Will Hungarian GP Seal the WDC, or Will History Repeat Itself?

Hungary is one of the historical Formula One circuits. The circuit’s driver and constructor successes have been varied over the years.

Michael Schumacher has won here four times; Ayrton Senna thrice; and Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villenueve, Damon Hill, and Mika Hakkinen each scored twice.

Both the Williams and McLaren teams have each won the constructors crown seven times.

Constant dominance has not been prominent if you look into teams from which winning drivers came from, with only Williams-Renault having three consecutive wins.

So, can we say that Lewis Hamilton will storm to victory this time too? Maybe not!

The Formula One fraternity believes the Hungaroring to be a McLaren favorite.

The track itself is on the narrower side and passing is difficult. Hence, anyone with a MP4-23 or a F2008 sitting on pole can lead every lap and win the race, in a similar fashion as in 2007.

This time too, can we expect pit strategy to be the decider in the final lineup?

In the 1998 Hungarian GP, Mika Hakkinen's gearbox problem allowed Michael Schumacher to win the race with a three-stop strategy, which was seen as a masterstroke by tactician Ross Brawn.

Hence, it is not easy to predict the Hungaroring GP, considering the way pit wall decisions have backfired for both the front-running teams.

Thus, we can be in for another relatively boring GP, which might become more of a procession—or somebody’s loose strategy might hand over podium finishes for the likes of Renault.

My point is that some flicker of genius may provide us with a breathtaking maneuver to take places, but to do so, Ferrari would surely need to cover up and exceed the seven-by-tenth deficit over McLaren and just hope for no mishaps.

Still, from my side, I feel that if bad luck does not strike and Lewis Hamilton is in the front row, then until and unless Kimi Raikkonen can bring home a sparkling drive, Ferrari’s chances are dim.

Big Question:

Will a win here seal the WDC for Hamilton? Or will we see Raikkonen sail over others with a win here and become a two-time champ?

Bleacher Creatures, do let me know your views.