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Grosjean ends Hungarian third practice on top

Romain Grosjean headed the timesheets at the third practice before this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix with a time of 1.20.730.

The session was dominated by long fuel runs with teams trying to understand what they can get out of the medium tyre before tomorrow’s race. Sebastian Vettel completed the most laps for the session working hard on his race pace strategy. The Red Bull team seemed very confident for qualifying and did not spend much time working on the soft tyres at all.

A crash in by Perez in the final minutes of the session meant that drivers could not really post their fastest times and saw Fernando Alonso finishing second with a 1.20.898 followed by Perez, Vettel and Massa.

The high temperatures at the Hungaroring are definitely a major talking point ahead of qualifying and the grand prix as teams will need to understand the temperature limit that the Pirelli tyres can handle.

We’re all set for an exciting qualifying session later this afternoon.

Here is the full timesheet for FP3 in Hungary.

July 27, 2013
FIA and Formula One Group agree on F1 Concorde deal

The FIA and Formula One Group have released the following statement regarding their agreement on the terms for a F1 Concorde deal.

“The Formula 1 Group and the FIA have signed an agreement setting out the framework for implementation of the 2013 Concorde Agreement.

This agreement will come into force upon approval by the respective governing bodies of the signatory parties in the coming weeks.

Further information on this agreement will be available after receipt of such approval.”

July 27, 2013
F1 2013 Hungarian GP – Free Practice 2 Report

The second free practice session for Sunday’s Hungarian GP was headed by Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

An incident free second free practice session was run in scorching conditions around the Hungaroring this afternoon. The track temperature reached a high of 45 degrees celcius and the Red Bulls’ pace was just as hot.

Where Mercedes is expected to hold the advantage over a single flying lap teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg could not get closer than half a second to Sebastian Vettel’s fastest time of 1:21:264.

The long runs didn’t swing it anyone else’s favour either. Mark Webber looked to be the quicker of the two Red Bull drivers on the medium compound tyres as the Australian set several laps within a tenth of each other. The soft compound tyre looks in the region of a second a lap faster than the white-walled medium tyre but the degradation level revealed a life-span of roughly eigth to ten laps.

Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen was the only question mark with regards to his one lap pace as the Finn encountered traffic on both attempts of setting a flying lap. However, the Iceman did pop in a time quickest enough for eight after three flying laps while Grosjean set his fastest time on his second flying lap. An indication perhaps that the Lotus is looking after the softer compound a bit better than their competition.

Ferrari looked to be struggling on the softer of the two compounds with a drop off of about two seconds being the result for both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.

As the checquered flag fell at the end of the second free practice session it was Red Bull who looked to have the best package both in quali and race trim. It’s up to the rest of the pack to find something overnight.

July 26, 2013
2013 Hungarian Grand Prix: Free Practice 1 Report

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time for FP1 at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix. He came out on track with 30 minutes left in the session and set a time of 1:22.723. Mark Webber in the other RB9 finished the session in P2 with a 1:22.982. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished the session in P3 and P4 respectively, 0.3s off the pace of Vettel’s time.

There was a very brief point where McLaren’s Jenson Button was in P1, but his time of 1:23.370 earned him sixth fastest of the session. The good news is that they do seem quicker at the Hungaroring.

The full time sheet is included below:

July 26, 2013
Hungarian Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Marussia

Preview Quotes from Marussia F1 Team ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix

Jules Bianchi, Marussia

“Spending Friday afternoon in the car at Silverstone highlighted how much I’ve missed the racing since Germany, so I’m looking forward to Hungary before we have the long summer break. The first part of the season has passed by so quickly and I think it is important that we have a stronger weekend in Budapest, so everyone stays focused on what we need to do during the second half. Everyone deserves a good long rest as a reward for the all the hard work, but then we have to continue pushing hard to ensure we achieve our objectives for the season. The Hungaroring is a circuit I enjoy, having raced there several times before in GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5. It is usually extremely hot and because the track is quite demanding to drive, it is not such an easy weekend. There is no let-up across the whole lap so it requires a lot of focus, but that is why it is quite an interesting race because it demands everything you have as a driver. Let’s hope for a positive weekend for the Team with a strong two-car finish.”

