Hungary Grand Prix Preview

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HUNGARORING 2011 FINALSECTOR HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

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Thank you for reading the Hungarian Grand Prix Preview, We hope that you enjoy that you enjoy this preview. In this preview we take a look back in the history of F1 to the 1968 Hungarian Grand Prix and the Top 5 moments. We also have a review of the amazing German Grand Prix and all the latest team analysis. We also look forward to the race itself with a preview keeping you up to speed. This is the last race before the summer break, with F1 returning on 26th August at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. We will be releasing the next preview on the Wednesday 24th August, we are currently looking for writers to submit articles for the preview. Feel free to email one of my team below and they will point you in the right direction. We look forward to hearing from you. Don’t forget if you wanna keep up to speed with all the latest news and info about the ezine then follow us on twitter.com/finalsectormag We would like to thank all the teams and Octanephotos.co.uk that have let us use their images. We hope you have a lovely summer break and join us again soon.

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HUNGARORING JULY 29/30/31, 2011

Laps: 70 Circuit Length: 4.381 KM Race Distance: 306.663 KM Lap Record: 1:19.071 - M. SCHUMACHER (2004) 2010 Winner: MARK WEBBER (RED BULL) 2010 Pole: Sebastian Vettel - 1:22.362 (Red Bull)

HUNGARIAN GP

PREVIEW BY GARY MARSHALL

Can Lewis win again in Hungary? octanephotos.co.uk

HUNGARIAN GP

PREVIEW

There’s no time for the champagne drenched overalls of Hamilton, Alonso and Webber to dry out before the Formula one circus leaves the Eifel mountains to travel the 715 mile journey to Budapest. The Hungaroring plays host to this weekend’s eleventh round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The Hugarian Grand Prix has been a permanent fixture on the F1 calendar since its first running back in 1986 (see Ewan Marshall’s classic race report) when it became the first race to take place behind the Iron curtain. Often described as Monaco without the views, the Hungaroring is a tight, twisty circuit which is notoriously dusty off line due to the low usage for the rest of the year. Also like Monaco, the track is associated with processional races but with the exception of the two Spanish based races, this seasons regulations have proved by enlarge that overtaking is possible anywhere. With Lewis Hamilton coming out on top at the Nurburgring, he’ll be looking to become double ‘lord of the rings’ before the teams head into the summer break. The McLaren boys should be heading to Hungary in quite a confident mood. In recent history this has been a very favourable circuit for McLaren team winning four out of the last six races. One of the years they didn’t manage a victory there was 2006 when now McLaren driver Jenson Button took his maiden win. This year’s Hungarian Grand Prix also sees Jenson chalk up his 200th and is keen to put in a good performance to mark this milestone. Already I’ve turned my attention to next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where I hope to have better luck. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes goes there on the back of a win and it’s my intention to be back on the podium for my 200th grand prix.” As McLaren showed in Germany, the latest raft of upgrades to the MP4-26 had a profound effect on the cars performance in the slower corners which should increase the Woking based teams confidence going into this weekend’s race. Ferrari are also sound bullish about their chances going in to the second half of the season. In the hands of Fernando Alonso the team have taken away a first and second placed finishes from arguably two of the worst circuits, Silverstone and Nurburgring. Team boss Stefano Domeniacli hopes to see a continuation of the teams recent upturn in speed. “Now, there are just a few hours to pause for breath before immediately turning our attention to the next round in Budapest, where we would like to confirm all the progress we have seen to date, while remaining well aware that we are up some very strong opposition. It’s not by chance that Fernando has scored more points in the last three races than any other driver and the team has done best in the last two. It means we are pushing as hard as possible and we believe in what we are doing, without ever giving up in our efforts.” After winning here in 2010 Red Bull will be looking to assert their dominance over their rivals once again, Sebastian Vettel knows this all too well "Next week is the next race and it looks like McLaren and Ferrari are getting quicker and quicker so we need to work harder on our car to try and improve it in order to be back on the podium and maybe stand on the top step again.” Webber was understandably disappointed with his third place finish in Germany and will be out to try and make amends for again not converting pole position into a race win. Renault have announced that Bruno Senna will replace Nick Heidfeld for FP1, team boss Eric Boullier explains "We feel now is the right time to give Bruno a chance to drive for us during a Free Practice session. Although he's done some mileage with our R29 and R31 already this year, driving in a Friday session will provide him invaluable experience with the R31 during a race weekend.” A move that seems to put added pressure on Heidfeld who had a weekend to forget in Germany and with Renault now trailing Mercedes by 22 points in the battle for fourth in the constructors championship this will serve as a timely reminder that he needs to up his game. Pirelli will provide the teams with the super soft (Red) and soft (yellow) slick tyre options for the race, the same options that were used in Monaco and Canada. Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director explains “Our nominations are designed to maximise the opportunities for strategy and find the right compromise between performance and durability.” Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring, 29-31 July Friday 29 July: Practice one - 0900-1030 Practice two - 1300-1430 Saturday 30 July: Practice three - 1000-1100 Qualifying - 1300-1400 Sunday 31 July: Race - 1300

