Formula 1's 2026 energy deployment rules and the lack of available energy from the battery mean that high-speed circuits with limited braking zones have been a tough watch in qualifying, and equally painful for drivers as they resorted to harvesting energy through some of F1's fastest corners.
But with Budapest's Hungaroring offering plenty of braking zones connected by some of the shortest straights on the calendar, the twisty venue offered a throwback to previous regulations as drivers focused on extracting the most from the cars and Pirelli's tyres.
"From a driver's perspective, if you asked me last year, where would you prefer to race, it would be [Spa]. This year, I would probably tell you probably Hungary and Austria, as opposed to Silverstone and Spa, which sounds crazy, but that's what it is," Haas driver Oliver Bearman said before the weekend.
Hungary was a tricky weekend between the questionable quality of some of its resurfacing, a bumpy layout and windy conditions, but it also showcased the progress that has been made by the FIA on improving the chassis side of things, with lighter, more nimble cars that were able to race each other more closely at the stop-start circuit than in previous editions.
"It was nice," Bearman's team-mate Esteban Ocon reported back. "That side of things, to be able to choose a little bit more the gears that we are putting in and the driving style that we want, it's so much better. It reminds me of the old days a little bit."
"This track is still my ultimate favourite," he added, a nod to the Frenchman claiming his first and, so far, only grand prix victory in 2021, when he won the race for Alpine. "I really love it. I had the smile from the start of the weekend to the end, so that's cool."
Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto also felt the Hungarian grand prix was one of the more enjoyable races this year. "Today was a little bit more like last year, you know? You are a bit in a rich energy track, so you're not clipping or not super clipping anywhere," the Brazilian added.
"You are rich in energy, so there is not a big difference in speed between cars. I think you can say, in that sense, this year we probably had more opportunities to overtake."
The opinion was shared by the Racing Bulls duo of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, who finished sixth and eighth respectively in Hungary.
"It feels good to reach your top speed at the end of the straights, back to classic racing," Hadjar remarked. "It's a bit sad that now you're ranking the good tracks as high-energy tracks. That's how we rank the tracks now... Spa is one of the best tracks, but it was one of the worst to drive.
"It feels good to go back to things like this. We expect Zandvoort to be good as well. We need to enjoy it while we can before Monza."
Lawson, meanwhile, said the race on Sunday was "definitely better compared to Spa."
"We've come from probably the worst track to one of the best," the Australian said. "So on that energy side, it's definitely been better than last week. So, yeah, overall more of a fun race for sure."