Max Chilton, Marussia

“Hungary holds many special memories for me as the track where I achieved my first race win in GP2 last season, so I’m really excited to be heading back there. I love everything about Budapest – the track, the weather, the people and the city. It is always hot and sunny at the Hungaroring and it’s just a circuit I really enjoy which seems to suit me. As ever, the objective is to have the best build-up possible then raise our game a little in qualifying before hopefully enjoying a good race to finish ahead of our immediate competitors. It would be nice to send the Team off for the summer break with a positive result in hand.”

John Booth, Marussia team principal
“We’ve had a constructive test at Silverstone this week, providing our young drivers with valuable experience and our race drivers with the opportunity to test the 2013 compound-2012 construction tyres. We’ve been extremely fortunate with the weather and judging by the forecast for next week in Budapest we can look forward to more of the same, although temperatures in the mid-thirties can feel very warm indeed in the midst of a busy race weekend, particularly in the cockpit. The Hungaroring will be a very demanding circuit for our drivers, although their fitness for any circuit is never in question; we’re very fortunate to have two guys who take their physical preparation very seriously. This is a track that demands their full attention throughout the lap and with little or no respite. They both seem to enjoy it there and their simulator preparation has gone well, so now we hope to have a strong weekend with everything coming together for us to get both cars home and ahead of our direct competitors.”

July 25, 2013
Hungarian GP Preview Quotes – Pirelli

Pirelli Preview Quotes for the Hungarian GP.

Pirelli
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
“Hungary marks the first event for our latest specification P Zero tyres, which consist of the 2012 construction matched to the 2013 compounds. These tyres were tried out by the teams at Silverstone during the young driver test, who benefitted from the opportunity to adapt the set-up of their cars to best suit the new tyres. Now they get to use them in competition for the first time, and with qualifying particularly important at the Hungaroring, the work done in free practice will be very important. Overtaking at this circuit is never an easy task, so the teams will be looking to use strategy to maximise their opportunities to gain track position. The selection of medium and soft tyres should provide plenty of chances to help them do that, based on the data that all the teams gain with different fuel loads in free practice. Temperatures in Hungary can be very high, and this is the other factor on which the levels of wear and degradation experienced will depend. Traction and braking are two critical aspects of tyre performance in Hungary, with the teams running a set-up designed to emphasise these key areas. With levels of lateral energy relatively low, tyre performance rather than durability will be the limiting factor and this will form the basis of the strategy selected – with the teams aiming to keep the tyres within the peak window of operating performance for as long as possible. The design of our latest tyres should help them to do this.”

Photo: Pirelli Twitter

July 25, 2013
Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview Quotes – Caterham

Preview quotes from the Caterham team ahead of the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix this weekend.

Giedo van der Garde, Caterham

“Hungary’s the last race before the summer break, and another chance for us to keep up the momentum we picked back up in Germany. The Hungaroring is a track I’ve always gone well at – I’ve won races and had podiums there in GP2 and World Series and now, in F1, it’s tight, twisty and a relatively short lap so it’s a bit like Monaco without the barriers!

“We obviously had our best quali result of the year so far in Monaco and while I doubt the weather will play its part in Hungary as it did on Saturday in Monaco, the track layout and characteristics are still kind of similar and the length of the lap and the reduced reliance on pure aero performance may help us edge closer to the cars ahead.

“We will continue the aggressive development plan started in Bahrain and have updates again for Hungary and that’ll help us, particularly on Sunday. That’s the goal for this weekend – have a clean Friday to set us up for both quali and the race, and then see if we can use what we’ve learned at the Silverstone test to fight on Sunday afternoon.”

Charles Pic, Caterham

“Straight after the Silverstone test we all go to Hungary for race ten. Like my team mate I’ve always gone well at the Hungaroring and I like the whole place. The city’s beautiful, the track is a good challenge, particularly sector two which you need to get right and find the right rhythm and then you can gain a lot of time, and it’s nearly always hot there so physical fitness also plays its part.