Pre-Race

Profiles by Beth Andrews

Vettel

Best Finish : 3rd // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: 3rd

When you think of Sebastian Vettel, you think of the current World Champion that is once again setting the grid alight to set him up for a double world championship. Yet, Vettel has never won the Hungarian grand prix, his best result being third last year. The fact that his best result came in his best drive so far hints at the possibility that Vettel will be standing on the top step of the podium at the Hungarian grand prix showing his fellow drivers how it is done. However, we have already seen Vettel fail under pressure from the Mclaren’s, so only time will tell whether the great German can conquer once again. Best Finish : 1st // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: 1st

Webber

Hungary is one track where Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber is better than him, having won at last year’s event. It is not often that the fans of Formula One get to see Webber having an achievement under his belt that his team mate hasn’t already beaten, and that makes the Hungarian grand prix seem that little bit more exciting. Not entirely out of the question is a successive win for Webber at the Hungarian GP, it may liven the championship up.

Hamilton

Best Finish : 1st // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: DNF

Never one to be ignored or discounted is Lewis Hamilton who, in the past, has won the race, come fifth, won the race again and then faced a retirement last year. The retirement came after a gearbox problem forced him to stop, leaving his reputation as a good racer at the track almost untainted. Though Hamilton is having a bad year within F1 with his driving style, he is, no doubt, the driver to keep an eye on for a sneaky race victory. Best Finish 1st // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year : 8th

Alonso

Best Finish : 1st // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year : 2nd

Similarly to Button, Fernando Alonso had his first grand prix victory at the 2003 Hungarian GP, making it a special circuit for him. In spectacular fashion, Alonso either does really well at the circuit, getting on the podium, or he does badly, with three retirements under his belt, another similarity with Button. Best Finish : 4th // Worst Finish : DNS // Last Year : 4th

Massa

For Felipe Massa Hungary has got an entirely different reason for being unique to him, because in 2009 he suffered an injury after he was hit in the head with a spring from Rubens Barichello’s Brawn GP. It left him out for the rest of the season, and since then it’s arguable that his form has changed. Massa has never reached the podium at Hungary and only been in the top ten three times. However, his form coming back to him and his forth last year means he is another driver trying to prove his worth.

Schumacher

Best Finish : 1st // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: 11th

Michael Schumacher is known to many as the greatest of all time, and his four wins at Hungary go some way to support the fact that in his prime, Schumacher was almost unstoppable. Schumacher has only been out of the top ten twice and had two retirements also, and one non-start from injury. Although he came 11th last year, his form in Canada this season would suggest he can get to the podium, and Hungary could provide the stage for this.

Rosberg

Best Finish : 4th // Worst Finish : DNS // Last Year: DNF

Nico Rosberg’s luck at Hungary is not something to be desired. He has retired twice, one of which was last year, and has made the top ten twice in his five years. Despite out qualifying and usually outperforming his fellow German and teammate Schumacher it could be likely again that Rosberg does not make the top ten; we can live in hope that he may repeat his 2009 result of 4th.

Heidfeld

Best Finish : 3rd // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: N/A

Returning once again is driver Nick Heidfeld who has so often lost out on a first place position and Hungary has played the centre of two of Heidfeld’s third place podium positions. In retrospect, Heidfeld does well at Hungary having finished seven of his ten appearances within the top ten and has only ever had one retirement. With a podium capable car Heidfeld may be making a podium appearance once again.

Petrov

Best Finish : 5th// Worst Finish : 5th // Last Year: 5th

Known for crashing his car and being highly aggressive, Vitaly Petrov had his best result of his debut year in Hungary. Having retired his first three races it took him until the 12th race to come 5th. He was in the top ten five times, but also retired five times. Petrov is aggressive and itching for podiums, he makes for very entertaining TV.

Barrichello

Best Finish : 1st // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: 10th

Another driver for being close to the championship but never quite getting there is Rubens Barichello. Over his 18 seasons he has accumulated eleven top ten positions, five retirements and various other results. His record at the track seems promising for a top ten finish, yet it is up to the car and the Williams team to provide him with the power to achieve. Best Finish : N/A // Worst Finish : N/A // Last Year: N/A

Maldonado

Barichello’s teammate is one of the many drivers’ in his debut year this season, so for his record at the Hungarian GP within F1, he has no record. He hasn’t had the best start to the season with three retirements and three classifications of 18th and with the car not performing overly well we could see another not so amazing position in the bag.

