Formula 1 teams can start their annual summer break today. Sometime this month, each of the 10 teams has to close its factory for 14 consecutive days. Laptops stay in the office, email goes unchecked. It all sounds very civilized for a sport where the difference between hero and zero can come down to milliseconds. As was the case at this past weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, at least in qualifying.
When the Hungaroring was added to the calendar back in 1986, it was F1's first true foray behind the Iron Curtain. Just 2.7 miles (4.3 km) long, the layout features a lot of medium-speed corners one after another that make overtaking more than a little challenging—to the extent that people call it "Monaco without the walls," something you'll hear so often over the course of a Hungarian Grand Prix weekend you'll want to scream.
Besides, more interesting things happen at the Hungaroring.
Expect the unusual
In 1997, then-reigning world champion Damon Hill was driving an Arrows—a terrible shed of an F1 car—after being let go by Williams at the end of 1996. F1 was in the early days of a tire war then, and Arrows were one of the few cars on the new Bridgestone tires, which that day had the edge on the Goodyears all the front-running teams were using. Hill started third and eventually passed both Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve to lead the race until a hydraulic leak toward the end robbed him of victory and left him with second place.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Charles Leclerc was rather surprised he grabbed pole position on Saturday. Charles Leclerc was rather surprised he grabbed pole position on Saturday. Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty Images Lewis Hamilton, on the other side of the Ferrari garage, looked visibly distraught with his qualifying results. His mood was no better after the race. Lewis Hamilton, on the other side of the Ferrari garage, looked visibly distraught with his qualifying results. His mood was no better after the race. Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty Images Charles Leclerc was rather surprised he grabbed pole position on Saturday. Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Lewis Hamilton, on the other side of the Ferrari garage, looked visibly distraught with his qualifying results. His mood was no better after the race. Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty Images
In 2003, Fernando Alonso scored the first of his 32 F1 race wins in that year's Hungarian Grand Prix. In doing so, he became F1's youngest-ever race winner at just over 22, until that record was beaten in 2008 by Sebastian Vettel, then again in 2016 by Max Verstappen.