Hungaroring is HAMILTONRING | Ferrari vs. Mercedes | Leclerc vs. Hamilton | 2026 Hungarian GP

[00:00:00] I don't think we can start off the Hungarian GP preview without touching upon the big news. Kunal and I are about to share a commentary box on an official Formula 1 broadcast. This is the best possible thing we could start out with. Yeah, this is. I mean, so Sommil and I take turns at the official broadcast that Fancourt does for India.

[00:00:25] Chetan, our friend, leads the broadcast and Sommil and I fill in with the expert role. But there's a good chance this race weekend that Sommil is going to lead it and I'm going to be taking Sommil's role anyway. No, no, there's not a good chance this is going to happen. This is communicado official. We are going to be on the Fancourt F1 broadcast together. You guys are watching this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, but it's going to be an extended episode of the podcast

[00:00:52] on an official Formula 1 broadcast. Like we've been together on a broadcast before, but for the first time it's going to be just the two of us. Which is a cool feeling to have. Cool feeling to have. Firstly, wishing Chetan all the best for India versus Zimbabwe. Because he's going to cover that for cricket. But that's not what we're going to talk about here. We are going to talk about the Hungarian Grand Prix, which could be Ferrari's best possible chance for victory after Monaco. But Kunal, they do not want to be called the favorites.

[00:01:21] Sean Leclerc has literally pleaded after his second consecutive podium in Spa saying, please do not tag us as favorites. Everyone tagged us as favorites for Monaco and we saw what a disaster that was. And please do not tag us as favorites for Hungary. But, Samuel, we should hence explain why our Ferrari expected to be the favorites.

[00:01:45] What are the characteristics? Because yes, there is this terminology which says that Hungary or the Hungaro ring is Monaco without the walls. It's a tight, twisty, technical circuit where chassis performance really matters. But there's another factor in 2026 which decides how well Ferrari may or may not do, which is energy rich circuit. And that's been Ferrari's problems so far, haven't they? No, the energy poor circuits have been Ferrari's...

[00:02:14] Wait, wait, wait. Let's start it down. Energy rich means the circuit where you can harvest a lot. Energy poor are the ones where you can't and you've got to deploy more. So when I, in my brain conventionally, when I was thinking energy rich, I was thinking Spa because you need a lot of energy at Spa. But that's not what we're meaning. Energy rich means a circuit like the Hungaro ring or perhaps... What other examples could we have? Monaco? Monaco? Miami? The only, the... Was it?

[00:02:42] I don't even remember. I mean, it was so long back and things were so different then because we still hadn't done the, the downward adjustment of how much you could harvest and use. And the, we said it's Monaco without the walls. It's also Monaco without... Or Monaco... Sorry, the Hungaro ring is also Monaco with straight line mode speed, right? So we will have four of those flip flap things that will happen throughout the circuit.

[00:03:08] And the big question really is, will Ferrari finally get their act together at a circuit like this? And pull out performance at a circuit where we were just, Somal and I were jamming and, you know, Uttara was there and we said, actually, this is not the Hungaro ring. It's the Hamilton ring given just how... Yes. I mean, Hamilton's success as a driver at this circuit. Unmatched.

[00:03:36] He has won so much. It is insane how Lewis Hamilton has been dominating the circuit right from his McLaren days. And that's what weighs up this whole dynamic between Leclerc and Hamilton because this is Lewis' place. He's taken pole here a ridiculous number of times, even wins. I forgot the number right now. But... No, I actually just dug those numbers. Seven wins? Nine poles, eight wins, 12 podiums.

[00:04:05] Okay. So this is what I dug through. And I mean, just for reference, the team with the highest number of poles is McLaren and that is also nine poles. So Lewis Hamilton, across his three teams, has the same number of poles as McLaren, the reigning world champions have at the Hungaro ring. But then F1 guy Dan actually explains it more. Most points for any driver at the Hungaro ring, obviously with such a great record, 286 points.

[00:04:34] And then most laps led, 487 laps led off the Hungaro ring. It's the 40th anniversary of the Hungaro ring. Lewis has probably raced in half of those races that have happened there. And hence, while Ferrari may or may not be the favorites, you can't write off Lewis Hamilton as one of the favorites, given his form and given his consistency. No, you can't. But who is the run of form in favor of Ishael Leclerc?

[00:05:02] You could say that because in the last three races, the driver with maximum points across the field is Charles Leclerc. He's outqualified Lewis Hamilton two races in a row. And now he's even outscored him two races in a row, two consecutive podiums. Leclerc has had a pole position here as far as I remember. And, you know, also one of the other reasons why we are saying Ferrari will be good. We know they've got the best chassis on the grid. And how do we know that?