Sutil

Best Finish : 17th // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: DNF

Following a crash in a Gumpert Apollo before the German Grand Prix, Adrian Sutil is not helping the rumours that he may be out of a contract in the near future. Sutil’s best result at Hungary is 17th, not a result reflective of his car, and certainly not one the team would be proud of given that his other three attempts at the circuit have led to retirements. For his sake, and the team’s, hopefully he will improve this statistic. Best Finish : N/A // Worst Finish : N/A // Last Year: N/A

di Resta

Another driver who has not raced the Hungarian GP yet in his F1 career is rookie Paul di Resta. His race pace started off with him securing two 10th positions in his first two races. Since then his pace has slipped slightly with a few teething problems along the way. Needless to say, he has the ability to be great.

Kobayashi

Best Finish : 9th // Worst Finish : 9th // Last Year: 9th

Rookie of 2010, Kamui Kobayashi has only one F1 Hungarian GP on his record, yet he was able to achieve a top ten place of 9th. In his first year Kobayashi managed to out qualify his teammate eleven out of eight times, both drivers who are classified as veterans within the field. Best Finish : N/A // Worst Finish : N/A // Last Year: N/A

Perez

Another rookie having made a good impression on the field this season is Kobayashi’s teammate Sergio Perez. He has achieved two top ten positions and one near miss with 11th. Perez has shown his strength throughout the season and should’ve had his first top ten in Australia, but the car was later disqualified. His injury in Monaco has left him with two races missing from his calendar, but his form is promising for many more top ten finishes.

Buemi

Best Finish : 12th // Worst Finish : 16th // Last Year: 12th

With another average year, Sebastien Buemi is another driver who is having his contract called into question. Buemi has made the top ten four times this year, but has never made the top five. He has, in the past two years, managed a poor 16th and a slightly more respectable 12th in Hungary. It seems that he may need to keep producing top ten positions to secure his job. Best Finish : 15th // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: DNF

Alguersuari

Like his fellow teammate, Jaime Alguersuari is also under question over his performance with only six top ten positions and, again, no top five positions. At the Hungarian GP last year Alguersuari suffered a retirement after engine coolant failure. He may not be the man with all the luck but with three successive top ten positions at Canada to Britain things may be looking up for him.

Trulli

Best Finish : 4th // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: 15th

One of the veterans of F1 is next with nine top ten positions at Hungary and only three retirements in his many appearances. Trulli is more than capable of achieving a top ten finish, and even a top five, yet the car he is driving this year has had a lot of reliability issues that has seen him out qualified by his teammate Heikki Kovalainen. Hopefully this grand prix will see Trulli back racing with his peers. Best Finish : 1st // Worst Finish : 14th // Last Year: 14th

Kovalainen

Kovalainen is one of the few drivers on the current grid that has never had a retirement at the Hungarian circuit, and like Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, he also had his first (and only) win there. His track record poses Kovalainen as a potential threat to the likes of the Torro Rosso’s and Williams teams. Hopefully he will continue his lucky streak.

Ricciardo

Best Finish : N/A // Worst Finish : N/A // Last Year: N/A

Ricciardo has been brought to the forefront of F1 with his drive for Hispania Racing Team, having been the test driver for Red Bull Racing this year the fans have seen a few sightings of Ricciardo during Friday practices. With Ricciardo being in, debatably, the worst car on the grid, it is hard to say much about his potential in Hungary, but it is possible he could beat Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Liuzzi

Best Finish : 13th // Worst Finish : DNF // Last Year: 13th

Luizzi has one result at the Hungarian track, and that is 13th, the one result coming after only three appearances - the other two provided him with retirements. Once again it is likely that Liuzzi will have a lacklustre performance in Hungary given his car, but he may make for an interesting back marker.

Glock

Best Finish : 2nd // Worst Finish : 16th // Last Year: 16th

Timo Glock has had good fortune at the Hungarian GP with his first two appearances resulting in two top ten positions with Toyota racing, a feat that was by no means easily achieved. His result last year may have been a lowly 16th but he was legitimately in front of three other drivers, giving him a well deserved result.

Best Finish : N/A // Worst Finish : N/A // Last Year: N/A

d’Ambrosio

Lastly is Jerome d’Ambrosio, another rookie of 2011, who has broken into the top 15 of the race result three times this year. Although that sounds like a bad result, his car is in many ways not equipped to achieve such results. Hopefully, Hungary will be another example of his good form so far this year.

