Not a super way to start the new race week - https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/27279472/renault-team-truck-crashes-hungary Weather is normal for this time of year - possibly a touch cool as it is below 30C but certainly track temp will be very warm Friday 26C 50% shower chance Saturday and Sunday 25-26 Sunny
Ferrari have become more capable. Red Bull as well. This might not be a close race at all. I think other teams have a good chance now. Red Bull might almost be the favorite.
Interesting assessment of last weekend and the issues raised. https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/27285189/can-verstappen-take-title-fight-hamilton
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145098/norris-to-avoid-penalties-as-germany-issue-identified Lando Norris is set to escape further power unit-related penalties at the Hungarian Grand Prix after McLaren and Formula 1 engine supplier Renault identified the cause of his Hockenheim retirement. Norris started the German Grand Prix from 19th on the grid after power unit components were changed due to a battery problem, and he then retired in the race after suffering a loss of power from the combustion engine. The subsequent investigation has determined that the cause of the problem was not the engine itself, but an ancillary that is being modified for the Hungarian GP. A McLaren spokesperson told Autosport: "Lando's PU suffered an ancillary failure that forced us to stop the engine. "We will fit a new design in Hungary. The PU has not been damaged and will be reused in Hungary."
Confusion for Haas - https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145101/steiner-2019-haas-strangest-car-ive-worked-with Gunther Steiner says his Haas team's 2019 Formula 1 car is the "strangest" machine he has ever worked with. Haas continued to experiment with its car's aerodynamic specification during the German Grand Prix weekend and will again do so at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean has reverted to the team's Australian Grand Prix aero spec while team-mate Kevin Magnussen has run the latest package. Steiner says his team is "baffled" by the VF-19 and that it cannot understand why the Haas machine's one-lap strength cannot be repeated in the race. "We're still to understand where we are," said Steiner. "This is the strangest car ever I've worked with. "I mean, you can qualify sixth - which in reality is eighth, I know that - or qualify fifth sometimes, and then in the race you just drop off to second-last. It's amazing. "It hasn't been many times that a car like this was around. I don't remember anything like this, and therefore it's even more difficult. You cannot just go back and say 'hey, if you are always slow'. "[In Germany], I think Kevin [Magnussen], without the lock-up, he would've made it into Q3 pretty easily. But then again, in the race, you end up being slow. I'm baffled." Image Unavailable, Please Login Steiner added that Haas was continuing to analyse the data from running its cars in different specifications, but that mixed messages is making the choice of direction difficult. "If we would've come to the conclusion that the Melbourne car is faster, we would change to the Melbourne car," he said. "But we haven't come to that conclusion because in FP3, look at the time from Kevin, it was an amazing time. Where did it come from, I don't know." Steiner has repeatedly suggested that the 2019 specification of Pirelli tyres is key to its fluctuating form. "I think it's still the tyres," added Steiner. "It's how the car influences the tyre. When we get the tyre to work, we are on it - and we need just to understand that one, what does make it work and whatnot. "We know the window of the tyre is small, where it works, and that will not change, so we need to find out why we are popping out sometimes and sometimes not."
Could it be that they're very disturbed by dirty air during the race, whereas this isn't a significant issue in qualifying? All the best, Andrew.
One would think this has been modeled and extensively so. The conflict as you point out is a touch obvious!
Not my favourite either but it's cheap to attend, no need for rip off grandstand seats and the beer is cold. Then there is the City of Budapest for laddish fun.
Okay. As I've only watched on TV, it's mostly been processional with the exception of Mansell's mighty pass on Senna in . . . 1989?
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145107/red-bull-hungary-win-vs-mighty-mercedes-difficult Christian Horner says Red Bull knows it will be difficult to win this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix given the Mercedes Formula 1 car's "mighty" performance in slow-speed corners. The tight and twisty confines of the Hungaroring circuit should in theory suit the Red Bull-Honda package, but Red Bull team principal Horner thinks the form between F1's top three teams has changed this year. Horner said he believes Mercedes has turned a traditional weakness on slow-speed circuits into one of its core strengths. Asked by Autosport if he believed Red Bull would start the Hungary weekend as favourite, Horner said: "Hungary is a track we enjoy going to. "But Mercedes's slow corner performance is pretty mighty, and I think they're going to be tough opponents." Image Unavailable, Please Login Red Bull has reason for optimism that it can at least launch a challenge based on the recent progress it has made with its RB15, given the car has won two of the last three races in Max Verstappen's hands. Horner is convinced Red Bull has unleashed some of the car's strong potential, but feels the team must find more speed if it is to challenge Mercedes more often. "We have been getting more performance on the car," he said. "The chassis's been getting better, the engine's been getting better and I think we have got some good stuff in the pipeline for the second half of the year. "We've got stable regulations from 2019 into '20, so whatever we learn this year applies to next year. "So we want to keep the trajectory going the way we are." Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko still has his sights set on five wins this year, but Horner said he does not want to set the team specific targets. "I never talked about five wins," he said. "Helmut, that's his objective and optimism. I take each race at a time. "We've won two grands prix, which is fantastic given this is a transitional year with Honda. "For Honda, if you think about the results they were getting a year or two ago, it's a phenomenal turnaround."
