Tag: hungarian grand prix

No Renault Engine for Upgrades For Red Bull Until Russian Grand Prix

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has said that they will have to wait till the Russian Grand Prix in October for their engine upgrades from Renault. Until then, it is something the Milton Keynes based outfit will have to live with.

This comes after Daniel Ricciardo’s engine failed in the second free practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Speaking at the team representatives press conference on Friday, Horner said that he expects Renault, who have not used any of their twelve development tokens, to roll out their updated engine in October.

“I don’t think there is anything scheduled now before Sochi,” said Horner.

“That probably is the earliest that we are going to see any form of development or use of the tokens, so the engines we’ve got at the moment are what we’re having to live with for the time being,” he added.

Horner confirmed that it was engine No.4 that failed on Ricciardo’s car, and that engine 5, which was first used in Austria will now be used until Sochi.

“Engines four and five of what the drivers have been using between Friday and Sunday racing, unfortunately Ricciardo has now lost engine four, so he’s only got engine five, that came into service for the first time in Austria, to get him through the next few races.”

Red Bull are hoping that they will not incur any further engine penalties until Sochi.

“Only time will tell as to whether we can get to Sochi or not without incurring another penalty before introducing an upgraded unit.”

Horner conceded that the long lead times in engine development slows down the progress.

“They are making progress, they are making strides. I think the problem with engines is it’s – unlike the chassis – long lead-time items”

July 24, 2015
Weather Report for the 2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix

We head over to the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary with heavy hearts ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Drivers up and down the grid have payed tribute to Jules Bianchi and will honor him in the best way they know how. To race all out on Sunday.

The Hungaroring is situated in a valley in Mogyorod, Hungary just north of Budapest. Construction on the circuit began in Octer 1985 and was completed in just 8 months. The inaugural race was held on 24 march 1986 and has since hosted the Hungarian Grand Prix. Over the years the circuit has undergone a few changes and modifications. The biggest change was made at Turn 1. Previously Turn 1 was a mirror of Turn 14. This was modified in 2003. The radius of Turn 1 was made a bit tighter to encourage overtaking.

The circuit is characterised by medium and low speed corners that requires mechanical as well as aerodynamic grip which is why teams tend to run high downforce on their cars. With only one line through the slow parts of the circuit overtaking comes at a premium around the Hungaroring but it is not totally nonexistent. Turns 1, 2 and 12 are popular overtaking spots. There have been passes at other areas of the circuit but those are the exception.

With temperatures expected to be on the high side this weekend Pirelli have brought the white medium(prime) compound tyre and yellow soft(option) compound tyre. The one long straight on the circuit means that the tyres do not have significant time to cool which leads to thermal degradation on the tyres. Following another driver close by will lead to much quicker degradation on the tyres with the lack of front grip. Pit stop strategy will play an important role during the race.

The weather for the Hungarian Grand Prix can be described in one word. Hot. Temperatures are expected to hover in the mid 30’s for the Friday and Saturday sessions. The mercury is expected to peak at 34 Degrees Celsius on Friday and 36 Degrees Celsius on Saturday. A 40-50% chance of thundershowers are expected for the end of Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2. There is no rain forecast for Saturday. A 40% chance of showers is forecast for the start of the race on Sunday with temperatures dropping to a cooler 28 Degrees Celsius. Keep an eye on the changing conditions with our live weather forecast below.

July 23, 2015
2015 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Roberto MERHI (Manor)

Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)

Felipe NASR (Sauber)

Sergio PEREZ (Force India)

Felipe MASSA (Williams)

Nico HULKENBERG (Force India)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Well gentlemen, clearly all our thoughts this Hungarian Grand Prix weekend are with Jules Bianchi and his family. Many of you were at the funeral this week. Perhaps we should start with a word or perhaps a favourite memory from the drivers about their colleague. Romain, would you start?

Romain GROSJEAN: Well, as you can imagine, I’ve got questioned a few times. I cannot pick up a favourite memory because I’ve got too much with Jules. I think the first time I heard his name was back in 2003. He was a much better driver in go-karts than I was; he was a bit younger. Then he did follow up in all categories what I did and he won everywhere. I think we shared a lot with Jules. It was a very nice ceremony. It was very emotional. His parents were, I think, happy to see us. Of course, this week all our thoughts go with him but personally I will never forget that we race and we race for Jules as well.

Felipe?

Felipe MASSA: Jules, first of all, I mean, he was a great friend. [When] I met him he was still racing in go-karts, because we have the same manager. [When] Nicolas [Todt] started to work with Jules he was still at the end of his go-kart career and I met him in that time. For me he was a fantastic boy, very nice, very humble and an amazing driver. Unfortunately in Formula One he didn’t have the opportunity to race in a competitive car; to show his talent. He showed us anyway by finishing in the points in Monaco with a car he was driving which everybody knows was like… it was an amazing thing he did in that race. But for me the experience I had with Jules was also that we did a lot of go-kart together, even in Brazil, and in my experience he was the best go-kart driver I saw. It was amazing the way he was driving go-karts. It was maybe the opportunity we had to race together in a similar kart. It’s not nice to see has happened. It was so difficult to be there in the church, to understand what’s happened, it was so sad. But I’m sure he is in a good place, racing, enjoying and definitely looking here to all of us, from whatever place he is, I don’t know, but I think he was an amazing boy and a fantastic driver that I really hope the best for his family as well. It was a very difficult day to be there.

Roberto?

Roberto MERHI: The first time I met Jules was in 2002 in a karting race. It was a race in Spain and he was coming from France and normally when you are that young to come to a track that you don’t know, in Spain, that you have never raced, it’s very hard to be quick and I remember I was really surprised to see that guy that was really quick immediately on that track. He really impressed everybody. After that I followed him really closely. He was always the driver – the reference. He was all the time the quickest and doing really great things. Obviously, when I jumped into Formula Renault in 2007 we did a few races together because he also jumped in 2007 to Formula Renault and again he won straight away; his first year in the championship. It was pretty incredible, no? For me he was the biggest talent I saw in motorsport. Also, when I raced, back in 2009, with an F3, we were fighting against him because he was the man to beat that year and he won the championship with so many good drivers on the track and he won it really easy; just winning so many races. I think that shows how good he was and for me it’s, to be honest, really a shame that he was not able to really show in an F1 car what he was able to do, because I think he was the best driver that I raced against and it’s a bit of a shame what happened in Suzuka, but hopefully he’s in a good place and enjoying.

Felipe (Nasr)?

