Introduction
In 1986 Hungary became the first country in Eastern Europe to host an F1 race, an honour it has retained to this day. The Hungaroring circuit was built in hilly countryside around half an hour from the centre of Budapest. Virtually unchanged since its opening, the track retains a slow and tight layout that invites comparisons with Monaco in terms of set-up. Overtaking is not easy, which has often led to some processional races and puts a premium on pit strategy, although tyre degradation issues have been known to liven things up.
The Hungaroring is a short track, but it’s very demanding on the drivers physically and mentally. I suppose it’s like a street track in terms of the layout and the number of corners mean the aero performance of the car is very important there. All the corners seem to flow into each other and you need to find a good rhythm. Because of the tight nature of the lap, it’s never been a track where there has been much overtaking, so it's always a good test of the effectiveness of the DRS. 