Race Preview: Hungarian GP

Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before F1 breaks for the summer. (Note to self: Don't Panic! There are still more races to come after August. I can get through August without an F1 race. Really I can!) It'll likely be a hot and dry race since the Hungarian Grand Prix has never seen a wet race up until the 2006 Grand Prix. Interestingly enough, due to the way the track is situated amongst the nature setting, you can see the track from any point of the stands. This gave the Hungarian Grand Prix track a special name - the dinner plate, as the spectators can sit on the edge of the plate and follow the events from there. Doesn't that just make you hungry for Hungary? Yes, that was a terrible joke.

Some say the track at Hungaroring is twisty, narrow and impossible to overtake. According to Vettel, who has never won here, "The Hungarian GP is one of the hardest for the drivers".  Meanwhile, Raikkonen is full of confidence, "Usually this Grand Prix weekend is one of the hottest in the calendar, so it should suit our car very well." Both Button and Hamilton have won twice here before, McLaren must be quietly optimistic for grand results this weekend. 

The track has actually proven entirely possible to overtake, moreover, one can even achieve a massive comeback from 14th on the grid to win the race (that was Button's win back in 2006). Like every race, it will certainly be paramount to be in the front part of the grid if not the pole, but if by chance a driver majorly messed up the qualifying, an aggressive race day performance could be key to the podium. We'll also see some great action at the DRS zone, so I imagine we'll see some overtaking around there as well.

Will we see another driver other than Alonso take home the victory at Hungarian Grand Prix? We shall find out soon enough. Catch you after the race!!

// Get a feel for the GP in Budapest by checking out our Pinterest board

Eni Magyar Nagdij on Pinterest

Qualifying Preview: Hungary

Lewis Hamilton has stepped up his game and shown great pace in Friday's sessions in Hungary (photo by HOCH ZWEI)

The last race weekend before the summer break kicked off with Lewis Hamilton commanding the field in both Friday practices, being the only driver to set a sub-1:22 time in a shortened wet-dry practice 2.  His teammate, Jenson Button, also showed his grit turning in the 2nd and 6th fastest times of the two sessions, just .1 seconds behind Hamilton in P1.  Championship points leader Fernando Alonso, who has been one with his car as of late, was fast enough for 3rd and 5th.  2007 Champion Kimi Raikkonen has yet to win a race since his return to F1 this year, but demonstrated he has the pace to reach the top step of the podium by finishing 2nd in practice 2, just .185 seconds behind Hamilton.

For Saturday’s qualifying session, look for arguably the most consistent driver of the field in Alonso to challenge for a third straight pole with a streaky Hamilton nipping at his heels.  Don’t count out Button though for pole though – while he may be all but out of championship contention, he drove a brilliant race in Germany to take 2nd from Sebastian Vettel and is among the fastest when his car is healthy.  Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber has been driving consistent enough to find himself in second place in the championship race, and arguably would have landed on the podium in Germany had he not been the victim of a 5-place grid penalty for an unexpected gearbox change before.  Look for him to make a qualifying statement to Alonso along the lines of “down but not out.”

Could we see another new race winner Sunday?  With 10 grands prix left in the season, the fans are sure to be delighted this weekend with a spirited battle for momentum into Belgium in one month.

McLaren "Tooning Up" Their Image

Sometimes I get very envious of the unique coverage that F1 fans overseas are privy to. I've seen the BBC F1 coverage before and it is uninterrupted, non-stop F1 action for a nice chunk of time on race day. It is fantastic. But alas, I'll save that discussion for another day.

Before yesterday's British GP, SKY Sports F1 (which I've also heard pulls out all the stops for F1 coverage) aired a new McLaren animation series, "Tooned." It's a CGI-animated series, in Pixar fashion, that features Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, as well as British actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong.

I'm amused to see Ron Dennis talking so candidly about cartoon characters. Enjoy this behind the scenes look, and the full video also below.

This looks like a great opportunity to reach a whole new demographic: future F1 Fans!

And who can argue with a spot of British humor?

Santander Shows Plans For London Grand Prix

Yesterday the concept for a grand prix in London was announced with support from the city of London, British drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, along with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. The project, while still in its infancy, is surprisingly well on its way to being a reality and soon London could host a GP on its city streets.

Santander UK, the British wing of the Spanish banking group, has lead the recent efforts and contracted Populous Archtitects to produce a conceptual design of the circuit and supporting facilities. Two videos were also produced with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Button and Hamilton, showing a virtual lap around the track and an in studio introduction piece.  So far these videos have made it around the world, producing a positive sentiment by both fans of the sport and the local media in England. 

