After a rather soggy weekend in Belgium, we’re expecting a much warmer and drier round in Hungary, which tends to be among the hottest of the year (though, you can rarely fully dispel the potential for rainfall in Formula 1).

One year on from Oscar’s landmark first Formula 1 victory - our second of the season at that stage in 2024 - we’re back at the Hungaroring, where we’ll be looking for our 11th win of the 2025, having achieved our 10th from just 13 rounds last time out in Belgium.

We gathered the thoughts of Lando, Oscar, and Team Principal Andrea Stella as the team made their way from Spa-Francorchamps to Budapest this week, for the final race ahead of the summer break. We also jotted down the reasons why we love the Hungarian Grand Prix, what its biggest challenges are, and devised another awesome outfit for you to wear.

“I’m looking forward to heading to Budapest this weekend. It’s always a fun city to come to, and the fans have always been really good to us, so I’m excited to see everyone in the grandstands.

“We’ve had a great season so far, and it would be nice to go into the summer break with another strong result. My engineers and I have debriefed from last weekend and we’ve done our preparation for Hungary. I’m ready for another good weekend.”

“I’ve been very happy with my pace over the past few races and I feel in a good place heading over to the Hungaroring. Spa was a productive few days and I want to carry on like that.

“I have good memories from Hungary 12 months ago, but that’s in the past and I’m determined to create more of those moments this year. Off the back of last week’s win, I can’t wait to go racing again.”

“After our 1-2 in Belgium, we immediately shift our focus to the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Hungaroring can be a challenging track, but as always, we look for opportunities and will focus on where we can make improvements.

“This is the final push for the team before a well-deserved summer break. The entire team have worked incredibly hard to give us a fast MCL39 with a series of incremental upgrades over the last three events, and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts. A thank you also to our fans, technical and commercial partners for their support so far this season. We will be targeting another competitive weekend to take us into the summer break.”

Why we love the Hungarian Grand Prix

The races produce exciting moments and big results. Overtaking might be tough at the Hungaroring (more on that later), but many of the races are remembered fondly in F1 history.

Oscar’s first victory in Formula 1 took place in last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix - as did Heikki Kovalainen’s, 15 years prior in 2009. Lewis Hamilton also famously claimed F1’s first hybrid-assisted win in 2009, after pulling off a brilliant overtake on Mark Webber.

We’ve also clinched several emphatic 1-2s here, including in 1988, when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost finished first and second following an intense battle for the lead. Mika Häkkinen’s 1999 victory over David Coulthard is another of our famous wins in Budapest, playing a key role in that year’s Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship double.

Kimi Räikkönen’s brilliant victory from fourth in the scorching heat in 2005, and Jenson Button’s wet win from third in 2011 also loom large in the memory.

What are the challenges?

As referenced above, the Hungaroring, nicknamed “Monaco without walls”, is notoriously difficult to overtake on.

Unlike some of the recent circuits we’ve visited, which are of the long, wide and sweeping variety, Hungary is a narrow track made up of short straights and slow corners, not dissimilar to the street circuit in Monte Carlo.

That means that power and straight-line speed are less important than a driver’s ability to find the limit and brake late. This means mistakes are punished, but also increases the importance of where you qualify.

There are plenty of great spots for watching drivers wrestle their cars around the tight and twisting turns, but if you’re after wheel-to-wheel battles, keep your eyes on Turns 10 to 12. These can be taken quickly ahead of two slower corners, which bunch the cars up before drivers are unleashed down the main straight.

The season so far

Oscar and Lando finished first and second last time out in the Belgian Grand Prix, to make it three straight 1-2s and six in total for the season, our most since Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1988.

Oscar’s win means he retains his place at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, 16 points ahead of Lando, while it also extends our Constructors’ Championship advantage to 268 points.

The fit

We’ve got 30% off a range of items this week in the lead up to Budapest, meaning you can build a papaya fit for less. We’d start with our timeless set-up T-shirts as a base layer, along with a pair of black denim jeans and 59FIFTY team cap. Depending on the weather, you can complete the outfit with our phantom-coloured speedmark sweatshirt and our waterproof rain jacket.