Formula 1 is set for its final race before the annual summer break with this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, which comes just a week after Belgium.
It will be the 11th round of the 2026 campaign and marks the halfway point after the earlier cancellations of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to conflict in the Middle East.
So the season has very much taken shape and there are lots of storylines heading into Budapest, the final grand prix before Zandvoort at the end of August.
Here are five things to therefore look out for at the Hungaroring.
Is there any way back for Russell?
One step forward, two steps back, has been the theme of George Russell’s 2026 campaign as he fights Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli for the title. It all started so well for the pre-season favourite as he won the Melbourne opener from pole, and then the Shanghai sprint, but various misfortunes subsequently arrived.
This contributed to the rapid Antonelli winning the next five grands prix to establish a 68-point lead, yet all hope was not lost with only six rounds done. So Russell fought back and cut his team-mate's lead by 43 points across the next three rounds with runner-up finishes in Barcelona and Silverstone, plus a victory in Austria, while Antonelli had two non-scores.
It looked as though the fight was very much on. But then came Spa, where Antonelli delivered a champion’s performance by blitzing the field to pole before taking his sixth win of the season. As for Russell? Well, he struggled to fourth on Saturday before a lap one collision with former team-mate Lewis Hamilton ended his race early and perhaps his title ambitions.
There are now 50 points between Antonelli and Russell, Hamilton is also in the mix sitting 45 off the top, and if the Italian maintains a similar advantage after Spa, it would take a collapse that mirrors that of Fernando Alonso in 2012. Back then, the Ferrari driver held a 40-point lead over Mark Webber heading into a summer break but more crucially, a 42-point advantage over Webber’s Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who became champion.
The Red Bull was a much more superior car though, so for Alonso to even be in that position was remarkable. Whereas the Mercedes is the class of the field, so it’d take something extraordinary for Antonelli to not take his maiden crown.
- Ed Hardy
Good omens for Ferrari
Mercedes has been the dominant force at the start of these new regulations by taking pole for all 10 grands prix in 2026, converting eight of those into victory. The other two wins belong to Ferrari, as Hamilton and Charles Leclerc claimed victories in Barcelona and Silverstone respectively after upgrades to the SF-26.
So, the Italian outfit has been the nearest challenger to Mercedes, though it is still 73 points behind the championship leader. Its deficit lies in straightline speed with the German outfit boasting the best engine - regardless of what ADUO says - yet luckily for Ferrari, that doesn’t matter so much at the Hungaroring with its combination of slow-to-medium speed corners.
‘Monaco without the walls’ is the horrible cliche given to the Budapest track. But nevertheless, Ferrari should shine this weekend and claiming its first pole of the year would be a terrific start to the weekend. This is where the omens are good for the Scuderia, as Hungary is where Hamilton and Leclerc both took their most recent poles - in 2023 and 2025 respectively.
Obviously for either of them to go quickest on Saturday is a huge challenge considering the pace of Mercedes, particularly Antonelli, but it is certainly up there as the biggest chance they’ve had all season.
- Ed Hardy
A more conventional F1 weekend after Spa and Silverstone?
The past two race weekends have been rather painful in a way. Yes, F1 shared fan data suggesting viewers enjoyed the race a lot more than last year's Belgian Grand Prix, but the reality is that drivers were far from impressed with their power units on energy-starved circuits.
Top speeds dropped dramatically on the Kemmel Straight, drivers lost around 50 km/h through Blanchimont, and Pouhon was no longer much of a challenge with the 2026 cars. Add to that the fact some drivers were caught out by the power unit's "self-learning elements", as Andrea Stella described them, and it was hardly a pretty picture.
The good news is that the Hungaroring is a completely different challenge. The circuit just outside Budapest is energy-rich, meaning there will be far less discussion in the paddock about energy management than over the previous two race weekends. That is a refreshing change and also means the cars will be tested in different ways, with much greater emphasis on chassis performance.
That naturally brings Ferrari to mind, while Red Bull also sees an opportunity because the shortcomings on the electrical side of the power unit will be less exposed. But regardless of the competitive picture, the good news is that this should hopefully be a more "normal" F1 weekend again.
Casual fans may not notice the difference, but those who enjoy watching onboards and analysing the data certainly will.
- Ronald Vording
Huge weekend for Aston Martin
This weekend is pivotal for Aston Martin and its 1000-strong workforce, which has endured a particularly horrid 2026. The signs were there from the beginning upon the late arrival of its AMR26, leading to the Silverstone outfit being the slowest team on the grid and Spa was the worst of the lot with Aston qualifying two seconds behind newcomer Cadillac.
That gap wasn’t so large in Melbourne, so it can be put down to the American squad bringing upgrades to the MAC-26, whereas Aston had bigger problems to address like actually finishing a race before fitting a new front wing and whatnot.
But now is the time for those developments, and Budapest will see the British marque bring what’s essentially a “B-spec” chassis, so big is the upgrade. Hungary had been earmarked for it for a while and chief trackside officer Mike Krack revealed in Spa that the team was “counting down the days”.
“For us, the most important is that we go back racing,” he added. “Because we have not, over the last events. It was very difficult to keep up with the midfield and whatever it’s going to bring, I think going racing is the most important for everyone.”
It’s doubtful that Aston will suddenly progress from the back two rows this weekend, but it’ll be important to at least witness some progress and start to put to bed what has been a demoralising six months.
- Ed Hardy
Silly season to commence
F1’s summer break usually marks the start of ‘silly season’, the time when driver deals for the following campaign get announced. In 2018, for example, the shutdown saw Daniel Ricciardo confirm his shock move to Renault, while four years later was the infamous Oscar Piastri saga.
It is unlikely anything of that magnitude will occur in 2026, but there are still quite a few open seats for 2027 and expect the rumours to start flooding in this weekend at Budapest. Max Verstappen is the main one with his Red Bull future being a hotly debated topic, but the four-time world champion is expected to remain with the Austrian outfit and once he formally confirms that, then the other dominoes should start to fall.
One of those concerns Alonso, whose Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026 and it is currently up in the air whether the two-time champion will race beyond his 45th birthday.
There is also Haas, which is debating whether to keep the struggling Esteban Ocon alongside the impressive youngster Oliver Bearman or to look elsewhere - Rafael Camara and Leonardo Fornaroli being the two options to have emerged.
Racing Bulls is also yet to confirm its full 2027 pairing, as is Alpine, Williams and Cadillac, though it’s hard to see those teams going for any changes.
- Ed Hardy
