
Red Bull
And from there rises a plausible scenario that the two drivers left standing when the dust settles are current reserve Liam Lawson going to Red Bull and Hadjar at sister team RB. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has even said as much.
“He’s making a strong case for himself next year, which is why we’re not in any rush to finalise seats in the sister team,” said Horner after Hadjar’s win in the Silverstone F2 feature race earlier this month. Asked if there was a prospect of giving Hadjar an F1 seat, Horner added: “There’s always a chance.”
The heat of Hungary and the stresses of high-speed Spa couldn’t have come at a better time for Hadjar — a double header that will add serious clout to his reputation if he can use it to extend his championship lead.
Senna remembered in Hungary
The thirtieth anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola in 1994 has been marked for much of the season and will be at the Hungaroring, where he won three times (just not in 1989 when Nigel Mansell famously swept past into the lead after a storming drive).
Senna’s life, and his Hungaroring victories will be marked by repainted kerbs on the S bends of Turns 8-10, in the green and yellow colours of the Brazilian flag.
This year’s race trophy on the kerbs painted in tribute to Senna
Hungaroring
They will also serve as a reminder of the rich history witnessed at the Hungaroring since F1 first visited, under communist rule, in 1986. The pit building from that first race remains in place today, but is due to be demolished after the race and replaced over the course of two years with a modern facility.
Next year’s race is due to take place amid the building work, which includes a new main grandstand on the other side of the circuit. The government-backed redevelopment was given the green light after the grand prix contract was extended to 2032, on condition of the works.
