Lewis Hamilton heads into the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend only one point behind his teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg. As teams head toward the mid season break, with 9 wins between them the drivers have dominated the 2016 championship. However, if either of them want to translate their success into the world championship, history suggests they do not want to win the Hungarian Grand Prix this Sunday.
The Hungarian Grand Prix has developed somewhat of a reputation for producing unexpected race results. In fact, not since the 2004 Grand Prix has the winner in Hungary gone on to lay claim to the World Championship. What’s more only twice in that period has the championship winning constructor sealed victory in Hungary.
The circuit is often referred to as an oversized go karting track with minimal straights and extremely limited overtaking opportunities. A Monaco without the yachts. On paper the circuit should lend itself to the strengths of the Red Bull Racing duo. That being said, the Hungarian Circuit has been entirely resurfaced for 2016, we saw in Baku that Red Bull Racing appear to struggle with tyre performance on a fresh tarmac. This may play into the hands of Scuderia Ferrari who are yet to seal a victory in 2016. With rumours of increasing senior management pressures a win in Hungary would go a long way for the team. Sebastian Vettel secured his second victory for the Scuderia around the circuit in 2015.
The European summer has officially kicked into high gear over the past week, with this weather forecasts for Friday and Saturday in Hungary suggest a scorcher, however with heat in Europe, comes storms, long range forecasts suggest the race on Sunday could be interrupted by heavy rain. If this proves to be the case the drivers at Scuderia Toro Rosso, and previous race winner Jenson Button could spring a surprise.
Wilde Consulting 