If Max Verstappen's victory train is to come off the rails anywhere, there is every chance it will be in Hungary on Sunday.
Added to the fluctuating demands of the Hungaroring are changing tyre rules, vicious heat and a demandingly tight circuit.
But not for nothing are the champions now poised to break one of the toughest records in F1.
A triumph by either Verstappen or teammate Sergio Perez will be the 12th in a row by the Milton Keynes operation, topping a record set by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren in 1988 in what is generally regarded as one of the greatest seasons in the sport’s history.
They set a benchmark that defied Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in their pomp, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel’s four-title run and, indeed, Mercedes when they were winning everything in sight with Lewis Hamilton.
Of course, Verstappen and Perez are no Senna and Prost. And they would do well to remember that McLaren’s run was ended by the vagaries of fate and the fumblings of Williams’ stand-in driver Jean-Louis Schlesser.
The Hungaroring, half an hour up the M3 from Budapest, is something akin to a snaking kart circuit where plenty can go wrong.
Its 4.4 kilometres loops in and out of a natural bowl so the result is often a breathlessly hot valley that tortures man and machinery across 70 of the toughest laps of the season.
The pit straight lasts just around 10 seconds and is barely any respite for drivers continually wrestling at the wheel in a double layer of fireproof nomex and suffocating heat.
Added to the demanding topography is the oppressive mid-July sun battering the heart of central Europe.
Drivers can sweat away anything up to three kilos in two hours while the power units have to survive relentless temperatures with minimum cooling at such (relatively) slow speeds and brakes reaching a scorching 1,000º Celsius.
Adding to those demands is a swiftly evolving track surface as more rubber is laid down. The Hungaroring is rarely used so drivers have to play a potentially ruinous guessing game over how much the grip has improved lap on lap.
Having crashed up and down the gearbox around the Hungaroring in a humble hire car myself, quite how the world’s best manage it in 200mph speeding monsters is a constant source of amazement.
The result, though, is a challenging circuit that almost always provides surprise and drama, especially with a new experiment with the qualifying format.
Even Verstappen revels in its challenge, labelling last year’s surprise win from 10th as “crazy”. Esteban Ocon was the unexpected winner the year before.
While the man of the moment, Daniel Ricciardo, gets his F1 reprieve back at AlphaTauri and the scene of one of his most memorable victories in 2014.
Rumour is he could be in line for a return to the seat he abandoned at Red Bull four years ago if things go well.
That will, surely, will be an added spur for the man in that place right now, Sergio Perez, on a bad run of form but competing on a street-style track where he is, usually, at his best.
Silverstone headliner Lando Norris has played down the chances of a McLaren repeat because Hungary’s slow corners do not suit their car.
And who knows which Ferrari team will turn up. The fast, incisive one or the team we saw at the last round plagued by hesitant management, bad strategy calls and wrong tyre choices.
The demands of Hungary are such that only a fault-free weekend will give anyone a chance of challenging Verstappen unless there is rain.
Leading the charge will probably be Mercedes and Aston Martin. Ten years on from his first win there with the German car giant, Hamilton has won the race eight times. Last year, even in the midst of their worst season in a decade, George Russell still set pole and Mercedes enjoyed a double podium.
Not that starting from the front spot means very much. Only once in the last four years, and just eight times in the last 20, has the man starting first in Hungary taken the chequered flag.
Two decades ago veteran Fernando Alonso first picked up the winning habit here in Hungary. So there is more than the usual proportion of drivers with a taste of glory in Hungary and all are looking to indulge once again on a circuit where good drivers can make the difference.
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
How they line up for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
4 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
6 Romain Grosjean, Haas
7 Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
*8 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
9 Carlos Sainz, Renault
10 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
11 Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12 Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren
13 Sergio Perez, Force India
14 Lance Stroll, Williams
15 Esteban Ocon, Force India
16 Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso
17 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
18 Charles Leclerc, Sauber
19 Sergey Sirotkin, Williams
20 Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
* Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth but had a three-place grid penalty for speeding in red flag conditions during practice
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYango%20Deli%20Tech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERetail%20SaaS%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESelf%20funded%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
