FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2011 (Budapest) 29 - 31 July *SPOILERS*

[Mothers Worry]

FORMULA 1 ENI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2011

The Track

Circuit Length: 4.381km
Race Distance: 306.630km
Number of Laps: 70
Corners: 8 right-hand and 6 left-hand corners
Full Throttle: 56%
Brake Wear: High
Downforce Level: High 9/10
Tyre Usage: Medium


DRS: The FIA has announced that there will be just one DRS zone at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The medium speed circuit has been notoriously difficult to pass at in previous years as it is frequently described by the teams as 'Monaco without the walls'. In order to encourage overtaking in to turn one, the DRS activation point has been placed 70 metres after the apex of the final corner, allowing drivers to open the rear wing prior to straightening the car up on exit. The detection point is located between turns thirteen and fourteen.

History

The first Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungarian: Magyar Nagydíj) was held on June 21, 1936 over a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) track laid out in Népliget, a park in Budapest. The Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and Ferrari teams all sent three cars and the event drew a very large crowd. However, politics and the ensuing war meant the end of Grand Prix motor racing in the country for fifty years.

A major coup by Bernie Ecclestone, the 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first Formula One race to take place behind the Iron Curtain. Held at the twisty Hungaroring in Mogyoród near Budapest, the race has been a mainstay of the racing calendar. Run in the heat of a central European summer, it also held the distinction of being the only current Grand Prix venue that had never seen a wet race up until the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. The first Grand Prix saw 200,000 people spectating, although tickets were expensive at the time. Today, the support is still very enthusiastic, particularly from Finns.

Due to the nature of the track, narrow, twisty and often dusty because of under-use, the Hungarian Grand Prix is associated with processional races, with sometimes many cars following one another, unable to pass. Thierry Boutsen demonstrated this perfectly in 1990, keeping his slower Williams car in front of champion-elect Ayrton Senna, unable to find a way by. The secret to a winning performance at Hungaroring, as well as qualifying well, is pit strategy, best demonstrated in 1998, where Michael Schumacher's Ferrari team changed his strategy mid-race before Schumacher put in one of his finest drives to build up a winning margin after all the stops had been made. Passing is a rarity here, although the 1989 race saw a famously bullish performance from Nigel Mansell in the Ferrari, who started from 12th on the grid and passed car after car, finally taking the lead in splendid opportunist style when Ayrton Senna was baulked by a slower runner. The circuit was modified slightly in 2003 in an attempt to allow more passing.

Other notable occasions in Budapest include first Grand Prix wins for Damon Hill in 1993, Fernando Alonso (in 2003), the first Grand Prix winner from Spain, who also became the youngest ever driver to win a GP, Jenson Button in an incident-packed race in 2006, and Heikki Kovalainen in 2008. Also noteworthy is Damon Hill's stunning near win in the unfancied Arrows-Yamaha in 1997, when his car lost drive on the last lap causing him to coast in second place.

In 2001, Michael Schumacher equalled Alain Prost's then record 51 Grand Prix wins at the Hungaroring, in the drive which also secured his 4th World Title.

The 2006 Grand Prix was the first to be held here in wet conditions. It also saw Mansell's seventeen-year-old record of winning from 12th broken, as Button took his victory from 14th place on the grid.

At the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Hungary will continue to host a Formula 1 race until 2016.

The Technology

Tyres:

As has become customary, the tyre management challenge for the weekend will be to control graining on the softest compound, and this should improve as the circuit rubbers-in throughout the weekend.  Data collected during practice will determine whether the super-soft is suitable for use during the majority of the race, while cooler-than-expected temperatures, or overnight rain washing the circuit clean of rubber, could further complicate matters. The Hungaroring is an interesting circuit, especially as it is not used much during the year. This means the circuit grip levels experienced on Friday are likely to be very different from those experienced in the race. For deciding set-up and tyre strategy, this makes things difficult, and competitors will have to work hard. Also, we are ever mindful of the weather as it can get very hot there, although we have seen rain in the past, notably when Jenson Button scored his first F1 race victory in 2006.


Aero:

The twisting, 14-corner layout of the Hungaroring features just one legitimate overtaking opportunity per lap, into turn one. Apart from this straight of just over 700m, the circuit is filled with sequences of low to medium-speed corners, with short braking distances which make overtaking nearly impossible. The result is that the teams all run with maximum downforce levels, similar if not identical to those used in Monaco, in order to optimise not just cornering speeds, but also braking and traction. Maximum speeds achieved on the main straight rarely exceed 300km/h with the V8 engines.


