After being somewhat shaded by Williams in recent races in terms of being ‘best of the rest’ behind the Mercedes works team, Red Bull Racing will be glad to see the first proper high-downforce circuit since Monaco. Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo will be looking to finish ahead of the two Williams cars, something they haven’t done since Canada.
In the Constructors’ Championship, the spike in points scored by Williams means that second place is under threat, with the gap now 67 points between the two British-based teams. This means that Red Bull will enter the summer break in second place regardless of the result in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Strangely, for a circuit that suits them so well, Red Bull have just one victory here, in 2010, thanks to a storming drive by Mark Webber, arguably his best victory. Sebastian Vettel has been on pole here twice, in 2010 and again in 2011, but his best result is just second. This remains one of the very few Grand Prix that the German has entered but he has not won.
Red Bull Hungarian GP Preview
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Form: R/3/R/5/4
2013: Q: P2, R: P3
Vettel finally finished ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in a race in which both drivers finished last weekend at the German Grand Prix. Vettel is unlikely to win the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend with Mercedes having such a huge advantage, but it is likely that he will have a realistic shout at a podium finish, but on a circuit where qualifying well is vital, he will need to get a decent grid slot. A strong result will do him good heading into the summer break, and he generally comes back incredibly strong from the summer.
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Form: 3/1/8/3/6
2013: Q: P8, R: P13
Ricciardo had a pretty standard race here last year. He qualified well and then dropped back during the race. Following his battle with Fernando Alonso last time out, he received a lot of praise from the Spaniard, and not too many drivers receive praise from Alonso! His form is still really good, but there is one driver around him who has scored more points recently, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Given the Finn’s form, it is unlikely that Ricciardo will be able to hold off the very fast Williams driver, who is picking up podiums very swiftly, whereas Ricciardo has just one in the last three races.
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