Charles Leclerc must win Hungarian Grand Prix to keep World Championship dream alive

I stole on to the Hungaroring in some gutless eastern bloc hire ‘car’ years back and found myself thrashing up and down the gearbox as I careered around the track just before dark.

It was so tight and convoluted it felt more like a kart track than a racing circuit worthy of a world championship Grand Prix.

Ok, I’m no ace racer but if it’s like that in a road car that takes 15 seconds to get to 100 kph, what must it be like in a thoroughbred F1 machine that can do the same in about three seconds as it hurtles towards 291 kph?

It’s a credit to the designers that the Hungaroring made it’s debut when Russian tanks were still rolling around the USSR and yet the track layout has remained virtually unchanged for 20 years.

Five hairpins are crammed into 4.4 kilometres but with the tight bends are fast and flowing sections that require pin-sharp balance. It’s a street track without a city; Monaco without the soaring apartment blocks.

Put the climbing temperatures, the chances of rain, together with the claustrophobic design and likelihood of accidents and this race is one of the toughest of the year, mentally and physically.

There is only one clean overtaking spot, at the end of the main straight as the track drops away to the first bend, so pole position is crucial.

It’s here that Charles Leclerc comes on Sunday to rescue a season threatening to go completely off the rails before we are anywhere near the finish line.

It’s difficult to stress how important the Hungarian Grand Prix is to Ferrari’s beleaguered star driver.

They need, he needs, a morale-boosting victory to take into the three-week summer break.

Race winner Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard on July 24, 2022 in