Hungarian Grand Prix pivotal for F1 frontrunners and backmarkers | Giles Richards | Sport
Only one race remains before Formula One takes its annual rest for the summer â€" a break that after the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend may weigh heavier on some shoulders than others. The next few days will be potentially as instructive in the fight for the world championship as any we have seen thus far. Only a sliver separates Lewis Hamilton from Sebastian Vettel at the top of the table but Budapest has more import than just who will hold the lead when racing returns at Spa at the end of August.
The gap between Mercedes and Ferrari has been close all season. From the moment the Scuderia hit the ground running at testing we saw a proper fight at the front. But with new regulations it was also clear that victory would not necessarily go to the swiftest at the start of the season but the team who could develop their car most effectively to its end.
During the early races the two teams were on a par, indeed, if anything in race pace Ferrari seemed to have the edge over the previously dominant Mercedes. The latter had struggled with balance, set-up and putting their tyres into the correct temperature operating window. They had been set back it is understood by the FIA ban on the suspension system they had intended to use and were learning about the car on the go. Hamilton in particular struggled in Sochi and Monaco. The latter was noted by the team’s executive director, Toto Wolff, as the point at which they identified their problems and began to turn things round.
Hamilton now trails Vettel by one point after his victory at the British Grand Prix and he has some momentum but more ominously for Ferrari he may well now have the car under him he has sought all season.
After Monaco, Hamilton won in Canada and was then denied a likely victory in Azerbaijan by a headrest coming loose. His team-mate Valtteri Bottas won in Austria, where Hamilton had taken a five-place grid penalty, and then the pair completed a one-two at Silverstone. The British driver celebrated by crowd surfing â€" his pleasure in connecting with the fans as genuine as his confidence in how far Mercedes have come since Monte Carlo.
It was not only the win but how it was achieved. Hamilton qualified more than half a second quicker than Vettel â€" the largest margin any driver has enjoyed this season. Vettel has since admitted that the single-lap pace Mercedes can coax from their engine was a gamechanger and that as things stand the Scuderia could not match it.
Equally, early in the race when Hamilton was looking for a safe margin out front, he put six seconds on Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in only five laps.
Vettel might have stayed closer in touch but even an advantage of half that would be significant. Hamilton did so, however, on a track that suits the Mercedes, the high-speed corners of Silverstone sitting well with the design philosophy behind the team’s car. Budapest is an altogether different challenge. The Hungaroring has the characteristics of a street circuit, a slow-speed, twisting test of chassis and downforce, where raw power is not the deciding factor.
The contrast with Silverstone and the previous round in Austria could not be greater. Understandably then Mercedes and Ferrari have identified this weekend as crucial. If Hamilton’s team can turn in a similar performance to Silverstone it will be clear their package is really firing on all cylinders and they will enter the second half of the season as favourites. Should the familiar problems resurface, however, then a long hot summer awaits.
The Ferrari has shown better performance in the tight corners and Vettel still believes it is the better car through the twisty bits. They need to prove this is still the case at the Hungaroring. The engine upgrade they brought to Silverstone was not the great step forward it first appeared but that will not matter this weekend, when what counts is whether they have maintained a slim advantage through low-speed corners.
The pressure is on the Scuderia and will only be more so should their rivals move ahead. The team has been aggressive and clever with strategy, and functioning as a collective unit with remarkable cohesiveness, if with somewhat of a bunker mentality. If Budapest puts then on the back foot, that will be tested further. The attention will only intensify and carrying on the development battle and coming back at Mercedes will require them to remain absolutely united.
At the back of the field another performance will be under scrutiny. The tight 2.722-mile circuit should also favour McLaren and the team are expecting a good run. They bit the bullet and took major grid penalties at Silverstone for Fernando Alonso to ensure he had new components for this race, where their Honda power unit’s deficit will be negated and the apparent strength of their chassis will come to the fore.
Reaching Q3 and scoring points is their target, with Alonso’s two in Azerbaijan so far all they have achieved. There is no title at stake but the pressure the team are under is equally intense. The relationship between McLaren and their engine manufacturer is already strained to the limit, and further failures in the form of reliability would be a crushing blow, especially if they incur pre-race penalties. Here, as at the front of the grid, Budapest is much more than just round 11 but the very crucible of the season so far.
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