2018 Round 8 preview: Budapest, Hungary

Data (GMT+2)

Friday Free Practice: 12:55-13.40 Qualifying session: 16:55-17:25 Press conference: 19:00

Saturday Feature race: 16:45 (37 laps) Press conference: 18:05

Sunday Sprint race: 11:20 (28 laps) Press conference: 12:25

Season Stats

12 The number of races that Lando Norris has finished in the points, three more than both George Russell and Alexander Albon. 3 The number of pole positions achieved by both Russell and Albon - the current highest. 8 The number of different F2 winners in 2018. 0 The points gap between ART Grand Prix and Carlin at the top of the Teams’ Championship

Warm Up // Louis Delétraz – Charouz Racing System

“The Hungaroring is one of the nicest venues of the year for me, it’s a really twisty track with many corners, a bit like Monaco but on a normal circuit. It’s also really warm, perhaps the warmest of the year, and although there’s high temperatures the new tarmac that was laid about two years ago really reduced the degradation compared to the year before. It’s very smooth, and it’s great to race there – you really need to get into the flow, corner by corner, and if you miss one you miss the others, so you need to be precise. The middle sector is very interesting, and then there’s four fast corners where you start slower and get quicker and quicker – it’s all left-right-left-right from turns 8 to 11, which are very interesting and intense – again, you have to be precise, but also aggressive and fast.

“It’s not the easiest place to overtake, but I think the strategy will be interesting there. With the heat, we’ll really have to look after the tyres, and it’s one of the tracks I’m really looking forward to. Hopefully it’ll be a great race.”

__The Stakes __

The FIA Formula 2 Championship returns to action in Hungary for its eighth round of the season. A favourite among the drivers, the Hungaroring boasts numerous technical sections and a mix of low to high-speed corners, providing a unique challenge to anyone who tackles the 4.381km circuit. In the previous round at Silverstone, DAMS’ Alexander Albon capitalised on a pitstop error from George Russell’s ART Grand Prix team to clinch his second victory of the season, as Maximilian Günther collected his first victory in F2 for the BWT Arden team.

Russell continues to lead the F2 standings with 170 points, extending his advantage to 37 points over Lando Norris. With Norris looking to reclaim control of the title fight, the British duo will be battling hard to go into the summer break on top. Thanks to his win in Silverstone, Albon reclaims third place, and will be looking to reduce the deficit in the Drivers’ Championship. Having claimed a greater number of wins, ART Grand Prix now lead the teams’ standings – the French team has 219 points, exactly the same number as erstwhile leaders Carlin. Charouz Racing System continue to occupy third with 159 points.

With hot temperatures expected, managing tyre degradation will be a challenge – and as Pirelli have supplied the medium and the supersoft tyres, there promises to be plenty of strategic variation throughout the weekend.

Noteworthy

• The race weekend in Hungary is the eighth of the 12 rounds which make up the 2018 FIA Formula 2 calendar. • Last season, DAMS’ Oliver Rowland took victory in the Feature Race at the Hungaroring, while ART Grand Prix’s Nobuharu Matsushita secured victory in the Sprint Race. • Current F2 drivers Nicholas Latifi and Nyck de Vries claimed podium finishes in Hungary, with de Vries finishing third in both races. • In the previous round at Silverstone, Alexander Albon collected his second victory of the season in the Feature Race to return to third in the championship. • Maximilian Günther claimed honours in the Sprint Race, converting reverse-grid pole for his first ever F2 win – and BWT Arden’s first of the season. • George Russell claimed the points for fastest lap in both of his home races, helping the Brit extend his championship lead. • The first driver change of the season will take place in Budapest, as Alessio Lorandi moves up from Trident’s GP3 team to take over the seat vacated by Santino Ferrucci. • The race at Hungary is the final round before the summer break, after which the action will return in Belgium at the end of August.