London Grand Prix Concept by Santander from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

London's Mayor has expressed support for the event citing only small obstacles such as noise managment, as potential hurdles to overcome for the race to be held.  Bernie Ecclestone, according to Adam Cooper at Speed, would front the cost to stage the event in order to make it a reality; a major contrast to the recent sanctioning fees imposed on Austin and other recent circuits.

With additional circuits such as New Jersey and Russia joining in the next few years, there's little room in the race calendar to allow for the exitsting circuits, so the question remains if the British GP at Silvertsone will be replaced by the London GP.  

Until we learn more about the project and it makes it on the calendar officially for next season or 2014, take a virtual lap around the track in the video below.

Virtual Lap Around Proposed London GP from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

The Montreal Factor

Lewis Hamilton waits in the garage before the Canadian Grand Prix

Good things come to those who wait. For Hamilton, that good thing came in the shape and form of a Grand Prix Gold Cup from the beautiful Sunday race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was a much-needed boost for Hamilton's points in the Championship to stay competitive, a long time coming win for Hamilton to prove to the world that he still got it, and a respectable comeback for the McLaren Team from the many errors they've made in recent races.

The race started well enough with the usual suspects on the front rows - Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber. Soon after the race started, we are treated with Webber and Rosberg fighting for 4th position with some great wheel to wheel action, and Massa driving like a man who has something to prove. Rumor has it that Ferrari is looking for a new driver to replace Massa, so Massa has a lot riding on his performance in coming races. I am also continuously impressed with Di Resta, he's been doing really well in qualifying and races given the car he has, with a little more time and a better car I could see Di Resta on the podium.

Noticeably missing in the front battles are Button and Raikkonen, they've both fallen off the radar in the last few races. It's definitely odd to see Button struggling so much while Hamilton is competitive from the same McLaren car. Can the car setup really make that much of a difference? Button went from 10th position 16th at the end of the race. With Raikkonen's Lotus, it's hard to decide whether it's car or strategy that ultimately ruins the Ice Man and his comeback, I'm inclined to think both are factors for the time being. Started at 12th spot on the grid, Raikkonen went up 8 positions to 4th and then fell back to 8th right. And yet, Grosjean, also with a Lotus car, went from 7th to 2nd. How long will we have to wait before we see the Ice Man smile a non-smile on the podium?

Nothing like a little pit-stop action to shake up the line up. Right around lap 17, Vettel pitted and then just missed by a hair coming out to have Hamilton over cut, and then Alonso did the same to Hamilton after Hamilton pitted. McLaren's pitstops continue to make me nervous, even though I think the mini-stall at the pitstop was Hamilton's own doing. No matter, Hamilton recovered from that little hiccup at pitstop and eventually passed Alonso in DRS zone in lap 20.

The person who didn't recover and basically had some of the worst luck of the season is Schumacher. Schumacher qualified 9th, but ended up with a faulty DRS wing and had to retire. The mechanics can't even fix it with their gloved-hands at the pit stop. Totally tragic to watch.

For a long while (30 laps!), Hamilton was leading the way with Alonso and Vettel behind. I thought, well, that's how the race would end. Wrong! Lap 50 came around, Hamilton pitted with another nerve-wrecking McLaren pit stop, and stuck to his 2-stop strategy. I was fully expecting Alonso and Vettel to pit since their tyres' been hustling and need some refreshing. A few more laps and neither pitted, it became clear that Alonso and Vettel were both trying to stick it with those tyres until the end of the race. Haven't they learned the lessons from Raikkonen a few races back? It's a ballsy strategy gamble from the teams, and one of these races it may actually work, but Ferrari and Red Bull got it all wrong for this race.

One teams' wrong call is another teams' gain though. Perez and Grosjean both made the 1-stop strategy work for them and started to climb up the positions at the late part of the race. Red Bull realized quickly by lap 60 that Hamilton is catching Vettel and Alonso fast and furious with fresh tyres and they are now defenseless. Red Bull did the only sensible thing a team can do - bringing in Vettel for new tyres at lap 64 in a 70-lap race. Red Bull is hugely lucky that the pit stop at Montreal is one of the shortest run and they were able to slot Vettel back in near the top. Alas, the damage is done and Vettel can only fight back to pass Alonso to take 4th at lap 69.

Meanwhile, Hamilton took his 1st Grand Prix win of this season with a spectacular drive, with Grosjean and Perez taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. The race was completely unpredictable from the beginning until the very end. Amazing!

In case anyone has any doubt on who should win the Best Post-race hair at Montreal, that special title goes to Perez. His hair didn't look like it's been compressed in a hot helmet for 70 laps at all! And as a Canadian, I'm mildly relieved to see the Montreal grid girls outfit. Short red dress (no weird cutout bits!) with white heels is boring but classy! European Grand Prix grid girls, I hope you bring it in the next race on 6/22-6/24 weekend!