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Broadcast Times for the 2015 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix

Round 10 of the Formula 1 World Championship heads to Hungaroring in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The week had begun on a rather somber note with the passing of Jules Bianchi. Bianchi finally succumbed to his injuries after a 9 month fight since his crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. An unbelievable talent taken away from us too soon.

The Hungaroring has been hosting F1 races since its inaugural race in March 1986. There have been a few modifications and upgrades made to the track but it has largely remained the same.

The track is is a medium-to-low speed circuit which needs a high downforce setup on the cars. The flowing nature of the track in the middle sector makes overtaking difficult as there is just one line drivers can follow through it. The most popular overtaking spot is down the pit straight with DRS into Turn 1. Some drivers have made some spectacular moves around the outside at the long left handed Turn 2.

Ahead of the race weekend a number of teams are expecting strong performances before the official F1 summer break. Ferrari have been saying that the warm temperatures favor the SF15-T and are expecting a strong performance from both of their drivers.

Williams are expecting a tough weekend as their car is more suited to high speed circuits. They have, however, taken steps to minimise the impact for the weekend.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso expects a much better second half to the season after a very difficult first half to the season. The team are planning big updates after the summer break.

Race times will be at the “normal” time for everyone in Europe and Africa. All times are GMT+2

Free Practice 1: Friday 10:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 14:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 11:00

Qualifying: Saturday 14:00

Race: Sunday 14:00

July 22, 2015
Jules Bianchi, 1989-2015

French Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi has died at the young age of 25 after succumbing to his injuries sustained 9 months ago at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi crashed into a recovery vehicle that was recovering Adrian Sutil’s Force India which crashed a lap before. He was rushed off to the Mie General Hospital where it was revealed that he had sustained a diffuse axonal injury. Bianchi was treated for his injury in Japan for a few weeks after which he was then moved to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice in the south of France where he lived out the rest of his days.

Bianchi is the first driver in 21 years to die from his racing injuries since Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola in 1994

“Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end,” said the Bianchi family.

Jules started his racing career in karting and in 2007 joined the SG Formula team in French Formula Renault 2.0. He finished the series as the champion with 5 wins to his name.

Late in 2007 he signed with ART Grand Prix and competed in the Formula 1 Euro Series. He stayed in Formula 3 in 2008 where he won the Masters of Formula 3.

Throughout 2010 and 2011 he participated in GP2 with ART. While participating in GP2, the Ferrari announced him as their test and reserve driver for 2011. Bianchi became the first successful recruit of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He tested for the team at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi. Bianchi also tested for Force India during 2012.

His big break in F1 came in 2013 when the Marussia F1 team – now Manor F1 – announced that he would replace Luiz Razia. In his first race for the team he finished in 15th place ahead of his team mate Max Chilton in 17th.

In 2014 he stamped his authority at the Marussia team as their No.1 driver after out qualifying and out pacing his team mate.

With just 34 races under his belt in Formula 1, Bianchi had shown that he was an extraordinary talent with Marussia. On many occasions he has out raced his team mate, Max Chilton, and was able to get more out of the car. His most impressive drive came in Monaco 2014 where he brought his Marussia home in 9th place earning the team their first points in F1.

It was never easy for Jules as he suffered many retirements during races but he had been noticed and and proved his worth in F1. Towards the end of the 2014 season there was talk about third drivers in F1 and it was then announced by former Ferrari Chairman Luca Di Montezemolo that Bianchi was tipped to be the third driver for Ferrari.

Since his death was announced there has been an outpouring of tributes from the F1 community all over the world with teams, drivers and fans expressing their sadness at Jules’ death.

“We are devastated to lose Jules after such a hard-fought battle. It was a privilege to have him race for our team,” tweeted the Manor F1 Team

Max Chilton tweeted: “No words can describe what his family & the sport have lost. All I can say it was a pleasure knowing & racing you.”

“I have no words… We will miss you my old friend…,” tweet Jean-Eric Vergne who is a close friend of Jules.

