REVEALED: The Extraordinary Effect of the ‘Finnish Sauna’ of Hungary on Hamilton & Bottas’ Body

Weather can play a crucial part in Formula One, as the cockpit in the car can reach extreme temperatures. Both Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas experienced this as they zipped around the Hungaroring in Friday’s practice session.

Budapest had a temperature of 36 degrees Celsius, which surely turned up the heat inside the car, as they went around in practice sessions. Hamilton stated he lost massive amounts of weight while his Finnish teammate felt it was like a sauna.

Hamilton and Bottas felt the Budapest heat

As they had just concluded the practice session, they were soon asked about how hot was it in the car. Hamilton replied, “Yeah it’s roasting today, obviously and so lost a lot of weight today. I think I’ve probably lost three kilos, between the sessions. So good amount of weight loss.”

Bottas was asked the same question, to which he replied, “Honestly, it feels like being in a Finnish sauna, you know, it’s a good comparison, especially when you stop being with the runs, you get the heatstroke and it really is, like, way more than 60 degrees or 70 degrees in the cockpit. So it’s sweaty but out on track at least you get a bit of air.”

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How did the two do on track on Friday?

The two pilots of the Silver Arrows did find themselves at the front in FP1; Hamilton came third, while his teammate slotted himself in second place. However, both must have felt disappointed as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the top spot in the timesheet.

But FP2 told a different story, as Bottas was the one to top the timesheets with a lap time of 1:17:012. While his British teammate could only manage to qualify second, he will be content with himself as it was an improvement for the first session of the day.

The two would be looking to have similar experiences in the third session as well and would hope to carry that in the high intense quali rounds.

The last time F1 visited Hungary, Hamilton won the race, keeping the Dutch driver in his rearview mirrors, who had to settle for P2. Bottas, too, managed to make an appearance on the podium as he crossed the line in third place.

Can history repeat itself by letting Hamilton take the chequered flag, which would see him have nine wins at this venue? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.

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