Formula 1 is back for one more weekend before the three-week summer break. We’re heading to the Hungaroring in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix. A challenging circuit with short straights and high downforce, it promises to close the first part of the season out with some good racing.
McLaren is the word
McLaren continue their dominance in the 2025 season, with a 1-2 in Spa-Francorchamps seeing Piastri take another win. However, last year’s Hungarian GP brought controversy for the Woking-based team.
Lando Norris undercut his teammate for the race lead on lap 46, building a gap out in front as Piastri had a slower pit stop. Norris was told to give the position back in a series of controversial radio messages pleading him to ‘think about the team’. Eventually, Piastri got close enough for Norris to let him pass without ruining his own race, and the Australian took his maiden Grand Prix victory.
Ahead of the 2025 race, Piastri is maintaining his championship lead by just 16 points over Norris. The British driver would need a race win with his teammate in P6 or lower to reclaim the lead before the summer break. The Constructor’s Championship is very much in McLaren’s court. The team has a 268 point lead over Ferrari in P2.
This weekend, Piastri will be hoping to repeat last year’s win and Norris will be hoping for Hungaroring redemption.
Up for Ferrari, down for Mercedes
The Scuderia saw a positive uptick in form in Belgium after Charles Leclerc took another podium finish. Hamilton finished in P7, charging through the midfield after a poor qualifying led him to start from the pit lane with a new power unit fitted. Team principal Fred Vasseur is optimistic that the rear-suspension upgrade introduced in Spa will pay off in Budapest.
Mercedes have not been on top of the game for the last few races. A disappointing British GP saw another DNF for rookie Antonelli and only 1 point scored for Russell, and the latter missed the podium again in Spa with a P5 finish behind Red Bull’s Verstappen.
Eyes to the sky
After two consecutive wet-dry races, we’re not quite in the clear-skies yet. There is a 60% chance of rain for race day, though the forecast says the possibility is higher in the morning than for lights out in afternoon.
Hopefully, F1 will avoid a repeat of the hour-long rain delay seen at Spa-Francorchamps last Sunday. Light wind is forecast and temperatures in the high 20°s, so with any luck we’ll get a dry race with plenty of chance for action.
Track and stats talk
The Hungaroring is a challenging track for drivers, having lots of technical corners that make overtaking difficult and leave little room for error. The circuit is 4.381km long and the lap record (1 minute 16.627 seconds) is held by Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton also holds the record for most pole positions (9) and most wins (8) in Hungary.
As well as Piastri last year, the Hungarian GP has seen multiple drivers take their maiden wins. Esteban Ocon in 2021, Jenson Button in 2006, and Fernando Alonso in 2003. Could we see this run continue in 2025?
Off-track, the Hungaroring has undergone some major renovations to facilities such as the paddock, main building, and main grandstand to provide a better experience for fans and personnel.
Tyre Strategy for the Hungarian GP
Pirelli are bringing the same 3 tyre compounds to Hungary this weekend as they did last year- the C3 hard, the C4 medium, and the C5 soft.
The most popular strategy last year was a two-stop using the medium and hard tyres. Though Tsunoda for Racing Bulls made just 1 stop before the chequered flag, and some cars opted for 3 stops, doing a shorter final stint on soft tyres- something we don’t often see in 2025 since the extra point for fastest lap was removed.
Hungary is the final race before the dreaded summer break, which ends with the Dutch Grand Prix on 31 August.