McLaren Driver, Jenson Button tweeted: “Last night we lost a truly great guy and a real fighter #RIPJules my sincerest Condolences to his family and friends.”

Sky Sports F1 Commentator David Croft tweeted: “Rest In Peace Jules. Words can’t describe the sadness this morning. It was a pleasure to have known you, even more to have watched you race.”

July 21, 2015
F1 2015: Hungarian GP Preview – Racing At The ‘Ring

Formula 1 returns after a three week break to the Hungarian grand prix. However, the excitement has been significantly dulled. The passing of Jules Bianchi has been a surreal and deeply unfortunate reality.

While the mood is solemn the best way to honour the life of Jules Bianchi is by putting on a great show around Hungary’s Hungaroring circuit.

It’s a special place for both McLaren drivers as it is the venue of their first wins in the sport. In 2003 a fresh faced Fernando Alonso took the chequered flag in his blue and yellow liveried Renault and in 2006 Jenson Button turned on the magic on a damp circuit in his BAR Honda to take the top step of the podium.

Times have changed since then for these two who now find themselves teammates at a struggling McLaren Honda team. The 2015 season has been arduous for all involved but Fernando Alonso believes that the Hungaroring and the second half of the season will hold some opportunities for McLaren to show the gains it has made. “I think the second part of the year will show a completely different McLaren, much more competitive,” says the Spaniard. “The steps that are coming are quite big. This is not too difficult when you are at the back of the grid and two seconds off the pace – every step then is half a second or eight-tenths. When you are fighting for a podium you [only] gain 0.1s every two weeks. I think we will get much closer to the top guys in the second part of the championship.”

The Hungaroring’s layout is a flowing mixture of low to medium speed corners with a few elevation changes. This coupled with the lack of any significant straights decreases the demand on the power unit. Due to its flowing nature the circuit offers, in most areas, offers only one ideal line which will limit the chances for overtaking. Consequently, a good qualifying position becomes a major strategic advantage.

Pirelli have selected the medium and soft compounds for the weekend and expect the combination should provide a good balance between performance and reliability. “This selection is soft enough to provide the mechanical grip needed to negotiate all the corners, yet hard enough to withstand the punishing weather conditions and track layout of the Hungaroring. This is not always the easiest circuit to overtake on, so tyre strategy can make a real difference,” says Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery.

Ferrari experienced a difficult British grand prix but Kimi Raikkonen thinks that this was a once-off. “We’ve seen at other circuits it depends a lot on the layout of the circuit and what tyres we run,” said the Finn.”I expect it to be a different story in the next race and at different circuits again. Hungary I’m sure it will [be better]. Silverstone was not the ideal weekend. The others were a bit faster. I’m sure it will be a bit more easy there but we will see.”

Williams delivered a considerably better performance at Silverstone which led Rob Smedley to believe that the team is capable of beating Ferrari to second place in the constructor’s championship. The team believes that a steady stream of small upgrades at every race will make the difference but remain realistic about their potential this weekend. “We know we are still missing a bit in the low speed and we are big enough to hold hands up and say that is the case,” says Smedley.”We’re looking at all sorts of ways of recuperating that.”

For nine months all motorsport fans had hoped to receive the news that Jules Bianchi had woken up and was well on his way to recovery. Sadly, this news will never come and his enormous potential will remain unfulfilled. It is the worst possible outcome but it is not the end of Jules’ legacy. It has reaffirmed the commitment to safety above all else and that is a gift of which the impact and importance cannot be measured. Ciao Jules and thank you.

July 21, 2015
Bianchi Family Statement

The Bianchi family has released a statement to confirm that Jules Bianchi has passed away.

“It is with deep sadness that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and sister Mélanie, wish to make it known that Jules passed away last night at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Nice, (France) where he was admitted following the accident of 5th October 2014 at Suzuka Circuit during the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

“Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end,” said the Bianchi family. “The pain we feel is immense and indescribable. We wish to thank the medical staff at Nice’s CHU who looked after him with love and dedication. We also thank the staff of the General Medical Center in the Mie Prefecture (Japan) who looked after Jules immediately after the accident, as well as all the other doctors who have been involved with his care over the past months.