Felipe NASR: I met Jules on one occasion only but we shared the track in this go-kart race that Felipe [Massa] does, or used to do, every year. It was really the first time I got in a conversation with him and you could see the guy was special. Not only as a person – for sure he had a good heart inside of him – but all his techniques, all the junior categories he had been through. As everybody mentioned he was a real reference to all of us. Especially for me, I was always a few years behind him because we didn’t have the same age. But you could definitely see he had all the ingredients to be a very good driver and to fight for something bigger in the future. I have all the respect for him, even though I didn’t know him so well and I wish the best for his family as well.

Sergio?

Sergio PEREZ: Yeah, I met him when we were both in GP2. When I really spent more time with him was in the Ferrari Academy, when we were both doing the Ferrari Academy. You could see Jules was a very special driver but also a very special person that everyone seemed to like. He was just very humble and very human as well and he really left a big impact on the world. I think we all share the same opinion. I think Jules was a very special driver that didn’t have the opportunity to show what he could do in Formula One in his short period. It was just enough to realise that he was a potential champion for the future. He was just a very, very special driver. It’s very sad, you know. As drivers we share many moments – every Sunday, every Friday afternoon in the drivers’ briefing. We’re not the best friends but we always share moments. We do the same, all of us. We see each other every 15 days or so during the whole year, so we spend a lot things together and not to see him ever again, it really shocks you. It’s very, very hard for all of us – I’m sure not only for the drivers, but for everyone involved in the sport – to lose someone, because you know you could be there, it could be your family. I was talking the other day to his father and it’s just very, very difficult for the whole family. But his family is our family now and we really want to support them in any way because Jules will stay with us forever. I think what Jules did for the sport… he was just a great ambassador for us and he will always be in our hearts.

And finally, Nico.

Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, he’s been my team-mate twice, in 2008 in Formula 3 and 2012 in Formula One here. I remember in 2008, I was in my second in Formula 3, supposed to win the championship and he came in as a rookie, his first year. I remember his race in Mugello, I was starting from pole and he was starting second or third. Anyway, we take off, I’m leading, he’s second and I’m seeing him in my mirrors, pushing really hard, really chasing me down, trying to get me. He was burning his tyres at the time, I was saving them, but it just showed how competitive he was and he was so hungry for success. Even outside the track he was a great guy, a lot fun, a lot of great moments together and we’ll all miss him.

Thank you. Back to you Romain: the first lap at Silverstone was extraordinary, with both Lotus cars out. It seems as thought the team is still leaving a lot of points uncollected. What are your feelings at this stage of the season and where you go in the second half?

RG: Yeah, after last year it was important for us to get a good baseline when we started the winter testing, which was the case and then we had missed opportunities, especially in the first few race where actually Felipe [Nasr] did very well, he finished P5 in Melbourne, where we could have finished and it was the same in Malaysia. Then we got in the points, things were looking better but unfortunately we were a bit less lucky in the next races. I made a mistake in Canada, cost us a good chunk of points and in the last race we couldn’t do much – we retired both cars at the beginning. I think we still have a very good baseline. We still have a few updates we would like to put on the car and then we could chase a little but more Force India, which just got in front of us in the championship.

Thank you. Felipe Massa, coming to you: you had 19 in the lead at Silverstone, including the opening lap. How did it feel to be in control at the front again and how does the team avoid a repeat of what happened at the other end of the race, where the podium got away from you?

FM: It feels amazing to be in the front! It’s really a great feeling. Unfortunately it didn’t stay until the chequered flag, but it was a great feeling to be back at the front, to be back fighting for the victory at least, you know. We couldn’t manage to win at the end, not just for the first moment we lost the first and I went to second but also for the rain; we were struggling a lot in the rain and it’s definitely part of our working to improve the car in the rain. But I think we need to take also the positive things, that the car was competitive, maybe we were very close to Mercedes. Even if they were a little bit quicker, we were not far. I think we were very close in that race. I think this positive aspect needs to stay in our brain and we need to try to understand how we can do that again but also stay in the front and finish and try to win the race. We will keep pushing.

Q: Nico, coming to you, over the last few races we’ve seen Force India take a step forwards – even before the new chassis arrived – points finishes etcetera. That was on power circuits. What difference will the new chassis make here on this type of circuit, do you think?

NH: Yeah, I think it’s going to be good and positive. The B-spec car has really, so far, talking about Silverstone, lived up to the expectations what we wanted from it. So that’s very positive and encouraging. I think, obviously having collected a lot of data from both cars in the race, we’re able in those two weeks to go through it and optimise even more. Plus there is some more tweaks to the car here. I’m excited to see how we’re going to get on here.

Q: Felipe, coming to you, congratulations on your contract extension announced today. Why was staying at Sauber the right thing for you?

FN: Well, I think it only builds up the trust between myself and the team. Although I think it was always the plan when we came to Sauber, for the first time the opportunity came and I thought it was the right moment to take it. It’s nice to see the team, they put in a lot of confidence on myself and I think, looking back at the year we’ve had already, in this seven months we’ve learned a lot together, we did achieve a lot, I think we did achieve most of what we’ve expected, especially in the beginning of the year when we had some great results. As mentioned, the Australia fifth place was fantastic and, after that, we saw things becoming a lot more difficult and from the drivers’ point of view it’s always easier for us to say where the car needs to work and the team is seeing all the limitations that we have at the moment. I think everybody is leaning towards the direction of improving things out there. We saw Mark Smith coming in, joining the team. It’s already the beginning of that. And by having the two drivers, the same line-up, I think it only brings more of this information together, and we can be committed together for 2016 and build up something a lot more promising.

Q: Roberto, you’re a bit unusual in that you’re running a parallel Formula One and World Series programme this year, you were on the podium, I believe, at this track earlier in the season – how comfortable do you feel in Formula One now, and what happened with that accident at the end of the last race in Austria.

RM: The feeling in Formula One, every time is going better through the races. At the start of the year I was struggling a little bit – but I, after Monaco, everything went better, the race pace, after the quali in Montreal and the race pace in Montreal, Austria, and then the race in Silverstone was really good. And yeah, obviously I am going another championship, so far the World Series season, we had so many issues at the start of the year with so many engine problems. In this track we were missing two seconds on Friday, we changed 70 per cent of the car, just pieces, and the next day I was P5 or P6 in quali, something like that, and I finished second in the race. Was a strong result, let’s say. Then last weekend in Austria, at the start of the race I had a failure with the steering wheel. All of the race I was driving with the steering wheel bent completely, like 50° to the left, and after the race I wanted to do just a slow lap. I moved to the right, just to avoid the people coming to the left and the next time I check the mirror, the guy behind me was three seconds behind and the next time I checked the mirror he was like five metres behind me, coming much quicker and, yeah, colliding to my back. I don’t know, it was a bit strange to be honest, the situation I think was really unlucky. Thanks God nothing happened to both drivers, we are both OK. He could race the race afterwards and nothing else happened.