“It’ll be another busy week for the team, coming straight from Silverstone to Hungary, but after that they have a very well deserved rest and a chance to recharge the batteries. For me, I’m at an event with our partner GE on Wednesday, something we’ve done at a few races this year, and then it’s 100 percent on the race weekend. After the test last week we’re as prepared as we can be and if we can pick up where we left off in Germany before we had the puncture, I think we can have a good weekend. I think, from what we learned from Silverstone, the revised tyres should suit us as they behaved consistently over both long and short runs, and the deg levels were more manageable than the compounds we’ve been using so far this season. ”

Photos: Caterham F1 Team Twitter

July 25, 2013
Hungaroring Preview Quotes – Sauber F1 Team

Preview quotes from Sauber ahead of the Hungarian GP this weekend at the Hungaroring.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber
“Budapest is a city with a great atmosphere and a lot of beautiful old buildings. The Danube runs right through the city and I like being there. The first time I went to the Hungaroring was in 2009. I won the GP2 race on the Saturday and I have always had good races there in the past. In 2010, during my first Formula One season, I had my best result up to then with sixth place just before the summer break. The circuit is technically challenging and leaves little room for mistakes. The second sector has several combinations that all flow on from each other. If you get off the racing line there, the whole sector is ruined. You have to be spot on. Overtaking is difficult too, even with the DRS. There is one straight, but it’s not that long, which is why qualifying is particularly important.”

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber
“Moving forward from the Nurburgring, I think Hungary can be a good weekend. The Hungaroring is one of those unique circuits in terms of the track layout, and I have good memories of it. It was the first European track I ever drove on during a test in Formula BMW. The track has several medium speed corners and stability is particularly important there. It’s also very demanding on the tyres, especially in the long corners, and also because temperatures can be quite high, which you have to take into account, especially for the tyre management. The track is very technical and it will be difficult to overtake. My favourite parts are turns one to five, and especially turn four, a fast lefthander, which is blind when you turn into it, so taking the kerb there is very exciting.”

Tom McCullough, Sauber head of track engineering
“The Hungaroring is a real challenge for both drivers and engineers, as it is one of the most technical circuits on the calendar. The layout of the track results in a high percentage of time spent cornering. This means the required level of downforce is similar to Monaco. There are a lot of longer corners that all flow from each other, with most of them being low to medium speed. The qualifying position is particularly important, as overtaking is still difficult even with the use of KERS and DRS. After a productive Silverstone test evaluating our updated package and the latest specification tyres, we feel well prepared for this race. Our aim is to again qualify stronger and convert this into points scoring finishes.”

Photo: Sauber F1 Team

July 25, 2013
Hungarian GP Preview Quotes – Williams F1 Team

Preview Quotes from the Williams F1 Team ahead of the Hungarian GP.

Pastor Maldonado, Williams
“I have driven at the Hungaroring for a few years now and it is a very demanding circuit for drivers as it is often very hot and there are limited overtaking opportunities. There will be new tyres from Pirelli this weekend that combine last year’s construction with this year’s compounds, so understanding how these will perform will be a primary focus for the teams as we prepare for this race. Testing these tyres at Silverstone in the young drivers test has given me an insight into the changes made, but it will only be after practice on Friday that can we sit down and analyse all the data and discuss our strategy for the weekend. Qualifying is so important at this track because of the small number of overtaking opportunities, but I qualified well last year so I know what to expect and can hopefully deliver a strong performance that will give the team a boost as we head into the summer break.”

Valtteri Bottas, Williams
“I have raced at the Hungaroring in Formula Renault and GP3 and drove in FP1 last year and I always found this to be a very demanding track because there are very few places to overtake and the layout has a lot of corners in quick succession which gives you very few opportunities to rest. The track can be a bit dusty at the beginning of the week as it doesn’t get used much during the year, but the grip does increase a lot as the weekend progresses and you notice a big difference between FP1 and FP2. The team were very close to securing a double points finish in Germany and the hard work everyone is putting in is moving us in the right direction. There is normally a big Finnish contingent who fly over to Hungary for this race and I’d like to be able to give them something to cheer about and secure some points for the team.”

