Grand Prix 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Everyone who has followed F1 since the 80’s or longer will be aware of Hungary’s status as the first GP to be held behind the Iron Curtain. It was Winston Churchill who first used the phrase “Iron Curtain” in a post WW2 speech commenting on the collapse of the war time alliance between East and West and the eventual creation of the Warsaw Pact.

The Hungarian GP, first held in 1986, represented another thaw in the Cold War which, by the early 80’s and the first term of Reagan presidency had seriously escalated towards all-out war at one stage.

It’s difficult to imagine now, just how close we were to triggering all out, global nuclear war in the early 80’s. Some history books have claimed that it was the Reagan doctrine that eventually forced the collapse of the Soviet Union through the economic and technological might of the US strangling the economy of the USSR in to submission. While this will remain the popular view in some parts of the West it is far from the reason why the Soviet Union collapsed. In the end it fell to people of the USSR to bring it down from the inside. From the strikes and riots across Eastern Europe, a more confident resistance to the regulation of Communist Rule spread relatively unchecked until a few, small but critical events toppled the whole empire.

One of these was the decision on May 2nd 1989 by the Hungarian Government to remove the electric fence border between Hungary and Austria. By the end of July 25 thousand East Germans had made the crossing from East Germany, through Czechoslovakia, into Hungary and then on to Austria and into the West. While the Austro-Hungarian border remained closed, there was now little to stop people crossing. Finally, on the 10th of September, the Hungarian Foreign Minister announced that the border between Hungary and Austria would be unrestricted. In just two days another 22,000 people crossed the border into the west. With growing demonstrations against the East German government and more civil unrest many more thousands followed suit and left for a new life. Czechoslovakia opened their border with West Germany on the 4th of November and finally, on the 9th of November the Berlin Wall opened.

Who knows what role if any, the Hungarian GP had in opening Hungary to the West and helping to give the country a wider outlook at a time when there seemed to be no end to the cold war? It certainly was worth having though.

Let’s hope for a fourth great race in a row.
 
good point but F1 has moved on from the mid 00s of the number 1 drivers & number 2 drivers.

It really hasn't. When did Hamilton hit this incredible form? When he got a number 2 team mate. When did Verstappen transform from a really quick driver to a consistently good driver? When he got a number 2 driver. When did Ferrari go from front runners to third places? When they got two drivers on equal footing.

Sorry chap but number 1s and 2s are how F1 works.
 
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Indeed so.

And I think one of the biggest image issues in F1 over the last decade is this denial from team bosses that this situation doesn't exist when we all know it does.

Cough Toto cough

If they just fessed up and said "he's our number one driver, and he's number two" then things like team orders would never have been such a problem.
 
It really hasn't. When did Hamilton hit this incredible form? When he got a number 2 team mate. When did Verstappen transform from a really quick driver to a consistently good driver? When he got a number 2 driver. When did Ferrari go from front runners to third places? When they got two drivers on equal footing.

Sorry chap but number 1s and 2s are how F1 works.

we might have number 1 & 2s but in september when it makes sense & it settled on the track now on performance back when in era i was talking about you knew in February that no matter how good a season Irvine or Barrichello had. they were forbidden for challenging for the title. i remember on F1 legends program that even Irvine feels his title challenge in 1999 was potienally sabotages internally because Ferrari didnt like the idea that he not Schumacher would be 1st ferrari champion for 20yrs

or that alonso would be number 1 over trulli/fisichella. or 97 Villenueve would be number 1 over frenzten. now if Bottas was decent like Rosberg he would be given every opportunity
 
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Well firstly Eddie Irvine is full of bullpoo and secondly if it came down to a three way fight between Hamilton, Bottas and a none Merc driver then he would be shuffled out the way in the exact same way those others you listed were. It's the nature of F1. Team mates are only allowed to fight for the title when the team are so far in front that it doesn't matter.....and even then they got told not too!

As much as the press like to talk about it and Toto likes to talk in the media about it all, Bottas is actually doing the exact job Merc need him to do and the exact job Red Bull wish Gasly was doing for them.
 
Bottas and Gasly are not doing quite the job they should, the object is to appear to challenge the no1 but really covering their a:censored:ses:whistle:
 
good point but F1 has moved on from the mid 00s of the number 1 drivers & number 2 drivers. whether it is public pressure or doubling your chances but ferrari gone with Leclerc & Vettel, Red Bull had Ricardio & Verstappen. Mercedes had Hamilton & Rosberg they want 2 drivers & if 1 cant challenge for title then its pressure will mount for someone who can

Teams also know that "doubling your chances" can sometimes lead to expensive consequences. I'm thinking of Hamilton and Rosberg most recently, Hamilton/Alonso at McLaren and Senna/Prost. On the other hand, Schumacher/Barrichello was a pretty successful partnership and I believe Hamiltion/Bottas is similar.
 
Interesting stats:
Who is more "economical" driver in this season?
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love this chart, something ive never really thought of

That is probably a chart that Gasly does not want to be leading.

more pressure on gasly :D

although when you take testing out of equesion then he goes 5th on 1.25m at least
 
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