Focus on... Nico Rosberg
How Nico Rosberg must wish he could turn back the clock to about 13:02 on May 15 of this year. At that moment, he led the championship by 43 points and led Lewis Hamilton on track after passing him at Turn 1 of the Spanish Grand Prix. Moments later, the pair collided and crashed out of the race. In the five races since, Hamilton has won four times and Rosberg just once, with the lead cut to just one point following the Briton's win at Silverstone last time out.
Rosberg's superb early-season form was never going to last forever -- he said as much himself at the time. But even he could not have imagined such a dramatic turnaround in so short an amount of time. The championship has effectively been reset coming to Budapest. A fired up, on-form Hamilton is a dangerous thing; he won titles through similar spells of dominance in 2014 and 2015.
For much of this period of success for Mercedes, questions have been asked of Rosberg's ability to win in a straight fight. We still haven't seen that championship-calibre drive from Rosberg -- he was several corners away from completing one in Austria -- and with the summer break approaching fast he desperately needs to wrestle the initiative away from Hamilton and regain himself the confidence and swagger he had earlier in the year. Hungary would be a great place to do it, given Hamilton's previous results here. This is not to say the title is going to be won or lost in the upcoming back-to-back races but Rosberg's season needs to be kick-started as soon as possible.
In need of a win
As ever, Ferrari could go here, as could Nico Rosberg given his diminishing title lead and form. However, a more left-field candidate is Daniel Ricciardo. His drive to victory at Budapest in 2014 was one of his most memorable and he arrives this year with new Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen stealing the plaudits and a considerable amount of the Australian's thunder. A win would be timely for Ricciardo to reassert his authority at the team and just payment for lost victories in Spain and Monaco this season.
In need of points
Sauber finally confirmed new ownership this week. The team can now focus fully on its on-track performances after a year of financial problems. Removing that zero from next to its name in the constructors' championship has to be the aim now -- especially with Pascal Wehrlein registering points for Manor in Austria.
ESPN prediction
Lewis Hamilton's dominance at the Hungaroring is only matched by Michael Schumacher, with the two men claiming four wins apiece in Budapest. Hamilton's previous (2007, 2009, 2012, 2013) made him favourite for the past two seasons but Hungary was arguably his worst performance of 2015. He arrives in Budapest this year with four wins in the last five races and with the momentum very much on his side - meaning we are backing him for Hungary win number five this weekend.
Weather
It's going to be hot throughout the weekend in Budapest, with temperatures between 28 and 31 degrees. F1 weather service Ubimet predicts a dry Friday and Saturday, though it says there are "big uncertainties" about Sunday's weather with risks of showers come race day. That will cast memories back to 2014's classic race, which came after a big shower, though a weekend of completely dry running cannot be ruled out.
Betting
Lewis Hamilton remains the bookies' favourite at 6/5 this weekend. Red Bull's recent form sees both drivers the next-best-bet behind Mercedes, with both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo at just 4/1. Sebastian Vettel, by contrast, is less favoured to repeat his 2015 heroics at 16/1.
Ricciardo has the best odds of beating Mercedes to pole, at 5/1, while you can get 16/1 for either Marcus Ericsson or Felipe Nasr to return Sauber to the points.
A lap with...Esteban Gutierrez
"You come down full speed into turn one, the biggest braking of all the circuits. The exit of turn one is a hairpin, and you come down to turn two, which is a very long corner - downhill off-banking - so it's pretty challenging on entry. You exit to go down to turn three, preparing the line from turn two and more straight down to turn five, which is a high-speed corner to the left. Taking a lot of the curb and the apex makes it very nice.
"Then turn six - a long corner to the right, a little bit of uphill, which then approaches turn seven and eight, which is a very interesting chicane. It's very slow, but interesting because you can use all the curb on the apex and exit. You come out of that corner with the tires overheated and approaching the next sequence of corners which is eight, nine and 10. It becomes very challenging because you need to keep the temperature on the tires low and you're trying to make the corners in the best way, sometimes sliding the car, pushing on the limit.
"You approach turn 11, which is a high-speed corner. You enter into the corner with a little bit of trickiness coming from the high temperatures of the tires. The exit of turn 11 there is a bit more straight. You come down to turn 12, which is a 90-degree corner, and usually you can use the curb to maximize the track. Then you come down to turn 13, a very long corner and uphill before approaching the last corner, which is one of my favourite ones."
Tyres
Available compounds: Medium, soft, super-soft
Tyre facts: • There's only one real straight on the Hungaroring, which means tyres are constantly working.
• It's a well-balanced track, with traction, braking and lateral energy demands roughly equal.
• High temperatures make thermal degradation a factor.
• The emphasis is on mechanical grip, as a low average speed means there is little downforce.
• Drivers describe the Hungaroring as one of the year's most physically demanding circuits.