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HUNGARIAN GP

MOMENTS BY HENRI HAYLER

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To date this is his one and only win and one that a lot of people didn't see coming. Heikki drove with his head screwed firmly on and came through the chaos after the two title protagonists endured a race of pure heartache. McLaren locked out the front row in qualifying and it looked like Lewis was set to extend his lead in the championship. At the start Massa pulled off a fantastic move into turn one and took Lewis around the outside. Lewis then went on to say that he would never let a Ferrari go by so easily again. Massa and Hamilton pulled away from the field pitted one after the other to try and outsmart each other. Then drama on lap 41 when Hamilton developed a puncher going into turn two dropping him to tenth. It looked like Massa was going to win the race of his life until with just 3 laps to go flames poured out the back of Massa's Ferrari and he pulled over on the pit straight. Devestaed he jumped out the car and put his head in is hands. This promoted Heikki to first and he went on to take his first win incident free.

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If there was an award for the best over take to get into the lead this has to be it. Picture the scene, its 1986 and the giants of Mansell Prost Senna and Piquet are battling it out for championship supremacy in Turbo powered era. 200,000 people turned up to see the first Formula 1 race behind the iron curtain. Senna started on pole but after his tyres started to fade Nelson Piquet launched himself SIDEWAYS past Senna into turn 1 and the lead. No one can call them self's F1 fans until they have seen this! He went on to win by 17 seconds and take the title later that year.

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Damon Hill is my racing hero and this race broke my heart and many British fans. Damon has always gone well at Hungary. He took his first win there back in 1993 and again in 1995. After winning the 1996 world championship he left Williams (with a little push) and joined tom Walkinsaw at the newly improved TWR Arrows A18. After a rubbish start to the season for Damon things looked to have improved by the time Hungary came around. Qualifying in third Damon was out to win and win he nearly did. He overtook Michael Schumacher going into turn one like a true champion. It all seemed to be going so well until the final lap. In the final few laps Damon's arrows picked up a throttle link problem and Damon slowed dramatically allowing Villeneuve to overtake for the win on the last lap, after doing a bit of rally cross in the process. The fault? A 50p washer.

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Back in the mid 1980's and early 90's you could choose a great foray of racing drivers to support. Tacticians went for Prost, drivers went for Senna the under dogs went for Gerhard Berger and the Belgium's went for Thierry Boutsen. However to support Nigel Mansell you had to have three things, Petrol in the blood a very strong heart and a tache! Mansell was always there doing the impossible, Mexico 1990 springs to mind. But the year before this at Hungary stands out amongst others. Apart from winning the opening round in Brazil Mansell's season in 1989 was spent walking back to the pits or leaning on crash barriers watch the race. Ferrari had bucked up their ideas when Hungary came around as Mansell had come off the back of 2 second places and a third in France, Britain and Germany. It was time to go one better. A disaster in Qualifying put Mansell in 12th but by the end of lap 1 he was already up to 7th. For the rest of the race Mansell pushed and closed the gap to Senna until he was staring at his gearbox unable to pass of the difficult track. Eventually, the pair came up to lap an uncompetitive Onyx. Senna caught him just out of the accelerating zone of turn 3. The Brazilian uncharacteristically hesitated, briefly lifting off allowing Mansell to serge alongside and used the Ferrari’s greater power to take the lead. Mansell went on to take victory from Senna, with Boutsen in third. A fantastic drive from 'Our Nige'

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Amazingly it took 7 seasons for Jenson Button to win an F1 race. He had come agonisingly close before but it still eluded him. So when he won in 2006 for Honda the emotion flowed as 24 hours before Button qualified 14th because of an engine change on his Honda. The race started in wet conditions with Kimi on pole. The championship contenders of Alonso and Schumacher had been relegated to 15th and 12th after both were given penalties for break testing other drivers and overtaking under yellows in practice. Alonso sliced through the field and took the lead when the McLaren's of Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro De La Rosa pitted. Schumacher made a rare mistake when he taped the back of Fisichellas Renault while dicing out of the final turn and had to pit. Then all hell broke loose as Kimi slammed into the back of a Toro Rosso who had been driving slightly off line and slowly! This brought out the safety car and allowed Alonso to pit and maintain the lead. Button had kept his head down and was up to second after conserving his tyres and not pitting under the safety car! As it began to dry the question was who would blink first? Button challenged Alonso but then had to pit for fuel and dry tyres. A few laps later Alonso who seem to have the race wrapped up pitted for fuel and tyers. The race changed from this moment on. As Alonso pulled away he seemed to shake the car as if something was loose. ExitExit ing the pits he seemed slow and as he rounded turn 2 sure enough his right rear wheel nut detached causing a small spin into retirement. From then on it was Buttons race to lose but with a calm head and a fast driving style Jenson went on to take his first win and Hondas first win as a constructor since Mexico 1965. An interesting and strange point to note is that the race was being commentated on by Antony Davidson the Honda test driver in 2006 after martin Blundell was absent.

