he 2016 GP2 Series now moves to Hungary and it marks the halfway point in the season with five rounds completed and five, after this weekend, still to come. The last round at Silverstone proved to be very good for Jordan King when he took his second race win this season in Sunday’s Sprint Race which, in addition to his 8th in Saturday’s Feature Race, saw him move up the Drivers’ Championship to lie 7th. For Norman Nato it was a disappointing weekend as, after qualifying on pole position, he took 7th in Saturday’s race but he retired from Sunday’s race. Nevertheless, he is 6th in the Drivers’ Championship, just fourteen points behind the leader, and with a possible total of forty-eight points available each weekend the Championship is still wide-open.
The 4.381Km Hungaroring circuit is the slowest of the permanent circuits that the GP2 teams race on and its twisty nature with its bumpy and often dusty surface makes overtaking difficult so a good qualification is very important. Pirelli will be supplying the P Zero White medium tyre together with the Yellow soft compound for the two races this weekend.
Racing Engineering have a good record in Hungary with their drivers finishing on the podium on several occasions and Jordan finished 6th in last year’s Feature Race in his maiden season in the GP2 Series. With the three wins taken by Norman and Jordan so far this season both men will be in with a great chance of finishing on the podium and they will be looking to take the win in both races.
Practice: Fri 22 Jul 2016, 12:00 (GMT+2)Qualifying Session: Fri 22 Jul 2016, 15:55 (GMT+2)Race 1: Sat 23 Jul 2016, 15:40 (GMT+2)Race 2: Sun 24 Jul 2016, 10:25 (GMT+2)
Facts1. In 1986 Hungary made an important political and economic statement when it became the first country behind the "Iron Curtain" to host a Formula 1 race.2. The track is located in a valley of 100 hectares surrounded by 50 hectares of winding hills. With this exceptional natural advantage, almost 70% of the track is visible from all angles.
3. Hungaroring is narrow, twisted and bumpy.
4. Some say that the Hungaroring is similar to the Monaco circuit, due to its tight and twisty corners.
5. With 4,381 m in length the Hungaroring is one of the shortest and slowest circuits of the season.
6. The lack of long straights and therefore hard breaking points makes overtaking very complicated.
7. In 2003, the start/finish straight was altered in order to provide a longer run into first corner. It now offers slightly more scope for overtaking.
8. Normally it is very hot during the Hungarian race weekend and the asphalt can reach over 50°C. This makes the venue physically challenging for drivers.
9. Apart from the start/finish straight with 700m, the rest of the track is a number of medium and slow speed corners, one after another.
10. More traffic means more dust on the track, which makes driving more difficult as the weekend goes by.Facts1. F1 throttle usage is 56% vs. 63% of the lap that the engine spends at full throttle in GP2.
2. F1 top speed is 300 km/h – GP2 is 290 km/h.
3. F1 drivers will change gear 59 times per lap compared to 30 times that a GP2 driver will have to do.
4. Race distance is different: F1 go around the circuit for 70 laps and GP2 do a total of 63 laps during two days - 35 laps in Feature Race and 28 in the Sprint Race.
5. Pole position in F1 was set in 2015 at 1:22.020– Pole position in GP2 was set in 2015 at 1:28.022.
