Written by Jasmin Low and Vyas Ponnuri
The feeder series paddock arrives hung-ary to the Hungaroring, ready and raring (or roring) to go for the final double header before the summer break kicks in. With plenty to play for this weekend, DIVEBOMB gets you up to speed with all you need to know ahead of this weekend’s races.
The Circuit
The Hungaroring is often referred to as “Monaco without barriers” due to the difficulty drivers face when it comes to making overtakes around this tight and twisty 4.381 km (2.722 mi) 14-turn circuit.
The first sector provides the only realistic overtaking opportunities to all drivers, with the hairpin of turn one at the end of a long straight being the best possible spot to pull off a move if you’re a racing driver.
However, should you be unable to pull off a move here, you can always get yourself in position for a move down into the winding, downhill turn two, with the nature of the corner allowing for different racing lines to pull off moves.
The rest of the track comprises a series of narrow, medium speed corners, barring turns three and four.
The slightly quick chicane of turns six and seven provide an unorthodox opportunity to get past, however, it’s a risky move, as there’s only a short stretch from the right hander of turn five to the chicane.
Drivers will be looking to keep within the rear wing of the car ahead through the series of corners of turns eight to eleven, with the high speed corners expected to induce a wash of understeer as cars are racing in the wake of the ‘dirty air’ generated by their competitor ahead.
A quick stretch takes the drivers down to turn 12, a medium speed right hander, before two winding left and right handers of turns 13 and 14 round out the lap, remaining ever crucial to a driver’s lap in qualifying, and to get a good exit out of turn 14 onto the main straight.
Drivers will face the challenge of preserving their tyres for an entire lap, with the series of corners in the middle sector set to cause the tyres to overheat, while the final sector gives the rubber little time to cool as the drivers tick off the laps. Tyre preservation will be an even greater talking point with higher temperatures on the eve of the race weekend.
With overtaking tricky, drivers will apply a greater emphasis on qualifying to net a high grid spot, and put themselves in prime position for a strong result in the races.
Formula 3
Formula 3 heads into its third-to-last race weekend of the year, as the championship battles continue to heat up after a tricky couple of races in Silverstone shook up the pecking order.
Speaking of Silverstone, it was all Arvid Lindblad, as the Red Bull junior smashed record after record on his way to sprint and feature race victories. He became the first Formula 3 driver to win two races on the same weekend, and the first Briton to win an F3 race at Silverstone.
Doubling his win tally also took Lindblad into the F3 record books for the most wins in the series, a feat he’s achieved in only 14 races, whereas the rest have taken 30 races or more to achieve the same win tally.
The Briton didn’t cross the line first though, in a feature race marred by the rapidly changing weather conditions, as Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin took victory on track, albeit a ten-second penalty dropping him to third on the road. He would take solace from achieving his maiden podium finish in the series, though.
The nature of the feature race saw many lesser-known drivers spring into the picture, as VAR’s Tommy Smith and Voisin’s teammate Piotr Wisnicki took their first points of 2024, finishing a lofty fourth and fifth respectively.
Further back, AIX Racing too scored points, as Nikita Bedrin made his way up to ninth on the road after another excellent strategy call to switch to dry tyres saw the Italian usurp his way up the order.
Another driver with an excellent strategy call was Campos’ Ollie Goethe, who rolled the dice and switched to dry tyres earlier, earning sixth to continue scoring at every weekend this season. The finish made up for his crash in the sprint, which brought an end to a 12-race scoring streak.
Speaking of the sprint, it was Lindblad winning a delayed sprint race, but special mentions would have to go out to VAR racer Noel Leon, who took his second sprint podium of 2024, and Jenzer’s Matias Zagazeta, who put Peru on a Formula 3 podium for the first time after finishing third. Voisin’s fourth in the sprint was enough to earn him his first points of the season.
However, their weekends were overshadowed by Lindblad’s stellar showing, which put the Prema racer within six points of teammate Gabriele Mini, who finished second in the sprint, and leads the standings now.
The 16-year old Red Bull junior could very well end up becoming the youngest driver to win the Formula 3 title, and cement himself as a Formula 2 driver next year, with Ollie Bearman vacating a Prema seat after a Haas call-up for 2025.
However, he will face stern challenges from the likes of Hitech’s Luke Browning, who sits only a point off Lindblad in the standings, while the ever consistent Leonardo Fornaroli still looms as a force in the championship battle, sitting 26 points off leader Mini.
Oliver Goethe could well and truly be in the championship picture, should he continue his stellar form in 2024, having failed to score in only one race this season. In a series where consistency forms the base of a strong campaign, Goethe continuing to score, and maybe even score big, could bring him right into the championship fight with only three rounds to go.
With plenty to play for as the championship battle begins to heat up once again, this weekend’s Formula 3 races are ones you absolutely do not want to miss!
Formula 2
The 2024 Formula 2 season is now officially past its halfway point, but in no way, shape, or form is the championship anywhere near decided.
After just over a week’s hiatus following an intense triple-header where six different drivers took to the top step of the podium, the premier Feeder Series category once again returns to the high-downforce Hungaroring for round nine of fourteen, one earlier than last year’s championship.
The tight, tough circuit will test the drivers as they navigate the tricky medium and high-speed corners in store for them across the 4.3 kilometer circuit.
Perhaps the one of the most surprising moments from the triple-header was that Hitech’s Paul Aron did not score a podium or even a point over the Silverstone weekend, after successfully finding himself clinching a trophy at least once every weekend throughout the entire season.
The ultimate beneficiary following Aron’s woeful weekend was Isack Hadjar, who nabbed the Championship Leader’s crown from Aron, sitting on 133 points, now 16 ahead of Paul Aron. Just behind, Zane Maloney was promoted to third in the standings, dropping rookie driver Gabriel Bortoleto down to fourth.
The Teams’ Championship also experienced a minor shake-up as Campos Racing and MP Motorsport moved ahead of Invicta Racing to claim the top two spots in the championship thus far.
The teams’ post-Silverstone points tallies look very different to how the did in 2023, where Prema Racing and ART Grand Prix were separated by just five points at the top of the standings, with MP Motorsport in fifth, Campos in eighth, and Invicta (previously Invicta-Virtuosi) in eighth.
The new-spec car is partially to blame, as some of last year’s top teams have struggled to adapt to the new car, allowing new contenders to emerge.
Last year, it was Jack Doohan who was first to the flag in Hungary, a race which could be touted as the beginning of the yellow-liveried Invicta team’s upward momentum, which hopefully carries on further into the season.
The sprint was won by Dennis Hauger, with a convincing margin of 4.2 seconds to Ayumu Iwasa in the runner-up spot. The Norwegian, currently seventh in the Driver’s Standings, will hope to replicate his successes in order to climb further toward the championship leaders.
Victor Martins and Oliver Bearman who also found themselves on the podium in 2023 will also be looking for points, as both drivers were expected to be battling for the title this year but instead sit outside the championship top ten.
Will it be an old favourite or a fresh pair of eyes behind the visor- the fourteenth this season- to take to the top step of the podium, and will Hadjar be able to maintain his championship lead?
Set your alarms for this weekend’s Formula 2 races to see which young driver’s Hungaroring heroics will pay off and who will be going home empty-handed. One thing is for sure though, we are all hungry to go racing in Hungary.
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