Q: Sergio, coming to you, obviously point in three of the last four races but in the in-house battle Nico recently has the edge over you on qualifying. How’s the match-up going with Nico? How do you feel about it?

SP: Obviously it’s been, the last three races, he obviously has scored more points that what I’ve done. I think with the B-spec and the upgrades I haven’t got on as well has he did in the last race. Still plenty of championship to go and I think it’s important that we keep improving. I’m very optimistic coming into this track. I think what we’ve shown in Silverstone was just the proof that the car has improved massively. So I think in a track like this it will be really interesting to see how we go because obviously here the engine is not so important. I think our car has improved a lot and we have plenty of data to analyse from the weekend before, so I think we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic into this weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To all drivers, I’m sorry to come back to the subject of Jules Bianchi. This was the first time your generation has faced a death in Formula One. We saw many of you very touched at the funeral, couldn’t be different. Do you think even maybe unconsciously you start avoiding some high-risk manoeuvres from now – or maybe even different approach to the races?

Will it change the way you drive. Nico, do you want to take that one first?

NH: I mean it opens your eyes and tells us what we’re doing, the sport we’re doing, there’s still some risk involved. I think you just have to be aware of that and make your own choices at times in the car, how much risk you’re willing to take, and be comfortable with it. Yeah, I think for me, personally, it won’t change much.

Felipe?

FM: I don’t think it changes. When you close your visor, you want the best, you want to finish in front, and you want to do the best you can and manoeuvre overtaking, the way you drive, your thinking, I don’t think it will change. When I had my accident here, when I start driving again here in Hungary, always when I pass that place I don’t remember that I had the accident there. So, you don’t think about it, it stays in the past. Maybe when you go out of the car you remember about Jules or about other things which is… now I remember about my accident but when I’m driving, I don’t know, y’know? So I don’t even think I have a mother, father, my son, my wife or whatever, you don’t think about it. You just think about your job, your work. I don’t think that will change. But now, I have Jules all the time on my mind.

Sergio, go along with that?

SP: Yeah, definitely. Obviously when something like this happens you know that there is a big level of risk. It’s what we love to do and when something like this happens to our colleague, we all know it could have been ourselves in that car – but it doesn’t really change anything. I’ve had some accidents in the past and you know that the risk is there. We all know. It can happen in any practice, any day, as soon as you jump into the car, you know that the risk is very high but it doesn’t really change anything. As Felipe says, we want to give our best, we want to succeed, we want to take every tenth out of the car. So we just give it all. I don’t think it will change. We all have to make Jules very proud.

Roberto?

RM: I don’t think it changes much but for sure you think more about it. For example, I was racing here with the World Series, as I mentioned and out of the fastest corner on the track was a car crash and a tractor came in to recover the car and they didn’t put a Safety Car and, to be honest, when I saw that situation and a yellow flag I really slowed down. So maybe in the past I would not have slowed down so much because, after that, you think more about it. You’re more afraid that you know things can happen. To be honest I didn’t feel so comfortable in that situation and I really lift from that corner and maybe losing three tenths per lap because I think it’s a dangerous corner and a dangerous situation, as we can see. But obviously, I think for a single lap of for a start – a normal situation – I think will not change. But, for sure, this time, when I left my house, was not the same the way I say goodbye to family and that – because you know things can happen, and maybe before we never even stop a minute to think about that.

Romain?

RG: I think thought our career it’s in our nature to take risk and think, when you drive, especially a Formula One car going that quickly around the corner, you need to be 100 per cent in the car and not thinking about what could happen if and if. We know it’s a dangerous sport but I think that was a hard way to remember that. But when helmet is on and visor is closed, it’s racing 100 per cent. That’s what we’ve always been doing and that’s what racing drivers will always do.

Felipe?

FN: I agree with what everyone else said. We are racing. That’s what we come here for. We do face some risks sometimes but I think since then, the Virtual Safety Car thing was a good positive point to have in a way to avoid the kind of circumstances like it happened with Jules. But it’s also linked to us drivers to know this kind of situation and to be aware of it. In dangerous conditions out there or whatever it’s something you… we all have to know what is good for us. What we have to do, what is safe for us to do. As all the others do, like I do as well, when we are racing, we are not thinking about this thing.

Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to Romain. In 2010 you had the opportunity to drive a Ford GT car in Le Mans. Next year Ford is coming back – are you interested in that, driving again in Le Mans? And are you allowed to do that?

RG: Well, of course that experience was a great experience. If I do it again Le Mans it would be LMP1 because I got tired of watching the mirrors in the night, and the day. I was quite jealous of Nico winning the race, I think all of us, but, to be fair, I haven’t thought about it.

Would you recommend it Nico?

NH: Yes!

RG: Just for the watch or…?

Q: (Oana Popoiu – F1 Zone.net) Felipe, do you believe you can benefit from the new starting procedure? If we look at Silverstone, you had a very good start there but it wasn’t enough to stay ahead of Mercedes.

FM: On the start, yes, it was enough but afterwards not. I believe I can still be competitive at the start. To be honest, I’ve always had a great start. Even last year I had a trophy for the best start of the season and this year I did many many good starts as well. I believe I will still be competitive at the start and I don’t think it should really change a lot. The procedure is more of less similar. Maybe you have less information but I don’t think the procedure will change completely, so I’m really not worrying about that.

Q: (Daniel Johnson – The Telegraph) Felipe, I just wonder about two things especially after your accident here: first of all, what view do you take on the whole open/closed cockpit debate and touching on something Roberto said about the recovery tractors, are you and the rest of the drivers comfortable with them still being in use as they are?

FM: Well, I think if you go back to what’s happened to Jules, many things changed after that so unfortunately, we need to see that type of accident to understand what’s happened. I really agree that Formula One has changed a lot, especially after Ayrton Senna’s accident. I believe the car is very safe now. We always need to keep working to improve the safety, you know – not just the cars but the tracks and everything is very safe now – so what happened in Japan was a different situation. What happened in Japan is something that we cannot… I cannot accept, because a car crashed into a tractor. It was a race that… it was a very strange weekend so we had the typhoon, we had people asking to run the race at a different time, we had the red flag already at the beginning of the race. It was already a different event and I am sure after that accident that so many things changed and people understand that what’s happened there was something that was not supposed to happen. We had some different rules after that, for the virtual safety car, for more safety cars especially if the car goes off the track and everything. Unfortunately we need to see that type of accident to change something. The most important thing is not to see that again. Unfortunately Jules is not here any more. So many things changed in the past because of accidents, it’s unfortunate, but it’s important that we don’t see that any more.

