19/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Lance: "The Hungaroring is a super technical circuit with plenty of twists and turns; it's a very different challenge to Silverstone for both the cars and the drivers. Stylistically, it's more like a karting track with sequences of tight corners and only one real straight, so we're hopeful that it should suit the AMR23. Overtaking can be tough, so we'll be looking to find a good rhythm in the practice sessions to ensure we deliver a strong performance in Qualifying on Saturday. Budapest is a great city, and the fans always bring an incredible atmosphere, so I'm looking forward to racing there."
Fernando: "I think we extracted the maximum from a challenging weekend at Silverstone. It was great to be racing in front of the British fans and also to spend some time at the new Technology Campus.
"We now switch our focus to Budapest. I have many good memories of racing at the Hungaroring. I won my first ever race in Formula One in 2003, exactly 20 years ago, and it's often the venue where I have celebrated my birthday. It'll be strange to celebrate that this year in Belgium, but let's hope we have something else to celebrate this weekend. Overtaking isn't easy here, but sometimes there are very strange races with unpredictable weather, so we have to be ready to capitalise and score as many points as possible."
How does the Alternative Tyre Allocation work?
The ATA will see Formula One's tyre supplier Pirelli give teams 11 sets of dry tyres per driver rather than the usual 13. Teams usually receive eight sets of Soft tyres, three sets of Medium tyres, and two sets of Hard tyres per weekend for each driver, however, this weekend, teams will receive three sets of Hard tyres, four sets of Medium tyres and four sets of Soft tyres for each driver.
Instead of returning six sets of dry compounds to Pirelli before Qualifying, teams will only have to return four sets per driver: one set after Free Practice One, one set after Free Practice Two, and two sets after Free Practice Three. In Qualifying, drivers must use Hard compounds in Q1, Medium compounds in Q2, and Soft compounds in Q3 - unless it's wet.
The ATA rules were set to be first trialled at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which was called off due to flooding. The ATA rules will be used for the second and final time this season at the Italian Grand Prix - after which teams, F1 and the FIA will decide whether to adopt this allocation for 2024.
The objective of the ATA is sustainability. Fewer tyres used means fewer tyres produced and fewer tyres transported. This weekend, 40 fewer sets of tyres will be used, or 160 individual tyres.
Insight and Speed with Cognizant
• Race interruptions: Safety Cars are a relatively rare occurrence at the Hungaroring, with just five deployments over four races since 2014. There have also been just four Virtual Safety Car deployments - two in last year's race - here since the system was introduced in 2015.
• Overtaking: While last year's Hungarian GP boasted 56 on-track passes, races at Budapest have seen just 24 passes per race on average - ignoring starts and restarts - with most taking place at Turns One, Two and Three and 86 per cent of overtakes using DRS.
• Strategy: The softest tyres in the Pirelli range are available this weekend and high tyre degradation could push drivers to stop twice in the dry. This weekend Pirelli's Alternative Tyre Allocation is in place giving drivers 11 sets of slicks instead of 13. Furthermore, Q1 must be run on Hards, Q2 on Mediums, and Q3 on Softs.
Unlocking the Lap
Turn One is a tight right-hand hairpin that demands late braking, especially for an overtake, and a solid exit for the following downhill run to Turn Three. Here, the track is off-camber and drivers can easily fall foul of track limits.
It's flat out to Turn Five, a long-radius uphill right-hander that sets drivers up for a short burst to the Turn Six-Seven chicane, where the flat kerbs are asking to be attacked, and down towards the faster Turn Eight and Nine bends where runoff and barriers suddenly begin to loom. It's almost full throttle to Turn 12, a simple right-hander.
A long left-hander that tightens on exit, Turn 13 is one of the more awkward corners on the circuit; it leads to another long hairpin, Turn 14, which sets drivers up for the DRS straight.