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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the assumptions that Bottas purposely was blocking or
even more specially hit to Vettel to help Hamilton are nonsense.
The proof is that by the time of the incident, Hamilton's advantage was so great
that there was no point in risking anything for Bottas.

When Vettel emerged from the pits he was about 8 seconds behind Hamilton, the fact that (if I remember correctly) he was nearly 25 seconds off when he managed to pass Bottas seem to corroborate the claim that Bottas slowed down Vettel, and this despite the fact that Bottas somehow managed to be much quicker when his second set of tyres was already worn out than he could manage right after his pit stop, which is amazing because normally it's the other way round.

whether Bottas slowed down Vettel on purpose or not is debateable (I think that his priority was to keep Vettel behind him), BUT the fact that Bottas slowed down Vettel is corroborated by the gap that Vettel built up following Bottas.

What no one has been able to explain to me is how on earth Bottas, after his pit stop, with brand new tyres, could only do mid 1:23 and all of a sudden, as soon as Vettel emerged from the pits behind him, he managed to do several laps in the mid 1:21m, either that is a miracle or there's more than meets the eye 8-)
 
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Bottas apparently had his nose out of joint over Wolff label of him as "a perfect wingman". My suggestion to Bottas is, if you don't want to be called a wingman, then stop acting as one.
Two teammates acting in tandem is old as the sport itself. The one I do remember quite distinctly is a race in Japanese Suzuka, when Irvine and Michael Schumacher administered little bit of headache to team Williams.
I do not mind if MB plays the same game, but I am not too impressed when they pretend they have taken higher road. Hamilton admitted later on without Bottas's intervetion he was good for podium but only in P2.
 
Bottas apparently had his nose out of joint over Wolff label of him as "a perfect wingman". My suggestion to Bottas is, if you don't want to be called a wingman, then stop acting as one.
.

I guess that he hasn't much choice, either he complies or he's out (same for Raikkonen to a lesser extent but he's still #2)
 
I guess that he hasn't much choice, either he complies or he's out (same for Raikkonen to a lesser extent but he's still #2)
Bottas genuinely sounded like it was news to him then that he is a domestic in that team.

In Maranello I would like to believe that there is no explicit order regarding Raikonnen's supporting status, but once there is clarity who has a chance for WDC, that a support for a leading driver is expected and perhaps demanded. Kimi was blocking Seb the other day, and it took 3 coms with the pit wall before he let him through.

So, I guess both teams will formulate their expectations for Nos 2 just after holidays.
 
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