26/07/2011
NEWS STORY
Monaco with more run-off. The 2.722 mile Hungaroring is tight and twisty; there isn't a straight worthy of the name and the average speed is just 190kph. The race is usually held in scorching heat, making it an endurance test for the drivers, despite the relatively small g-forces.
The track is used infrequently during the year, so grip levels are normally very poor at the start of the weekend. The situation improves as rubber goes down, but car set-up can usually only begin in earnest on Saturday morning, once the track has become representative.
The Hungaroring is located just 19km from the capital city of Budapest, so the race is always well attended. When Nelson Piquet won the inaugural Hungarian Grand Prix in 1986 for Williams F1, a crowd of more than 200,000 watched his performance.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Budapest is a high downforce circuit, with lots of slow speed corners. It has quite a bumpy track surface compared to normal. Usually there is a reasonable improvement in grip as the weekend progresses due to the dusty nature of the circuit. We will have new bodywork to test on the Friday, and we will also run KERS on both cars.
Rubens Barrichello: Hungary is the type of track that is quite difficult to overtake on, but with DRS it should be a little bit easier. It is a race I have won in the past so I am looking forward to racing there again. Just like Monaco, it is a slow speed track which can throw up a few surprises, so I hope we can get a better result. I stay in my motorhome so I'm about 20km away from the city but I know the place quite well and my kids will be coming so I'm looking forward to them also getting to know Hungary.
Pastor Maldonado: I really like the Hungaroring and I won the main race last year in GP2. The track is really slow speed so we might need to change our set-up quite a lot to adapt to that kind of circuit. There isn't a single corner I like more than any other, I just like the track as a whole. I think it will be a hard weekend but I hope we can improve the car.
To experience the Hungaroring in more detail click here