Engine/drivetrain:

With the longest period spent at full throttle barely exceeding ten seconds, and with only 56% of the lap spent at full throttle (significantly lower than the average), this is not a demanding circuit for the engine. Of the 14 corners, five are taken in second gear at around 100km/h. Unlike Monaco, where the cars reach abnormally slow speeds in the hairpins, the minimum speed at the Hungaroring is approximately 90km/h. This means the engine spends the majority of its time in a relatively narrow operating window between 100km/h and 250km/h, and the closely-spaced gear ratios we use are selected to ensure optimum performance in this range. As always on a circuit featuring a large number of slow corners, good torque is important to help launch the cars out of the turns.

Mechanical grip is an important factor at a low-speed circuit such as this, and teams will generally try to run the car with softer settings all round to improve mechanical grip. The drivers want a responsive car in the low-speed sections, with good traction on corner exit, which will usually lead the teams to a forward mechanical bias (stiffer front/softer rear) in terms of set-up. However, rear tyre wear must be monitored very carefully, particularly to avoid overloading the softer compound available this weekend.

The Schedule

Fri 29 July 2011
Practice 1    10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2    14:00 - 15:30

Sat 30 July 2011
Practice 3    11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying    14:00

Sun 31 July 2011
Race    14:00

All times Budapest local

On the Internet

[url=http://formula1.com]Live Timing (Registration required)[/size][/url]

LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST

Information sourced from here, there and everywhere. Now let's go racing!

[Ian G.]

Thanks for taking the time to preview,interesting to see if RB are being matched by Mclaren & Ferrari again.

[bpratt]

+1 for the preview.

I had hoped to do one myself, but just ran short of time.

Off to Morgan Park in the morning for the National Historics, so I've been sorting things out to make time to go down there.

[Mothers Worry]

Hungarian GP Free Practice 1 Results:

Pos   Driver   Team   Time   Gap   Laps
01.    L. Hamilton    McLaren    1:23.350         19
02.    S. Vettel    Red Bull    1:23.564    +0.214    24
03.    F. Alonso    Ferrari    1:23.642    +0.292    29
04.    M. Webber    Red Bull    1:23.666    +0.316    12
05.    J. Button    McLaren    1:23.772    +0.422    20
06.    F. Massa    Ferrari    1:24.115    +0.765    25
07.    N. Rosberg    Mercedes    1:24.250    +0.900    22
08.    M. Schumacher    Mercedes    1:24.369    +1.019    20
09.    S. Perez    Sauber    1:24.620    +1.270    24
10.    V. Petrov    Renault    1:25.093    +1.743    22
11.    K. Kobayashi    Sauber    1:25.113    +1.763    21
12.    P. di Resta    Force India    1:25.336    +1.986    22
13.    N. Hulkenberg    Force India    1:25.357    +2.007    17
14.    R. Barrichello    Williams    1:25.836    +2.486    24
15.    B. Senna    Renault    1:25.855    +2.505    25
16.    S. Buemi    Toro Rosso    1:25.890    +2.540    28
17.    J. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso    1:26.099    +2.749    36
18.    P. Maldonado    Williams    1:26.124    +2.774    25
19.    H. Kovalainen    Team Lotus    1:26.878    +3.528    26
20.    J. Trulli    Team Lotus    1:27.352    +4.002    21
21.    T. Glock    Virgin    1:28.533    +5.183    30
22.    J. d'Ambrosio    Virgin    1:28.903    +5.553    22
23.    V. Liuzzi    HRT    1:29.059    +5.709    24
24.    D. Ricciardo    HRT    1:29.904    +6.554    26 



Hungarian GP Free Practice 2 Results:

Pos   Driver   Team   Time   Gap   Laps
01.    L. Hamilton    McLaren    1:21.018         29
02.    F. Alonso    Ferrari    1:21.259    +0.241    40
03.    J. Button    McLaren    1:21.322    +0.304    34
04.    M. Webber    Red Bull    1:21.508    +0.490    35 
05.    S. Vettel    Red Bull    1:21.549    +0.531    31
06.    F. Massa    Ferrari    1:22.099    +1.081    40
07.    N. Rosberg    Mercedes    1:22.121    +1.103    36
08.    M. Schumacher    Mercedes    1:22.440    +1.422    36
09.    P. di Resta    Force India    1:22.835    +1.817    40
10.    A. Sutil    Force India    1:22.981    +1.983    37
11.    K. Kobayashi    Sauber    1:23.030    +2.012    34
12.    S. Perez    Sauber    1:23.399    +2.381    37
13.    R. Barrichello    Williams    1:23.679    +2.661    34
14.    N. Heidfeld    Renault    1:23.861    +2.843    28
15.    P. Maldonado    Williams    1:24.181    +3.163    39
16.    J. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso    1:24.182    +3.164    26
17.    V. Petrov    Renault    1:24.546    +3.528    21
18.    S. Buemi    Toro Rosso    1:24.878    +3.860    35
19.    J. Trulli    Team Lotus    1:24.994    +3.976    38
20.    H. Kovalainen    Team Lotus    1:25.447    +4.429    39
21.    T. Glock    Virgin    1:26.823    +5.805    33
22.    J. d'Ambrosio    Virgin    1:27.261    +6.243    28
23.    D. Ricciardo    HRT    1:27.730    +6.712    31
24.    V. Liuzzi    HRT    1:28.255    +7.237    25 

[Mothers Worry]

Hungarian GP Qualifying Results:

Pos   Driver   Team   Q1 Time   Q2 Time   Q3 Time
01.    S. Vettel    Red Bull    1:21.740    1:21.095    1:19.815
02.    L. Hamilton    McLaren    1:21.636    1:21.105    1:19.978
03.    J. Button    McLaren    1:22.038    1:20.578    1:20.024
04.    F. Massa    Ferrari    1:22.305    1:21.099    1:20.350
05.    F. Alonso    Ferrari    1:21.578    1:20.262    1:20.365
06.    M. Webber    Red Bull    1:22.208    1:20.890    1:20.474
07.    N. Rosberg    Mercedes    1:22.996    1:21.243    1:21.098
08.    A. Sutil    Force India    1:22.237    1:22.000    1:21.445
09.    M. Schumacher    Mercedes    1:22.876    1:21.852    1:21.907
10.    S. Perez    Sauber    1:23.067    1:22.157    
11.    P. di Resta    Force India    1:22.976    1:22.256    
12.    V. Petrov    Renault    1:23.070    1:22.284    
13.    K. Kobayashi    Sauber    1:23.278    1:22.435    
14.    N. Heidfeld    Renault    1:23.024    1:22.470    
15.    R. Barrichello    Williams    1:23.075    1:22.684    
16.    J. Alguersuari    Toro Rosso    1:23.285    1:22.979    
17.    P. Maldonado    Williams    1:23.847       
18.    S. Buemi    Toro Rosso    1:24.070       
19.    H. Kovalainen    Team Lotus    1:26.205         
20.    J. Trulli    Team Lotus    1:26.534         
21.    T. Glock    Virgin    1:26.294         
22.    V. Liuzzi    Hispania    1:26.323       
23.    D. Ricciardo    Hispania    1:26.479         
24.    J. d'Ambrosio    Virgin    1:26.510
        
Q1 107% Time:    1:27.288

Given the potential weather conditions, the type of circuit this is and the grid positions I predict another boring race. I hope I'm wrong....

[Ian G.]

More gremlins affecting Mark's car including KERS,DRS & the  general setup for the circuit.Fingers crossed for the race. 

[Jiji_the_cat]

More gremlins affecting Mark's car including KERS,DRS & the  general setup for the circuit.Fingers crossed for the race.

ppfffftt.... he's starting in P6 which means he'll be 9th by turn 1.

Sorry for my cynicism but historicaly he ain't a great starter.

[Mothers Worry]

......... historicaly he ain't a great starter.

I agree.

[Jiji_the_cat]

......... historicaly he ain't a great starter.

I agree.

don't get me wrong, i really hope he proves me wrong. i want him to be a WC, if for any other reason, just to get more aussies into F1.

[Mothers Worry]

......... historicaly he ain't a great starter.

I agree.

don't get me wrong, i really hope he proves me wrong. i want him to be a WC, if for any other reason, just to get more aussies into F1.

From what can remember his starts this year have been very disappointing. I think his last start at the German round effectively lost him the race.

[bpratt]

Well Webber had another one of his very forgettable starts, and lost spots at the start.

