This weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix could be George Russell’s best opportunity of the season for a first ever points finish with Williams Racing, can the British driver finally do it as Formula 1 reaches the summer break?
The eleventh round of the world championship represents the final round before the important summer break, a time for all the teams to reflect on the first half of the season. Russell will be hoping to enjoy the summer break having finished in the points this weekend with overtaking being extremely difficult. This opens the door to Mr Saturday to end the first half of the season on the ultimate high, if he can produce another qualifying masterclass.
The Hungaroring is one of Russell’s favourite circuits, will this weekend finally be the one that see’s Russell finish in the points?
“I’m really looking forward to heading to Hungary this weekend. The Hungaroring is a circuit that I love, especially the second sector; it’s fast and flowing, and you don’t get a break from turn four to turn 11, but when the car is nailed it’s such a fantastic feeling to really extract everything from that sequence of corners.
“Budapest is a city that I really enjoy too, it has such a great atmosphere. I am going to be giving it my everything to make sure we end the first half of the season strongly, especially coming off the back of a number of strong races recently.”
“Hopefully we can maximise any opportunities” – Nicholas Latifi
Russell’s team-mate Nicholas Latifi is also looking forward to the weekend. The team have run well at the circuit in recent years giving Latifi confidence that he can have a good weekend.
Latifi is expecting tyre management to be very important with temperatures at the Hungaroring usually soaring this time of year.
“I’m very excited to head out to Budapest. It’s a track that has tended to suit the car quite nicely in past years, so hopefully we can maximise any opportunities that present themselves there. As for the track itself, it’s very busy and you feel like you are constantly in a corner, so you really have to get in a nice consistent rhythm to repeatedly nail your laps which makes it a challenge for the drivers.
“It’s also usually very hot there, so I think tyre management will be key. You always want the last race before the break to go well so that you can head off on your summer holiday feeling positive, so I’ll be looking to end this first half of the season on a high note.”