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GERMAN GP

' / 0 WE TAKE A LOOK BACK THE GERMAN GRAND PRIX by Daniel J Morse

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fter a sensational British Grand Prix in the Northamptonshire countryside at the iconic track that is Silverstone, the season was really beginning to come alive. We witnessed the dominance of the Red Bulls finally being tamed but not by the chasing McLaren, but by the prancing horse of Fernando Alonso. It showed to us that the Red Bulls – irrespective of their previous performance – are catchable, and more importantly beatable. Despite his gifted second place at Silverstone, Sebastian Vettel was going into this German Grand Prix as clear favourite to

win. With it being his home race, and having so many screaming German fans surrounding the track – the support for Vettel was immense, and has a substantial impact on a driver’s performance over the race weekend.

absolutely fantastic qualifying session – securing pole position for the race, beating Lewis Hamilton by only five hundredths of a second. It was clear that McLaren had what it takes to challenge the Red Bulls on pace, and showed they were back in the However, it was not necessarily the case running for what would certainly as Sebastian appeared to struggle with the prove to be a fantastic race. balance of the car throughout the weekend, and having only qualified in third on Fernando Alonso gave all he had the grid, had his work cut out for him for but ended in fourth position for the the race. race, with Jenson Button back in seventh. His team-mate Mark Webber had an

mclaren.com

Four of the six German drivers managed to get into the top 10, with Nick Heidfeld in 11th, and Timo Glock back in 19th – however, he eventually started in 18th as Jaime Alguersuari’s fuel sample didn’t match the one given to the FIA for their testing – this resulted in him starting in last place.

One by one the lights came out, and then just over three seconds later, out. And it was GO for the German Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic start and soon found himself alongside and then in front of Mark Webber, with Vettel just a few metres behind, who then had mirrors full of Ferrari red.

Even before the five red lights came on then went out, it was obvious to see that Lewis was there to mount a serious challenge into the first corner, having turned his car slightly toward the racing line and into the path of polesitter; Mark Webber.

As the cars entered turn two, Alonso found himself in front of Vettel, although fighting for his life to take back that position. Paul di Resta had a coming together with Nick Heidfeld and spun the car at turn three, and by the end of

gravel trap at the chicane of turn 10. Quite a spectacular crash – but probably not so from the cockpit of that RenaultLotus Hamilton on lap 12 then went too wide into the chicane of turn 10 as the marshals were removing the Renault of Heidfeld, allowing Webber to come alongside him and overtake him into the start/finish straight. Seeing this as another overtaking opportunity with the constant attacking attitude he has, Lewis Hamilton then came back at Webber, taking back the position on the straight – further confirming the dominance of the McLarens in straight line speed.

Hamilton and Alonso then take their pit stops at the same time, on lap 17 – exiting the pit lane at exactly the same time – and just as Mark Webber, and Felipe Massa were battling for first position. The entered the first corner three abreast with Mark Webber stealing track position from Lewis Hamilton after undercutting him during their pit stops. Massa was still in front but had yet to make his stop. Once Massa had taken his pit stop, the favourite for the race win; Sebastian Vettel found himself behind the red Ferrari for track position in 9th place.

the first lap Lewis Hamilton had pulled out a lead of 1.2 seconds over 2nd place Webber. Vettel found himself battling with fellow German Nico Rosberg on lap 10 after placing a wheel on the damp astro-turf and sending the car sliding across the tarmac, losing seven seconds to the field.Nick Heidfeld then had a coming together with the back of Sebastian Buemi’s Torro Rosso, sending him flying into the air and crashing out into the

After his second stop, Mark Webber was released behind a Team Lotus, and having not set a great out-lap, was undercut by Lewis Hamilton after his pit stop just a lap after, for second position. Mark Webber however had other ideas and was alongside Hamilton attacking him into the second corner. Lewis’ racing instinct again took over as he forced Webber wide onto the outer tarmac – securing second position for himself and making sure Webber knew that he meant business!

