FORMULA 1 LENOVO HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2025
Budapest — Sunday, 03 Aug 2025 14:00 (UK Time)

 Hungaroring, Mogyorád, Budapest, Hungary

The first half of the season, and this double-header, concludes with a trip to the revamped Hungaroring, and the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The twisty Hungaroring is set in a natural amphitheatre in Mogyoród near Budapest, and benefits from great views for the fans — 80% of the track can be seen from any point — but, being held in the middle of summer, suffers from the heat with track temperatures frequently in excess of 50°C.

A purpose built racetrack that has changed little in the last 30 years, it was devised by Hungarian István Pappwho is otherwise un-noteworthy and designed and built in less than eight months by Soviet Union engineers whose closest experience of motor racing was running away from the Stasi in a Lada, hence the track has no long, overtakeable straights but instead an almost continuous series of low and medium speed corners.

The Hungaroring thus shares some characteristics with a street circuit, with a narrow, bumpy track that feels much faster than it often is. The teams all run extreme aero downforce to maximise grip and the high density of quick corners make the track hard to pass on and tiring to drive.

The launch from the start is actually one of the longer ones in the F1 calendar, despite the main straight begin less than a kilometerabout 0.6 mile, and the first heavy braking event of the lap is the tight right-handed hairpin of Turn 1 that can be slippery on the little-used track, putting early traction at a premium, and offers the best overtaking opportunity of the circuit.
It is then a short downhill burst into the tricky long left-hander of Turn 2 that requires an off-camber inside exit to get on the throttle properly in order to take the drift right that is Turn 3 flat out before heading uphill to the high-speed kink of Turn 4, as they crest the hill, drivers have a limited view of the following entry into the very bumpy right-hand Turn 5.
The chicane at Turns 6 & 7 catches out many during the practise stints and is universally hated by the engineers who have to rebuild the cars afterwards.
It feeds into a complex of ever faster corners, each of which requires a good exit from the previous one and the temptation to leave the throttle wide open after Turn 10 means that it is easy to hit Turn 11 too hard and end up spinning backwards into the tyres.
Another burst of speed gives the drivers a little rest before the heavy braking event at the 90° hard-right of Turn 12 feeds into the left and right medium-speed hairpins of Turn 13 and Turn 14 that represent the other main overtaking opportunity on the track.

Although little used, the heat means that the track rubbers up fast.
The circuit is equally demanding on traction and braking and, although the surface is not particularly abrasive, the non-stop cornering puts a lot of lateral energy into the tyres, giving them no chance to cool down and thus making wear a factor.

Thursday	Friday		Saturday		Sunday
Press Day	FP1	FP2	FP3	QLY	RACE 15:00
Predicted weather for tommorrow's race:					27°C

Dry Tyre Compounds			Cinturato Wet Tyres
Hard × 2	Medium × 3	Soft × 8	Intermediate × 4	Full Wet × 3
C3 (midrange)	C4 (soft-ish)	C5 (soft)		Cold Start