What to expect at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix
Formula 1 returns this weekend after a two-week absence—and there's plenty to look out for at the 2023 edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
First held at the Hungaroring outside of Budapest in 1986, the Hungarian GP was one of the West's few glimpses into life behind the Iron Curtain. The initial race was won by Nelson Piquet of Brazil, but it's England's Lewis Hamilton who holds the record for the most wins in Hungary: he's stood on top of the podium here on eight separate occasions.
When Hamilton isn't winning in Hungary, the races tend to be full of surprises. Just ask Esteban Ocon: the French driver pulled off his maiden F1 victory here in 2021 after rain derailed the competition in the opening laps. Or ask Max Verstappen, who cruised to victory in 2022 with nearly eight seconds to spare. The kicker? He'd started the race in tenth--and still managed to win comfortably.
There's plenty to look forward to in Budapest this weekend, but the biggest story revolves around sister teams Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. After firing Dutch driver Nyck de Vries following the British Grand Prix, AlphaTauri made a bold call: to replace him with fan favorite Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo had spent the 2023 season as a reserve driver at Red Bull after losing his place at McLaren to Oscar Piastri in 2022.
The Hungarian Grand Prix will be Ricciardo's first race for AlphaTauri. With both him and teammate Yuki Tsunoda competing for a place alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, we can expect fireworks on and off the track.
In the meantime, Sergio Perez, Verstappen's current teammate, must hold his nerve and regain his form in order to keep the Red Bull seat for himself. And while Perez has been capable of turning things around in the past, it's not looking good for him this time—he crashed his Red Bull just four minutes into his first practice run of the weekend.
The Hungarian Grand Prix isn't just testing the drivers; it's also testing the strategy teams of each racing team. Sky Sports reports that each team must use a specific tire compound for each round of qualifying: hard tires in Q1, medium tires in Q2 and soft tires in Q3. In the past, teams could select whichever tires they felt were fastest and not worry about the consequences. In Hungary, though, teams must be fast on every compound in order to survive.
As a high-downforce curve-heavy circuit, the Hungarian Grand Prix suits well-rounded cars better than it suits speedy rocket ships. Aston Martin and Alpine, two teams who have struggled in recent weeks on faster tracks, are expected to excel in Hungary; meanwhile, Williams, a team that has optimized its car for straight-line speed, may look worse than normal as the weekend progresses.
The Hungarian Grand Prix kicks off on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. ET, with qualifying on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. ET.
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