Xevi Pujolar, Williams chief race engineer
“The Hungaroring is one of the most challenging circuits of the year with the potential high ambient temperatures also putting extra demand on the drivers. The layout is quite technical; one corner quickly flows into the next and there are not many straights to be able to relax. The circuit layout leads to medium-low average speeds and so we run the maximum downforce configuration. You would think that because the average corner speed is medium-low that the tyres don’t suffer as much, but because of the number of corners, it’s unrelenting and a lot of energy goes through the rubber. Pirelli are introducing new tyres for the race in Hungary, so we will be aiming to fine tune our set-up on Friday to try to get the best out of them this weekend.”

Remi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations
“The twisty 4.381-kilometre circuit is often compared to a kart track, with one slow speed corner leading into another in very quick succession. This sinuous nature gives rise to the second lowest average speed over a lap (after Monaco) so power sensitivity and outright engine power is not a major concern. As a result we generally use engines on the third race and work to deliver good low speed torque response and driveability.”

July 24, 2013
Hungaroring Preview Quotes – Mercedes F1 Team

The Mercedes F1 Team Preview Quotes ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Thoughts from Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Ross Brawn and Toto Wolff.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
“The Hungaroring is always a track that I enjoy driving and it has quite a challenging layout for the drivers. With all the twists and turns, it feels very much like Monaco but takes place on a normal circuit. Qualifying will be important this weekend which is good for us but we know that we have to deliver on Sunday as well. The forecast looks hot and it is likely to very demanding on the tyres. Physically it will be a tough race and the lack of straights means that you never get a moment to relax. It would be great for us to come away from Hungary with another strong result to take into the summer break.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
“I have always enjoyed the Hungaroring and it’s a track that I have been lucky enough to win at three times so far. I love the layout of the circuit and Budapest is a really cool city which has a great atmosphere over the race weekend. It will be an important weekend for us and we need to get off to a good start on Friday when we have the chance to try the new tyres for the first time. I’ve spent some time at the factory since we returned from Germany and I know that everyone there is working really hard to improve our overall performance and to address the issues that we experienced at the last race. It would be great to reward all of that effort with a strong weekend in Budapest and I’ll certainly be pushing to make that happen.”

Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal
“The final race before the summer break is always a milestone for the team and an opportunity to review our performance before our staff enjoy a well-deserved break during the summer shutdown. Our team are currently in second place in the Constructors’ Championship with two race wins to date. However the season has not been without its challenges and we have had some very tough races. This happens over the course of a season and you have to take the highs and lows and find your path to making improvements. Both Nico and Lewis have visited the factory in the two weeks since we returned from Germany and everyone has been working very hard to investigate our tyre sensitivities ahead of the elevated temperatures that we will undoubtedly experience this weekend in Budapest. The Hungaroring is a very slow circuit with mainly low and medium-speed corners, which present an interesting technical challenge. Friday will also be our first opportunity to work with the new tyres on our car, so we have a great deal to learn in a short space of time. We want to finish the first half of the season on a high but the challenge facing us is clear.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director
Hungary will mark the end of the first half of the season and it has been a generally positive one for our team. We go into the race weekend with two victories and six pole positions under our belt. Those results show how much hard work we have put into our year so far and the successful way the team is coming together. But we are under no illusions for the second half of the year and this weekend in Hungary we have a number of challenges to overcome. First, we will need to do extra homework on Friday to understand how the new tyres work with our car. Then we will have to get to grips with the high temperatures, a demanding circuit and the soft and medium compound Pirelli tyres. During the race at the Nürburgring, we were overheating the tyres and we want to minimise the chance of suffering a repeat problem in Hungary, where the track temperatures will also be high. The team has worked thoroughly since Germany to improve the situation and we will find out how the new tyres will affect that situation, too. Our motivation is high to score a good result that we can take into the summer break but we know there is plenty of good work needed to achieve that.

July 24, 2013