My suspicion is that he confused Hungary with Suzuka. AFAIK there is no correlation to the Hungaroring.
The track is not very interesting but a nice thing is that you can see virtually the full track (it may not be that important now that there are screens around the track anyway). I might be biased because I attended a few GPs there, including the very first one in 1986 - that was quite an adventure to go there by train from Marseilles (it took 30 hours)... and the next week I went to Austria for Prost's win and the "Marseillaise"
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145134/completely-wrong-ferrari-fine-wont-be-repeated Autosport can reveal that the FIA has agreed with Formula 1 teams that unsafe pitstop releases will be punished with time penalties rather than fines, following Ferrari's incident at Hockenheim. During the first round of pitstops in the German Grand Prix, Leclerc was released by Ferrari into the path of Romain Grosjean, which forced the Haas driver to hit the brakes and lose positions. But Ferrari and Leclerc were not handed a time penalty for the incident as the stewards elected to hand the Scuderia a €5000 fine instead. The sanction prompted unease as there were fears the punishment would start a precedent in teams taking more risks at pitstops because a fine would not be a sufficient deterrent. It has now emerged that the matter was discussed in Thursday afternoon's team manager's meeting with the FIA ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. There was a unanimous request for time penalties to be deemed as the punishment and the FIA has now accepted the concerns that fines were not enough of a deterrent. It has now been decided that unsafe releases will be punished with time penalties and the decision will quell unhappiness in the pitlane, with Max Verstappen proving a vocal critic.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145135/ferrari-adds-boomerang-wings-to-bargeboards Ferrari has become the latest Formula 1 team to incorporate boomerang-shaped wings into its bargeboard package, and has brought updated aerodynamic components to the Hungarian Grand Prix. Having run through the early season with a less cluttered bargeboard package, Ferrari has accelerated its development in this area after fundamental issues were discovered with its aerodynamics. The team redefined its upgrade path as a result, changing its front wing in France before adding further new parts at the following rounds. Adding the 'boomerangs' to the bargeboards represents the next step, where the top element is attached to one of the fins, and the bottom element is mounted further back and lower down - as denoted by the red arrows in Giorgio Piola's photograph. The two are kept at an equal distance with a small metal spacer to limit flex. The boomerang craze is consistent with this year's technical trends, in which bargeboard development and complexity has greatly increased throughout the season. The metal plate in the top piece (yellow arrow) appears to be the trailing edge for a vent, which accepts air from underneath and brings it towards the top - possibly to bleed out any higher-pressure air. Image Unavailable, Please Login When the tip vortex at the inboard section of the front wing is produced, it moves downstream towards the bargeboard - in its transit, it creates a blockade between the turbulent air from the wheel and the front face of the floor. Ferrari's boomerang seems to be shaped to pen that vortex in, keeping it below the sidepod inlet to push it around the undercut. It also produces small tip vortices of its own, having not been attached to the turning vanes mounted to the sidepods, unlike other boomerang designs seen on the grid. This suggests Ferrari wants to strengthen the airflow pushed outboard by the car, minimising the turbulence entering the floor and also building up the performance of the diffuser. At recent rounds, Ferrari's performance in cornering has improved, although the SF90 still has a deficit to the Mercedes W10 in that particular area. These changes to the bargeboard section seems to underline a concerted attempt to claw back further performance as the team chases its first win of the year.
I don’t know if it fun to drive , never been on it but from a spectator point of view , utter disaster in my opinion . You can’t pass a slower car If your life depends on it , just like Monaco , at least Monaco has the history behind it and fabulous parties . They should have axed it long time ago
