Grand Prix 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion


The Hungaroring is a funny place in the history of F1. Starting life with the mid-80's claim of being the first race from behind the now long gone iron curtain, it should by rights, have long since disappeared from the calendar to have been replaced by a Tilkedrome in some far off and distant corner of the world.

The tight, twisty track that sees little racing all year round and remains relatively dusty and dirty all weekend is often claimed to be a place where few can overtake and not much happens. A quick thumb through F1's history pages can soon dispel this myth. From the first race held in 1986 which gave us the four wheel power slide overtake by Nelson Piquet on Senna, as shown above, to Mansell's first victory for Ferrari coming from 12th place to win. Via Mansell confirming his world title here in 1992 right up to maiden wins for Damon Hill, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Heikki Kovalainen this track is never short of a surprise or two.

It seems like an agonizing 3 week wait before we get to the track and of course in that time we have the young drivers tyre test and the latest changes to the tyre range for the remainder of the season. Perhaps, due to the tight and twisty nature of the track, out right speed is less of an issue here and so the cars tend to find themselves on a much leveler playing field.

The Red Bull's will be going into the race a lot more confident about where they are in relation to the tyres and knowing that the car is well balanced and definitely the one to beat at the moment. As for Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus(Renault) nipping away at their heels, for Mercedes this race marks a vital moment in their season. Denied the chance to test at Silverstone they will have the least amount of information regarding the new 2012 structure / 2013 compound tyres. Already proven to be one of the fastest cars on the grid they seem to suffer tyre degradation a lot more than their nearest rivals. All hopes will be for a repeat of their performance at Monaco, another tight and twisty track, and that they can get on top of the tyre data given only 3 hours of running on the dusty surface at Friday practice. For Ferrari it seems that tyre wear is less important than finding a bit more pace in the car. While Alonso really pushed hard in the last few laps of the German GP, overall the weekend looked like something of a backward step for Maranello resulting in different strategies coming in to play. Finally, if only Lotus(Renault) could find some sort of consistency to capitalize on the abilities of Kimi (and Romain if he can keep it on the black stuff) they to could be troubling the front runners all weekend.

Battle has been joined in the midfield by a suddenly motivated Toro Rosso pair who sniff a race seat at their Big Brothers team. Rumors continue to surround where either driver may end up if anywhere at all so it is vital they keep the pressure on. Force India were strangely off the pace in Germany and will be looking to restore that advantage and increase their gap over McLaren in the constructors championship while they can. Meanwhile the boys at woking will have been encouraged by their showing at the Nurburgring but will it be enough to build on and at last turn around what after Hungary could be their worst season in the long history of the team?

Another team showing a slight improvement on their recent performances is Sauber who will have been pleased with the way they ran in Germany. Rumors of financial issues at the team including the non-payment of wages to Nico Hulkenburg show they could be heading for troubled times if results don't start to improve. Nico's name is now being spoken off in relation to a couple of drives elsewhere next season and his opportunities to live up to his talent hang in the balance unless Sauber can show the same pace they had last season soon.

Williams are officially having their poorest ever season. Just missing the points with three 11th place finishes can't hide the fact that they are squabbling for the crumbs off the table. It's clear that there are too many things wrong with the car to point the blame in any one direction but who would have thought that after 9 races there would not be a single point in the bank. It must be worrying for the whole team and you tend to wonder how long it will be before the last sparks of their reputation burn out?

And so finally we come to the back of the grid, it's clear that both the "young teams" as they are described on Sky F1 have taken a huge step backwards. You only have to look at the ever growing spaces on the Marussia to know that sponsorship is an issue (as it also appears to be for Sauber and Williams to some extent) and I would place a small bet now that which ever of these two teams fails to gain Bernie's hand out for 10th at the end of the season will be sold quickly or more likely as in the case of HRT last season, will be pulling down its pit shutters for the final time.

