10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - Hungary

[Super Tourer]

10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview – Hungarian Grand Prix – 15th August 2004


2003 RACE RESULT – 70 laps

1 Fernando Alonso Renault 70 1:39:01.460

2 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 70 +16.7 secs

3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 70 +34.5 secs

4 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 70 +35.6 secs

5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 70 +56.5 secs

6 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 70 +72.6 secs

7 Jarno Trulli Renault 69 +1 Lap

8 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 69 +1 Lap

9 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 69 +1 Lap

10 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 69 +1 Lap

11 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 68 +2 Lap

12 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 67 +3 Lap

13 Nicolas Kiesa Minardi-Cosworth 66 +4 Lap

Ret Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 47 Ran out of fuel

Ret Justin Wilson Jaguar-Cosworth 42 Engine

Ret Zsolt Baumgartner Jordan-Ford 34 Engine

Ret Olivier Panis Toyota 33 Gearbox

Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 28 Engine

Ret Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 19 Suspension

Ret Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 14 Hydraulics

Fastest Lap: Juan Pablo Montoya 1:22.095




2003 GRID

1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:21.688

2 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:21.944

3 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:22.027

4 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:22.180

5 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:22.180

6 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:22.610

7 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.742

8 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:22.755

9 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.060

10 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:23.369

11 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1:23.621

12 Justin Wilson Jaguar-Cosworth 1:23.660

13 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Ford 1:23.726

14 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:23.847

15 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:23.982

16 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1:24.100

17 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1:24.569

18 Jos Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth 1:26.423

19 Zsolt Baumgartner Jordan-Ford 1:26.678

20 Nicolas Kiesa Minardi-Cosworth 1:28.907


Weekend times from last years race including lap chart
http://www.formula1.com/archive/grandprix/2003/30.html

[Super Tourer]

2003 RACE REVIEW

A couple of notables from the race; Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever race winner at 22 years and 26 days, surpassing Bruce McLaren’s record of 43 years ago. Also, Michael Schumacher was lapped….enabling Kimi and JPM to close right up in the title race.

Hungary also marked 20 years since Renault had won a race in it’s own car.

As was the case over the course of the summer, it was another race about tyres, hence in the heat of Hungary, Michael Schumacher went from hero to zero, lapped and barely in the race at all, as Bridgestone once again wilted. Michelin tyred cars filled the top 7 places at the finish and with Michael only 1 point ahead in the championship after the race, there was the very real prospect that he may not win the WCC, the blame for which would be firmly placed at Bridgestone’s door for their poor summer performance. As it turned out of course, Micheal did win it, saving Bridgestone’s bacon, and galvanizing them into an impressive effort for the 2004 season.

Williams - BMW once again had the actual faster car, but both cars started on the dirty side of the track and lost out as a result, Ralf later compounded this with a spin at turn two. A contender for wooden spoon had to be Trulli, who somehow contrived to finish 7th, one lap down to an identical car, putting it down to tyres, Jarno remarked "The car was sliding all over the place", considering that Fernando had used his Michelins to such good effect it was a strange performance.

Anyway, the race lit up the drivers championship again, with Michael leading JPM by one 1 point and Kimi by 2 points. Getting closer…

Read a race review here: http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr710.html



Hungarian Grand Prix – Flashback

2002
Rubens won from Michael Schumacher in another Ferrari 1-2. The race was a dull affair, with Michael effectively cruising around behind Rubens, presumably as some sort of payback for ‘Austriagate’, the lap times he set during the race showed that he was easily faster than Barrichello and could have won if he wished, but on this occasion he didn’t. However, it appeared to ‘square’ Ferrari’s books on the matter, prompting Jean Todt to call the race a ‘dream result.

Other points of note; Anthony Davidson replaced Alex Yoong in the 2nd Minardi and Arrow’s beset by their financial woes, didn’t appear in Hungary.


2001
Michael Schumacher secures his 4th World Crown with victory, with Rubens 2nd in the race. Musical chairs dept – having been sacked by Jordan prior to the German GP, HH Frentzen found himself sitting in a Prost-Acer for this race, with it’s previous incumbent, Jean Alesi, moving the opposite way into Frentzen’s old seat at Jordan-Honda.

