Two weeks on from Lewis Hamilton’s home win and the championship is nicely poised heading into Hungary.
Hungary has been on the calendar since 1986 and is a popular circuit among drivers, for its kart like feel and fast flowing turns. The circuit has seen only minor changes since its debut, such as the extension on the put straight to aid overtaking into turn 1 and the lead up to the penultimate bend has also been altered in recent years. For this season the circuit has been completely resurfaced, with teams expecting lap times to be much quicker around the Hungaroring
Despite often being criticised for its lack of overtaking opportunities, Hungary often produces great races, such as Jenson Button’s first Grand Prix victory in 2006 and Lewis Hamilton’s charge through the field in 2014, where he refused team orders to let Nico Rosberg past on the way to third place.
Leading up to the Grand Prix this weekend stories have been mainly dominated by teams securing their futures and circuit agreements. Even athlete content creators have been heavily discussing these stories.
The biggest piece of news is that the struggling Sauber team have been bought by a group of Swiss investors Longbow Finance SA. Sauber have been struggling financially this season, with wages being paid late on several occasions as well as not being able to develop the car. The news ensures that Sauber’s future is in safe hands with Monisha Kalenborn remaining as Team Principal. The team name will also remain.
The second piece of new regards circuits signing agreements to host Formula 1 races. It was announced in the week that Imola has signed a deal to host a Grand Prix, however the Italian Grand Prix is likely to remain at Monza. A race could be held as early as next season though the president of Italy’s motorsport governing body has confirmed that the issues preventing Monza striking a new deal have now been removed.
The final story I am going to look at is the FIA imposing stricter rules regarding radio communication with teams and rivers following Nico Rosberg’s incident at the British Grand Prix. Quoting the new wording, teams can now only “Indicat[e] a problem with the car. Any message of this sort must include an irreversible instruction to enter the pits to rectify the problem or to retire the car.” If the new system was in place at Silverstone Nico Rosberg could have been called into the pits where the team could instruct him on how to deal with the issue.
Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to make it four wins in a row in Hungary, at a track that he has won four times at, the most of any driver on the grid at the moment and only second behind Michael Schumacher. A win would also guarantee him the lead in the Formula 1 drivers’ standings. Come Sunday, we will know if this feat is achievable.
A lot of athletes have now become TikTok content creators, and a number of them are finding success and popularity on the platform, especially with TikTok gaming on the horizon and the boom of influencer marketing on the app.