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Jenson Button was beginning to work his way through the pack, as he overtook Nico Rosberg for sixth position after he out-braked himself into turn one. Just one lap later, Jenson Button turns into the pits after being called in by his mechanics for a hydraulic problem. An unfortunate end to what was beginning to look like a very promising race for Button. Vettel pitted for new soft tyres on lap 42, as fellow German Michael Schumacher gave the crowd something to cheer for as he overtook Alguersuari for 11th position along the start straight. Massa then took his pit stop, and somehow remained in front of Vettel – who was having a nightmare of a race being stuck behind the Ferrari. Just eight laps from the end of the race, Lewis enters the pits for the compulsory use of medium compound tyres and rere entered the race in third position. It seemed for a while that Lewis may have made a mistake in changing to the harder tyres as the others stayed out and were posting quicker lap times, and with no real need to pit – it seemed that they were watching the sector times to see if there was any benefit in changing. Alonso was the first of the other front runners to pit for the harder tyres, but still re-entered the race behind Lewis Hamilton who already knew where the grip was on the track and was posting some very good sector times. After staying out for what seemed to be two laps too long, inevitably, Mark Webber pitted for the harder compound after the teams saw there was no benefit to stay out on the soft compound – losing time to the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. With just two laps remaining – and Massa and Vettel still having to pit for the medium tyre, Vettel’s race engineer gave him some direct instructions – to do the opposite of Massa – if he went into the pits, Vettel was to stay out..whereas if Massa stayed out, Vettel was to come in. However, it seemed that Vettel wanted to make his own decisions and although Massa didn’t pit, neither did Vetterl! On the penultimate lap, both Massa and Vettel entered the pit lane at the same time – nearly colliding as Massa hit the brake pedal slightly earlier than Vettel was expecting. Both pit stops were very quick, but Vettel was released first and Massa was still in his pit box! Vettel had re-taken fourth position from Felipe Massa for the last lap of the race, right under the Ferrari team’s noses! Maldonado then split the two as they began the final lap of the race, making Massa’s job that much more difficult! As this was going on, Lewis Hamilton was speeding along the back straight, into the turn 10 chicane, then into the final corner, and along the finish straight to take the chequered flag for the second time this season. Fernando Alonso was a close second, and Mark Webber finished a few seconds behind him in third place. Massa was nowhere to be seen behind Vettel who finished in fourth position, and Adrian Sutil was the last unlapped man to cross the line in sixth position. Not only was it an absolutely fantastic race, showing off the incredible driving skill and sheer determination of Lewis HamilHamil ton, but during the in-lap after the finish, the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso was parked on the side of the track, only for him to hitch a lift on the side of Mark Webber’s Red Bull after running out of fuel! During an interview with the BBC, Lewis was absolutely delighted with his performance – citing his overtake against Alonso as a key moment in his race. Sebastian Vettel was obviously disappointed with his race result as he spoke to the BBC saying that his race was “not satisfying” many times.. and with it being his home race, I think its fair to say that everybody was expecting that much more from him – but he didn’t deliver. Is this the beginning of the decline for the recent dominance of the Red Bulls, or will they hold on to the championship as Brawn did in 2009? All this shall become clearer in Hungary as we brace ourselves to take the final race before the summer break.

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The Teams Ferrari

Attack mode has been initiated for both Fernando Alonso and Ferrari since two exceptional races have allowed them back into the season. The deficit may be large, as it is for almost everyone else, but their mid-season recovery reflects the same scenario last year. The only thing between Alonso and victory in 2010 was a rather wide Russian, it may be too much to consider now but with other teams and drivers helping to bridge the gap they may get the chance to hope. They have had issues with getting the harder compounds warm, so Pirelli's softer tyre choice and often higher temperatures could help them in Hungary.

Force India

The team will be arriving in Budapest mere days after their best result of the season, steady improvement saw Adrian Sutil finish ahead of the likes of Mercedes and Renault. Whether they are able to repeat this form again remains to be seen, but Vijay Mallya is pragmatic about using it as a foundation to build upon for the rest of season.

Hispania This won't be the first time to Budapest for the newest rookie on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo has raced and won at the Hungaroring before and will need to draw on his experience to close in on his more experienced team mate. Colin Kolles aims for further improvement, expecting the drivers to move further up the field in qualifying, and Vitantonio Liuzzi believes they can do this as pace is looking promising.

Renault

Many questions have been raised about the competitive performance of the team since their two podiums at the beginning of the season. But the outfit is concentrating on regaining their previous form, and are pleased they have made an improvement since Silverstone. Nick Heidfeld pinpoints 'significant progress in the wind tunnel' as boosting his optimism for the rest of the season.

Mclaren The team have barely had time to breathe, let alone enjoy their momentous win in Germany before packing up and heading to Budapest. Lewis Hamilton is of course buoyant, however Jenson Button is eyeing a return to his Monaco form for his return to the place of his first win in 2006. He will also be reaching the huge milestone of his 200th race. McLaren have a great record of 9 wins at the circuit, more than any other team.

