Grand Prix 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

So on we go to Budapest (well Mogyoród but anyways) for the 33rd Hungarian Grand Prix. Its the 32nd to be held at the Hungaroring in a row. There is only Monaco and Monza that have been on the calendar for a longer span without any gap. That makes this race a true F1 classic although most won't call it that. The boffins over at wikipedia state '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'. Clip the Apex however says differently with Hungary winning the best race of the year more times that any other track. Lets face it there have been some classics. Button winning in a Honda, Heiki winning his 'first of many', Danny Ric showing the 'ladies' how its done, Damon Hill making an Arrows car look like a world beater, Boutson inventing the Trulli train and one of the best wins of all time from Nigel Mansell. Will this years race live up to those standards? I guess we're going to find out.

Hungary itself is a very interesting and beautiful country. It was first defined as a nation in the 9th century, having what it describes as its golden era up until 1526. Then the country was occupied by the Ottoman empire which lasted all the way up until 1699. Hungary then came under Habsberg rule. You might think this has nothing to do with F1 but you would be wrong. Currently racing in F3 is one Ferdinand Habsberg who is a direct descendant from that royal family. Ferdinand is attempting to get into F1 so all that is relevant honest. Under the Habsberg's it was part of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire but after being on the losing side of WWI it was split into two. The borders defined for it then (1920) remain the borders it had today. At the start of WWII Hungary decided to form an alliance with the axis powers. It seems old habits die hard as last year the Hungarian track formed another axis alliance as German Seb Vettel took the win there in the Italian Ferrari. If you are my age and a 20th century history nut Hungary is most famous for its 1956 revolution where students riled up the population to overthrow the puppet government put in place by the Soviet Union. This seemed like it was going to be a success with the USSR even announcing it was going to withdraw troops. However they changed their mind and invaded Budapest and other parts of the country. The Hungarian held out for 6 days with 2500 being killed. 200,000 fled the country as the iron curtain came down. The USSR won but it lost all at the same time as their actions largely turned Western Marxists away from their cause. Talk of the revolution was completely banned from the Hungarian population meaning a whole generation grew up not knowing it even happened. I once met a Hungarian gentlemen who was a qualified historian who told me that until 1990 he had never heard of the 1956 revolution. Just to put that into context, if you'd been in Hungary in 1989 the average citizens would have been able to tell you more about Theirry Boutson and a Williams Renault than they could about their countries own history.

Speaking of Mr Boutson and the day he conquered Hungary - With all these he said/she said calls for penalties on the radio these day I always think back to that 1990 race and a move by Senna on Nannini. Watch it here at 1m 25 and tell me if you think there was a penalty.


The answer is no there wasn't. It wasn't even mention. it was just part of racing. Nannini retired and Senna went on to get 2nd. Later on it the footage Berger tries the same move on Mansell and puts them both out. To say we are living in a different era is an understatement.

Anyways thats my ramblings about Hungary. Its been a topsey turvey kind of year so I'm venturing no predictions for the up coming race other than it will be dominated by Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton has won here more times than anyone else and comes off the back of his greatest win ever. Of course its only his greatest ever win since the last greatest ever win he had but good all the same. The script should say he comes here on a high and kicks everyones bum. Script isn't always followed this year though.
 
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Hey, I don't like Villenueve as a commentator. He seems to go out of his way to say weird, extreme and obnoxious stuff.....perhaps to make sure he gets some air time. I don't remember him being like that when he was racing.

I think that he's just being very honest, he's the most straightforward guy you can meet. I find his comments refreshing but you know that I was always puzzled by his driving success

In fairness recently he said that Hamilton was becaming ridiculous with his statements and I think that he has a point, before that he said that Williams is toast and sadly once again he's the only one who has the guts to say what everyone know to be the case. I wish other people involved in F1 were as honest and decent as JV
 
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Could you have found a worse video of the 1990 Hungarian GP?


Well. I guess I could have not featured it in the thread. Or not done the thread at all. That would have been worse ;)

To be fair I used the one I did because it's only one I could find that showed the incident I was talking about around a min in rather than the entire race. If I say here is the entire race skip to 53 mins in not many people will bother. If I say 1 min 25 most people will do it.
 
I think that he's just being very honest, he's the most straightforward guy you can meet. I find his comments refreshing but you know that I was always puzzled by his driving success

In fairness recently he said that Hamilton was becaming ridiculous with his statements and I think that he has a point, before that he said that Williams is toast and sadly once again he's the only one who has the guts to say what everyone know to be the case. I wish other people involved in F1 were as honest and decent as JV
There is a line between being honest.......and being obnoxious. For example, obviously everyone knows that Williams is struggling. Claire Williams even said that without the budget cap, they would not survive. Villenueve talking about Williams struggling and the challenges of that is fine. Saying they are toast....about the team that helped give him all 11 of his wins and a world championship.... that is kind of obnoxious.
 
I don't agree, just because he got his wins and WDC with them doesn't mean he can't have an opinion, if he expresses it by saying they're "toast" then so what? I think they're ****ed.

Mind, I do think JV is a cock.
 
As for the way he is now, I reckon the bleach he used to put on his hair did something to him.

That seems to be the turning point ;). He was driving great and was a great personality. His driving then slacked off, and he then became "over-opinionated" to put it politely. He also disconnected with Canada. He shut down his restaurant in Montreal (New Town), didn't put out any other albums, got married and divorced, accused Quebec province of "morose ambiance", and moved to Europe with his new wife. It is hard to tell what trip these guys are on or what is going on in their heads, but they are going through life like everyone else, and sometimes their changes and adjustments as they get older are not for the better. Or to put it simply, sometimes perfectly likeable and charming people don't age well.
 
I don't agree, just because he got his wins and WDC with them doesn't mean he can't have an opinion, if he expresses it by saying they're "toast" then so what? I think they're ****ed.

Mind, I do think JV is a cock.

Well, I was a big fan of his......so his changes over time have always bothered me.

So, in the future on this forum....should I express my opinions "Villeneuve-like?"
 
Villenueve talking about Williams struggling and the challenges of that is fine. Saying they are toast....about the team that helped give him all 11 of his wins and a world championship.... that is kind of obnoxious.

as a TV pundit he has to report what is going on, in a sense he has a duty of care to the viewing public, so he must be honest. It's not as if he kept quiet Williams would flourish, they are toast and everybody knows it, as you mentioned Claire was very honest about it and admitted it herself
 
Maybe his comments are a step over a simple reporting line. It is not a public secret and perhaps more than just simple coincidence when media are after a few salty headlines, they seems to always turn to him from all people.
 
Nobody has mentioned 15 years ago at the Hungary GP, Alonso won this race and set his course to stardom by dominating the race. What many thought could potentially become the turning point for Schumacher/ Ferrari/ Bridgestone where they only managed 8th position and lapped behind all the Michelin runners. It appeared that Schumacher and Ferrari would lose their grip on both title respectively until it was discovered between Hungary and Monza that the Michelin tyres were able to run with bigger treads than the allowed limit which would only return to normal once the race was over

Back to Alonso. He has not won a race for 5 years and it looks like this probably will be his last Hungary GP.
 
You are right to bring that race up Il_leone as it was a good one (and another first time winner at Hungary. Button and Hill are in that club too) however I always get a bit irritated when people talk about Ferrari being lapped as a big turning point. They were by no means lapped on pace that day. It was all circumstance. Not least that fact that Mark Webber's very wide and slow Jaguar meant Alonso was about half a lap clear before anyone could get after him.

Alonso's win that day was brilliant. The media hype on the Ferrari thing not so much.
 
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