[00:05:31] So that's, you know, they're the best in cornering. Hungaro ring has 14 corners. I believe eight are left and six are right. That's what it is. And a lot of those corners are literally just fast flowing after each other. So they're not fast corners, but they're just flowing one after the other. Some of the drivers call it driving a, you know, a Formula One car on a go-karting track. And Ferrari is usually good at these multiple direction changes that need to happen, you know, through sections and through corners.

[00:06:01] So we are hoping that that chassis advantage finally is visible at the Hungaro ring. It's a circuit where your power unit deficiencies are not going to impact you as much because the straight isn't very long. It's barely even like 700 meters. So that's, that's a thing. Your drivers are going to be protected from not having to deploy as much battery. So people like George Russell, people like the Ferraris, people like McLaren's have been complaining about not having the best energy deployment.

[00:06:30] Well, this is a place where you find out just how much difference the chassis and the driver can make in an equation like this. Because we think of the middle sector, we think of the final sector and all we can imagine are those tough, twisty corners that just keep coming at you. And especially the final two, because you've got firstly one left handed happen and then a long right handed happen. And you're just turning and turning and turning. And that's the best part I love about the circuit, Kunal. All these long corners, including turn, what is it?

[00:06:59] Turn one, two, the two, three, four, five section, the one where you actually can put elbows and fight against each other. One of my favorite places to watch Formula One cars battle, because you can't swap around lines so much. And genuinely go racing. It is. And, you know, to me, it's, it's this two Hungarian architects who made this circuit, Frenek Gulasi and Istvan Pap. We've never heard of them.

[00:07:24] Okay, there was a 500 person team working 12 hour shifts under the Hungarian government and under Bernie Eccleston. And I would love to bring this entire team back to build this circuit elsewhere, because it's a very interesting circuit. Teams get challenged. Drivers definitely get challenged, like you were explaining. And, and several memories that we've had through the, through the 40 years that Formula One has gone racing here as well.

[00:07:52] And yes, I would say McLaren, sorry, I would say Ferrari will want to be the favorite favorites, even if they're not sort of wanting to accept the tag. But Toto Wolff, again, made a wonderful quote, just a couple of hours before we went live. He said, yes, we've been dominant at all the circuits, different corner ranges, different circuit types. And now I quote him, but we have not converted enough of that potential into results though.

[00:08:19] We have lost points through self-inflicted issues, and we know we need to improve. And how lethal is that? Because Mercedes has claimed all pole positions, and they've claimed what, all race wins barring two of them? Correct? Yeah. And despite that, they're like, no, we've, we've got a dominant car, but actually he's right that they've not scored results that such a dominant car should get. No, they haven't.

[00:08:45] And a lot of it has been down to their reliability problems, which could come to the fore again. Last week, we didn't see a Mercedes DNF, per se, because of reliability issues. But it certainly was a big contributor to why George Russell was in the position where he was to collide with Lewis Hamilton, because the car did not get enough energy when it needed to.

[00:09:09] It wasn't a critical reliability issue, but it certainly was unreliable in the sense that it did not deliver peak performance when it was necessary. And this is something the Mercedes drivers will be hoping comes to fore and gets solved, because you never know how the championship could turn around. I mean, Russell's already had so many DNFs for this very reason. And he's now publicly criticized Mercedes for this as well in a team radio message that was not even put on the F1 TV and the global broadcast.

[00:09:37] Yeah. And, you know, that's always their way of what do you say? What's the word? I have so many languages in my head censoring comments that come on the radio. And that's always so they're censoring the speeds that they're showing, especially in circuits like Spa, because you don't want to expose how slow the cars have become. But also now they're censoring comments there. And very interestingly, and I love, you know, Twitter for this. That's the only medium I use. I love to say, I'm sure you don't want to go.

[00:10:02] There are fans who have noticed that Kimi Antonelli went down to sixth gear at Eau Rouge all the way. The two McLaren drivers went down to seventh gear at Eau Rouge and George Russell took Eau Rouge in eighth gear. So actually just going down those gears is probably what charged some of their batteries back up for them to be able to attack into the camel straight in itself.

[00:10:27] And my feeling is that's where the driver difference is being made and being cheeky about how you make these settings. I mean, you know, and that's probably where Toto Wolff is saying that George Russell is equally to blame, you know, with his driving issues that he's facing. So let's see how George Russell, you know, he'll probably be happy that we are back at an energy dense circuit. Maybe these are circuits where he also doesn't have to drive unnaturally because I would, I mean, I would feel that as well. Oh, Rouge, all your life, you've taken it flat out.

