Grand Prix 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Who was saying 2011 was boring?

It's amazing how a few non Red Bull dominated races can change the complexion of F1 and suddenly it's exciting again. However before we get too carried away, Vettel still holds a massive points lead and despite a poor (by his standards) race in Germany, he is still hot favourite as the F1 circus rolls into Hungary.

Hungary isn't known for it's exciting races (apart from 2006 possibly thanks to the weather) due to the dust bowl and lack of overtaking oppurtunities, but if 2011 is anything to go by, the phrase 'no overtaking' has been thrown out of the dictionary.

Despite recent set backs Red Bull will be favourites to bounce back at a circuit which suits them to a tee with weather conditions that will be beneficial to Vettel who struggled with grip at the chilly Nurburgring. However Ferrari and Mclaren have shown that they won't just stand still and let Red Bull walk to the championship with Hamilton and Alonso winning in the last 2 grand prix.

Indeed Mclaren seemed to be in trouble going into the German GP as they were off the pace of the Red Bulls and Ferraris, but in Hamiltons hands the car made a miracle recovery to not only take a front row position ahead of Vettel, but take the teams third win of the season after very stiff competition from Alonso and Webber. Is this the start of the established teams fightback?

Even beleagured Ferrari driver Massa has showed improved form recently with two 5th placed positions in the last 2 races but they could have easily been 2 fourth places had it not been for a strong defensive rearguard from Hamilton in Silverstone and a pit stop mess up in Germany which enabled Vettel to get past on the last lap. As Ferrari plan to take the fight to Red Bull, they will need Massa to take points off Vettel and Webber if Alonso is to have any chance of a miracle fightback.

Mercedes are in a league of their own at the moment, but not in a good way. They are faster than the likes of Renault and Force India, but slower than Ferrari, Red Bull and Mclaren and the 7th/8th place almost has a Mercedes name penned in if there aren't any incidents, (which knowing Schumacher is rare)

Renault have dropped off badly after a strong start to the season and after a crash from Heidfeld and a poor race from Petrov, they now find themselves picking up the scraps in the midfield for 5th place in the championship as Mercedes start to pull away from the black and gold outfit, maybe a tweak of the exhaust might bring them better fortunes in Hungary.

One person who drove a great race in Germany but hardly got any recognition was Adrian Sutil who drove probably the best race of the German drivers. 6th place after a strong qualifying will no doubt relieve the pressure that had been building on him and will show to Di Resta that he won't have things his own way at Force India and that Hulkenberg might have to wait a while for a race seat.

No doubt that there won't be any uncertainties about the weather this weekend as more often than not Hungary provides a race weekend with 30 degree sunshine with not a cloud to be seen, apart from the 2006 race which was notable for Jenson Buttons first win in the Honda.

For Galahads superb circuit write up see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/hungaroring/
 
It was. By the way, it has to be the only event I can remember when qualifying time penalties were used. Both Alonso and Schumacher had 2 seconds added to their times for quali, rather than the standard grid drop. One for the FIA to try on Moose soon, I think.

Schumi nearly made Q3 with an awesome lap by the way.

I have heard about the time penalties but not known what Schumacher and Alonso got them for, I was going to assume cutting "THE" chicane.
 
Alonso (along with Schumacher) was quite naughty during that weekend I have to say, seemed to me he deliberately slowed down during the red flag when Scumacher was behind him on track.

However that is just my take on it.
 
I have heard about the time penalties but not known what Schumacher and Alonso got them for, I was going to assume cutting "THE" chicane.

It wasn't, because the chicane cutting was in the race. Alonso got it for brake testing Robert Doornbos in the third Red Bull in FP1, then Schumacher picked up the same penalty for passing both Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso under red flags in FP3.

Of course, in Hungary, we've seen a lot in recent years in qualifying. Penalties, loose springs, Brazilians qualifying 14th in WCC cars and one team-mate parking incident.
 
I'll get the can of worms..... He means Mclaren 2007

Thanks, but I've already opened them. I tried to put it in the most neutral terms possible, and I'm not in any mood to discuss that one.

Like to see Felipe win this one, he's had no luck but bad luck in Budapest!
 
I have always enjoyed the Hungary GP, on a different not, it is ultimate in F1 2010, just all round a lot of challenges.

2007 didn't happen,.....I don't really know what you are talking about.8-)
 
Supposing, just supposing, Hamilton were to win this Sunday and Vettel's mechanics failed to attach a wheel nut properly or his RBR had a race-ending hydraulics failure, or this time he wasn't quite so lucky as to only lose 7 seconds when he put his wheels onto the astroturf. The gap between the two would then be 57 points, just over two wins, with eight races left. Alonso is only a further four points behind Lewis, so the same could be said for him.

If, however, the result went the other way then the gap between Seb and Lewis would be 107 points, or four wins. So it could be said that Hungary is quite a pivotal event for the rest of the season.
 
Remember, Hungary is historically good for one team...

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I have always like the Hungaroring, love Turn 4 and 10.

It was the only race that I found challenging to win in the Nintendo 64 Formula Grand Prix II game :)
 
I have always like the Hungaroring, love Turn 4 and 10.

It was the only race that I found challenging to win in the Nintendo 64 Formula Grand Prix II game :snigger:

Puncture territory

In terms of the real thing, it has all the challenges, downhill braking, tyre ware, uphill braking and a few slow corners mixed with a chicane and meandering staights.
 
Yes, but I was counting Mark out as I can't see him realistically being allowed able to challenge Seb for the title (can you confirm that you understand that message?) :whistle:

Lol, yeah...somehow I can't see Mark Webber heeding to much of that,......You could quite literally see the gloves coming off. And in terms of experience Mark Webber is still very capable in that car of reigning in Vettel(assuming all major players bump Vettel down the finishing order.)
 
I think if the others can jump Vettel at the start then even though he may have a faster car, it is near impossible to overtake around Hungarian track. You may see Vettel going for a rash move as im sure he is listening to the comments about him being unable to overtake. The other alternative is that he may take a different strategy, as he did in China when he got boxed in early and look what happened there.

You've got to remember that the next two tracks after this are Spa and Monza, Monza being Red Bull's weakest circuit of the year and Spa by no means being their favourite. They lose a lot on the straights, which will be helped this year in qualifying by DRS, but in the race, I'd expect both Ferrari and McLaren to be faster.
 
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