Hungarian GP Report
August 6th 2010 05:03
On the twisty asphalt maze that is the Hungaroring, Red Bull recaptured the initiative in the 2010 championship with a crushing turn of speed. The now infamous rivalry within the team resumed, with Webber and Vettel squared off on equal points on the ladder. Ferrari too continued their newfound speed, while McLaren had an afternoon they’d rather forget.
Red Bull
Mark Webber (1st)
The Australian commited all his guile and wisdom to the race, having been completely blown away by Vettel all weekend. Webber struggled to match his team-mates blistering times, but capitalised on a safety car period and tyre strategy to maximise his chances for the win. Webber set the track alight during the middle of the race as he sought to take second back off Alonso, who took it from him at the start. When Vettel was penalised for being too slow behind the safety car, Webber was on for the win. He pulled open a large enough gap to make his required stop and resume the lead – pulling away from Nando and Vetts right until the finish. A win for age and wisdom over youth and silly mistakes.
Sebastian Vettel (3rd)
No doubt about it, somebody had lit a fire under Vettel’s arse in Hungary. Some suggest it was the renown paddock practical jokester Timo Glock, regardless, it prompted the Red Bull pilot to completely dominate the timesheets all weekend. He was again mighty in qualifying, nearly half a second faster than his teammate. It was the same story in the race, until the safety car trundled out and he was caught napping behind Webber, who hadn’t stopped. Vetts was given a drive through for being more than 10 car lengths behind the safety car at the restart. It killed what would have been a deserved win, but his sheer pace was enough to still recover to a close third behind Alonso, with fastest lap honours for good measure
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso (2nd)
With fans still fuming over Ferrari’s team orders in Germany, Alonso stamped his authority in Hungary, proving why he was numero uno in the team. The double-world champion was the only one to give the dominant Red Bulls any form of competition in Hungary. From third, Nando made another blazing start, his Ferrari appearing to have had a cow prod shoved up it’s rear-diffuser. He took Webber into the first corner and almost squeezed by Vettel. He was able to hold the Australian behind him, until a safety car period saw Red Bull somehow switch their drivers’ positions. Alonso remained second, when no car other than an RB6 deserved any higher than third.
Felipe Massa (4th)
Massa arrived at Hungary with a double dose of sympathy directed towards him. While everyone still felt sorry for the adorable Brazilian after mean old Alonso stole his win and kicked down his sandcastle last week; it was also his return to the track where he nearly lost his life last year. He lacked the edge he had last week, possibly due to lingering nerves over flying springs, but Massa did his best and finished an easy fourth.
Renault
Vitaly Petrov (5th)
The threats to Petrov’s job somehow reminded the Russian that he had some talent, and in Hungary, he showed the world. The rookie had his best weekend of the year, outqualifying his teammate, Kubica, for the first time ever and then ran a mistake-free race to come home best of the rest. Vodka flowed that night, comrades.
Robert Kubica (DNF)
Koobica was outqualified for the first time this year by his rookie teammate, Petrov and his woes continued on Sunday. When Rosberg’s wheel-missile triggered some pitlane pandemonium, the Renault crew released Bob’s big yellow banana directly into the path of Adrian Sutil’s pitting Force India, forcing both to retire.
Williams
Nico Hulkenberg (13th)
Like his Russian rookie buddy, Petrov, the Hulk flew the flag for young blood, with one of his best performances of the year. The German newcomer made it to P3 and converted his top ten grid position to a solid sixth on Sunday. No mistakes, just good consistent pace. It was so good, Patrick Head yelled at him for only two minutes afterwards, possibly for getting an oil stain on his overalls.
Rubens Barrichello (10th)
Woobens had a busy afternoon, driving through the midfield in a Williams that somehow was quick. The veteran, now in his 3,928th race, was caught out by the safety car, and was left to fight his way back into the points. He eventually came up to old teammate Michael Schumacher in an ailing Mercedes. Barrichello, with a clear speed advantage went to pass his former master down the straight, and was nearly turned into a wall decal, when the seven times world champion put the squeeze on him. Rubens clenched his cheeks and still made it through to take 10th – and the Schu was slapped with a ten-place penalty for the next race.
Sauber
Pedro de la Rosa (7th)
Pedro finally posted some points on the board with a solid performance to finish seventh in his Sauber. A long overdue smile was brought to Peter Sauber’s face, after a difficult start to the season, he finally had both cars in the points. The Spaniard had a strong start and benefited from an early call to pit when the safety car emerged. From there, he held station, probably praying any deity that cared to listen for some reliability, which he received.
