Ferrari will look to move on from the negative reaction to last weekend’s German Grand Prix with another strong showing in Hungary. The team has progress over the last six weeks and will be keen to capitalise on a dominant performance in Germany where they were never headed.
Felipe Massa returns to the scene of his terrifying accident of last season that not only threatened his career but also his life. The Brazilian was struck on the head from a stray spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn during qualifying but last weekend he showed that he still has the ability to perform at a high level. This weekend though will be very trying as he deals with returning to the Hungaroring as well as the inevitable backlash from his team’s decision to force Massa to let Alonso through.
Alonso though will no doubt have been buoyed by winning in Germany, his first win since the season opener in Bahrain, and returns to where he achieved his maiden victory driving for Renault in 2003. That race was remembered as being one where an unfamiliar sight took place-Michael Schumacher being lapped; this though is becoming increasingly familiar and somewhat expected at times.
Ferrari will no doubt be confident of continuing their good form and their car has shown promise recently on low grip surfaces. Their car also has good high downforce characteristics that the team hope will allow them to allow Alonso to close the gap at the head of the title chase.
To do so he must beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, something he couldn’t do in 2007 when his relationship with his then team unravelled. During qualifying Alonso blocked the pitlane and ensured that Hamilton was unable to set another lap to challenge his teammate. The stewards all agreed that Alonso needed to be punished and he lost five grid places, this though was only a slight punishment compared to the decision of McLaren to end their dealings with Alonso at season’s end.
Hamilton has a superb track record at Hungary with two wins and two pole positions and last year’s win was the product of an incredible turnaround in fortunes for his McLaren team as they had been struggling two seconds off the pace in the season’s early races. Jenson Button has also been victorious in Hungary. In 2006 the then Honda driver finally won his first Grand Prix. It would take until the season opener last season before he won again. This year he arrives in Hungary as the reigning world champion and Lewis Hamilton’s closest challenger.
McLaren has won the last three Hungarian Grand Prix with Heikki Kovalainen winning in 2008. The team are confident of another strong showing but with the MP4-25 still showing some problems in high downforce configuration the team might have to rely on guile once more instead of outright pace to challenge for the win.
Red Bull have made a habit of shooting themselves in the foot this season so it would not be surprising to see the team share a wry smile at the coverage Ferrari received this season. That the incident took place so soon after Red Bull’s own intra team situation came sharply into light at Silverstone would only have pleased them more. The team have shown an inability to execute on race days and with the season now firmly counting down to Abu Dhabi they must hope that it isn’t too late to challenge. The team will know that with races at Spa and Monza upcoming that they will be firmly on the back foot to McLaren and its fully functioning F-Duct, Red Bull has one but not on a similar level to their Woking counterparts.
Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will arrive in Budapest knowing that the RB6 has consistently shown itself to have the best high downforce characteristics in Formula 1 but they will also know that they need to win this weekend because their high drag car might struggle at the low downforce and high speed Belgian and Italian races. Webber finished third last year, setting the fastest lap, and the Australian will be as committed as ever but will face a tough struggle against his teammate.
Vettel was shocked at the public reaction to the team’s decision at Silverstone to give him the new wing but his pole lap in Germany showed that he has lost none of his commitment. Finishing third at home was undoubtedly a disappointment but he showed that he has moved on from Silverstone.
The Circuit
The Hungaroring is situated just outside Budapest and offers the teams a unique challenge. The dusty confines of this tight circuit require a car that changes direction and rides bumps well. The challenge for engineers is to get the car stiffly sprung to rapidly change direction but soft enough to be unsettled over the many bumps. Teams will need a high downforce configuration and the first turn is the only realistic overtaking position.
With overtaking so difficult qualifying takes on enormous importance and with the dusty nature of the circuit drivers need to be on the racing line to have confidence off the line.
The weather for this weekend’s race
Clear blue skies and high temperatures await teams and drivers this weekend with 31C expected for Saturday and Sunday.
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