[00:10:57] And then suddenly this, you come into this, you know, era of Formula One. You're like, I'm going to go flat out, but I'm going to just downshift two gears. Just blows my mind. Yeah, it's just not fair. We're not going to see any of that stuff at the Hungaro Ring. Beautiful circuit. How about we put down two of our best moments and memories from the Hungaro Ring canal if you had to pick two? Wow. There was, I think, Jensen Button's win from way back. Yes. I think he was P14.

[00:11:26] 2005. Yeah, he won that race. It was for BAR Honda, his first race win, right? Yes. Wasn't that also the race where Rubens Barrichello was in the top three or maybe leading and his Ferrari tire just exploded and on the main straight. So that was, that was one memory or two. Michael Schumacher squeezing Ralf Schumacher close to the wall as much as he could. That's another memory. I remember... What year was that?

[00:11:57] Because I remember Michael doing that to Rubens in 2010. He's also done that to Ralf several times. Oh, really? And I think it was also... Yeah. So at least, okay, Michael with Rubens next to the wall, in the wall, whatever you call it in 2010. But I think there was Michael with Ralf as well at one point of time. How can we forget? Which is bad. Yes.

[00:12:17] And how can we forget Alonso's defense against Hamilton in 2021, which eventually Esteban Ocon won his only race win, Alpine's race win after several decades. But there was also that same race. Hamilton was the only car on the grid at the start. Everyone else dived into the pit lane to change tires. And I still remember that view in the Viaplay studio saying, oh my God, imagine this.

[00:12:44] Formula One is lucky that at least one car has showed up there. If even the one car wasn't there, what would you do with the start? And I don't know if there is a replacement for this start procedure. Yeah, seriously, that was iconic. Lewis being the only one at the start. Like Rofty saying, five red lights eliminate for Lewis Hamilton only. I remember other moments too.

[00:13:04] I remember 2007 where in qualifying, Fernando Alonso deliberately stayed in the pit box for longer so that Lewis Hamilton could not put a qualifying lap. That is an iconic moment for which Fernando got some big, big slap on the wrist from McLaren, among other moments as well.

[00:13:22] Like, who can forget this race in 2021 when Sebastian Vettel got a podium for Aston Martin as well on that very day, but got disqualified because he just used a little bit too much of fuel. Or Valtteri Bottas taking the entire field out as well in that race. And even more so, wasn't it Norris and Piastri who were having team order issues here in 2024 or 5 was it? I do not recollect what year was that.

[00:13:52] Yeah, yeah. But this is when McLaren became famous. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you've got to swap around and give Oscar the win. Yeah, because Oscar's maiden win also came here. Yes. Yeah, yeah. And since you mentioned 2021, Max Verstappen crashed on the way to the grid, mixed conditions. Or was it 2020? I can't remember. Oh yes. And then the mechanics fixed his car on the grid, that race itself. So that was one.

[00:14:19] And wait a minute, I'm sure there's a lot more because it's the Hungaroring and it's one of my favorite series to go holiday at. Hulkenberg and Magnussen from 2017 where Kevin Magnussen got totally annoyed. Actually, Hulkenberg got annoyed by how staunch Magnussen was in defending and then came the quote that we all love the most. Kevin Magnussen saying to Nick Hulkenberg, you can, you know what I'm saying. We're not going to say that quote, yeah. But is that it? Do we have more memories? No.

[00:14:48] I think this was also the race last year where Antonelli crashed into Max Verstappen, took him out, took a couple of points off. And then when Max lost the title by a couple of points, he actually felt that, oh my God, I cost Max Verstappen the title. And what a change of, you know, scenery for him because Antonelli is going to come to this race with a 50 point advantage.

[00:15:13] And again, just let's see how well he goes up against everyone, including George Russell, because victory here is going to be crucial with, you know, the psychological edge going into the long summer break. And hence the Antonelli versus Russell battle is even more crucial. It's going to be a very hot race.

[00:15:36] The rear tires will be impacted because again, it's a very traction heavy race or circuit as well with all the slow corners, which require you to get a better exit. And that's usually been Ferrari's Achilles heel. So maybe it is eventually going to be Antonelli versus George Russell. And what do you think George Russell needs to do to get, you know, that, you know, to feel psychologically safe going into the summer break, Saml? Win. George Russell needs to win.

