The Hungarian Grand Prix preview

While Formula 1 again finds itself weathering controversy, the upside of going straight from Germany to Hungary on consecutive weekends means that we don't have long to wait for the engines to drown out all the other noise.

Some bits of this weekend are easy enough to predict; not least the number of times that Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Stefano Domenicali will have to answer the same questions about driver favouritism.

Massa's potentially the only person who might welcome that line of inquiry, not only because he's the perceived victim in what shook out at Hockenheim, but also because he might embrace it as a break from being asked about his feelings for the track in light of his freakish crash last year.

The fact is that the Brazilian won't have given his accident a second thought. But the possibility that Massa could once again be asked whether he understands the ramifications of having Alonso behind him and traveling quicker will be another matter, not least because Massa's form in Budapest is historically pretty good.

Not only that, but Ferrari's should be too. The F10 likes slow corners and it has undoubtedly benefited from its recent updates, so it's safe to assume that Alonso and Massa will consider Hungary an opportunity for a good weekend.

Standing in Ferrari's way will be its chief partners in ambiguous driver status Red Bull Racing. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel have both demonstrated title-worthy pace all season, but the team's extraordinary knack for squandering opportunities has made it its own worst enemy over the first half of the year. If it doesn't start consistently delivering upon its potential then the team will quickly find itself running out of races, and Hungary is as good a place to start as any.

The Hungaroring is expected to be less suitable for the McLarens, but once again the team's progress on the development front has been strong enough that Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button should be closer to the pace than they were in Monaco, even if their hopes of a win depend on something going haywire in front of them.

Elsewhere, Mercedes will be looking to continue it recent upswing in form, Vitaly Petrov will relish another chance to reinforce his claim to the second Renault seat beyond the end of the season, and Lotus will be looking to show everybody why Bernie Ecclestone thinks it's the only new team worth keeping.

The Hungarian Grand Prix might not be famed for overtaking, but it's quite creative at producing drama in other ways.

Weather

*The score is calculated by each driver's position (1st = 1 point, 24 for a DNF and 25 if not present). Lowest score wins.

Moment from history

The 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix had begun with a scandal over the legality of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, which despite being given the all-clear by the FIA, was still being muttered about in the paddock along with the phrase 'torque control system'.

Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill celebrate in 1997 © LAT

Schumacher was certainly quickest early in the weekend and comfortably took pole, but as far as he was concerned the only technical advantage he had was the team's new lighter-weight car that gave more freedom in the placement of ballast.

Jacques Villeneuve qualified second, the cooler temperatures in the latter part of the session favouring his Goodyears over Schumacher's Bridgestones, while Damon Hill proved that his surprise fifth-quickest time during practice was no fluke by going even better and putting his unfancied Arrows third on the grid.

Hill jumped up to second at the start and set off after Schumacher, while Villeneuve paid for a bad getaway by finding himself stuck in fourth behind a slower Eddie Irvine.

But both Ferraris were in trouble with tyre wear and were forced to pit early, leaving Villeneuve and Williams team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen to try to close the gap to the rapidly-departing Hill.

Bridgestone-shod Hill seemed immune to the blistering problems that the Williamses were struggling with after they'd switched to their second set, and he set about building a lead. With three laps to go his buffer was out to 35s and it appeared that the reigning world champion was destined for the unlikeliest of wins, but then a hydraulic problem struck, followed shorly afterwards by a throttle issue.

Villeneuve immediately took nine seconds out of him, and another 20s next time around. The pair went into the final lap nose-to-tail, and when Hill began jinking the car in an effort to clear the system, Villeneuve, unsure what his former team-mate might do next, decided to take the 'safer' option and try to pass him on the inside - on the grass.

Amazingly it worked and the Canadian cruised home to give his championship ambitions another boost, while Hill struggled home in second, 20s behind. Schumacher finished fourth behind Johnny Herbert's Sauber after severe tyre wear forced him to make three stops.