Round 11 of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place this weekend, with the Hungaroring playing host to the Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Free Practice 1 and 2 will take place on Friday, July 24, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying on Saturday, July 25, and the Grand Prix itself on Sunday, July 26.<\/p>\n
Vital Statistics<\/p>\n
First Grand Prix \u2013 1986
\nTrack Length \u2013 4.381km
\nLap record \u2013 1m 16.627s, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 2020
\nMost pole positions \u2013 Lewis Hamilton (9)
\nMost wins \u2013 Lewis Hamilton (8)
\nTrivia \u2013 The event has been the scene of several drivers\u2019 first F1 victories, including Oscar Piastri in 2024, Esteban Ocon in 2021, Jenson Button in 2006 and Fernando Alonso in 2003 (more on that below)
\nPole run to Turn 1 braking point \u2013 476 metres
\nOvertakes completed in 2025 \u2013 69
\nSafety Car probability \u2013 13%*
\nVirtual Safety Car probability \u2013 25%*
\nPit stop time loss \u2013 20.56 seconds<\/p>\n
*From the last eight races in Hungary<\/p>\n
The driver\u2019s verdict<\/p>\n
Jolyon Palmer, former Renault F1 driver: Budapest feels like a small circuit when you\u2019re there but there\u2019s plenty that goes into it with 14 corners.<\/p>\n
The first sector is basically two corners: a big braking zone at Turn 1, which is a relatively straightforward right-hander but quite bumpy in the braking area, so it can induce some front locking, before heading into Turn 2, which is slightly downhill.<\/p>\n
The middle sector is one of those ones where you\u2019ve got to find a rhythm because out of pretty much every corner you need to be positioned for the next corner coming through it. You go from Turn 4 into 6, then you get a tiny breather, but it carries you through the next sweeping section, building speed all the way.<\/p>\n
In the final sector, sometimes the tyres are starting to overheat and you start to scramble around for a little bit of grip there. In the race, you\u2019ve got to think about setting up your overtake coming out of Turn 14, the final corner, because that is your one chance to do something into Turn 1 and, if not, into Turn 2. If you don\u2019t get it done there, you\u2019re probably going to be following for the next lap.<\/p>\n
I had some good battles here in GP2, and while it\u2019s not easy to overtake in Hungary, you can. The layout of the circuit lends itself to overtaking at Turn 2, particularly as you can go inside or outside, so it can be hard to defend. It\u2019s a nice one to have some battles at.<\/p>\n
Tyre and strategy insight<\/p>\n
“For the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, Turns 1 and 12 have been resurfaced, following last year\u2019s work on the pit lane and starting grid,” reads Pirelli’s weekend preview.<\/p>\n
“The circuit measures 4.381 kilometres and features 14 corners. It is often compared to a kart track due to its short length and twisty nature. There is only one real straight, coinciding with the start-finish line, which represents one of the few overtaking opportunities.<\/p>\n
“For the rest, drivers are challenged by numerous corners, some of them 180\u00b0, which are negotiated 70 times over the course of the race. For this reason, car set-ups are usually very similar to those used at Monaco.<\/p>\n
“Just like in the Principality, the three softest compounds in the range will also be used in Budapest. C3, C4 and C5 are the ideal selection for a slow track where traction and braking stability are crucial to tackle direction changes. The surface has pronounced roughness due to the age of the sections that have not been renewed, and grip levels are among the lowest of the season, with significant track evolution over the weekend.<\/p>\n
“Track temperatures at the Hungaroring are typically the highest recorded throughout the season. Thermal degradation is therefore one of the main factors influencing tyre performance, particularly on the rear axle due to the prevalence of traction phases. Graining may also appear on the softer compounds.<\/p>\n
“Tyre degradation is expected to bring one-stop and two-stop strategies closer together in terms of overall race time. The choice between the two will also be influenced by track position considerations, on a circuit where overtaking can prove difficult. With very high temperatures, teams are likely to favour the two hardest compounds.”<\/p>\n
Current form<\/p>\n
After a run of Grands Prix without a win, Kimi Antonelli<\/a>\u2019s championship lead had been cut down to a precarious 25 points ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix \u2013 but the picture would dramatically evolve during the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, with Antonelli converting pole position into victory.<\/p>\n Given that Mercedes<\/a> team mate George Russell<\/a> suffered a Lap 1 exit following contact with Lewis Hamilton<\/a> \u2013 the Ferrari<\/a> man going on to finish the race in P4 \u2013 Antonelli now holds an advantage of 45 points over Hamilton, who has overtaken Russell for second place in the standings.<\/p>\n Russell sits only five points behind Hamilton in third \u2013 and with Team Principal Toto Wolff<\/a> admitting that the team are working to fix a power unit problem<\/a> that contributed to the Briton\u2019s struggles on the opening lap in Belgium, Russell will be hoping for better this weekend in Hungary.<\/p>\n Over at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc<\/a>\u2019s good run continued with a P2 finish at Spa-Francorchamps \u2013 with the Monegasque having been in contention for the win \u2013 while Hamilton was relieved to take home points after a tricky weekend in which he suffered a crash during FP3 on Saturday.<\/p>\n McLaren<\/a>, meanwhile, will be targeting another step in Hungary as they prepare to bring upgrades to the MCL40, while Red Bull<\/a> boss Laurent Mekies<\/a> believes that the Milton Keynes-based squad\u2019s car is getting \u201cstronger and stronger\u201d following Max Verstappen<\/a>\u2019s P3 podium in Belgium.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Racing Bulls<\/a> have now levelled with Alpine<\/a> on points in the fight for sixth in the Teams\u2019 Championship<\/a> \u2013 which side will take the momentum ahead of the summer break? Aston Martin<\/a> are also worth keeping an eye on at the Hungaroring, with the team set to deliver their long-awaited updates following a difficult first half of the season.<\/p>\n Iconic moment<\/p>\n There are so many iconic moments to choose from over the several decades of racing at the Hungaroring, but one particularly dramatic race \u2013 and landmark result \u2013 came during the 2006 season.<\/p>\n Starting back in 14th, Jenson Button<\/a> excelled in the tricky wet\/dry conditions to rise up the order and bring himself into contention, meaning he could capitalise when long-time leader Fernando Alonso<\/a> lost a wheel nut and spun off.<\/p>\n After a hatful of podium finishes and several near-misses, it marked the first victory of Button\u2019s F1 career, the first for Honda as a constructor since John Surtees\u2019 win in Italy in 1967 and the first for a Honda engine since Gerhard Berger\u2019s triumph in Australia in 1992.<\/p>\n Check out the action, and post-race emotions, in the video player below…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Round 11 of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place this weekend, with the Hungaroring playing host to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":820590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-820589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}