Red Bull and McLaren well placed to challenge Mercedes at the technical Hungaroring

Team to watch: Red Bull

• How can Red Bull be the team to watch for the second week running? It's partly because Ferrari are having a disappointing mid-season. Sebastian Vettel has been frustrated by a string of technical problems and – worse – the team are now further off Mercedes' pace than at any point in the last 18 months.
• So it's Red Bull, who outscored Ferrari in the last two races, who seem most likely to mount a challenge to Mercedes this weekend. And the Hungaroring is one of a small number of circuits this year where the silver cars should really feel the heat from the competition.
• Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff has called Red Bull a "major threat" to his team this weekend. The Hungaroring is slow and sinuous, negating the advantage of Mercedes' superior power plant. Strong traction and high downforce are needed here, and the last time F1 went to a track like that – Monaco – Red Bull beat Mercedes to pole position.
• Daniel Ricciardo won for Red Bull at this track two years ago and might have won last year had he not been hit by Nico Rosberg. He finished one place ahead of the driver who is now his team mate, Max Verstappen, who has continued to impress after winning first time out for the team in Spain.

Also on the radar: McLaren

• To an extent, what goes for Red Bull also goes for McLaren. They have an excellent chassis but a weak power unit, and this is a track which will play to their strengths.
• Hungary has always been a happy hunting ground for this team. They won five times between 2007 and 2012, and last year enjoyed the best result of their very difficult first season with Honda.
• Jenson Button's remarkable qualifying performance in Austria will raise hopes the team can get both drivers into the top ten shoot-out to contest for serious points.

Hamilton poised to pass Rosberg

• Power unit problems, poor starts, collisions with his team-mate: The reigning world champion has not enjoyed a straightforward start to his title defence. However four wins from the past five races have left him just one point off the championship lead.
• But Hamilton needs to shore up points while he can. He has already taken his last two penalty-free power unit component changes. That means he will inevitably have to take grid penalties later in the year. Mercedes would certainly prefer not to do so in Hungary, however, as overtaking is very difficult at this track.