I’m not completely against it (open/closed cockpits). I think it’s something that needs to be… if it’s better for everybody and it doesn’t change the aspect of Formula One – or maybe not closing the cockpit but doing something that they always did since years, to improve the safety on that area – I’m not against it.

Q: (Gabor Joo – Index online) Felipe, basically could you clarify for us your contract situation with Williams, for next year especially? Will you stay there?

FM: I hope so. Nothing’s changed at the moment, I don’t see why I should not be there. I’m really enjoying working with the team. The team is really respecting me 100 percent and I think enjoying the way I work with the team as well. I see that the team is growing, growing and getting stronger most of the time, but what people wrote a few days ago or maybe a week ago, I don’t think really this guy has the right information. I think he just put (it) in the paper… I believe I will drive for Williams next year but I think maybe the chance that this guy is correct is bigger than… he’s risking the way that he can be correct.

Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) To Felipe again: Nelson Piquet has admitted just recently or a couple of years ago that he’s had serious problems with his vision after he had the big accident in 1987 at Imola. You’ve had the big one here, in Hungary, a couple of years ago; is everything alright 100 percent with your vision now?

FM: Oh my God, it was in 2009. I’m still racing after years and if I cannot see, you understand, before that… you understand maybe the race after or two races after so I can see very well.

Q: (Tomas Richtr – AMC/Sport1) Question to the drivers regarding the 21 race calendar next year, so it looks like it’s ever increasing. How difficult is it to adapt to your already busy schedules and do you think there is actually some kind of limit of number of races per year which is feasible for you as Formula One drivers?

RG: I think the limit would be the divorce!

FN: As I say, racing is more time away, for sure. All of us, all of us drivers but every one here, I’m sure they have other parts – apart from Formula One – everyone has a life behind that. But in a way I’m young, I’m in the opposite direction to him (Romain) so I’m fully open to as many races as they can do and let’s go for it.

RG: You see, they want to get rid of the old ones, more so even those with kids!

NH: Nothing more to add, really. I think it’s fine, it’s a job, you know. We’ll do as many as they tell us.

SP: We already have 19 now, so two more doesn’t really change a lot, I think.

RM: Yeah, obviously I’m doing 19 F1 races plus nine World Series races and so to do only 21 races next year will be less races than this year. I am the same as Felipe (Nasr), I am not married so I can go for it.

Q: (Zsolt Godina – Best of Radio) Roberto, your team is very young in Formula One but it has had two tragic accidents in the past few years. How difficult is it to manage this within the team?

RM: Obviously I think they are really… to be honest, you cannot really complain about the team for these situations. It can happen to everyone. The team doesn’t have anything to do with that. The people from the team are really nice people, the best team bosses you can have and they are really open to speak with the drivers and the treatment they give you is really good and I am sure that they always do, since I met them in 2009, and I feel really comfortable to work with them. It’s just a kind of a bad luck that they had in the team. It’s nothing to do with them what happened. For sure they are the first ones that are really down with this situation.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS.NL) Felipe Nasr, your new contract, does it mean that the future of Sauber is solid now? And are you 100 percent sure that you’re only two drivers under contract?

FN: We’ve seen this before, but I believe the situation is a lot better than it was a few months ago and all we’re trying to do is to improve, to develop the car as much as we can and as I said, I’ve been driving a pretty much similar car to the one I had in Australia, so as I said, we achieved the goals we had from the beginning of the year. Now of course it’s getting more difficult because all the teams are improving their cars, the development rate is much better in other teams but by having this confirmation early on, starting from now we can think about 2016 and I can tell you there are a lot of more positive things coming.

July 23, 2015
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
F1 2014: Hungarian GP Review – Real-deal Ricciardo Shines In Hungary

In spite of what the circumstances may be, how improbable it seems or how much the odds are stacked against you there is something to be said for never giving up. Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton’s performance in the Hungarian GP were phenomenal examples of such resolve.

Lewis Hamilton needed to dig deep as his miserable qualifying run continued. A suspected fuel leak brought a fiery end to his qualifying aspirations. A complete rebuild of the car relegated him to a pitlane start and a seemingly uphill battle.

In contrast, Nico Rosberg reeled off another dominant pole position but Red Bull’s long run pace suggested that Sunday’s race could be closer than Mercedes would be comfortable with. A short rain shower before the start of the race demanded a start of the intermediate tyre but it was still poleman Rosberg who dominated the early stages of the race.

The slippery conditions nearly caught Hamilton out as he survived a brush with the barrier after spinning off a turn 2. Up and down the pitlane the team strategists were made to work hard as questionable weather conditions and safety cars called for rapid decision making.

The first safety car was deployed to recover the wrecked Caterham of Marcus Ericsson.

However, it was too late for Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel and Alonso to dive into the pitlane for slick tyres. A lap later, Daniel Ricciardo emerged in the lead of the race.

Jenson Button, hoping for a timely rain shower, elected to remain on the intermediate tyres. However, as the track surface continued to dry so the chances of the McLaren driver dissipated.

A second stint was required behind the safety car when Force India’s Sergio Perez crashed heavily into the concrete barrier on the start/finish straight. Ricciardo and the two Williams drivers took to the pitlane.

The reshuffle left Fernando Alonso in the lead of the race on a two-stop strategy. It nearly resulted in a spectacular victory for the Spaniard. Alas, it was a task slightly too big for the Ferrari driver to accomplish.

Nevertheless, in what has been a trying year for the Scuderia Alonso’s relentless spirit earned him a stellar second place.

Lewis Hamilton put his misfortune aside to complete a sensational run from the pitlane to the final step of the podium. Third place is not what the Brit aims for but it is a result that will do the psychology of his title bid a world of good.

On a more contentious note Hamilton was asked by his team to let his three-stopping teammate through. For his part it didn’t seem like Hamilton was wholly against the instruction but informed the team that Rosberg would have to get closer if it was going to happen. It makes perfect sense that Hamilton should not lose time to the car ahead in order to let his teammate through.

