After a long summer break we head to Budapest for what could be one of the most crucial rounds of the championship so far. Pirelli are bringing their new revised tyres which could arguably shake up the field entirely and we will find out how badly Mercedes suffer after missing the Young Drivers Test.
This combination means that midfield teams such as Williams and Force India have a real shot of achieving a big result.
Pirelli's lifeline
But the main question on everyone's lips is how are the revised tyres going to hold up around the Hungaroring. The circuit is quite slow and has plenty of tight corners, partner that with temperatures which are expected to soar on the track it means that the tyres are going to be put under a lot of stress. Ten of the corners at the circuit where McLaren have had such a presence over the past 10 years are taken at under 155/KPH and the cars require the same downforce level as a circuit like Monaco. The perfect platform to become a hero or a villain. Pirelli have the chance to prove a lot of critics wrong this weekend but they have to get this right. They have re added the Kevlar belts seen at the Nurburgring which were also used in 2012 but can they hold on? Everyone makes mistakes but when there are such a spread of them in such a short space of time eventually resulting in the safety of the driver being at risk then drastic measures have to be taken. Pirelli need a race with no complaints and no incidents involving a tyre fault or this could well be the beginning of the end for them.
Mercedes rue missed opportunity
Every formula one team took to Silverstone recently for the Young Drivers Test, well every team except Mercedes that is. Normally it's what it says on the tin. A test...for young drivers. But the 2013 test was a little different as teams were Able to test Pirelli's new tyres ahead of the Grand Prix this weekend. This was absolutely crucial as the teams had the chance to collect enough data and statistics to make Oxford university jealous. Longevity, temperatures, potential strategies, how they run with different downforce levels or fuel loads amongst many more factors that could come into play this weekend. Mercedes missed their chance due to the secret test which took place earlier in the season. Because of this and because of how much data the teams would have collected it means that Friday practice is going to be like getting your homework done at 9AM the morning it's due when your lesson is in 20 minutes. It will be a frantic rush to catch up and make up all of the ground lost. We have no way of knowing how much ground the rest of the field have gained on the team who sit second in the constructors standings until qualifying where the silver arrows always seem to shine. Only time will tell if they are going to struggle around the demanding Hungaroring or if Ross Brawn is going to pull a bunny out of his hat.
Team to watch
Whilst they have not had the easiest or strongest start to the season, McLaren have always shone at this circuit taking a total of eleven victories with six of those being in the past eight years. Perhaps the Young Drivers Test will have been the catalyst needed to get their season pointing in the right direction. Maybe not a podium place but expect to see a strong presence in qualifying and maybe even a double points finish during the race.
Driver to watch
The circuit has always been one that Finnish drivers seem to excel at. Heikki took his only Formula One Victory there back in 2008 and Hakkinen also took two wins at the Grand Prix. Raikkonen has not won there since 2005 but last year took second place with Romain also on the podium in third. The two races previous to that when he was driving a Ferrari, the Iceman also came second and third. He will be chasing victory number 21 this weekend and the Lotus could be the key to unlock the door that victory sits behind.
Top 5 prediction
Fernando Alonso
Kimi Raikkonen
Sebastian Vettel
Felipe Massa
Paul Di Resta
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