“Furthermore, we thank Jules’ colleagues, friends, fans and everyone who has demonstrated their affection for him over these past months, which gave us great strength and helped us deal with such difficult times. Listening to and reading the many messages made us realise just how much Jules had touched the hearts and minds of so many people all over the world.

“We would like to ask that our privacy is respected during this difficult time, while we try to come to terms with the loss of Jules.”

Rest in peace Jules. You will be missed.

July 18, 2015
Fangio exhumation postponed due to ‘second son’ claim

The exhumation of Formula One legend and five time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio will not happen just yet, after a judge suspended the process until a similar case, from another man claiming to be Fangio’s son, is completed.

A court in Mar del Plata in Argentina had ruled that Fangio’s body should be exhumed for DNA paternity testing in order to verify claims by Oscar Espinoza that he is his son.

However the exhumation which was due to take place on 7 August, has been delayed pending the outcome of a second claim from Ruben Vazquez. The new court order, issued by a court in La Plata, has overruled the former ruling, stating that the exhumation must not take place until Vazquez’s case is decided on.

The Vazquez case actually began before Espinoza’s and, according to the ruling, a ‘Stay Order’ was placed on Fangio’s body, stopping anyone else from exhuming or moving his remains.

It is unclear at this stage what claim Vazquez has to believe he is the son of the Formula One legend since Fangio never recognised any children and never married. He did however have a long-term relationship with Andrea Berruet, the mother of Espinoza.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of Fangio’s death. Fangio was 84-years-old when he passed away and is still the second most most successful Formula One driver in terms of world championships won – behind Michael Schumacher. Fangio won titles in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957.

Juan Manuel Fangio Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons

July 16, 2015
Red Bull Q&A with Christian Horner

The 2013 Formula One season saw Red Bull Racing win 13 grands prix as well as both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles. The 2014 F1 season, they managed only three race wins. They’re expected to complete the 2015 season without a single race win.

The former champions have literally gone from hero to zero due the complete lack of performance and reliability fo their Renault power unit and rule changes compromising their chassis design.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner spoke exclusively to the official Formula One website about how he and the team are coping and how they intend turning things around.

Here’s what he had to say:

Q: Christian, back in Canada Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said that Renault’s new project was on the dyno, and you would know its potential in three weeks’ time. That window closed at Silverstone – so what is the state of affairs?

Christian Horner: I think this is a question to be answered by Renault because it is their business, not ours. But as far as I am aware I think that they are making good progress on their dyno. They now have some strategic decisions about implementation, and the direction they want to take their development for the rest of this season – and that has an enormous impact on next year.

Q: What does their timeframe mean for you then?

Christian Horner: Of course it tests our patience. Like any competitive team we want performance yesterday, and unfortunately with engines the lead time is a lot longer than with the chassis. Patience is something that we are not really good at. We want to have performance as soon as possible…

Q: What is ‘as soon as possible’? The next three weeks?

Christian Horner: From where the concept is at the moment you are probably looking at least at a couple of months. Two to three months. It needs to happen this year – but also what you learn this year will help you next season.

Q: Both Renault and Red Bull have reportedly drawn up exit scenarios – but given that you recently signed a personal contract renewal with Red Bull, can we understand that their exit is now off the table?

Christian Horner: Hah! I signed that contract a short while ago. We are determined to get back to a competitive position. It hurts when you are not competitive, and unfortunately there are certain elements we are not in control of. But where we are in control, we are working flat out so that when the power upgrades do come, we are in a position to make best use of them.

Q: Are you satisfied with the chassis situation right now?

Christian Horner: We are never satisfied. Here you always try to get better. The regulation changes over the winter did hurt us – probably more than we anticipated – but we now have a pretty good understanding of the areas where we need to improve – and how to improve.

