20/07/2015
NEWS STORY
As we head to the next race, our thoughts are with the family and friends of Jules Bianchi. Everyone at the Sauber F1 Team has been deeply touched by his death. We send our sincere condolences to his family. It is difficult to get back to normality.
The Hungarian Grand Prix will take place this coming weekend on the outskirts of Budapest at the Hungaroring. The race celebrates its 30th anniversary. After the tenth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Sauber F1 Team heads into the summer break - together with all the other teams for the factory shut down from 3rd to 14th August.
Marcus Ericsson: "The Hungaroring is a difficult circuit - a small track, quite narrow, also bumpy, with a lot of corners. Budapest and its surroundings usually have extremely hot temperatures at the end of July, therefore, we require good tyre management and need to make sure they are working in the right way. That will be one of the big challenges. We have to see in practice how competitive we are on this type of track with the car. As far as I know a lot of Swedish fans are coming to the race, including more than a dozen friends of mine. So it will be nice seeing a lot of Swedish people around the track, and hopefully they can help to push me even more."
Felipe Nasr: "The Grand Prix in Budapest is always very challenging. This circuit has many combinations of corners and only short straights. The track is very demanding for the tyres. We need to have a lot of braking stability, as well as good traction. As a driver, on this track you feel as if you are busy all the time. You always have to be concentrating for the next corner. There is only a brief break on the main straight. The grip on the track improves from day to day. We must, therefore, rely on our experience in order to anticipate grip level changes from day to day and adjust accordingly. Normally Budapest is a hot place during the whole grand prix weekend, and that can be really tricky for the tyre strategy. Overall I like racing there."
Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "The Hungaroring is another circuit where the cars are set up to carry all available downforce. It features a sequence of flowing low to medium-speed corners, which make it technical for the drivers, with the final bit of lap time needing to be found in the details, as the limited track width does not offer many ideal lines. Overtaking is difficult and this puts an emphasis on the importance of a good grid position. The tyre compounds allocated for the weekend are the medium and the soft, and that should fit well with the expected hot conditions."