Despite the differing strategies Hamilton was very much in the same race as his teammate and more importantly in an ever-tightening battle for the world championship.

“I was very, very shocked that the team would ask me to do that [move aside],” Hamilton said after the race. “I’m racing for myself. Not for anyone else.” It was a preposterous request by the Mercedes team that has no place in the sport and, with any luck, will never be uttered over a team radio again.

Nico Rosberg, home in fourth, was fairly unhappy about the incident after the race. The German has been performing at the highest level in 2014 but as the second half of the season approaches he will realize that it is going to require for him to dig deeper than he thought possible.

Felipe Massa brought his Williams home in fifth position ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in sixth. The Finn staged an outstanding comeback after a strategy error left him 16^th on the grid.

Sebastian Vettel survived a spin on the main straight to finish seventh ahead of Valtteri Bottas in eighth.

Jean-Eric Vergne ran as high as second-place in the race but was relegated to ninth to lead home McLaren’s Jenson Button in tenth.

The utter determination of Alonso and Hamilton was a joy to behold but Daniel Ricciardo’s breathtaking race was every Formula 1 fan’s dream.

Late in the race the Red Bull driver pulled off two tremendous overtaking moves on Hamilton and Alonso on course to his second grand prix victory.

The ease and class with which Ricciardo has taken to racing amongst the very best in F1 is indicative of a driver with a serious amount of talent. It wouldn’t be accurate to say that the Aussie is a star of the future; because Daniel Ricciardo is, unquestionably, already a star.

August 3, 2014
Nico Rosberg 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Post Race Interview

Nico Rosberg tells Sky Sports F1’s Natalie Pinkham that the Mercedes team will have to “discuss internally” whether Lewis Hamilton should have let him pass in 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. He is visibly unimpressed and annoyed. Rosberg was heard over team radio asking why Lewis was not letting him pass, and Hamilton was given a direct team order to allow Rosberg to pass him as they were on different strategies for the race. Hamilton however refused and has said that he made the right decision for him. No doubt there’ll be a team orders row brewing over at Mercedes.

F1 2014 : Hungarian Grand Prix – Nico Rosberg Post Race Interview

July 28, 2014
Lewis Hamilton 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Post Race Interview

Lewis Hamilton tells Sky Sports F1’s Natalie Pinkham that not letting Nico Rosberg pass following direct team orders during the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, was the right decision for him. Hamilton finished the Hungarian Grand Prix one place ahead of his team mate in third.

F1 2014 : Hungarian Grand Prix – Lewis Hamilton Post Race Interview

Lewis Hamilton 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Post Race Interview

July 28, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Pirelli Hungarian Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

2nd Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)

3rd Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Daniel, what brilliant drive, congratulations. How on earth does that feel?

Daniel RICCIARDO: It feels as good as the first, it really does. I don’t know, I mean the safety car at the beginning played to our advantage and then I thought when the second one came out it didn’t really help us but we managed to pull it off at the end, had to pass our way through and that was a lot of fun in the last few laps.

You rehearsed that big outbraking move on Fernando last weekend in Germany didn’t you? That was from a long way back.

DR: Yeah it was. I knew we had to make a move quick, the DRS was there and I know it could have been my only chance, so I took it and it paid off. Had to be done.

Fernando, you hung onto the tyres, you took a risk and you pushed like crazy. It’s your birthday on Tuesday and you nearly had the perfect birthday present. But second place, is it painful or are you satisfied anyway?

Fernando ALONSO: No, extremely satisfied. I think it has been a tough weekend – a tough season in general – so to get a podium is always a nice surprise let’s say. We took a gamble. We risked today just trying to get the victory. We went close but as I said, extremely proud of the team, extremely proud of the job we did today and very, very happy.

Rain for the start, safety cars, traffic, tyres degrading, you needed all your experience today. You needed everything.

FA: Well, today we have a combination of things that made the race difficult to execute, difficult to understand and we took our opportunities, our experience… we need some crazy races to get some podiums and today we took the opportunity.

Congratulations. Moving over to Lewis Hamilton: pit lane to podium! Lewis, that was also via the barriers of the second corner at the start. What a crazy afternoon you’ve had.

Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been a pretty crazy weekend.

When you got out of the car yesterday, you were disappointed you had that failure and you had mentally put yourself over 30 points behind Nico. You were convinced he would win and you would struggle to get into the top five and here you are on the podium.

LH: Absolutely. Big thank you to the team, they did a great job with the pit stops and with the strategy and I just tried my best. The car’s been fantastic – when it’s going. Obviously a lot of points lost, because we could have had a much better weekend but we have a lot of strengths to look forward to in future races.

You were really struggling in the beginning. You were talking about the diff, you were talking about a vibration, we heard you were getting very hot in your seat, you were clearly nursing a few issues as well?

LH: Yeah, to be honesty at the beginning obviously a mistake by myself, but the brakes were very, very cold and locked up and I was gone. Fortunately I got going again, thank the Lord I didn’t damage the car and you know damage limitation again.

One of your finest ever drives?

LH: I don’t think so.

Well, it look pretty damned good from where we were sitting and standing in the grandstands. So Daniel, we go into the summer break, although Spa will be with us soon enough, and you have a great victory. What are you going to do and what does it mean for you in the second half of the season?

DR: Well, definitely going to celebrate tonight and party for a few days I think, enjoy a bit of time off. Then just keep building on what I’ve done in the first six months and then look forward to Spa. Just firstly I want to thank the team, they’ve really let me settle in so well the first six months of the year and to grab two victories it’s honestly phenomenal, so really pleased. Got a few mates here this weekend, so we’ll party hard tonight.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Well done Daniel, that was an amazing victory, very exciting for all of us. You led early one and then obviously came back at the end. When did you think you had it won?

DR: I wasn’t sure. I knew that the first safety car played into our hands, we inherited the lead there, pitting for slicks and then, yeah, we were looking alright. Then we got the second safety car and obviously we pitted again for another set of tyres but we obviously lost the lead. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen. We were stayed out pretty long that stint and we were leading a fair chunk of the mid-race but then I knew we weren’t going to get to the end on that set of tyres. So we had to pit again and that put me back out of position. Then we knew we had to overtake to win the race. Obviously we had the fresher tyres at our disposal but I knew it was going to be an exciting finish. I honestly had a scare in the middle of the race, for a few laps we had some issues. Basically, we were down on power and had to get a bit crazy on the switches, so I thought the race could have potentially ended early but we got through that and yeah, very happy.

What about overtaking these two, the overtaking manoeuvres in the last few laps?