Mercedes Nico Rosberg will be competing in his 100th Grand Prix this weekend, and this milestone brings him closer to his father's total of 114. Although he claims the statistic isn't important to him, he wants to do better than last year and finish the race. The team are focusing on improving the race day set-up to take advantage of their often faster qualifying times. Ross Brawn explains that the team will be using the weekend to 'gain further experience of [their] latest developments'.

The Teams

Red Bull

It was mixed fortunes last weekend for the team, but they head to a new destination this week that is generally considered to be a home to another 'Red Bull' track. Although with the other top teams closing in on race day the pressure it definitely on to get the car optimised for the difficult circuit. But eyes will be trained on both driver for different reasons, Sebastian Vettel to see if he can recover from his dip at home and Mark Webber to see if he can stay on top of the championship leader.

Sauber

Sergio Perez is another rookie driver with experience of the Hungaroring, finishing on the podium last year in the GP2 series. Technical director James Key informs that they will running the same set up they had in Germany due to the back to back nature of the weekend.

Team Lotus Jarno Trulli takes his seat back from Karun Chandhok for the last race before the summer break, and will hope to find some piece with the car he's been struggling to find the right set up for. The team are pleased with the double finish in Germany and their mantra for the rest of the season - progress little by little and keep moving forward comes courtesy of chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne

Toro Rosso Sebastien Buemi will still be suffering from a German hangover this Sunday, after losing his qualifying times he will be dropped 5 places on the grid in Hungary for causing a collision with Heidfeld. And judging by the team preview, their drivers are already looking ahead to the summer break..

Virgin Racing John Booth has described this busy month as a positive period for the team, this of course includes the long term signing of current driver Timo Glock to aid in the development of the car for the first race in Russia. Aiming to keep ahead of Hispania and secure a double finish drives them to the summer break.

Williams Like other teams, they acknowledge the technical nature of the track and its similarities with Monaco. Pastor Maldonado, like his fellow rookies has tasted success at the Hungaroring with a main event win last year. Sam Michael has confirmed that both cars will be running with KERS and the team will also be bringing new bodywork elements to test..

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he inaugural Hungarian Grand Prix was a ground breaking moment in the history of Formula One, as it was the first to be held behind the Iron Curtain and gave Eastern Europe the chance to see the economic promotion of the West up close and personal. Although Bernie Ecclestone had flirted with the Soviet Union about the possibility of hosting a race, the Englishman finally struck a deal with the Hungarian authorities after it was recommended by a friend. However the race would not take place on anything resembling the blast around the lavish Budapest cityscape which hosted pre-war Grand Prix racing and was the scene of the great Tazio Nuvolari’s victory for Alfa Romeo in 1936. Instead the race would take place on the brand new 4.014km Hungaroring circuit, located on the outskirts of the capital. Initially the purpose-built facility was greeted with much suspicion from the drivers, due to the obvious lack of fast corners and a long straight. However the fraternity was more than happy to be given an extra day of running prior to the normal weekend schedule, to learn the circuit and try to find the ideal set up. Ultimately the track proved to be very dusty and although conditions would improve as the weekend progressed, the twisty nature of the layout meant that only one line really developed – meaning that it remained treacherous offline. The big talking point heading in to the event was the on-going deterioration of the relationship between Williams team-mates Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. The former had joined the outfit believing that he would be given the number one status and immediately underlined his worth with a commanding victory in the first round of the championship in Rio. However, as the season headed into the 11th round of 16, Mansell had firmly taken charge of the championship – leading with 51 points and having scored four victories.

