🏎️ Hungary – El Box de Franco

Franco arrives at the Hungaroring to close out the European summer with everything he's got

Published

21 Jul 2026

Est. reading time

2 min

🇭🇺 This weekend we head to Budapest

The Hungaroring is one of the most technical and demanding circuits on the calendar. Known as "Monaco without walls", it's narrow, packed with corners and offers very few overtaking opportunities. There's no margin for error here and qualifying is everything.

But Franco already knows it

In F3 he stood on the podium here in 2022 and 2023. In F2 he finished fifth in the Sprint in 2024. And last year, on his F1 debut at the Hungaroring, he reached Q2 and qualified P14, one of his best qualifying results of the season. This year he comes back with more experience and determined to go one further before the summer break.

The Hungaroring was the first F1 Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain in 1986

And it was built in a record time of eight months. It sits in a natural bowl 20 km from Budapest, which means that from almost any grandstand you can see a large part of the track. Its unique characteristics:

4.381 km and 70 laps: one of the shortest but most mentally demanding tracks on the calendar

Very few overtaking zones: qualifying and strategy are everything

Intense heat in the middle of the European summer: tyre management is critical

A tight layout with many slow corners that demand perfect traction

It's also a special place for Alpine: this is where the team secured their most recent F1 victory in 2021, when Ocon surprised the world in a chaotic race.

🏎️ What they'll be working on this weekend

The Hungaroring demands a car with lots of downforce and perfect traction out of the slow corners. The key areas where Franco can make a difference are:

Qualifying: on a track where overtaking is nearly impossible, starting further up the grid changes everything

Traction out of the slow corners: where time is won and lost against the closest rivals

Tyre management in the heat: with 70 laps and high temperatures, looking after the tyres is essential

The start: at the Hungaroring the first lap can make or break the race

⏱️ Weekend schedule

Friday 24th:

FP1: 13:30 🇭🇺 / 08:30 🇦🇷 FP2: 17:00 🇭🇺 / 12:00 🇦🇷

Saturday 25th:

FP3: 12:30 🇭🇺 / 07:30 🇦🇷 Quali: 16:00 🇭🇺 / 11:00 🇦🇷

Sunday 26th:

Race: 15:00 🇭🇺 / 10:00 🇦🇷

We'll be following Franco live on the FC43 app. 💪

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🩵 Budapest already saw you shine before F1, Franco

Now it's time to write a new chapter. Share how you'll be following the weekend with #FranClub43 and see you from Friday.

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