1999
Hakkinen won, Coulthard put pressure on Mika’s championship rival, Irvine, in the closing laps who slid wide and let DC through as a result. Barrichello scored more points for Stewart-Ford in 5th.

1997
Damon Hill almost won for Arrows, losing the lead on the last lap with a hydraulic problem – he still finished 2nd though!

1994
Phillipe Alliot stands in for Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren-Peugeot after MH received a one race ban for causing an accident at the previous race. Benetton were under the cosh after the inquiry into the re-fuelling fire on Verstappens car at Hockenhein revealed that the team had illegally tampered with the equipment, presumably to increase the fuel flow rate. This piled more shame onto the team that had already suffered the black flag scandal at Silverstone and was the subject of mutterings over illegal software. Martin Brundle was running 3rd in the unreliable Peugeot engined McLaren, only to break down on the last lap, losing a podium but classified as 4th finisher

1993
Paddock rumours were that Senna would move to Williams for 1994. On the engine front, both Benetton and McLaren were alleged to be fighting over a deal with Renault, whilst Lotus were rumoured to have Mugen-Honda power lined up for the next year. Prost had a race to forget, he was on pole but stalled on the parade lap so actually started last – during the race his rear wing became loose and he pitted for repairs rejoining 7 laps down and finishing last.

1989
Bartels stood in for Herbert in the Lotus who had Japanese F3000 commitments, Capelli scored a point in the Leyton House March, designed by Adrian Newey.


1986
The first race to run behind the then ‘Iron Curtain’ is held at the Budapest circuit some 200,000 spectators flock to the circuit to see the race won by Piquet in the Williams Honda.


Recent Winners
2003 – Alonso
2002 – Barrichello
2001 – Michael Schumacher
2000 – Hakkinen
1999 – Hakkinen
1998 – Michael Schumacher
1997 – Jacques Villeneuve
1996 – Jacques Villeneuve
1995 – Hill
1994 – Michael Schumacher – Benetton
1993 – Hill

[Super Tourer]

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 2004 RACE.

If ever there was a track with only a single racing line, it’s here, off line it’s dusty and incredibly slippery, add that to the tight, twisty nature of the track and you have a recipe for little overtaking. In fact, last year the cars starting on the left hand side of the track all made poor starts, so you want to be on pole, or lining up behind the pole sitter.

With the summer testing ban in force, all work on the cars has been conducted behind closed doors. One big change will be Williams running their car with a ‘conventional’ nose, dropping the tusks in the search for much needed improvement. Once again Ralf will miss another race, which gives Pizzonia a chance for another run. He figured well in the race at Germany and was on JPM’s tail in the free practice sessions, but mucked up qualifying, which gave power to the argument that being under pressure is his achilles heel. Since the signing of Button, Antonio knows he is not in the running for a race seat, so maybe with that pressure off he will be faster over the whole weekend. I’ve given up saying that JPM should go well, as it hasn’t been happening, despite a front row slot alongside Schumacher last time out he still managed only 5th in the race, some 23 seconds behind the Ferrari. Williams have plenty to prove in Hungary.

Renault went really well around here last year, so maybe their rather up down form will see them as challengers here, Alonso is on a bit of a roll, with a podium last time out and with his maiden win scored here last year, surely he can figure again.

Who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall in the BAR motorhome or garage? It remains to be seen if there is a de-stabilizing effect on the team, and whatever legal action results, Button has made his feelings on moving to Williams clear. You can’t help but feel it will have a downbeat effect on moral. However, there is a great difference between making a point and shooting yourself in the foot and BAR are in a battle in the WCC that is very important to them and as Jenson has scored the vast majority of their points, it’s in everyone’s interests to see that continue to the seasons end.

Toyota came out with their new car at Hockenheim, the outcome of which was a little inconclusive. As is their want, Toyota blamed the drivers for not making best use of it, so much so that Da Matta is replaced for the rest of the season by Zonta. Panis actually set 4th fastest lap in Germany which is encouraging, but they still look to have plenty to do.

Kimi was on Schumacher’s Ferrari’s tail in Germany, until his rear wing parted company with the rest of the car putting him in the wall. The new McLaren is getting better by the race and Kimi is rising to the challenge of it. DC still looks more ill at ease with the new car and despite coming 4th at Hockenheim his fastest lap was not far off a second away from Kimi’s fastest lap of the race.

