Following the first 2-step gap in tire compounds for the German race, Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone will switch back to a one-step gap, bringing the super soft and medium compounds to the Hungaroring.
According to Bridgestone's Director of Motorsport Tire Development, Hirohide Hamashima, this weekend's race will be tackled with other things in mind as compared to the one in Germany. If hot/cold temperatures were a pretty important factor last weekend – the super soft tires did not last for long, while the hard ones took longer to get up to temperature – the track surface will influence the early running in Hungary for sure.
“We expect to hear a lot of discussion about the track surface at the beginning of the weekend, as the circuit is not used as much as some, so the surface is quite dirty for the first sessions. We can expect to see some graining on Friday because of this,” said Hamashima.
“The ambient and track temperatures are often very hot here, but as the surface is quite smooth and there are no very high lateral forces we don't expect overheating to be too much of an issue if the tires are managed well.”
Hamashima also gave us a few hints on how overtaking will play out for the drivers on the Hungarian circuit – one of the shortest in F1 – saying that “finding the maximum traction through the last corner is very important as it enables a good top speed on the short straight, leading into the first corner, where there is the main overtaking opportunity on the circuit.”
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