[00:16:04] In any case, he just needs to win by hook or by crook. Go dirty, do whatever. This is a time to prove just how much of a lion you can be. And Gara Ring is one of those places where you can defend like a madman. You know, Russell has to because Kimi Antonelli, if he wins, could win seven races and he could join an elite list of people in doing so. And some elite seasons as well.

[00:16:32] Ninety-one Senna when he won his world championship. Ninety-three Prost when he won his last world championship, considered one of the most dominant years in Formula One. Ninety-seven Jacques Ville de la. The world championship winning season where he beat Michael and ended up proving that an Indy car driver can also win in Formula One. Or 2005 Fernando Alonso. Or six Fernando Alonso as well. All these seasons, drivers have won seven races. Antonelli could be putting himself in that list by doing so. George needs to break that streak somehow.

[00:17:02] Like it's, the momentum is clearly in his favor. Something has to change for George. Yes, something has to change. And my submission here is even if he doesn't win, but he still matches Antonelli and is able to finish second and still bank in those points. That would still be like, okay, I know I still have the pace. I still have the speed. And my heart actually goes out to George Russell because this is not down to just driver talent. It is just down to how these cars need to be driven.

[00:17:31] We said the same thing about Lando Norris last year. There was a different way in which that McLaren needed to be driven until that, you know, suspension geometry change that came in for him. And it's the same thing we're seeing with George. But although now going into the season break, if the, you know, if the, if the gap is 50 or 50 plus points, it will still weigh very, very heavily on him. Because yes, we've discussed the Mercedes drivers and we've discussed the Ferrari drivers. But there's also Max Verstappen.

[00:17:59] Sector 2 of Spa, which we just saw is really a good measure of cars and how well they could go in Hungary. Max has also been extremely strong in Hungary. In fact, since we're talking of memory 2023, wasn't it? When he spun at the penultimate corner on his own while he was up front, and then he still went recovered and went on to win the race. So Max Verstappen is also somebody I'll throw into the mix out here. And, however, there is history as well.

[00:18:27] The last time a world championship FIFA World Cup match and the Formula One race were held on the same day, which is what just happened with Spain versus Argentina and the Spanish or the Belgian Grand Prix. A Ferrari driver won the next race. So there is always some of the, some of the other historic stat, which showcases or looks forward to a Ferrari. Well, you're giving us hope. You're giving us way too much hope. Although, one more answer.

[00:18:54] Do you think this is where we find out a lot more about Max's future at Red Bull Racing? Because summer breaks here. And according to that clause that we've all heard, Max has until the summer break to decide what he can do. I mean, theoretically, if he's not in the top, what is it, top two or top three in the standings, he can walk away from Red Bull. And we have not heard anything about Max Verstappen's future and any negotiations happened so far with Red Bull. So is this where we find out more? I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think he's going to tell us.

[00:19:24] The clause is he needs to be top two in the world championship by the summer break. And then whatever he decides, he has all the way to October to make up his mind and then eventually tell Red Bull. So we may still be guessing also, I believe, is great for Formula One to keep speculating. Max fueled the speculation himself in Spar when he said, no, I don't have anything to add. Why are you asking me? I don't, I said, I don't have anything to share. And Tom Clarkson was, you know, trying to ask him very direct and pointy questions.

[00:19:54] So are you saying you will be with Red Bull for 2027? He said, no, I said, I don't have anything to share. Yeah. So I think Max will, will further fuel the speculation for his goal. Listen, there's a lot playing in the background and it should continue as well. So I don't think we'll get to know what Max Vishnappen is doing next year. What do you think? I've constantly said that I want him to stay at Red Bull, but I hope he tells us something soon. I don't like waiting for too long. Come on, Max, give us an answer.

[00:20:21] Or if you can't give us an answer, just at least get the car on the podium. That's all I'm looking for. Well, apart from Max, the other Red Bull cars are doing very well too. Like the V-cars. Liam Lawson's been in the points consistently. Lindblad's had, what, five races in a row in the points now? Incredible how things have been going around for them. And actually six weekends where he scored points because the sixth weekend that I'm counting, actually he scored a point in the sprint as well.

[00:20:49] So both the V-carb drivers are going fabulously well. It just shows that, you know, when you have a car that's easier to drive and extract lap time from, they do well there. My prediction is they will jump Alpine in the constructors' standings in Hungary. Alpine is tied with V-carb with 61 points, I believe. Is it 51 or 61? But it's some one. But they are tied for points.

