Once again a stage of the F1-schedule that did not provide a win for the Scuderia for a long time. It was the 2004 race that was won by Michael Schumacher for final time until now. Schumacher not only leads the table of victors overall -4 times, with Lewis Hamilton’s chance to equal that this weekend-, but he is the record holder for the Scuderia as well, 3 of his 4 victories have been achieved with a Prancing Horse.
The weekend will see the 19th Hungarian Grand Prix. The first GP took place in 1986 when Hungary was kept behind the iron curtain and it was the first race to be held in an Eastern bloc country. It was the fourth edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix that was the first to be won by a driver of the Scuderia; Nigel Mansell on #109 in 1989. Beside Schumacher’s and Mansell’s wins, only Rubens Barrichello was able to win in 2002 with #220.
The Hungaroring is the second slowest track of the season, only Monco’s speed is slower than that at the racetrack near Budapest. The track is bumpy, narrow and dirty, caused by the gritty surroundings. Usually, the weather conditions are bright and hot at the time the Grand Prix takes place and it is a challenge for the drivers to manage 70 laps each of it being 4.381 km long. The temperatures will reach 34°C on Saturday and rise to 37°C on Sunday. Overall, these should be conditions that would fit the F138 well. Alonso was 4th in the 2nd free practice of today with a gap of 0.162 sec. behind leading Sebastian Vettel. Massa came in 5th showing a small gap (0.280 sec.) as well.