Q: Is there interest in trying to bring James Key over from Toro Rosso? He is showing what is possible on a slim budget…

Christian Horner: No interest at all. We have a strong technical team. Adrian (Newey) is still involved in all the things that are going on and with Rob Marshal, Pierre Wache and Dan Fallows we have a strong technical group – so no desire to change anything.

Q: What about Renault? There has been speculation that they could purchase Lotus. What would that mean for the two Red Bull teams? Boss Carlos Ghosn reportedly said it is very unlikely Renault will play the part of engine supplier in 2017…

Christian Horner: Those are decisions that they have to make. It would hold a certain irony if they buy back the team they sold. But as far as our position is concerned, we have a very clear agreement with Renault, which guarantees us priority status. Any of those scenarios requires having a competitive engine – and doesn’t really matter based on the agreement that we have.

Q: Some suggested Red Bull Racing have been ‘flirting’ with Ferrari recently. Could that be a short-term remedy? For sure it doesn’t appear to be a long-term solution if you want to win titles again…

Christian Horner: Ah, I think it would be an exaggeration saying that Red Bull is ‘flirting’ with Ferrari. Obviously Red Bull Group had a relationship with Ferrari for many years as engine supplier for Toro Rosso. Sergio (Marchionne) made a generous offer without any details when he attended the Austrian Grand Prix – but right now our focus is on what we have at this point in time.

Q: 2016 is one thing – but what about 2017?

Christian Horner: That could be a completely different ball game.

Q: Would you ever have imagined after so many successful years that you would find yourself in the doldrums so quickly – and with no obvious way out?

Christian Horner: Things change here very quickly. The vast majority of the people that helped us win eight titles and 50 Grands Prix are still here. But the circumstances have changed. Unfortunately the element that has the biggest effect on our competitiveness is one we are not in control of.

Q: You have said that even were Sebastian Vettel still racing for Red Bull Racing, you would still be in the same bad situation…

Christian Horner: If Sebastian was still with Red Bull our position would be no different because the drivers aren’t our issues.

Q: Would you really be in the same situation with Sebastian? Does the driver make so little impact?

Christian Horner: We would be poorer!

Q: Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that F1 racing will be simpler – and more exciting – in 2017. Why did it take so long to understand that the sport was being pushed in the wrong direction?

Christian Horner: The fact is that if you have a bunch of ‘experts’ who all believe that they know what should be done, you end up with confusion. I think that the reality has only recently been understood – and as a result of that there is more alignment on what needs to be done.

Bernie was always right saying that F1 is about man and machine at the limit. It needs to be dramatic, it needs to be fast, it needs to be loud and it needs to be sexy. In one word, it needs that ‘wow’ factor to it.

We need to go back to these principles, which is relatively easy to achieve if everybody wants to achieve the same thing. They are not all quite sure how to achieve it – but they now have agreed on what they want to achieve!

Image Credits: Infiniti Red Bull Racing / Getty

July 14, 2015
Jules Bianchi Update: Condition ‘more terrible than if he had died,’ says his father

Jules Bianchi’s father, Philippe, has admitted that he is becoming a lot less optimistic about the chances of his son recovering from the injuries suffered during a horrific crash at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi remains in a coma at a hospital in Nice, nine months after his horrific collision with a recovery vehicle at the grand prix at Suzuka and his father describes the situation as one that his putting the Bianchi family through “daily torture”.

Bianchi suffered severe brain injuries in the crash and his family have remained hopeful, remaining at his bedside, but his father wass a lot less optimistic in an interview with France Info, a local radio station.

“It’s unbearable, it’s a daily torture,” Philippe Bianchi told the radio station. “We sometimes feel like we’re going crazy, because for me, it certainly is more terrible than if he had died. For we’re not able to help him more than we can.

“Time goes by and I am now less optimistic than I may have been two or three months after the crash, when we could hope for a better evolution. At some point, you need to be well-grounded and realise how serious the situation is.”

Bianchi, who was driving for Marussia and was part of Ferrari’s young driver programme, has not made any significant progress in his recovery. His father went on to say that waking up from the coma would lead to further complications as he struggles with a conversation he had with Jules following Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident in December 2013.

