The Hungarian GP

The Hungarian F1 Gp

Hungary has two things. Dust all over the circuit and corners, lots and lots of silly little corners.

It’s a lot like Monaco with complex series of corners linked together; the driver has to be smooth and controlled, concentrating on sticking to the line and waiting for the right moment to overtake.

This means Hungary is a circuit that has Brawn written all over it. There are a few high speed corners for the Redbulls to pull away on, but then it’s a short straight and a slow series of corners up next, for the Brawns to catch and pass on. Cars have to be nimble, accelerate, stop quickly and look after the rubber. Nervous, twitchy cars don’t go well at all here,
Off line its dirty and dusty, the circuit doesn’t get much use for the rest of the year, so it takes 3 days of racing for the track to rubber in. So going off line here and the next thing the car is bouncing over is the grass. There is lots of run off to bounce over too because the average speed is so low here. Accidents are rare; cars usually expire in the heat and dust.

Both Ferrari and McLaren are talking up their Hungarian races. Given how well Hamilton was going before Webber took him out, I’m inclined to believe McLaren here. They might not have sorted that car out, but hey have made it more drivable and predictable. So, with a good run at qualifying, a clean getaway off the line and who knows what a KERS car can achieve here!
Ferrari meanwhile has got Massa running well again, Kimi less so. But they do have a neutral car that while not very fast, can be driven hard on the slower circuits.

So this race is going to come down once again to the qualifying, and then the first lap. Whoever can get ahead of the McLaren’s and Ferraris is going to have a clear run to the flag. Maybe Hamilton and Massa will fight it out at the head of the field, whilst the Brawns and Redbulls fight to get through. Vettel and Webber will be fighting each other; both believe they can take the title. Barrichello has had his chance so he’ll have to give way to Button.

This is going to be a close tactical race with non-title contenders getting in the way.

Meanwhile over at Torro Rosso, young Mr Bourdais has been given his marching orders and shown the back door to America. Some unpronounceable Spanish chap called Alguersuari (No I have no idea how you pronounce that either) will be taking over from him for the rest of the season. Though I believe then Sebastian Loeb will be getting a drive this year at some point.
Mr Alaberkerky is the current British F3 champion and is currently racing in the World Series by Renault, with little success. He’s got the seat over more experienced drivers because he’s part of the Redbull young driver program, and Redbull are bankrolling the Torro Rosso boys. The Boss of Torro Rosso in a fantastic display of confidence in their new young signing said “I do not expect anything from him”.
He’ll last longer then Piquet, but only because he’s got an awful lot of money backing him.