As to Ferrari, a bit like Monaco this is one race you wouldn’t necessarily expect Michael to win. The Ferrari game plan is harder to play out at Hungary, the twist, turns and fairly treacherous conditions offline, don’t make for easy scything through traffic. So maybe Ross won’t be able to navigate Michael through the race without actually having to pass anyone on the road and letting the strategy do the work?

On the contract front there are still several seats to play for and the main contenders have increasingly less time to impress as each race goes by, some of who goes where for 2005 will be decided over the next few races….



Race Strategy

Last year nearly all cars (except DC and Button) opted for a 3 stop strategy with the first stop pit window on laps 13 to 16. Second pitstop window laps 29 to 34, third window laps 48 to 54.

Circuit Map
http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/726.html


Weekend Timetable

http://www.formula1.com/race/timetable/726.html


Hungary is 1 hour ahead of British Summer Time


Friday 13 August

11:00-12:00 Friday Practice 1

14:00-15:00 Friday Practice 2


Saturday 14 August

09:00-09:45 Saturday Practice 1

10:15-11:00 Saturday Practice 2

13:00 Saturday Pre-Qual

14:00 Saturday Qualifying


Sunday 15August

14:00 Race – (13:00 BST) – 70 Laps



Live Timing:
http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/726.html


TIME ZONE – World Clock
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/



WEATHER

http://uk.weather.com/weather/local/...code=code&y=12


Friday 13th August – Thunder storms – 26 deg
Saturday 14th August – Showers – 21 deg
Sunday 15th August – Partly Cloudy – 24 deg



UK TV VIEWING

http://www.itv-f1.com/TVSchedule.aspx


The Hungarian GP on ITV1

Qualifying - Sat 14th Aug 1230-1415

Main Race - Sun 15th Aug 1210-1505

Highlights - ITV1 Sun 15th Aug 2345-0050

Highlights - ITV2 Mon 16th Aug 1900-2000

Replayed - Tue 17th Aug 0115-0350


Please check times with your TV schedule or the motorsport press before recording this race!

[Super Tourer]

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

2004 Drivers Championship

1 Michael Schumacher 110

2 Rubens Barrichello 74

3 Jenson Button 61

4 Jarno Trulli 46

5 Fernando Alonso 39

6 Juan Pablo Montoya 33

7 David Coulthard 19

8 Kimi Räikkönen 18

9 Takuma Sato Japanese 15

10 Giancarlo Fisichella 13

11 Ralf Schumacher 12

12 Mark Webber 7

13 Felipe Massa 5

13= Olivier Panis 5

15 Cristiano da Matta 3

15= Nick Heidfeld 3

17 Antonio Pizzonia 2

17= Timo Glock 2

19 Zsolt Baumgartner 1

http://www.formula1.com/archive/driver/2004.html





2004 Constructors Championship

1 Ferrari 184

2 Renault 85

3 BAR-Honda 76

4 Williams-BMW 47

5 McLaren-Mercedes 37

6 Sauber-Petronas 18

7 Toyota 8

8 Jaguar-Cosworth 7

9 Jordan-Ford 5

10 Minardi-Cosworth 1


http://www.formula1.com/archive/team/2004.html


10 Tenths Tyre Maker Standings
1. Michelin – 260 points
2. Bridgestone – 208 points

[Adam43]

My first port of call to find out facts again

[Pitstop]

Perfection as always ST - I may swoon!

It is very, very hot in Hungary, and dusty, I was there in '2001. A little rain would cool things down a bit this week-end, and I mean outside the BAR garage.!

[Adam43]

Well last year it was a Michelin race, are things still the same?

Whatever I expect it is the best chance the others have to beat the unbeatable!

[Kicking-back]

The usual comprehensive job, ST, well done.

[Super Tourer]

Thanks for all the comments!

In theory this should be one race where Michael and Ross can't run their usual game plan. I think Renault should be strong once again and Kimi.

But, Ferrari (so far) have had an answer for most situations. More of a race in prospect than the usual Ferrari parade - I think ...and hope.

[Adam43]

Parade, well I think the circuit will provide enough of a hindrance to Ferrari to say it won't be a 1-2.