Ferrari NOT the favourites at Hungaroring | GHOSTS of Monaco | 2026 Hungarian GP Preview

**Soumil Arora** (0:00)
I don't think we can start off the Hungarian GP preview without touching upon the big news. Kunal and I are about to share a commentary box on an official Formula One broadcast. This is the best possible thing we could start out with.

**Kunal Shah** (0:18)
Yeah, this is, I mean, so Soumil and I take turns at the official broadcast that FanCode does for India.
Cheta and our friend leads the broadcast, and Soumil and I fill in with the expert role. But there's a good chance this week-end that Soumil is going to lead it, and I'm going to be taking Soumil's role anyway.

**Soumil Arora** (0:39)
No, no, there's not a good chance this is going to happen. This is communicato official. We are going to be on the FanCode F1 broadcast together. You guys are watching this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, and it's going to be an extended episode of the podcast on an official Formula One broadcast. Like, we've been together on a broadcast before, but for the first time, it's going to be just the two of us, which is a cool feeling to have, a cool feeling to have. Firstly, wishing Chetan all the best for India versus Zimbabwe, because he's going to cover that for cricket. But that's not what we're going to talk about here. We are going to talk about the Hungarian Grand Prix, which could be Ferrari's best possible chance for victory after Monaco. But Kunal, they do not want to be called the favorites.

**Kunal Shah** (1:21)
Charles Leclerc has literally pleaded after his second consecutive podium in Spa, saying, please do not tag us as favorites. Everyone tagged us as favorites for Monaco. And we saw what a disaster that was.
And please do not tag us as favorites for Hungary. But Soumil, we should hence explain why are Ferrari expected to be the favorites. What are the characteristics? Because yes, there is this terminology which says that Hungary or the Hungaroring is Monaco without the walls. It's a tight, twisty, technical circuit where chassis performance really matters. But there's another factor in 2026 which decides how well Ferrari may or may not do, which is energy-rich circuit.

**Soumil Arora** (2:08)
And that's been Ferrari's problems so far. Haven't they? No, the energy-poor circuits have been Ferrari's.
Wait, wait, wait. Let's add it down. Energy-rich means the circuit where you can harvest a lot. Energy-poor are the ones where you can't and you've got to deploy more. So, my brain can eventually, when I was thinking energy-rich, I was thinking Spa because you need a lot of energy at Spa. But that's not what we're meaning. Energy-rich means a circuit like the Hungaroring or perhaps, what other examples could we have? Monaco?
Monaco? Miami?

**Kunal Shah** (2:42)
I don't even remember. I mean, it was so long back and things were so different then because we still hadn't done the downward adjustment of how much you could harvest and use.
We said it's Monaco without the walls. It's also Monaco without, sorry, the Hungaroring is also Monaco with straight line mode speed. So, we will have four of those flip-flap things that will happen throughout the circuit. And the big question really is will Ferrari finally get their act together at a circuit like this and pull out performance at a circuit where we were just, Soumil and I were jamming and, you know, Uttara was there. We said, actually, this is not the Hungaroring, it's the Hamiltonring, given just how...

**Soumil Arora** (3:29)
Yes.

**Kunal Shah** (3:29)
I mean, Hamilton's success as a driver at this circuit unmatched.

**Soumil Arora** (3:36)
He has won so much. It is insane how Lewis Hamilton has been dominating the circuit right from his McLaren days. And that's what weighs up this whole dynamic between Leclerc and Hamilton, because this is Lewis' place. He's taken pole here a ridiculous number of times, even wins. I forgot the number right now. But...

**Kunal Shah** (3:57)
No, I actually just dug those numbers. Seven wins? Nine poles, eight wins, twelve podiums. Okay, so this is what I dug through. And I mean, just for reference, the team with the highest number of poles is McLaren, and that is also nine poles. So Lewis Hamilton, across his three teams, has the same number of poles as McLaren, the reigning world champions, have at the Hungaroring. But then F1 guy, Dan, actually explains it more. Most points for any driver at the Hungaroring, obviously, with such a great record, 286 points.
And then most laps led, 487 laps led, off the Hungaroring. It's the 40th anniversary of the Hungaroring. Lewis has probably raced in half of those races that have happened there. And hence, while Ferrari may or may not be the favorites, you can't write of Lewis Hamilton as one of the favorites, given his form and given his consistency.