Kamui Kobayashi (9th)
Kobayashi put in a spirited performance in Hungary – recovering from a poor showing in qualifying and added penalty that put him 23rd on the grid. He carved his way through the field, ignoring the fact that Hungary is not a track known for overtaking opportunities. His final victim was none other than Michael Schumacher, from whom he took ninth place and two well-earned points.
McLaren
Jenson Button (8th)
It was a forgettable weekend for McLaren. Button-on missed the cut for Q3, and made a hash of the first corner to be 15th after the first lap. The safety car allowed the defending champion to jump a few places, and he eventually wiggled his way into a relatively dismal eigth place, the meat in a Sauber sandwich.
Lewis Hamilton (DNF)
Burnout Boy’s reign atop the championship ladder ended in a cloud of smoke in Hungary. The Brit was on for some decent points, but was still unable to match the scintillating pace set by Red Bull and Ferrari. After 23 laps, his gearbox packed up and that was that.
Mercedes
Michael Schumacher (11th)
The Schu clearly needed a bit of polishing up on the Hungary circuit, unable to compete within the top ten the whole weekend. He was again made to look feeble by Rosberg, and was rather dirty in dealing with Barrichello when the Brazilian forced his way past for tenth in the dying stages. Mister Schu did later apologise for his overly aggressive squeeze after seeing the footage of Barrichello soiling himself
Nico Rosberg (DNF)
The Dreamboat looked to be sailing to yet another solid points finish. He was strong in qualifying, taking sixth on the grid. He was running well until his crew replaced his right rear wheel with a mechanic-seeking missile. Whilst exiting his pit box, the Mercedes’ wheel shot from the axle and sent Sauber mechanics scurrying, before it eventually found a target at Williams. Luckily no-one was injured, however the incident triggered some pitlane carnage, and ended Rosberg’s race for good.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi (12th)
A typically anonymous weekend for Mr Buemi. The Swiss pilot shaded his teammate on the timesheets in Hungary, but neither Toro Rosso looked capable of nabbing some points.
Jaime Alguersuari (DNF)
Lil Algy just scraped into Q2 on Saturday, but could only squeak in a time good enough for 17th. Then his car refused to work after one lap of the circuit. Lame.
Force India
Tonio Liuzzi (13th)
The under-pressure Italian was again underwhelming in qualifying, lining up 16th.. He sustained some battle damage to his wing in the first corner which burdened him with understeer. He replaced the wing, but was too far down the order to have any meaningful input into the race.
Adrian Sutil (DNF)
Sutil found himself stuck within the compact midfield after qualifying a relatively low 13th. He was unable to find a way past De la Rosa’s Sauber in the first stint, and then was t-boned by a prematurely released Kubica while coming in to pit. A messy end to a messy race.
Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen (14th)
It was a brilliant bounce-back for Lotus after their double-DNF in Germany. Heikki led Jarno home for a tidy 14th – 15th finish, ahead of Timo Glock, who outqualified the two of them. Heikki again was the pace-setter of the new teams, and ran a trouble-free race to the flag.
Jarno Trulli (15th)
The Lotus boys were left to battle eachother in Hungary, but the safety car meant Heikki was able to claim the advantage of the earlier call. Trulli matched his teammates times as they romped ahead in Formula 1’s B-division.
Virgin
Timo Glock (16th)
Glock-Dog took first blood in qualifying by edging out the two Lotuses for that fabled 18th slot on the grid. A bad start instantly deprived the German of his advantage, but he fought hard to keep on the tail of the Lotuses for the remainder of the race. A lack of sheer race pace however meant he gradually fell behind.
Lucas Di Grassi(18th)
A good start and well timed pit-stop put Di Grassi ahead of the Lotuses, but his joy was shortlived, when a problem with a wheel necessitated another stop. He was left to trundle about at the rear of the grid, thankful that Sakon Yamamoto was there to make him look like a superstar.
HRT
Bruno Senna (17th)
HRT improved their pace relative to the other new teams in Hungary, but they still maintained their monopoly of the back row of the grid. Senna was miles ahead of his teammate, which isn’t saying much, but he managed to keep the advantage over Di Grassi’s Virgin.
Sakon Yamamoto (20th)
The Open-Wallet managed to finish the race, giving HRT another double-finish. But beyond that, little was achieved by Sakon, apart from forking over a wad of cash to the HRT operation.
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