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Hungaroring

The Hungaroring is one of the most technical and demanding circuits on the calendar, despite also being one of the slowest of the season. Martin Brundle once described it as "a street circuit without the houses". The track is made up of tight and complicated turns which require precise driving as one corner inevitably leads almost straight away to the next and so getting slightly offline will have consequences for the rest of the lap.

Unfortunately, there is little opportunity for the drivers to overtake and the race is invariably processional. Turn one provides the best chance to pass but there is little to no chance at the thirteen other corners, unless the driver in front makes a mistake, due to a mix of difficult bumps, cambers or by simply being too tight. Therefore, the pressure is on to pull out a good qualifying performance.

Circuit Map

Hungary sees some of the highest downforce setups of the year as teams seek to optimise cornering speeds, braking and traction out of the corners. A relatively soft suspension is also employed to maximise mechanical grip although rear tyre wear has to be kept under control.

The Hungaroring is little used outside of the Grand Prix weekend and therefore the track can be quite dusty and low on grip at the beginning of the weekend. The surrounding landscape doesn't help and if the wind gets up, a covering of dust can soon descend on the track again.

While the engines enjoy a comparatively easy weekend with only 58% of the lap at full throttle for a maximum of 58% of the lap, good torque is critical to power the cars out of the slow speed corners.

Overview

Circuit Length: 4.381 km (2.722 miles)
Race Length: 70 laps (306.7 km, 190.6 miles)
Circuit Type: Permanent course
Direction: Clockwise
Corners: 16 (10 right-hand and
6 left-hand corners)
Elevation Change: Average
Run-off Area: Medium
Maximum G-Force: 3.9 G
Joined Calendar: 1986
Lap Record: 1:19.071 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)
Av. Temperature: 27°C
Typical Weather: Sunny
Altitude: 237 m AMSL
Official Website: External link

The Circuit

Top Speed: 291 km/h (190 mph)
Average Speed: 194 km/h (120 mph)
Gear Changes/Lap: 50
Engine Demand: Medium
Full-Throttle %: 58%
Longest Sustained: 11 s
Fuel Consumption: 2.45 kg/5km
Fuel Load Effect: 0.086 s/5km
Brake Demand: High
Braking %: 13%
Downforce Level: Very High
Cooling: High
Tyre Wear: Mid-High
Grip Level: Low
Tyre Allocation: Soft / Supersoft
Pit Lane Loss: 17.1 s
Pit Lane Length: 360 m

Key Points

Turn 1 - This tight turn at the end of the finish straight is the best opportunity for an overtaking manoeuvre especially off the start.

Turn 4 - A challenging, fast left-handed bend with blind entry.