Grand Prix 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

For the 28th time in a row we come to the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix. That actually makes this the 3rd longest serving track on the calendar with Spa taking a break for 2003 and Silverstone not having the British Grand Prix in 1986. So rightfully should be given the ‘classic’ status as an event. It isn’t a phrase used very often for the track though as it greatly divides opinion amongst fans due to the difficult nature if passing on the track. Its often described as Monaco without the walls and whilst to some that is a negative tag for me, as I love Monaco, it’s a compliment. The twisty nature of the dust bowl that is Hungry is a great leveller for car performance or for at least mixing up the running order as due to the place barely having a straight the teams can’t just rely on horsepower to blast their way through. One of the reasons I personally love the track is because a driver who dials himself into the track can really make a difference. If a driver picks their lines spot on and finds the best spots on the tarmac for grip they can arguably get more of a gain at this track than on any other track all season.

Personally I fell in love with the Hungaroring after watching the tense battle of the Boutsen train in 1990. For me that was F1 at its finest as the best in the business at the time put each other under pressure and tried as hard as they can to find a way to the front. Boutsen held on with the defensive drive of his life but Senna came above the rest to take the 2nd spot although he and Berger both got away with basically punting Naninni and Mansell out of the race in moves now that would have the stewards jumping over themselves to slap on massive penalty’s. Speaking of penalty’s it would be amiss of me not to mention what, for me, was the overtake of the season by Grosjean last year that was ‘disallowed’ due to a dubious judgement of track limits.

Overtaking is difficult here but whilst it is not in abundance it is always of high quality as a driver really has to work hard to make it stick. The hard nature of the overtaking does not mean we always have lights to flag victories. This would not be a Hungarian GP review without a mention of Mansell’s win from 12th in 1989. The racing here is never without passion, which leads me to pointing towards Damon Hill’s awesome drive in the Arrows in 97. Its also in recent times been known for first time winners with Alonso, Button and Kovalinen taking debut wins here.

This season the Hungaroring should shake things up a bit by again the Merc advantage with that not able to use that horsepower. We do seem to say that every week now though. If you look at Lewis Hamilton’s form around this track I can’t see it mattering too much and, whilst Rosberg has never had great results round here, Its similarity to Monaco and his form there suggests he won’t be any slouch either. The Red Bull chassie should really come in to play round here and should shuffle them forward meaning Danny Ricciardo might be buzzing around them silver arrows and with Vettel creeping ever closer to him he should be around too. The Williams is continuing to look good with Bottas really seeming to have found another gear and with this being the nearest he has to a home race he could be a factor. I don’t think we should rule out the Mclaren’s too as Jenson Button is another expert around here and KMag comes to one of the few tracks he knows and race around last season. The car seems to be getting better and any sign of a weather mix up and they’ll most likely have to be factored in by the pair at the front.

This race is the last race of the first act of F1 2014 and you have to say its been a good one. We all know that the summer break can change a lot but whatever that may bring everyone will be hoping for a great result at this one. The break is a long time to rue any errors, and in the case of the Merc drivers, it’s a long time to be sitting doing maths in your head at what you need to do to pull a points gap back.

So come on guys hit me with a few predictions as well as thoughts on the Hungaroring.
 
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To visually demonstrate teabagyokel's point.

upload_2014-7-28_16-57-36.png
 
Rob Smedley says Williams didn't make a strategic error running their cars on the medium tyre:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115190
Then promptly contradicts himself saying:
"From lap 23 when the second safety car came out, we just didn't think we could do 25 laps per option (soft) tyre,""As it transpired you could actually do much more than that, [so] we need to go away and understand about our tyre management in these conditions. Certainly we didn't do a great job, [but] in terms of what we executed in the race I don't think it was fundamentally flawed - we got two cars home in the points.

Bottas says:
"There was definitely a possibility for us to do better as a team,"
"The main thing after that was the tyre warm-up on dry tyres - it just took ages. Every lap was getting better and better, and once the tyres started to work it was already too late."

He seemed to suggest that they should have used the soft since it took so long to get the medium to work.
 
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FFS no-FIAt-please I was only talking about that one incident and Kmags brakes were just as cold probably colder since he was sat at the end of the pit lane for yonks whilst Lewis was in the garage having his brakes warmed by blowers and he didn't crash so I don't see how you can use that as an excuse...
 
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Neither Hamilton or Vettel are in any way shape or form shit, my comment was simply to state that he was lucky not to end his race in the second corner that does not make him shit, and I only commented on that because people have been saying how the luck has been against him so far and lets face it, it has been.

There is no need for posters to assume that every time I open my gob it is an insult directed at Lewis, all I ever do is post my observations and thoughts nothing more nothing less..

I may be many things obnoxious, rude, depressing, opinionated and sarcastic but I ain't no sycophant....
 
Rosberg started with a theoretical 10 and lost two on the way.
Hamilton started with a theoretical 0 and gained eight on the way.
Simples! :whistle:
Oh chad really, are you promoting the hero to zero against the zero to hero methodology of judging a drivers race? I believe it could possibly be a bit more involved than that.

That is not to say I agree with whoever came up with those ratings either..:tea:

Edit

I feel the need to write a caveat to every post now..:(

Edit, edit.

Yes I do realize the caveat should come before a statement and not after just in case gethinceri is reading this..
 
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Oh Mephistopheles really, you should look up 'pinch of salt' in the dictionary, especially when you see one of my posts ending with a :whistle:.

Actually, I would have scored them a little differently:
Recovering to a podium place from a first lap spin after a pit lane start, on a difficult overtaking circuit (what do they call the Hungaroring - Monaco without the walls?) is definitely worth more than 8, while finishing off the podium from pole position, not being able to pass your team mate (twice) while on a better tyre, and being in a 2014 Mercedes (the most dominant car in the history of dominant cars, remember) and getting stuck behind a Toro Rosso, is worth somewhat less.

Therefore my ratings would have been LH 9 - NR 7. ;)
 
But isn't a dictionary about individual words rather than phrases? Isn't their a book named after a dinosaur for phrases?

(Seriously off topic!).
 
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