Budapest,
30
July
2021
|
17:15
Europe/Amsterdam

2021 Hungarian Grand Prix - Friday

TYRE GAP

FRIDAY TYRE SUMMARY

  • Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas was the fastest driver in the hottest track temperatures experienced all year, with almost 60 degrees centigrade on track and 35 degrees ambient. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was quickest in the slightly cooler morning conditions of FP1. On both occasions, the P Zero Red soft C4 tyre was used to set the best time.
  • Despite these very high temperatures, there’s a risk of rain tomorrow and sporadically during the rest of the weekend, which meant that the teams maximised data collection today in dry and hot conditions.
  • There was a high degree of track evolution throughout free practice, with the Hungaroring not having been used extensively up to this weekend.
  • In some of the hottest conditions ever seen on track, all the compounds stood up extremely well, including the P Zero Red soft C4, which delivered maximum grip.
  • Based on the data collected so far, there’s about a 0.7 second difference between P Zero White hard C2 and P Zero Yellow medium C3, as well as a 0.9 second difference between P Zero Yellow medium C3 and P Zero Red soft C4: somewhat more than expected.

FORMULA 3: LATEST NEWS

Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Charles, was the fastest driver in Formula 3 qualifying for the first time to lead home a Prema one-two in hot conditions, ahead of championship leader Dennis Hauger. This means that the Monegasque will line up first on the grid for Sunday’s race, while Carlin’s Jonny Edgar takes pole for tomorrow’s opening race by virtue of qualifying 12th. As per the regulations, just a single compound is used for Formula 3: P Zero Yellow medium in Hungary. This performed well over the short flat-out runs seen in qualifying today, but some degree of tyre management will be needed over the longer race distance if the high temperatures persist – as was seen in free practice earlier. If it rains at any point, the drivers may also face the challenge of dealing with a ‘green’ and slippery track on slick tyres tomorrow or even having to use the wets.

MARIO ISOLA – HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING

“These were some of the hottest track temperatures we can ever remember so thermal degradation was definitely a factor during the longer runs; particularly on the soft compound and on the rear tyres. However, it’s far from certain that the weather will remain the same, with a forecast of rain at some point adding yet another unpredictable element to what is always a strategically complex race. In comparison to last year, the warmer conditions allowed the soft tyre to perform very well over a single lap. Nonetheless, there could be an advantage in starting on the medium tyre for the grand prix, so this will be a consideration for the qualifying strategy. With a bigger gap between medium and soft than we expected for now, getting through the Q2 session on the medium isn’t guaranteed for anybody. So there’s plenty for the teams to think about tonight.”

TOP 3 TIMES
FP1
Verstappen 1m17.555s SOFT C4 NEW
Bottas 1m17.616s SOFT C4 NEW
Hamilton 1m17.722s SOFT C4 USED
FP2
Bottas 1m17.012s SOFT C4 NEW
Hamilton 1m17.039s SOFT C4 NEW
Verstappen 1m17.310s SOFT C4 NEW
BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
FP1
HARD C2 Verstappen 1m18.615s
MEDIUM C3 Russell 1m19.724s
SOFT C4 Verstappen 1m17.555s
FP2
HARD C2 Sainz 1m19.729s
MEDIUM C3 Hamilton 1m18.140s
SOFT C4 Bottas 1m17.012s
MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND SO FAR
COMPOUND DRIVER LAPS
HARD C2 Latifi 20
MEDIUM C3 Bottas 24
SOFT C4 Gasly 22
TYRE STATISTICS OF THE DAY
  HARD MEDIUM SOFT
Kms driven* 1147 1581 1620
Sets used overall** 20 24 36

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.

MIN. STARTING PRESSURES (slicks) EOS CAMBER LIMIT
PRESSURE 19.0 psi (front) | 18.0 psi (rear) -3.75° (front) | -2.00° (rear) CAMBER