After Silverstone, the Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard, the F1 circus now pitches up tent at the Hungaroring, a circuit where overtaking is nigh impossible... except for the very, very brave.

The straights are relatively short and taking the corners at the right speed is crucial, consequently, the standard setup includes maximum downforce. However, this means one of the lowest top speeds of the season so far, the cars only going straight for about ten seconds during the course of a lap, spending the remaining 65 seconds or so cornering.

The circuit's characteristics are also reflected in the full-throttle percentage, with only 65% of the lap distance taken with the accelerator pedal to the floor, one of the lowest ratios in Formula One.

The kerbs in the final corner can be very aggressive, and the same applies to the exit of Turn 11. However, unlike faster tracks such as Spielberg a few weeks ago, the kerbs in Hungary are driven over at lower speeds. The chicane (Turns 7 and 8), on the other hand, can prove problematic, especially in the wet, and take the drivers by surprise.

Good traction is very important when negotiating the many slow corners, which is why this circuit puts the rear tyres in particular under a lot of stress. The strategy in Hungary is often on the borderline between a one-stop and a two-stop, and if the tyres 'fall off the cliff' towards the end of a stint, the driver can suddenly lose an enormous amount of time.

But enough with the negatives.

Over the years the Hungaroring has provided us with many thrilling and surprising races, not least last year when, in atrocious conditions, Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, with a little help from Lando Norris, helpfully took out both Red Bulls at the start, while Lance Stroll put paid to the efforts of Charles Leclerc.

The race was red-flagged, but more drama was to follow at the re-start when all but Hamilton opted to start from the pitlane after switching to slicks leaving the seven-time world champion the only man on the grid.

The Briton pitted after just four laps, handing the lead to Alpine's Esteban Ocon, a lead the Frenchman was never to relinquish, thereby taking the first victory of his F1 career.

Second was Sebastian Vettel, ahead of Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, but post-race scrutineering saw the stewards unable to extract the required one litre of fuel and as a result the German was disqualified.

The Hungary weekend usually turns out to be one of the hottest race weekends of the year, with air and track temperatures averaging 27 and 43 degrees C respectively, however, following last year's rain we are expecting difficult conditions this time round, with showers throughout the weekend and even talk of storms.

Coming off the back of his disastrous French Grand Prix, Leclerc will be desperate to make amends, the Monegasque now 63 points adrift of Verstappen. In fact, with only a 7 point advantage over Sergio Perez the Ferrari driver should be more concerned about losing out to the Mexican than closing on the Dutchman.

However, go back one race to Austria and we saw both Sainz and Perez suffer issues that caused them to retire, consequently other than 'human error', Leclerc has to be concerned at the obvious reliability weaknesses of the Ferrari.

Thus far, the Ferrari pair have completed the fewest laps (just 80.1%), and have 17 finishes from 24 starts, while Red Bull has completed 90.6% of the season's laps and finished 21 times from 24 starts.

Coming up on the outside is Mercedes of course, and though the German team cannot hope to win either title it is surely on the brink of claiming its first win of the year while at the same time taking valuable points from the title protagonists.

Another strong outing last week saw Hamilton claim his second successive podium, and the fact that the Briton is the most successful driver here, with eight victories - twice the number of Michael Schumacher, who is the next driver on the list, suggests the Mercedes driver could well be in with a chance.

Due to the nature of the track, over the years we have seen drivers stake their position then basically challenge rivals to take it from them. With this in mind, teammates could very much come into play here, called on to ride shotgun, consequently qualifying will be vital, especially as far as Perez is concerned.

On the day that Sebastian Vettel announces his retirement it will be interesting to watch his fellow veteran this weekend, Fernando Alonso.

Other than his brilliant starts, the Spaniard has been using all his skills this season to fend off his rivals, and on a track where overtaking is so difficult, he could well spend Sunday afternoon frustrating the efforts of drivers in better cars.

Of course, Alpine is involved in a great battle with McLaren for fourth in the standings, and this particular battle, involving Alonso, Ocon, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo could well be worth the price of admission alone on Sunday.

Also, watch out for the upgraded Haas.

Sadly the upgrade is only available for Kevin Magnussen, but with talk that the package has basically given the American team a "white Ferrari", could we see another major surprise sprung this Sunday.

Another final factor worth considering is that this is the last race before the three week summer break and those of you who remember that far back may recall your last day of term.

For some it was business as usual, while for others it was a time for daydreaming about the forthcoming break, the perfect time to lose concentration and focus... exactly what you don't need in F1.

According to Betway, the latest odds are... Verstappen and Leclerc are 2.37 to win, Sainz 7.00, Hamilton 12.00, Perez 17.00 and Russell 23.00.

Ferrari is 1.72 to win, Red Bull is 2.20, Mercedes 9.00, Alpine 126.00 and McLaren 151.00.

Check out our Thursday gallery from the Hungaroring here.