F1 Hungarian Grand Prix schedule: TV, streaming, odds, picks, results and what to watch for at the Hungaroring
The F1 circus is back after just one week for its final race before the traditional summer shutdown for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Reigning series champion Max Verstappen enters the weekend with a mighty 63-point advantage over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will be hungry to regain the ground he lost while crashing from the lead of last week’s French Grand Prix. Here’s everything you need to know about the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hungarian Grand Prix TV schedule
Fans in the United States can watch practices, qualifying and the race on TV via the ABC/ESPN family of networks or stream it via ESPN or F1TV Pro.
(All times ET)
Friday, July 29
Free Practice 1: 7:55-9 a.m. (ESPNU)
Free Practice 2: 10:55 a.m.-Noon (ESPN2)
Saturday, July 30
Free Practice 3: 6:55-8 a.m. (ESPN2)
Qualifying: 9:55-11 a.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday, July 31
Pre-race show: 7:30-8:55 a.m. (ESPN)
Hungarian Grand Prix: 8:55-11 a.m. (ESPN)
Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying results
George Russell, Mercedes 1:17.377
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +0.044s
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.190s
Lando Norris, McLaren-Mercedes +0.392s
Esteban Ocon, Alpine-Renault +0.641s
Fernando Alonso, Alpine-Renault +0.701s
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes +0.765s
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari +0.780s
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren-Mercedes +1.002s
Max Verstappen, Red Bull-RBPT +1.446s
Sergio Perez, Red Bull-RBPT 1:18.516 (Q2)
Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari +0.057s
Kevin Magnussen, Haas-Ferrari +0.309s
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin-Mercedes +0.621s
Mick Schumacher, Haas-Ferrari +0.686s
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri-RBPT 1:19.240 (Q1)
Alex Albon, Williams-Mercedes +0.016s
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin-Mercedes +0.033s
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri-RBPT +0.287s
Nicholas Latifi, Williams-Mercedes +0.330s
Hungaroring layout, what to expect
Commonly referred to as “Monaco without the barriers” — that’s not a flattering comparison from a racing perspective — the Hungaroring is narrow, lined with grass and punishes even the slightest mistakes. At 2.72 miles long, the track features a long pit straight, three 180-degree corners and a lot of sweeping, high-speed corners, especially in the middle sector. Both DRS zones are in the first sector, comprising the pit straight and the short run from Turn 1 to Turn 2, which are the most popular overtaking spots on a track that doesn’t have many.
The lack of straightaways and abundance of high-speed corners seem to favor Ferrari as it cuts down on Red Bull’s straight-line speed advantage and emphasizes the Prancing Horses’ cornering prowess. But, Ferrari being Ferrari, it will need significantly fewer drivers’ errors, pitwall mistakes and reliability issues than they’re used to in order to pull it off.
Despite the comparative lack of overtakes, the Hungaroring has a knack for producing the odd race winner. It is the site of the Heikki Kovalainen’s (2008) and Esteban Ocon’s (2021) lone career wins, the second win of Daniel Ricciardo’s eight career wins (2014) and one of only three wins in Thierry Boutsen’s career (1990).
Top drivers and best bets for the Hungarian Grand Prix
At BetMGM Leclerc is -110 to win the pole compared to Verstappen (+200) and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz (+600). Leclerc is also the favorite for the race win at at +110 again ahead of Verstappen (+160) and Sainz (+600). Seven-time series champion Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time winner at the Hungaroring but clocks in at the fourth-best odds for pole (+800) and the race win (+1000).
Yahoo Sports’ Nick Bromberg is bullish on Ferrari, pointing to their sizable odds for either car to take the pole — -165 compared to Red Bull’s +150 and Mercedes’ +600 — and Leclerc to win Free Practice 1 (+125) and post the race’s fastest lap (+175).
Hungarian Grand Prix weekend forecast
The weather figures to be quite variable with scorching temperatures in the low 90s Fahrenheit forecast for Friday’s practice sessions, but considerably cooler temperatures and scattered rain and thunderstorms over the weekend.
Last year’s race began on a wet track as rain soaked it earlier in the day. A Lap 1, Turn 1 chain-reaction crash eliminated six cars and made for one of the most surreal standing restarts in the history of the sport. Every car still in the race behind race leader Hamilton pitted for faster dry tires on the re-formation lap, leaving Hamilton alone on the starting grid and a sitting duck on much slower intermediate rain tires. Unable to pull anything close to a pit-stop gap, he was quickly overtaken by eventual debutant winner Ocon.
