03/08/2025 10:15
After two wet races at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, there
initially appeared to be a strong chance of three in a row for the
Hungarian Grand Prix. In the days leading up to the race weekend,
the chance of rain on Sunday hovered around 50%, and overnight, the
city of Budapest, and the Hungaroring itself were battered by heavy
rain. The F3 race on Sunday morning, in which Brazilian Rafael
Camara was crowned champion, was run on a damp track and under
leaden skies. As for the grand prix at 1500 local time, it appears
four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen may now get his wish for a dry
race . Verstappen has been struggling with his RB21 this weekend,
describing his car as being "on ice", and after qualifying,
declaring it had "no grip". Appreciably, the last thing the Red
Bull driver needs, therefore, is a wet track as he tries to fight
his way through from eighth on the grid. The forecast now is for
only a 20% chance of rain, with temperatures around 25 degrees
Celsius. As for the wind, which was a major factor in the final
part of qualifying, and which allowed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to
land pole and defeat the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando
Norris, it is predicted to blow at 10 to 20 kph, and in a
south-easterly direction. That means the drivers will be facing a
headwind along the main straight.
