Hungarian GP - Preview
The hot, dusty Hungaroring sets the scene for the 12th round of the 2010 Formula One world championship. Ferrari head into the race mired in the controversy from their team orders snafu at the German Grand Prix. While McLaren are desperately trying to get to grips with their blown diffuser and get on the pace. For once the Red Bull team appear to be in a calm serene state ahead of a race. I Wonder how long that will last? The Hungarian Grand Prix, a staple on the F1 calendar since 1986, has only ever hosted one wet race - Jenson Button's first win in 2006. This weekend showers are scheduled on race day which hopefully may produce another wet weather classic in 2010. The circuit while at the slow and twisty end of tracks is one that the drivers enjoy, it provides an opportunity to chuck the cars around and has a good rhythm. It requires a high level of downforce and only has one decent straight for the teams to use their F-ducts. So while it has traditionally been an excellent hunting ground for McLaren they may struggle in 2010. Last year will be remembered for Felipe Massa's season ending accident when he got hit on the head by a flying 1kg spring. Fortunately Ferrari seem to be in a rich vein of form and Felipe has a good chance of winning at the Hungaroring - unless Alonso insists he pull over to let him win of course. The sad thing about the events form the German GP is that Massa now is plainly Alonso's lackey and is in danger of becoming another Rubens Barrichello - good enough to drive for a top team but offers no real threat to the absolute top guys. Can you imagine Lewis Hamilton or Sebastien Vettel pulling over and letting a team mate past? Alonso knows this now and psychologically has squashed any threat from the Brazilian. That Spaniard is ruthless, that's why Alonso's one of the very best. McLaren are in a strange position - similar to Brawn last year at the mid point of the season - in the lead of both the championships but without the fastest car. Of course Brawn had a huge advantage at the start of 2009 and made the most of it. Somehow McLaren who have only had the fastest car for, at most, 2 Grands Prix in 2010 find themselves leading the standings and now having to defend their lead. In Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button they have two of the best drivers in the business who have been extracting the absolute maximum from their MP4-24s.
The Woking team are working like mad to get their interpretation of the blown diffuser working properly but with only 1 week between GPs they are fully aware there won't be a huge amount of progress so may again be best part of 0.5s off the pace. After a period of turmoil and inter-team fighting Red Bull have been pushed out of the limelight by Ferrari. It's true that the F1 paddock are suspicious of the RB6's front wing that is perceived to flex but the FIA have declared it legal so they have no worries about that. What Ferrari need to be worried about though, is the referral to the World Motor Sports Council for their behaviour in the German GP. For the charge of bring the sport into disrepute the Italian squad could face a ban from a number of races although who can see that ever happening? After this race the teams all take a deserved break for the summer - factories are quiet, wind tunnels are shut down and F1 fans around the globe are forced to cling onto morsels of news whenever they can get it.
author: Simon White
published: 29/07
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