Formula One Eni Magyar Nagydij 2012 preview

Only several days after the excitement that was the German Grand Prix, the F1 fraternity has sprinted across Europe to Budapest for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. With Fernando Alonso further extending his lead in the Constructors’ Championship last weekend, the Spaniard will be looking to dominate once again once the cars take to the tight confines of the Hungaroring.

This weekend will see the 27th running of the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was first held in 1936 at Népliget. That inaugural race in particular was won by Tazio Nuvolari, however the race wasn’t held again for several decades until 1986 when the Hungaroring made it’s debut as the host of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Since then, the race has been run every year and has witnessed some of the most iconic moments in the sports history. From Nigel Mansell clinching the World Drivers’ Championship in 1992, Damon Hill nearly taking a superlative victory with Arrows in 1997, to Michael Schumacher’s unforgettable block on Rubens Barrichello in 2010. Although the track is not easy to overtake on, the racing is usually of a high quality.

This weekend’s race will be the last before the summer recess, when the world of Formula 1 literally stops for the four weeks before the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Within this time, all the Formula 1 teams shutdown for the summer break, with the many team personnel enjoying a well earned summer vacation.

Like with most tracks on the 2012 calendar, Michael Schumacher has taken the most victories with four throughout his career (’94, ’98, ’01, and ’04). However, McLaren have been the most dominant team in the history of the race, with 10 victories throughout the history of the race (’88, ’91, ’92, ’99, ’00, ’05, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’11). Jenson Button won last year’s rain struck race, whereas team-mate Lewis Hamilton spun whilst in the lead, and incurred a drive-through penalty for nearly colliding with Paul di Resta upon rejoining the circuit.

Former F1 driver, Indy 500 winner and CART Champion Danny Sullivan will be the Drivers Steward for this weekends race, taking over from Derek Warwick from last weekend. Danny Sullivan made his debut in F1 back in 1983 with Tyrrell before returning to America for 1984. The American driver took a memorable victory in the 1985 Indianapolis 500, before then taking the IndyCar World Series title in 1988. Danny Sullivan has also taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hours four times, as well as also partaking in the European Le Mans Series and ALMS.

The DRS zone for this weekend is situated along the start/finish straight, in exactly the same location as it was last year. Due to the tight and twisty nature of the Hungaroring circuit, this is the only feasible location for the DRS zone, as the remainder of the track is void of any true straight. As ever throughout practice and qualifying, the DRS device can be activated anywhere on the circuit, however on race day it is limited to only the particular zone, and whether or not the driver in question is within a second of the car ahead.

With rain once again a possibility throughout the weekend, it looks as though this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix will be yet another tremendously exciting addition to an already action packed season. Fernando Alonso is undeniably the man to beat, as the drivers prepare to take to the track tomorrow when the weekend officially gets underway.

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