Could have been a stellar call if that rain had've hung around, when Webber then Hamilton put the inters back on, but alas it was a bad call for both of them.


Live Timing results :-

[Mothers Worry]

I haven't seen the race yet and I managed to ignore your post BP except for the bottom line. So I don't know who won yet but Massa got the fastest lap? That's different.

I hope the rest of the race is as interesting when I get to watch the recording.

[Ian G.]

Interesting race,apparently going to Inters. was Mark's call but at the end of the day another stuffed strategy for him.Looks like Mac. & Ferrari are matching the RB's which makes for an interesting finish to the WCC.

[Jiji_the_cat]

very entertaining race, not the first this season, and probably not the last.
Thank you very much precipitation. 

Good scrap between JB and Hamster Boy. Great controlled drive by Diresta. Also good to see Ricciardo outrace and pace Liuzzi.

What an explosion the Renault had! At least Hiedfeld has an excuse this time for a poor result.

[Mothers Worry]

Now that I'm watching this race here's few highpoints for me:

The two McLarens racing each other.

Vettetl's in-car camera while he was on trashed tires in the late 30-early 40's laps; great car control.

Good overtaking and passing mid-field.

Low points:

Hamilton.... penalty...again.

Schumacher.....nowhere... again.

Kobyashi.

A lacklustre GP for Mark Webber.


"Happy 200th race that was awesome".

Good job Butters,

[Mothers Worry]

Alesi: 'Hamilton didn't deserve penalty'

From thef1times.com:

Alesi: 'Hamilton didn't deserve penalty'

Tuesday 02nd August 2011    

Jean Alesi, a veteran of 201 grand prix starts, believes the FIA stewards were wrong to penalise Lewis Hamilton for spinning his car around at the Hungarian GP.

Hamilton made a rare mistake as he looked set for victory last Sunday. He span his McLaren as he exited the chicane and span, in order to correct the direction he was facing, he floored the accelerator but as he did so, Force India's Paul di Resta was forced to take avoiding action.

The former-Ferrari driver and now Lotus ambassador, says the maneuver performed by the 26-year-old wasn't dangerous considering the circumstances, with speeds at that point on the track hitting just 60km/h.

"I must say, though, I wouldn’t have penalised Lewis Hamilton for spinning his car back around in front of Paul di Resta," said the Frenchman. "Lewis was in the middle of the track and he was just trying to get out of the way.

"Di Resta wasn’t approaching fast. The speed in that chicane is only 60km/h, nothing dramatic. I felt this was a harsh penalty."

However, Alesi pointed to the fact that this on its own didn't ruin Hamilton's race, the decision to switch to intermediates for just a few laps was the main factor.

"By changing to Intermediate tyres, Hamilton ruled himself out of contention anyway."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trulli livid with FIA/Perez for ignoring rules

From thef1times.com:

Trulli livid with FIA/Perez for ignoring rules

Tuesday 02nd August 2011   

Jarno Trulli is livid with Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, after they failed to penalise Sergio Perez for his 'ignorance toward the rules'.

The Team Lotus driver states that Perez cut the chicane at last weekends Hungarian Grand Prix to regain his position ahead of the Lotus, after he was overtaken earlier on.

The rules state that any driver who cuts a corner and gains a place, must slow and allow that driver to pass, so an unfair advantage isn't gained - Trulli believes the FIA and Perez ignored the rule on Sunday.

"This time around it's my turn to complain and tell the FIA off, despite my race ending almost immediately. At the start I already had to deal with three incidents ahead of me that pushed me to the back, then Perez arrived with his absurd behaviour and everything was over," he wrote in his column for Repubblica.

"He was strangely slow, more than my Lotus: I overtook him twice and to regain his position he cut the chicane. The rulebook is crystal clear, he had to move over and give the position back to me; instead he didn't care, he stayed ahead of me.

"He showed a rare kind of rudeness and a unique ignorance of the rules, but I wonder why the FIA did not take any measure. What is it there for? What was it looking at? I understand why a boy would shrug, but the stewards had to intervene.

"My message is clear: there is only one rulebook and it's the same for everyone: not just for the guys ahead, but also for the people at the back of the grid."

I agree with both of the opinions above.

[Jiji_the_cat]

yup....i agree with both these guys also

[Supersleeper]

Reminds me of Webber/Hulkenberg at Monza - though Nico took the shortcut about 3 times there from memory...