It's been a difficult week for Formula 1. The tragic news that Jules Bianchi has passed away, nine months after his accident at Suzuka, and without ever regaining consciousness in that time, has certainly left a sombre air in the paddock.
Many of those racing in Hungary this weekend flew out less than twenty four hours after attending Bianchi's funeral in Nice, and every driver had kind words to say about the highly rated Frenchman before they got down to business. Formula 1, sadly, remains a business as much as it does a sport, and there was never any question of the drivers being allowed to lose focus.
The first practice session threw up a surprising moment, when Sergio Perez's right rear suspension collapsed, sending his Force India spinning into the crash barrier. From there it spun back out over the edge of the track, at which point the damaged front wheel bounced under the monocoque and flipped the car over.
Perez was fine, but that red flag and another in the second practice session interrupted a lot of teams in their running. The second session in particular is often used to judge long run pace and tyre degradation for the weekend, and many teams will know a little less than they would like to going into the race.
The question, though, is what kind of a race it will be. In qualifying, Sebastian Vettel showed a superb turn of pace to put his Ferrari within one and a half tenths of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes. At the time he was just three tenths off Hamilton, too, but the British driver put in a storming final qualifying lap to set a benchmark more than half a second ahead of what his teammate had achieved. Hamilton later described the pole as probably his most dominant ever in Formula 1, but where does it leave us for the race?
Well, with the Mercedes one - two on the grid yet again it seems likely to be a dominant day for them. Hamilton finally took a European race win this season in Britain last time out - very much welcomed by the local fans - but he has been beaten away from the line in both the last two grands prix. With the Hungaroring a notoriously difficult track to overtake on he might find it difficult to get past anyone who beats him to the first corner, particularly if it is his teammate in the identical car.
That said, we think Hamilton is the most likely victor come Sunday's race, given his history at this track. His odds for the win are pretty horrible, but if you head to SkyBet you can pick up boosted odds on Hamilton to Win and Set Fastest Lap, at a somewhat more preferable 13/8.
His nearest rival is almost certainly his teammate, and given his form in the European races we're tempted to have a look at him too. Nico Rosberg has definitely upped his game since last year, despite currently being behind Hamilton in the standings where this time last year he was still, just, ahead. His wins in Monaco and Austria leave him very much in touch in the championship, and a technical track with few overtaking points is ideal if he can once again beat Hamilton off the line.
We think he's worth backing, and we'd recommend a trip to StanJames, where you can back him at a reasonably decent 10/3.
Finally, we need a longer odds bet to tempt you with.
McLaren had another torrid qualifying session, with a problem on Jenson Button's car preventing him making it into Q2, and then a breakdown for Alonso leaving him unable to set a time. They line up 15th and 16th on the grid as a result.
Now, the McLaren has not looked too shabby this weekend in practice, and if - though it's a big if - they can remain in one piece throughout the race, there's a decent chance their race pace will allow them both to progress up the field.
We won't deny it's one of the longer shots out there, but we fancy Coral's 6/1 for both McLarens to finish in the points this weekend.
