GP OF HUNGARY. After a fortnight’s break, the Formula 1 world championship resumes its rights this weekend in Hungary where new qualifying regulations will be tested. Here is all you need to know.
Reduced from 24 to 22 races after the cancellations of the Shanghai and Imola Grands Prix in the spring, the Formula 1 season will end its first half this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix. A 2023 world championship hitherto marked by the unchallenged domination of Max Vertsappen, winner two weeks ago at Silverstone of his eighth race of the year, the sixth in a row. A third consecutive world championship title is already reaching out to the Red Bull driver, whose margin with his rivals is colossal. Dolphin of his teammate, Sergio Perez is already relegated to 100 points (99 exactly) in the world championship standings!
And these are not the performances of the Mexican – unable to climb to Q3 in the last five Grands Prix! – which risk reversing the trend. The other teams have been resigned for a long time, especially since the Red Bull arrives in Hungary with a few improvements, particularly in terms of the design of its pontoons, likely to make it gain a few additional tenths… Not good news for a competition dedicated since the start of the year to fighting for places of honour. And in this little game a new team entered the dance a fortnight ago. Very successful on the Silverstone track, the McLarens were the closest to the RB19 and were nicely rewarded with the respective second and fourth places of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Each type of tires imposed during qualifying
The “Orange” will try to confirm this new momentum at the Hungaroring where the Mercedes, the Ferraris and the Aston Martins intend to restore the established order behind the Red Bulls. This eleventh round of the season will also be an opportunity to see a ghost. Without a bucket seat this season, Daniel Ricciardo had slipped into the shoes of third driver at Red Bull. But the Austrian team has agreed to loan him to its subsidiary Alpha Tauri to replace the Dutchman Nick de Vries in the wake of the British Grand Prix. The 34-year-old Australian, winner of eight races since his debut in Formula 1 in 2011, will undoubtedly have things to prove after a fairly catastrophic 2022 at McLaren. A Ricciardo who also still harbors the ambition to recover next year the seat of Sergio Perez whose adventure with Red Bull is about to end.
Finally, it should be noted that this Hungarian Grand Prix will serve as a test for new regulations for qualifying. If the teams are usually free to choose their type of tire throughout the session, this will be imposed on them for the first time. Each driver will have to put on hard tires during Q1, medium ones during Q2 and soft tires for the last ten in the running in Q3. This new format should have already been tried out in April at Imola, but exceptional flooding got the better of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The Hungaroring will therefore serve as a laboratory for new regulations, the idea of which had not necessarily been very well received within the paddock.
What time to watch the Hungarian Grand Prix?
The drivers will do their first laps on the Hungaroring on Friday at the start of the afternoon. During this Grand Prix in the classic format, the battle to obtain pole position on the grid will take place in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday while the start of the Grand Prix will be given at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
- Free practice 1 at 1:30 p.m. on Friday July 21 (duration: 1 hour)
- Free practice 2 at 5 p.m. on Friday July 21 (duration: 1 hour)
- Free Practice 3 at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday July 22 (duration: 1 hour)
- Qualifications 4 p.m. on Saturday July 22 (duration: 1 hour)
- Grand Prix at 3 p.m. on Sunday July 23 (duration: 2 hours maximum)
On which TV channel to watch the Hungarian Grand Prix?
The Hungarian Grand Prix will be broadcast on the channels of the Canal group, the official broadcaster of the Formula 1 world championship. The free practice sessions and qualifying will be broadcast on Canal+ Sport on Friday and Saturday. The Grand Prix, from 3 p.m. Sunday, will be broadcast exclusively on Canal+.
- Friday July 21: Free Practice 1 at 1:10 p.m. + Free Practice 2 at 4:40 p.m. to follow on Canal+ Sport
- Saturday July 22: Free Practice 3 at 12.10 p.m. + Qualifying at 3.40 p.m. to follow on Canal+ Sport
- Sunday July 23: “La Grille” program at 1.55 p.m. then start of the Grand Prix at 3 p.m. on Canal
Do you prefer to follow the Grand Prix on your computer, tablet or warm at the bottom of your bed with your smartphone and your duvet? No problem, this eleventh Grand Prix of the season will of course also be viewable in streaming. You have two options: access to the Canal+ MyCanal streaming platform or via the official F1 website, F1.com. Both will offer all the practice, qualifying and race sessions live but also in replay. On MyCanal, activating expert mode also makes it possible to combine screens, multi-cameras (including on-board cameras) and data, for example the drivers’ lap times in real time. On F1.com, the live broadcast of the tests and the race is supplemented by replays, documentaries or historical reminders via the F1TV Pro service, offered at 64.99 euros per year or 7.99 euros per month.
The Hungarian F1 Grand Prix takes place on the Hungaroring circuit, located near Budapest, capital of Hungary. 4.381 kilometers long, it has hosted the Grand Prix since 1986. Lewis Hamilton is the driver with the most victories in this Hungarian GP: he has won it 7 times in total. Overall, if the tortuous Magyar circuit offers few opportunities for overtaking, it is appreciated by drivers for its technical side and has offered some great challenges in the past. Let us mention in particular the performance of Damon Hill in 1997 on his modest Arrows which had almost won before being betrayed by its mechanics and overtaken by his ex-teammate at Williams and future world champion Jacques Villeneuve, but also the first victories in F1 of Fernando Alonso in 2003 with Renault and of Jenson Button in the rain in 2006 with Honda. The Briton, who will be crowned world champion in 2009 with Brawn, had taken 113 starts in F1 so far without managing to win.