Hi Everybody,
First of all, I'd like to state that I'm Hungarian but I'm not here to preach, just want to add an alternate viewpoint in this case.
I've read here and elsewhere many criticism that have reasons for existence but there are also many ones that are simply too negative.
Yes, the races usually not full of overtakings but show me a circuit nowadays that produce more than 5-10 passes a race. It has always been difficult to pass at the Hungaroring but with the current regulations the case is even worse than everywhere else. You're maybe right, the circuit could follow the changes of the cars but the track was heavily modified 5 years ago in order to make the drivers' life easier. It seems they're not even try to use the possibilities.
The situation of the overtakings are much better in other categories, the GP2 and the FBMW did relatively good races on Saturday and when the World Series by Renault came here they were much better. So I can accept that the Hungaroring is at least 'unique' but there are much to think about in F1 circles about the concept of the technical rules. Look at Barcelona, Magny-Cours or Sepang, the case are similar there regarding the on-track action.
As for the contract extension: Guys, the situation seems to be easy. Bernie gets, what he wants, thats all. He gets the money what he asks for and between some borders we can provide the neccessary updates on the track. 5 years ago the layout was modified, for this year the paddock was massively updated thx not the needs of the McLaren Brand Centre and other giants. And there is something that I think we know very well: the actual Hungarian goverments realised that this country needs this thing and not only when the event itself is profitable. Usually the race generates losses but the country has great financial benefit from it so the whole picture seems to be OK.
And then look to Silverstone for example. There have been a constant fight between Bernie and the BRDC and other parties regarding the finances and the required reconstruction. We are not willing to enter such a negotiation, because we know that Bernie would go to Russia. Or Poland, or Austria or the Czech Republic. So we try to give him, what he wants instead of trying to be tricky.
One of you guys mentioned that the F1 should move to another venue in Hungary. There is no possibility for that. In the early 90s there were plans to build up the Pannónia-Ring circuit (where Schumacher is riding a bike nowadays) closer to the Austrian border because they felt that would be cheaper than maintain the Hungaroring. This was a stupidity so that was abandoned and since then everybody is focusing on the Hungaroring because simply there is not enough money to build up and maintain an F1 standard circuit. The private money is not interested and the government has much bigger problems than a new racing circuit.
Then you could ask whats up with the Balatonring. This is a business of a Spanish company that have huge investments in Hungary and luckily the success of Talmácsi Gábor and the increasing popularity could meet. The initial idea was to organise the race on the Hungaroring (again) but there were safety concerns thanks to the concrete runoff areas and the people in charge said that the top priority is to keep the F1.
Anyway look at the circuit, I don't think you'd be happier to see a race here than on the Hungaroring. From the grandstands the viewing pleasure should be as good as it is on the Hungaroring (which is very strong in this area compared to the other circuits) but there are not many heavy braking points at the end of long straits so the situation seems to be similar for me.
And for finishing this long comment: Of course I appreciate your comments and accept a few opinions but I feel that the negativity is driven by the hatred towards the country itself. The people and the men in charge should think about why the Hungaroring can be the longest standing track after Monaco and Monza and where are the other western countries? You seem to think that its a shame for F1 that the Hungaroring will stay. I think its shame for Great Britain and France and the others that they're not able to create business plans to make the liquidity safe. This is a race among the European countries and 'unfortunately' this time a poor ex-eastern block country seems to be on the pace.
Thx for reading this,
Viktor aka Misu
) so I thought a sequence of fast S-es would make it fascinating to drive and to watch.
