Postcard from Budapest
Thursday ,28 July 2011
2011
The Hungarian Grand Prix celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, having been held for the first time back in August 1986. Since then the race has been a staple of the F1 calendar, and a popular one too.
That’s been due in no small part to the weather. Hungary in August normally means beautiful sunshine and baking hot temperatures. Having been at a freezing cold Nurburgring last weekend F1 folk were thus a little disappointed to arrive and find that in recent days Hungary has been much cooler than expected.
The world was very different back in 1986, of course. The Berlin Wall had yet to fall, and Hungary was very much a communist country. The race was the first to be held in Eastern Europe, and as such, it was a major event both for the locals and the visitors. Fans turned out in huge numbers, while F1 people had their first taste of life in the Eastern Bloc, where hotels were basic, and decent restaurants hard to come by.
Everything was to change over the next few years, and today Budapest looks very much like every other major city in the world, with the same fast food chains and coffee shops you can see anywhere else, and expensive cars on the streets.
The Hungaroring track is about 20 minutes outside the city, and is reached via the M3 motorway. It’s laid out in a hilly landscape, and the contours help to provide great viewing for spectators. It was squeezed into a relatively small area, which is why it is tight and twisty in nature. Many people compare it to Monaco without the walls, and while Hungary is of course faster, the two venues share a high downforce package.
Of course, being slow doesn’t mean it’s easy. It’s a very technical track, and drivers have very little time to rest over the course of a lap.
One thing it is famous for is a lack of overtaking opportunities, simply because it is so tight. This year we have the DRS zone on the pit straight, and everyone is eager to see what different that makes. And then, of course, there’s the tyre situation. Tyres have contributed at least as much to overtaking this year as the DRS and KERS, and when drivers are running on tyres of different age and in varying states on Sunday, we may see some passing.
An example of how tyres can play a role in Hungary came in the 1997 race, when Damon Hill put the unheralded Arrows into the lead. That was due to his Bridgestones performing better on the day than the Goodyears of the usually faster opposition. In the end Hill had a mechanical problem and dropped to second, but he’d made his point.
That was one of the more memorable events we’ve seen in Hungary, but there have been others. In 2006, and against all expectations, we had a wet race – and Jenson Button scored a shock win for Honda, as many of the big names hit trouble.
Last year was another action packed race, and unfortunately Force India was in the middle of it when Adrian Sutil was hit by Robert Kubica in the pit lane! Let’s hope that things go a little smoother this year…
Credit: Force India (www.forceindiaf1.com)
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