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The 2023 F1 Hungarian GP tends to be the race that signals the end of the first half of the season. However, this time around that's not the case as we will have the race in Belgium as well before the summer break.
The race in Hungary has thrown a curve ball or two in the past as well. What can we expect this time around? Let's find out as we share our predictions for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP.
#5 Tires could play an important role
The 2022 F1 season saw tires play a critical role in the race. It was the wrong tire selection that cost Charles Leclerc a win and it was the correct tire selection that helped Max Verstappen make his way through the field.
Conventionally the track for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP has caused massive tire degradation and races tended to be impacted by it. Last season is an anomaly in that respect. It will be interesting to see if the tires play a role this time as well as teams trying to get on top of the challenges put in front of them.
The 2023 F1 Hungarian GP tends to be the race that signals the end of the first half of the season. This time around though that's not the case as we will have the race in Belgium as well before the summer break.
The race in Hungary has thrown a curve ball or two in the past as well. What can we expect this time around? Let's find out as we share our predictions for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP.
#4 Daniel Ricciardo's first weekend will be a tough one
Daniel Ricciardo's first weekend back in F1 is going to be surrounded by a lot of intrigue. The Australian is making a return with AlphaTauri in what seems to be a bid to get back to the senior Red Bull team.
The 2023 F1 Hungarian GP will be the first race for his return and everyone will be looking at Ricciardo to see how he fares. Now, at this stage, let's be fair about one thing, the Australian has been parachuted into a car that he has not driven beforehand. Even as the Red Bull test driver he never would have had the opportunity to try the AlphaTauri in the simulator.
To add to this, the car has had a horror run lately. It's last in the championship and there's a huge gap to even P9 in the championship. In these circumstances, the best that an underprepared Daniel Ricciardo can do is hope to be competitive against Yuki Tsunoda.
For the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP though, we don't expect that to be the case. In our view, an underprepared Ricciardo is going to struggle on his very first weekend back in F1.
#3 McLaren will continue to be competitive
While McLaren's surprise resurgence has caught quite a few teams off-guard many have attributed the track characteristics at Silverstone and Austria as the defining factors as well.
The car inherently tends to be strong in the fast-speed sections of a track. Its weakness, at least with the non-upgraded version, was the fact that the car was just not as competitive in the slow-speed sections.
Many have speculated that while the upgrades have accentuated the strengths of the car, the weakness still remains. On a track like the one used for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, efficiency in the slow-speed sections is paramount.
While there are many that feel McLaren could once again struggle, there's certainly evidence from Silverstone that the car worked just fine in the slow-speed sections as well. While we might see a minor drop-off, we're not going to see McLaren fall off a cliff in terms of performance.
At the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP, we're backing the team to continue to perform at its newfound level.
#2 Aston Martin will be back as a podium contender
Aston Martin has been a bit off-color since Monaco. The team had an average race in Barcelona where neither Alonso nor Stroll was able to challenge for the podium.
After a revival of sorts in Canada, the team has taken a step back in Austria and Silverstone. It does come as a surprise that Fernando Alonso was aiming to challenge for a win in Canada but is now struggling to even challenge for a podium.
Track layout seems to have played a role but there's also the impressive resurgence from McLaren that can't be ignored. Having said that, the track for the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP should be conducive to Aston Martin's strengths.
When that is the case, expect Fernando Alonso to be back in contention for the podium at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP.
#1 Max Verstappen wins the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP
Not sure if a Max Verstappen win is much of a prediction anymore. Over the last couple of years, it's safe to say that there are three things that are inevitable, they are death, taxes, and Verstappen winning a race.
Such has been the dominance of the Red Bull driver that it's hard to see him making a mistake or having an off-weekend. With Sergio Perez continuing to struggle in qualifying to even make it to Q3, it's hard to see Verstappen face too many challenges.
To add to this, Red Bull is bringing its own major upgrade at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP. It's hard to bet against Max Verstappen winning the race this weekend unless something freaky happens.