“If he finds himself with huge disabilities, we’re pretty sure it’s not at all what Jules would want. We had talked about it. He told us that if he were to have an accident similar to Michael Schumacher’s, if he were even just not to be able to drive anymore, it would be very hard for him to accept it. Because it was his life.”

We all continue to hope for a full recover for Jules and our thoughts remain with the Bianchi family throughout their struggle.

#ForzaJules

July 13, 2015
Juan Manuel Fangio’s body to be exhumed for paternity test

Five-time Formula One world champion Juan Manuel Fangio’s body will be exhumed for a paternity test, following an Argentinian judge’s ruling just days before the 20th anniversary of Fangio’s death.

Fangio died on July 17, 1995 and had never married nor left behind any known children. However, Oscar Espinoza, the son of Fangio’s long term partner of two decades, Andrea Berreut, has claimed that he is the son of the F1 legend. Espinoza started the lawsuit in 2013 and the ruling allowing Fangio’s body to be exhumed for the DNA tests was passed down this week.

Fangio’s body is buried in his hometown of Balcarce in Argentina. It will be exhumed on August 7.

Fangio is still the second most successful F1 driver in terms of world championships won, behind Michael Schumacher. Fangio won titles in 1951, and every year from 1954 – 1957. He achieved 24 race victories from 52 races.

Photo Credit: Fangio, for Maserati – photo under commons licence.

July 13, 2015

21-Race Provisional F1 Calendar for 2016 Released By FIA

At the World Motorport Council(WMSC) meeting on Friday 10 July 2015 the FIA ratified a few rule changes to the F1 season and released a provisional 21 race calendar for 2016.

The season will get underway on 3 April 2016 in Australia back-to-back with China on 10 April 2016 and will conclude in Abu Dhabi on 27 November 2016. With the later start and conclusion the order has been tweaked slightly with the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi being moved up to 1 May 2016 and the Malaysian Grand Prix moved down the calendar to 25 September 2016 for the second round of fly-away races. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku is scheduled for 17 July 2016.

There are a number of back-to-back races at the start of the season and towards the middle of the season. This is in-line with the FIA’s goal to reduce the interval between races and to fit more races in a season.

Below is the provisional 21-race calendar for 2016:

1	3 April	Australia
2	10 April	China
3	24 April	Bahrain
4	1 May	Sochi
5	15 May	Spain
6	29 May	Monaco
7	12 June	Canada
8	26 June	UK
9	3 July	Austria
10	17 July	Baku
11	31 July	Germany
12	7 August	Hungary
13	28 August	Belgium
14	4 September	Italy
15	18 September	Singapore
16	25 September	Malaysia
17	9 October	Japan
18	23 October	USA
19	30 October	Mexico
20	13 November	Brazil
21	27 November	Abu Dhabi

July 10, 2015

Rule Changes Ratified by World Motorsport Council

The FIA World Motorsport Council(WMSC) met on Firday 10 July 2015 in Mexico City, Mexio and ratified some of the adjustments to the F1 regulations put forward by the F1 Strategy Group and approved by the F1 Commission.

Power unit penalties are now much more simpler. Drivers will no more incur any time penalties during the race if a driver is unable to drop further down the grid. This means that as soon as a driver incurring a penalty gets dropped down the grid and reaches last place, that is the position the driver will start in. No further penalties will be applied.

Good news for McLaren and Honda. The WMSC has approved the change to allow new power unit manufacturers one extra power unit per driver. This will be applied retrospectively to Honda.

The above changes will come into effect immediately.

Changes to the Super Licence regulations have also been made. Drivers who obtain a Super Licence but do not have the opportunity to race in F1 will now be able to hold onto the Super Licence for three years. Changes to the points scoring system for a Super Licence have been made. There is now a larger list of racing series included in the Super Licence points system. The winner of the Formula E Championship will now be granted a Super Licence even though the Formula E Championship does not form part of the points system.

July 10, 2015