Panasonic Toyota Racing heads east to Budapest and the twisty Hungaroring circuit for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, the last race before Formula 1’s summer break. The team suffered home disappointment at the Nürburgring last time out after a chaotic, rain-affected race but returns to action determined to improve.

The 4.384km Hungaroring circuit presents a unique challenge on the Formula 1 calendar, with 14 tight corners requiring a high-downforce set-up. As if that is not demanding enough for the drivers, temperatures in Budapest in August are traditionally very high, making Sunday’s 70-lap race a test of endurance, but Ralf Schumacher has trained for the challenge. Added to that, the team has planned for the set-up challenge of the Hungaroring, and it also has an updated floor for this weekend and beyond.

Bridgestone are bringing their soft and super soft Potenza tyres to Hungary so Ralf will be busy in practice evaluating their performance and optimising the TF107 before battling to return to the points.

 “The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend is always enjoyable because there are so many enthusiastic fans at the Hungaroring and the city of Budapest itself is beautiful,” Ralf said. “Visiting Budapest in August means we are almost certain to face some very hot temperatures, even if last year was unusually cool. The heat can make it difficult to concentrate but I have done my personal training and I am well prepared so it will be no problem. The nature of the Hungaroring also makes overtaking really difficult so it is more important than normal that we continue our strong recent form in qualifying. Unfortunately we have not translated that into race results and that is our challenge this weekend. I believe we are capable of scoring points so we will just try to do a good job all weekend.”