DR: Yeah, obviously there was only one way to win it and that was to get around them. Obviously I had the advantage of the fresher tyres, but I knew they wouldn’t make it easy. I attempted Lewis into Turn Two, I think the previous lap or maybe two before I eventually got him, but just locked up and went too wide. I had a second crack at it and I still locked up but I managed to just hang on and just had a bit more grip around the outside there, so that was that. And then, once I got close enough to Fernando, I knew I just had to go for it. Being in that sandwich there, Lewis was still I think in the DRS zone, basically I couldn’t waste too much time and that’s what I did and then once I got the lead I knew it was just a couple of laps to go. Yeah, it feels good.

Well done. Fernando, coming to you. What does this mean to you? What does it mean to Ferrari, coming just before the break?

FA: It means a lot. Obviously we had some tough races recently and to see one Ferrari again on the podium is the best news. We took the opportunity after a difficult race, with a wet start and then some difficult decisions to make around the safety cars – if pitted or not. Unfortunately first safety car we went a little bit out of position, because the safety car went out and we were in the last corners so we missed the opportunity to stop. We stopped the lap afterwards and we lost a couple of places. We have to attack, we have to overtake a couple of people and just 10 laps to the end we were discussing if we stop and secure the fourth place that we really needed, those points, so just try to defend the position as much as you can and maybe finish in fourth, so at the end it’s the same result but at least you have the chance to fight for the podium positions. So we were in that position 10 laps to the end and at the end we chose the right thing – stay out, defend the position as best we could and secure this second place that, for sure, it tastes like a victory for us at the moment.

Yes, it’s interesting what Ferrari will take from this. Presumably you’ll still be telling them to push on other types of circuit, this was a very tight circuit obviously?

FA: We’ll see. This circuit didn’t change much our performance, our position but today we had a little bit of a chaotic race and we took every opportunity we had in front of us. I think cars from behind also had some issues, with Rosberg, with Hamilton yesterday, with the issues in qualifying, we get this position for free. We had Vettel, had a problem in the last corner today, the Force India. We had some cars out of the way let’s say and we took benefit from this and we secured some very strong points for the team.

And Lewis… I think a lot of people may be extremely surprised to see you here but it was a fantastic race for you. Did you ever think it was possible? You had some great wheel-to-wheel racing as well out there.

LH: I don’t know, I was just pushing as hard as I could to see if I could get as high as I could and yeah, I mean, a great result obviously.

What does this third place mean to you or are you still regretting yesterday?

LH: No, obviously this is damage limitation. On one hand I’m very grateful to have been able to get through with all the difficulties I’ve had this weekend, obviously yesterday and the first lap. I can’t believe how things have gone but to be able to come back through… the safety cars obviously helped quite a lot but naturally I look at the fact that I had the pace this weekend I lost quite a lot of opportunistic points. Still, we’re there in the fight, fortunately I stayed of my team-mate, which means I’m still there or thereabouts.

Q: How hard did he come back at you?

LH: Well, he was catching me at three seconds a lap, so it was very, very tough at the end. Fernando, and big congratulations to Daniel, drove fantastically well, both of them. It was very difficult to keep him behind, and also with Nico, and impossible to get past Fernando.

Q: Quite tricky, the last few laps?

LH: Yeah, definitely.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ian Parkes – PA) Lewis, we heard on the radio the messages from the team asking you to pull over and let Nico by, around about lap 50-51. We can now see why you didn’t do it, otherwise you wouldn’t be on the podium. Can you just explain your thoughts at that particular time: what was going through your head? Why you didn’t let him by? And secondly, how do you feel the dynamic of your relationship will again maybe now change, following the summer break, with Nico?

LH: Well obviously I’m aware that when you’re… y’know I was in the same race as him. Just because he had one more stop than me doesn’t mean I wasn’t in the same race as him. And naturally if I’d have let him past, he would have had the opportunity to pull away and when he does pit, he’s going to come back and overtake me, so I was very, very shocked that the team would ask me to do that, to be able to better his position. But to be honest, he didn’t get close enough to overtake but I was never going to lift off and lost ground to Fernando or Daniel to enable him to have a better race. So that was a bit strange. But we’ve got a long way to go, moving forwards still and, as I said, thankfully I’m still in that battle, so, I hope we can come away stronger.

Q: (Kate Walker – Crash.net) I’ve got a question for you Lewis. Going into the summer break, psychologically, what does it mean for you, the fact that you started in the pitlane, your team-mate started on pole, and you’re here and he isn’t?

LH: Well that in itself is huge for me. I can’t express to you the pain that you feel when you have issues such as the issues that I’ve had in the last couple of races. It’s very, very difficult to swallow, and, to come back the next day and get the right balance between not attacking too much, and not making mistakes, all these different things. So many things that… obviously when you’re at the back you’re having to push way past the limit than perhaps you would off pole position or in the top five. So the fact that I’m managed to come back through obviously is a showing of just how great this car is and how great this team is – but ultimately we’ve worked, I’ve worked hard for it so it feels probably better than perhaps a win, gliding from the lead. It feels definitely much more satisfying when you come back through. And, as I said, to be ahead and to win the fight is really encouraging.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) Two questions, one for Daniel: how does this compare to Canada? And for the other two guys, you’ve battled wheel to wheel with Daniel. Has he now established himself as a front-runner?

DR: It honestly does compare to Canada. Obviously the first victory is special but it definitely leaves you wanting more. I was just as hungry for this second one and it feels just as good – I won’t say better but you realise it a bit more so if feels like you can enjoy it a bit more. And when I crossed the line, everything felt a bit more real, so I guess I took in a bit more of this one today. So, yeah, it feels awesome. And I just want of obviously quickly thank the team as well. To have two victories in the first half of the season with them, obviously I owe a lot of that to them as well, for letting me just settle in, establish myself with them. They never put too much pressure on me, they let me roll into it as I liked – and I think that’s been the best balance for all of us. The results are showing and I’ll enjoy this one as much as Canada.

Fernando, your thoughts about Daniel – has he established himself?

FA: Yeah, definitely. I think he’s leading the champion team. That says all. He’s doing a fantastic job this year and now he had a few bottles. In Hockenheim I had a very fresh tyre which probably allowed me to pass with some advantage but even with that it was not easy. Today, I really didn’t have the tools to fight but I tried to do my best – but definitely, congratulations to him for today, for the whole championship and it’s going to be an interesting fight in the next couple of years.

Lewis?