[00:21:16] And I get a feeling they're going to just continue to get a better score. I'm looking forward to Liam Lawson getting that upgraded racing bull scar as well. Yes, that's going to happen too. Because Lindblad had the updated one in Belgium because he beat Lawson in qualifying for the British GP. Now Lawson gets the upgrade too. Also watch out for Pierre Gasly. This is kind of one of the closest circuits to Monaco. And Monaco was where Gasly got P3. So everyone writing off Pierre Gasly, watch out.

[00:21:44] And also, let's not write off Aston Martin. Because they are bringing a brand new car this weekend to Hungary. Which means Fernando Alonso goes into the summer break with a new Formula One car. But is it a car or a tractor? What's the one word you want to say about Aston Martin-Kanal at the end of the weekend? I think it's going to be a racing car. There's going to be a lot of positive PR around it. Drivers will be told, just say good things. Let's motivate the teams. Let's motivate the fans, the sponsors.

[00:22:13] Let's say nice things. They will eventually find two to two and a half seconds is my guess. Which still means that they'll be battling for the last positions or the last six positions in Q1. But I'll put it this way. This is Formula One. Okay, you're not suddenly going to land up from going, you know, P21, P22 to P1, P2. For them to make a step forward would mean that they battle Esteban Ocon, who's usually out in Q1 or either of the Williams drivers again, usually out in Q1.

[00:22:43] And then definitely ahead of, or at least battling the Cadillac drivers. I think that's the next step that we're going to hopefully get to see. It's my former team. I love the people who still work there. There's Andy Stevenson and Will Hings and several other members of staff. Of course, I'd love to see them do well. And in general, I mean, you know, when you have a works team like Aston Martin struggling with Honda, you're always worried. Will the two of them, one of them pull out? Will they put the team on sale?

[00:23:12] What will Lauren Stroll do? So for the general better health of the sport and the business of the sport as well, I would love for them to be up there. We need them. We need them back. We need to see Fernando Alonso go and take a victory again. Well, will they win in Hungary? It's not going to be that crazy, but at least we can have hopes that they'll be not two and a half or three seconds off or five seconds off as was the case at times in Belgium. But time for predictions, Kunal. Who are you picking for the race win in Hungary?

[00:23:42] And why is it Kimi Antonelli? Because that's my prediction. I will go with Charles Leclerc. I think we've got to remember when Monaco happened. It was also the not upgraded, you know, race car, no carbon fiber, you know, carbon industry brake discs. Lots of things were different back then. Monaco was several races ago as well. The Ferrari that's there now they've understood they've, they've got the Aduo upgrade also that's happened.

[00:24:07] So my guess is going to be, it's going to be Charles Leclerc in the top three in qualifying. But he, if he's on pole, he's going to win the race. Ooh, I agree. If he's on pole, he's going to win. But Kimi, I just think Kimi is able to snatch that pole position away, just like Monaco. And that's my prediction. I'm going out. Are you saying nobody else is going to have a chance despite all of them throwing everything at it? Some of the legendary world champions like Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton.

[00:24:36] We've just praised how well he's gone here, but I've just chosen Leclerc and you've chosen Antonelli. Okay. Where do you think Hamilton's going to finish? Second. Second. Yeah, I think it's going to be Max Verstappen second for me. Ah, interesting. I think it's going to be Max Verstappen. He was great in the middle sector in Belgium. Yeah, it could be possible. But we'll find out. We'll find out. And you guys will join us. So who's going to be third? Wait a minute. Leclerc for me. So if you're saying Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc, right? I'm going to just check.

[00:25:05] Have we had that podium combination before? I'm just going to. So you're saying Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc. No, we've not had that podium. No, we've not. Because Hamilton and Leclerc have not finished together on the podium. Yeah. Wow. So, yeah. And George and Kimi won two has been just two times in Australia and China. Yeah. Wow. Really? So Hamilton and Leclerc on the podium. So that means it's going to be 11th race, 11th podium combination.

[00:25:35] And who did I pick? I picked Leclerc. I don't even know. I said Verstappen. And then I said Hamilton. So no Mercedes on the podium. Yeah. Has that ever happened? I think there's been at least one Mercedes. Don't bet based on my predictions, guys. Don't bet at all. Just be friendly betting. No money involved, please. We don't promote that on the Inside Line Up On podcast. But if you have to put your money somewhere, buy a fan code subscription. Because Kunal and I are going to be on commentary this weekend

[00:26:03] for the Hindi F1 broadcast. Make sure you're watching that. Make sure you're subscribing to the Inside Line Up On podcast. Make sure you subscribe to us on Instagram and YouTube as well. Because we have some more content lined up for you. And we will see you after the race on Sunday. Catch you guys.