So, while we have three weeks to wait, there is still plenty to talk about in the run up to the Hungarian GP. Who can put more pressure on Vettel ? Will Mercedes performance suffer as a result of missing out on the young drivers tyre test ? Can Ferrari regain their early season pace ? Questions, Questions. (And a long time until we find those answers).
 
Nonsense ramilas1 the stewards only had one course of action open to them as he overtook Massa off the track and anyway they've let him of with this non penalty.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/7/14856.html
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one - he may have gone off track but what options did he have:
1 - back out of the gap with heavy braking, making hitting Massa a distinct possibility
2 - keep foot down and try to get through a rapidly closing gap, making hitting Massa a distinct probability

I don't have the handicap of English TV commentary, so mine is a very personal opinion based on my own eyesight and seeing the several replays, but I would bet that if the roles had been reversed there would have been a 'proverbial' lynch party to get Grosjean done for forcing Massa off the track. :whistle:
 
FIA have to keep them happy since Ferrari's contract with the FIA still contains that controversial right of veto over rules and regulations. That little fact was buried in the myriad of info' made public during "Tyre-gate".
 
ramilas1 I'd agree Grosjean was hard done by on his Massa overtake. FYI the British broadcasters doing US TV had no problem with it saying it was just racing...
 
The overtake penalty was harsh, but consistent for once, I think he deserved a penalty for hitting JB, I think JB showed us how to properly overtake there on Massa later on
 
As opposed to his overtake on Button, Boyle he didn't even try to slow down and carried straight on over the chicane If he had been punished during the race for that stupid move we wouldn't be having this conversation. and as for wanting to see more of it yeah great as long as he stays on the bloody track.....

For me he is the same old Romain, rash and impetuous.....
 
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But I didn't say his move on Button wasn't stupid. In fact, and I agree with you, I'm surprised that he wasn't given a penalty for causing a collision
 
The thing is at the time it looked spectacular but anyone who knows anything about that track knows that there is no room in turn 4 to overtake, Vettel tried it later on, on Kimi and then started whinging on the radio "He didn't give me room." yeah that's right Seb he didn't give you room because there isn't any to give....
 
Did Grosjean upset you because he hit Button Mephistopheles? Think yourself lucky it wasn't last year or he'd have taken him off. There was no malice in it I think he just thought Button's tyres were completely shot and he was slower than he was.

I can't have been the only one wincing at it!

I was on my feet going "Come on!" Would have been overtake of the season if it hadn't been on a Ferrar driver.
 
I used the word impetuous RasputinLives because it means impatient and he only had to wait a little while to overtake Button in a perfectly safe manner which is what other drivers do, this is Romains biggest failing, my post had nothing to do with the fact that it was Button he almost took out of the race and anyway it did not (By the grace of god.) hinder Jenson's race...

I believe that Romain still has a lot to learn about racecraft...

And your point about it being a Ferrari driver and especially because that driver was Massa is total rubbish..

Maybe you just don't like Ferrari for some reason, hence the tone of your post..

I will always disparage the use of personal opinion to try and sway someones view on what is quite obviously an infringement of the rules...
 
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I used the word impetuous RasputinLives because it means impatient and he only had to wait a little while to overtake Button in a perfectly safe manner which is what other drivers do, this is Romains biggest failing, my post had nothing to do with the fact that it was Button he almost took out of the race and anyway it did not (By the grace of god.) hinder Jenson's race...

I believe that Romain still has a lot to learn about racecraft...

And your point about it being a Ferrari driver and especially because that driver was Massa is total rubbish..

Maybe you just don't like Ferrari for some reason, hence the tone of your post..

I will always disparage the use of personal opinion to try and sway someones view on what is quite obviously an infringement of the rules...

Yeah I guess Massa never gets any rulings in his favour. Wait. Hang on. Didn't he drive someone off the road in 2008 and they got a penalty?

Got to go becausecmy hatred for Ferrari is so strong I need to smash anything red! Grrrrr.
 
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