LH: Yeah, as Fernando said, he’s been driving fantastically well from the beginning of the year. So, it’s not only now, it’s through the whole year he’s shown his capability and is going from strength to strength. Not only one of the nicest guys in the paddock but also one of the best drivers here, for sure.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) To Fernando, a couple of questions, first one: does this result show that something can still be taken from the car, and the second one, your birthday is approaching: we know what you wished last year – what about this year? What is the gift you would like for your birthday?

FA: hmmm… I think from this year’s car there are obviously some positive things and some negative things. Now, together with the team try to analyse what to carry on and what to change. Philosophy of the car probably is not perfectly right because we are not as competitive as wish, so there are things that we need to change but also there are things that are probably working OK. Well last year it was a very big understanding of what was my wish. Especially in Italy. So, this year, I will not wish anything about the car and I will wish a happy day to everyone in Italy.

Q: (Carlos Miquel Gomez – La Gaceta) Two questions for Fernando. Do you think that this race is one of the best races of your career? And the other thing, to hear the people cheering “Alonso, Alonso” is one of the reasons that you are following Formula One.

FA: I don’t think that is one of the best in my career. It has been a good and a complex race, let’s say, to execute and perform – because there were some difficulties around the race that make the 70 laps not straight forward. You just need to make decisions during the race and all of them were, together with the team, and I think we did the best we could. And then in the podiums, the support from the people has been amazing. Especially this two or three last seasons – which is a little bit strange when you think that I won the World Championship the last time in 2006, I suppose that my career should be going down and it’s going up. So that’s definitely something that keeps my motivation very high. I would like to give them something back in terms of trophy and in terms of titles. It’s what we’re working on.

Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) Daniel, when do you think your next victory will come? This year you are the only Mercedes destroyer. And do you still continue to develop this year’s car or will you focus on next year after Spa?

DR: I think – answering your second question quickly – I think we’re definitely going to keep trying to push for this year. There’s still a lot to play for. In any case, what we learn this year we can still take forward for next year so the team will keep pushing and I’m sure that now this second victory will keep the motivation strong within the team so that’s good. Sorry, what was the first question?

Q: (Peter Vamosi – Vas Nepe Kiadoi) This year you are the only Mercedes destroyer.

DR: Good. Someone’s got to do it.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, during this crazy race, what was the main difficulty for you, trying to find your way on the wet track at the beginning or resisting your teammate at the end?

LH: The beginning. The strange thing about starting from the pit lane is that you don’t get ready to go out. Your brakes are cold as you start, your tyres are brand new and obviously I experienced that into turn two. It was an interesting beginning to the race but I’m very very very grateful that I got through.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – UOL) To all of you: three different drivers, three different teams, three different power trains in the last race of this part of the season. Does it mean that in the second part of the season we will maybe see some more competition or did the circumstances of the race create this situation?

DR: I think today obviously the mixed conditions and the safety cars maybe helped out this order in terms of having three different manufacturers up here but I would like to think that it can create something for the second half. I think that in pure dry conditions, Mercedes still have a pretty significant edge on everyone else. Spa, it’s a pretty good place to start the second half of the year. Maybe the weather and the changes they have there could create something exciting but forgetting all the stats, obviously this is a great thing to see today: three teams, three manufacturers all up here. It’s refreshing, for sure.

FA: I agree with everything. Let’s hope so. I think the circumstances and the weather played a big factor today. The circuit characteristics also probably helped some of the power units that we are not on top of the game still, so let’s see at Spa. Monza is quite a tough challenge for us and that will give us some answers for the final part.

LH: I think it’s great for the fans to see. I’m sure today – people say it was a great race – that’s really what the fans want to see so I hope that continues for the future.

Q: (Istvan Simon – Auto Magazin) Lewis, the last time that things didn’t go according to plan was at Silverstone – apart from Hockenheim but that was a technical issue – when something messed up your qualifying, you said that you spent the night or I heard you spend the night with your mother, with your father, with your family, with your loved ones. What helped you through this time, in this dip? What did you do yesterday to prepare yourself for the race day?

LH: I had a pizza last night! I did, some pizza and some chocolate and watched a movie. Went to dinner with Niki yesterday and played a prank on him as it was his birthday and just tried to have some fun. We really have some of the greatest fans here and I think really some of my really close fans that I have here really got me through this weekend. I didn’t have my family here with me and it’s great to be able to turn to them and to be able to receive positive energy from them. I got a letter from one of my fans this morning and just the comments it had in it were really uplifting and really helped kick my mind into gear so I’m grateful for that.

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Lewis, yesterday you were quoted as saying that what happened starts to go beyond bad luck. Could you please explain what exactly you meant by that and are you maybe starting to lose confidence in the team, because of the technical problems and now they asked you to move over for Nico who was on a different strategy?

LH: I don’t really remember… I mean yesterday after what was quite a difficult time, I came straight out and spoke to the media so I think fortunately I controlled myself quite well and I don’t really remember what kind of frame of mind I was in at that point but it’s the same as saying ‘it’s beyond a joke.’ Sometimes there’s one joke, there’s another joke and sometimes it gets a little bit past that and obviously with the faults that we’ve had on my car, it’s made it very difficult for this championship but as I said, fortunately I got some points today which means that I’m still there or thereabouts but the telling thing would be how my car performs through the rest of the year.

Q: (Carlos Jalife – Fastmag) Daniel, who do you side with: Fernando said a few races ago that the championship was basically over? It was for one of the guys from Mercedes. And Sebastian said that mathematically it was still on, so what’s your opinion on that? Is it over or is it not?

DR: I think there’s obviously a couple of opinions. When maybe some of us say it’s over, I think it’s just purely looking at the performance of Mercedes. On a normal weekend with normal conditions on pretty much all circuits, they’ve been dominant. I think days like today, with some changing conditions, some safety cars, it helps us keep our nose in the fight. I think Seb’s right in saying that until it’s mathematically over it isn’t. If you look at today, I closed in on the championship but realistically we’re still a long way off. It doesn’t really change the approach in any case. If we’re in it or not, we still race for the highest position possible and obviously as we saw today, the win was there for grabs and we took it. In any case, I don’t think it changes the approach for Sundays. I think with the Abu Dhabi system they’ve applied this year, it’s still going to be pretty open until late on in the season. We’ll just keep doing what we can.

Q: (Cristobal Rosaleny – Car and Driver) Fernando, how impressive or how surprising for you and for the team was having such an amazing pace with the soft tyres for such a long time with the degradation of the tyres. Was it really a surprise, a question of weather?

