Five themes to watch for in Hungary

Vettel under pressure

It was no surprise to see Sebastian Vettel on pole position at a circuit widely expected to be Red Bull territory. What did shock was how much he struggled during free practice, forcing Red Bull to break Formula 1's Friday night curfew for the first time this season to work on his car, and the fact that he was only 0.163 seconds clear of Lewis Hamilton in qualifying. There are two ways to look at this.

Firstly, it's a sign that the gap to Red Bull has been closed, as traditionally its qualifying dominance has not translated into anything like the same advantage on Sunday afternoon.

Secondly, you could interpret it as a consequence of Red Bull being very cautious on how aggressive its tyre use is over a single lap to ensure that it is in the game come the grand prix. Keep a close eye on the range that Vettel and the two McLarens manage during their first stint to get a clear idea of how much of a fight the world champion is going to have on his hands.

Button will rack up his 200th F1 start © sutton-images.com

Button's double hundred

Only 10 drivers have notched up 200 grand prix starts and Jenson Button will join them when the red lights are extinguished in Hungary. He kicked off celebrations by qualifying third, his best effort since making the front row at Monaco. As the 2009 world champion pointed out, qualifying has sometimes been a weakness for him this year, so to go into the race at the sharp end gives him a shot at a repeat of his maiden victory for Honda in Hungary five years ago.

With tyre strategy and his ability not to overstress the tyres on the throttle in the many long corners at the Hungaroring, the 31-year-old Briton might yet be able to turn the tables on his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who only just pipped him in qualifying.

A question of strategy

Ask around about the expected pitstop strategy and you get a wide range of answers. Most reckon it will be a three stop, with a few straying into either two or four stop territory. Kamui Kobayashi suggested a one-stopper was on, if you drive slowly enough, but you're on safe ground to expect even tyre-friendly Sauber to make at least two visits to the pits.

There are several imponderables that will have a major influence. Firstly, it's due to rain overnight. While it will have dried up by the time the race gets going, that will send the track backwards in terms of track evolution. This will make the track greener and put more stress on the tyres.

Track temperature predictions vary dramatically and the hotter it is, the less well the tyres will last. The option tyre has proved pretty durable and there are plenty of drivers outside the top 10 who have kept the odd set back, so expect the race to ebb and flow significantly.

Piquet won in 1986 after passing Senna at Turn 1 © LAT

Passing fancy

The Hungaroring is not famed for its overtaking opportunities, although Turn 1 has produced some spectacular moves over the years (Nelson Piquet's incredible pass on Ayrton Senna in 1986, for example). But the advent of the DRS rear wing, which can be deployed along the length of the start/finish straight, and high-degradation tyres is sure to create more chances for on-track position changes on Sunday.

Most likely, it's going to be about quick cars on good rubber getting ahead of those struggling on shot tyres, but even without the help of the Pirellis, the use of the DRS could lead to a little more dicing at the front than we are used to - especially with Hamilton, who passed Mark Webber on his way to victory here in 2009, up front.

Di Resta versus the world

Arguably no driver in the field has a worse ratio of points deserved to points achieved and the Scot is determined to take his first top 10 finish since Malaysia from 11th on the grid. In Germany Nick Heidfeld ruined his race on the first lap. At Silverstone he ran as high as sixth before a communication blunder around the pitstops caused by Adrian Sutil getting a puncture cost him almost half a minute.At Valencia, reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg crashed on Friday morning and set back di Resta's weekend significantly.

In short, things haven't gone anywhere near as well as they should have based on the job being done by the man behind the wheel, and the Force India driver deserves the trouble-free run he is desperate for. Given his car's pace, that could mean a very good finish.

On pace, the car is arguably the fifth strongest, but if Mercedes has to make an extra stop, finishing in the middle of the points positions is very much on. But he will have to get ahead of his team-mate Sutil first.