Unforgiving Hungaroring can tame Verstappen but challengers need near flawless weekend

If Max Verstappen's victory train is to come off the rails anywhere, there is every chance it will be in Hungary on Sunday. Added to the fluctuating demands of the Hungaroring are changing tyre rules, vicious heat and a demandingly tight circuit. But not for nothing are the champions now poised to break one of the toughest records in F1. A triumph by either Verstappen or teammate Sergio Perez will be the 12th in a row by the Milton Keynes operation, topping a record set by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren in 1988 in what is generally regarded as one of the greatest seasons in the sport’s history. They set a benchmark that defied Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in their pomp, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel’s four-title run and, indeed, Mercedes when they were winning everything in sight with Lewis Hamilton. Of course, Verstappen and Perez are no Senna and Prost. And they would do well to remember that McLaren’s run was ended by the vagaries of fate and the fumblings of Williams’ stand-in driver Jean-Louis Schlesser. The Hungaroring, half an hour up the M3 from Budapest, is something akin to a snaking kart circuit where plenty can go wrong. Its 4.4 kilometres loops in and out of a natural bowl so the result is often a breathlessly hot valley that tortures man and machinery across 70 of the toughest laps of the season. The pit straight lasts just around 10 seconds and is barely any respite for drivers continually wrestling at the wheel in a double layer of fireproof nomex and suffocating heat. Added to the demanding topography is the oppressive mid-July sun battering the heart of central Europe. Drivers can sweat away anything up to three kilos in two hours while the power units have to survive relentless temperatures with minimum cooling at such (relatively) slow speeds and brakes reaching a scorching 1,000º Celsius. Adding to those demands is a swiftly evolving track surface as more rubber is laid down. The Hungaroring is rarely used so drivers have to play a potentially ruinous guessing game over how much the grip has improved lap on lap. Having crashed up and down the gearbox around the Hungaroring in a humble hire car myself, quite how the world’s best manage it in 200mph speeding monsters is a constant source of amazement. The result, though, is a challenging circuit that almost always provides surprise and drama, especially with a new experiment with the qualifying format. Even Verstappen revels in its challenge, labelling last year’s surprise win from 10th as “crazy”. Esteban Ocon was the unexpected winner the year before. While the man of the moment, Daniel Ricciardo, gets his F1 reprieve back at AlphaTauri and the scene of one of his most memorable victories in 2014. Rumour is he could be in line for a return to the seat he abandoned at Red Bull four years ago if things go well. That will, surely, will be an added spur for the man in that place right now, Sergio Perez, on a bad run of form but competing on a street-style track where he is, usually, at his best. Silverstone headliner Lando Norris has played down the chances of a McLaren repeat because Hungary’s slow corners do not suit their car. And who knows which Ferrari team will turn up. The fast, incisive one or the team we saw at the last round plagued by hesitant management, bad strategy calls and wrong tyre choices. The demands of Hungary are such that only a fault-free weekend will give anyone a chance of challenging Verstappen unless there is rain. Leading the charge will probably be Mercedes and Aston Martin. Ten years on from his first win there with the German car giant, Hamilton has won the race eight times. Last year, even in the midst of their worst season in a decade, George Russell still set pole and Mercedes enjoyed a double podium. Not that starting from the front spot means very much. Only once in the last four years, and just eight times in the last 20, has the man starting first in Hungary taken the chequered flag. Two decades ago veteran Fernando Alonso first picked up the winning habit here in Hungary. So there is more than the usual proportion of drivers with a taste of glory in Hungary and all are looking to indulge once again on a circuit where good drivers can make the difference.

Unforgiving Hungaroring can tame Verstappen but challengers need near flawless weekend

Red Bull on brink of breaking record of consecutive wins set by iconic McLaren team of Senna and Prost