FA: Yeah, it was definitely a surprise. We found ourselves leading the race when Ricciardo and Massa pitted so we thought OK, let’s give the maximum for three or four laps just to open up a gap and stop see whether we are in the final part and then we realised that it was not so many laps to the end and it was a difficult call: stopping and keep pushing and finishing fourth or keep going and risking the cliff with the tyres and finishing fourth or fifth or whatever. So it was surprisingly good, it was surprisingly fast, the car in the race. I think the weather helped us with cooler temperatures and the track a little bit damp in the first part. Obviously you don’t stress the tyres as much as a completely hot track. I felt the car was good and it was definitely a surprise.

Q: (Oliver Barstow – Crash.net) Lewis, yourself and Nico have had the odd technical issue over the course of the year. Given the performance between you two is so close, how concerned are you that the title could be decided between you by who has the least technical issues?

LH: Ultimately it is a concern because I’ve stopped more than him. But as I said, there’s still quite a few races to go and it will be telling, dependent on how… Obviously I’ve got the pace, got the ability, just really whether or not the car holds up.

July 27, 2014
Rosberg secures Hungarian GP pole as Hamilton’s hopes go up in flames

Nico Rosberg and Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton will start from opposite ends of the Hungarian GP grid after Rosberg enjoyed a clear run to pole and Hamilton’s car caught fire early on during the qualifying session.

Hamilton, who was the clear favourite for pole after finishing all three practice sessions on top, failed to set a time due to a fire on his car just five minutes into Q1.

A fuel leak saw his Mercedes set alight and he attempted to return to the pits but he was forced to stop at the pit lane entry before flames fully engulfed the rear of his car.

“I am absolutely gutted that we have let Lewis down again and given him such a tough job on another Sunday afternoon – so soon after his fantastic drive in Germany,” said Mercedes technical chief Paddy Lowe.

“We are still stripping the car to understand the cause of the fuel leak but the symptom was a loss of high pressure fuel to the direct injection system of the internal combustion engine. This fuel leak then caused a major conflagration which is likely to have written off most of the car.”

Hungarian GP Q1 not only delivered the shock of Hamilton’s early exit, but also saw Kimi Raikkonen being eliminated. Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado had joined Hamilton on the sidelines when his car stuttered to a halt before the final corner. The four remaining grid slots looked set for the Marussia and Caterham drivers but Jules Bianchi headed out on the option tyres and dumped Raikkonen out after he remained on primes and failed to set a quick enough time.

Raikkonen had been showing renewed pace during the practice sessions ahead of the Hungarian GP, where he has six podiums and a race win to his name, but he’ll be starting from 17th place on a track known for limited overtaking opportunities. Raikkonen has said that he did not agree with Ferrari’s decision to keep him in the garage and save a set of softs, a gamble which backfired in a colossal fashion.

Raikkonen said that he could have over-ruled the team, “but I trust in the team, believe in the people. The plan was to go out, but the team said ‘no, you are fine, you do not need to go out’. I questioned it a few times, but they said no need and we can see the end result.

“I cannot always go against advice. We are here as a team, we make decision as a team, and today the outcome was this. As a team in Formula One, as Ferrari, we should not be doing these kind of things. None of us are in our first year. It’s not good for me or the team.”

Raikkonen added that he won’t be fretting over the judgement error for too long. “A mistake has been made. It’s already been a difficult year, so I don’t see the point to shout. The mistake is done. I’ve made mistakes in the past, I will make them in the future. People make mistakes, but there are things we have to change to improve. These are not easy times.”

Compared to Q1, Q2 was a pretty tame session. Daniil Kvyat seemed set to make it through to Q3 but spun at turn 12 on his final hot lap and dropped to 11th. The Russian was unable to recover and climbed out of his Toro Rosso.

Adrian Sutil made it up to 12th in his Sauber, while Sergio Perez finished 13th after he only only managed one run due to a hydraulics problem. Esteban Gutiérrez, Romain Grosjean and Bianchi completed the Q2 eliminations.

Although Rosberg’s main rival was no longer in contention, rain during Q3 made the task a little more challenging and set the scene for a thrilling battle with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

Rain arrived just as Q3 began and all of the frontrunners started on Option tyres as Rosberg led them out onto the track. He locked up into the first corner and ran straight on as the rain intensified. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who was behind Rosberg on the road, made a similar mistake but was unable to avoid a pretty heavy impact with the tyre wall. Team mate Jenson Button also ran wide and the session was red flagged, before anyone had set a time, to recover Magnussen’s McLaren.

When the Hungarian GP qualifying resumed after an 8 minute delay, the rain had eased up a little and with the track drying, everyone headed out on slick options. Rosberg posted the first time but his lap was soon beaten by Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas.

Vettel then stormed his way to the front of the Hungarian GP grid, with a 1:23.415 – eight tenths faster than Bottas. But Rosberg reclaimed the top spot with a 1:23.236. Bottas improved to go second, but remained narrowly behind Rosberg.

On the final lap, Vettel inched his way ahead of Rosberg but Nico responded with a time that was 0.486s quicker and claimed his sixth pole position of the season. Bottas will start the Hungarian GP from third place on the grid, ahead of Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

Felipe Massa qualified sixth for Williams, ahead of Jenson Button and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. Nico Hulkenberg finished the session in ninth, while Magnussen rounded out the top 10 after his accident.

The Hungarian GP gets underway tomorrow afternoon at 2pm GMT+2. Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat before, during and after the race.

Your full timing screen for the Hungarian GP qualifying, is below.

July 26, 2014
Hamilton Finishes Top of Final Practice in Hungary

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished on top of the times sheets at the final free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished the session in P1 with a time of 1:24.048. His team mate Nico Rosberg finished the session in P2 with a 1:24.095, 0.047s slower than Hamilton’s time. This was after two tries at a timed lap on the options for Rosberg.

The Red Bull pair of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo finished in P3 and P4 respectively. Vettel’s time of 1:24.455 was 0.407s slower than Hamilton’s P1 time. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finished P5 with a 1:24.685.

A few drivers were complaining about brake warm up at the start of the session. This could be an issue in qualifying before the timed laps. The drivers will have to do a really good job of heating up the brakes. Track temperatures at the circuit stayed much cooler than yesterdays sessions. Although this was a morning session, we can expect temperatures to climb later this afternoon for qualifying.

As things stand Mercedes look to take pole position. Its a question of which Mercedes driver will be in pole position. Red Bull and Williams are very close behind. Ferrari are looking more comfortable at this track that they ever had at any other track. It will be a rather interesting qualifying session.

July 26, 2014