Red Bull Australia

The Hungaroring is the slowest permanent circuit on the Formula One calendar. Its five 180-degree hairpins and relatively short straights force the teams to run their cars in maximum downforce specification, and Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, even refers to the 4.381km track as ‘Monaco without the walls’.

The track is used infrequently, which means the asphalt is dusty when practice gets underway on Friday. High track temperatures also make the asphalt slippery, and the high ambient temperatures make it one of the most gruelling races of the year for the drivers. Cockpit temperatures often exceed 50 degrees and the tortuous track layout gives the guys behind the wheel no let-up.

The Hungaroring has been a regular fixture on the F1 calendar since 1986, when more than 200,000 fans turned up to watch F1’s first race behind the Iron Curtain. The track has remained relatively unchanged over the last 25 years, with just a few alterations to the kerbs and a slight re-profiling of a couple of corners.

Overtaking is difficult, which places extra emphasis on qualifying and the start of the race. At 610 metres, the run to the first corner is one of the longest of the year and that gives drivers plenty of time to jostle for position.

 

   

TRACK STATS

Laps: 70
Lap length: 4.381km
Race distance: 306.630km
Start time: 1400 (local)
Full throttle: 56%
DRS: 42% of qualifying lap
Downforce level: high
Gearchanges per lap: 48
Average lap speed: 183km/h
Top speed: 300 km/h
Tyre compounds: medium / soft
Overtaking places: Turn 1
Average Ambient Temperature: 25 degrees
Lap record: Michael Schumacher, 1:19.071s (199.461km/h) in 2004
Mark Webber’s best result in Hungary: 1st
Sebastian Vettel’s best result in Hungary: 2nd
Daniel Ricciardo best result in Hungary: 18th
Jean-Eric Vergne’s best result in Hungary: N/A
 

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Article Details

Date

25/07/2012

Riders

Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber

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