Budapest: Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will look to pick up vital world championship points in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday but Jules Bianchi will cast a long shadow over the weekend at the Hungaroring.

Bianchi died last Friday from head injuries sustained at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix and several drivers attended his funeral in Nice, France, on Friday. He will be honoured with a minute’s silence before the race on Sunday.

“It has been a very emotional week,” Rosberg said. “The drivers paid our final respects to Jules and said farewell. He was a very talented driver and a good guy.

“Everyone will be sharing the same feelings in the paddock this week - but we must race on and race hard for Jules as he would have wanted to be doing himself. It’s the final race before the team gets a well-earned break and I’ll be pushing as always to give everyone something positive to take into their holidays.”

Rosberg had won three out of four races going into the previous British Grand Prix to cut the gap to standings leader Hamilton to just 10 points.

But Hamilton responded at Silverstone with a brilliant fifth win of the season in a topsy-turvey race to reach 194 points and restore his advantage over Rosberg to 17 ahead of Hungary.

In 2014 Rosberg secured more pole positions than Hamilton only to be outperformed during races. This term he has struggled with just one first place on the grid secured through qualifying with Hamilton outpacing him on eight occasions.

Unless that changes at the 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring, reigning champion Hamilton, who has won this race four times, will be strong favourite to further extend his lead as he bids for a third world title.

“Overtaking is tough but not impossible, so when passing manoeuvres do occur they’re usually pretty special - there have been some bold, race-defining moves at the Hungaroring across the years,” Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe said.

Further down the grid, the Williams pair of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa will try to put pressure on Ferrari as the British garage tries to close in on the Italians in second place in the constructors’ championship.

They will be heartened by viewing Kimi Raikkonen’s ongoing struggles and fancy they have the pace to match Sebastian Vettel.

“Without the rain we wouldn’t have been on the podium (in Britain),” Vettel said of this third-place finish last time. “It was a result that we did not really deserve.”

Vettel admitted he would be thrilled with another top three finish at a race he has never won, even through his years of dominance with Red Bull which brought four world titles.

At the very bottom of the drivers’ standings, it is only the Marussia pair of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens who are yet to score a point. Directly above them are McLaren duo Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso on four and one respectively.

Engine supplier Honda have not yet cracked the code to make the team competitive but McLaren are clinging to the hope that something can yet be salvaged from this campaign.

“It’s been a source of great frustration to see new components and upgrades destroyed before they’ve had the chance to be race-proven, through a series of first-lap accidents,” race director Eric Boullier said.

“However, the unshakeable belief and optimism of Fernando and Jenson has set the example for the whole team: they are remarkable assets, and their commitment during these times is incredibly valuable.”