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[VIDEO] 2014 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Highlights, commentary, blog

Lewis Hamilton had reason to be upset with his team in Monaco. (Red Bull Content Pool)
Roar Guru
27th July, 2014
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16076 Reads

RACE RESULT:

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo has claimed his second Formula One victory of the 2014 season after a thrilling victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg leads the F1championship with 202 points, followed by Hamilton with 191 and Ricciardo with 131.

RACE PREVIEW:

With not even a week’s turnaround from the last race in Germany, Formula One treks over to Budapest and the Hungaroring circuit for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live commentary from 9:30pm (AEST).

If you like, the Hungaroring is Lewis Hamilton country. Why? Because is equal with the great Michael Schumacher with four wins at this circuit, being the most of any driver since the first running of this event in 1986.

Of Hamilton’s four victories, two have come in the last two years and on both occasions he has taken pole position also. The 2013 triumph would have been a memorable one for the 2008 world champion as it was his first win in the Mercedes AMG car.

With his previous successes then in Hungary, Hamilton is the favourite to get one over his teammate Nico Rosberg who still leads the championship by 14 points.

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But considering the Briton’s luck in terms of qualifying in the last few events this year, he’ll need a few things to go his way on Saturday first.

The Hungaroring too will be a real test of what affect removing the FRIC suspension systems off the cars has had, with its heavier braking zones than of the Hockenheim circuit. Lotus and Red Bull seemed the most affected by the loss of FRIC in Germany, with the former being worse off.

Heat will once again be a factor this weekend, with temperatures typically set to exceed 30 Celsius. Last weekend in Germany during the practice sessions, there was severe tyre wear on the soft and super-soft compounds in the heat.

Here in Hungary Pirelli will bring the soft and the medium compounds, which if it’s hot on Sunday might mean there could a two to three stop race over the 70 laps.

Formula One’s new ‘Flying Finn’ Valtteri Bottas is in a strong position with his Williams team to take a spot on the podium once again. With his hat-trick of podium finishes in recent races, Bottas has been a threat to Mercedes AMG whenever they’ve put a foot wrong.

Whilst one Williams has been superb, the other has endured a rough time. Could this weekend be where Felipe Massa avoids all incidents and bring home a double points finish for Williams?

And to fill out the other points paying positions, it’s difficult to see any differences from the last grand prix as with the short turnaround there won’t be a great deal of car upgrades. Fernando Alonso and Red Bull should lock horns once again, whilst it remains to how Kimi Räikkönen fares.

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Despite McLaren being the most successful team around this circuit with an impressive eleven wins, it’s also difficult to picture them battling anyone other than the Force India’s to round out the points.

With this being the final race before the summer break, it’ll be crucial for Hamilton to close some ground on his teammate in what is still a very delicately poised championship battle.

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