Piquet on the other hand had experienced a lacklustre start to the campaign and despite having scored victory in the last round in Germany lay 13 points behind in fourth. Clearly shaken by the speed of his team-mate, the Brazilian had secured the use of two cars for each weekend and would make full advantage of this when trying to get to grips with the new challenge posed by the Hungarian circuit. Given the continuous evolution of the track surface Friday’s qualifying session became almost a non-starter, with the majority of the drivers opting to only use race rubber and instead save their fast laps for the next day. With overtaking expected to be difficult, grid position was key and this was certainly something at the front of the minds of many of the drivers as they opted for different qualifying strategies. Celebrating his 32nd birthday, Mansell had been fastest on Friday but was well aware that his time would not stand as the forecast predicted the weekend to remain dry. Subsequently the Englishman opted to only use one set of qualifying rubber but would never get to show his true pace when early in the session he damaged his car after being forced to run off circuit avoiding Patrese’s spinning Williams. Thereafter Mansell’s best efforts were baulked after he came across Warwick in the sister Brabham and Streiff’s Tyrrell running side-by-side on the main straight – compelling him to fourth on the grid. Ayrton Senna was another driver who gambled in qualifying, opting to use two sets of soft rubber after spinning several times on Friday. Ultimately the Brazilian would set a time good enough for pole (1:29.450) on his first effort, before spinning away any chance of improving on his second run. Despite this, the Lotus’s drivers lap time was still over 3 tenths faster than Nelson Piquet, with Alain Prost having popped up into third, after initially struggling with chronic understeer issues in his MP4/2C. Meanwhile the major surprise of qualifying was the performance of Patrick Tambay in the Team Hass Lola. The Frenchman managed to utilise the slow speed advantage of Ford’s V6 to qualify on 6th and set up the opportunity to bring some much-needed points to the minnows. As race day opened to a blistering heat, Piquet was confident of challenging Senna for victory, having been largely sandbagging throughout practice. Unbeknown to Mansell, the Brazilian had confided in an Italian Journalist on Sunday morning that he had “found something� during qualifying and beamed that he would have no worries in finishing ahead of his team-mate and winning the race. This advantage had come thanks to the use of the extra car where Piquet had been able to trial a new differential to much success – something which kept from those on the opposite side of the garage. Although enraged, there was very little Mansell could do as the cars set off on the formation lap in front of a massive crowd of around 200,000 locals – many of whom had bought tickets which were close to a week’s wages. However there was immediate distress from Alain Prost whose car immediately cut out as the field screamed away, forcing the Frenchman to sprint to the pits and jump in his spare before luckily making it back to his grid space for the start.

As the lights turned green Senna sprinted in to the lead with Mansell, seemingly vindicated, powering past Prost and Piquet up in to second. Surprisingly the entire field made it through the first lap unscathed with Piquet hounding Mansell, trying to ensure that the leading Lotus did not disappear. The Brazilian finally found his way on lap 3 before he and Senna began to pull away from the field, leaving the second Williams in their wake.

far as possible. Once his stop came on lap 48, not only did he retain his lead, he actually stretched out an advantage of 8.5 seconds, forcing Piquet to turn up the wick and push on for victory.By lap 53 the gap was a mere 1.1 seconds and two tours later Piquet was right in the Lotus’s slipstream as he moved inside of Senna down to turn one. However the Brazilian was too hot into the corner and slid wide on to the dust, handing the lead back to his compatriot.

Meanwhile both Haas-Lolas had made wonderful starts, with Tambay and Jones having moved up to 4th and 6th respectively – sandwiching Prost. However the McLaren driver would soon find his way through on lap 6 before managing to pass Mansell for 3rd a few laps later. However the reigning champion’s charge would be short lived when on lap 18 he was forced to take to the pit lane after his engine developed an electrical problem. What’s more Prost’s issues compounded the entire fate of the McLaren team when Rosberg also entered the pit lane and was forced to drive on finding his team-mate in the box. Although Prost managed to re-emerge back on track on lap 24, he was forced to call it a day and park it soon after, with Rosberg also retiring with a broken rear suspension.

Piquet would not be denied though and at the same sport two laps later he again made his move – this time around the outside of Senna. Nevertheless it was far from routine for Piquet as his Williams began to tank slap from side to side as the grip disappeared, forcing the Brazilian to rally slide his way to move through to the lead. In what is often considered to be one of the sport’s greatest moves, Piquet would then carry on unabated on his way to victory, completing the 76 laps 17 seconds ahead of Senna with Mansell over a lap down and clearly frustrated.

As Mansell made his first of two stops for tyres, it was clear that he had no answer for the pace of his teammate and as he pitted for the first of his two planned stops the Englishman emerged in third, but over a minute off the lead.

Further behind and Stefan Johansson managed to make full use of two early stops for tyres to finish in fourth, with Johnny Dumfries bringing the second Lotus-Renault home in a faultless fifth. Meanwhile Martin Brundle would make it three Renault-powered cars in the top six by snatching the final points place. Despite his difficulties, Mansell still left Hungary with the series lead, now 7 points ahead of Ayrton Senna with Piquet having made massive inroads to now sit only 9 off his Williams team-mate.

Back at the front and on lap 35 Piquet pulled in for his sole stop, having found his way in to the lead on lap 11 after a gutsy move. This immediately handed the initiative back to Senna who was trying to stretch his tyres out as

The first race F1 race in Hungary was hardly a classic by any means but it was one which went someway to opening up the championship and completely soured the atmosphere within the Williams team.

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