Hungarian Grand Prix – race

August 5, 2007 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Following the controversial McLaren (or was it Alonso’s?) pit strategy in qualifying yesterday, and some confusing reports (e.g. “McLaren team boss Ron Dennis absolved Fernando Alonso of any blame in today’s qualifying incident – and revealed it was actually Lewis Hamilton who triggered the pitstop hold-up.”), the FIA have penalised both Alonso and McLaren:

Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix from first on the grid after original polesitter, McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso, was deemed to have impeded the Englishman during qualifying.

Alonso has been demoted to sixth by the stewards, who decided he had unnecessarily delayed Hamilton during their final Q3 pitstops. McLaren were also punished for the incident and will not be eligible for constructors’ points in the race, though the team are to appeal this decision.

[source: FIA] However, it also says “McLaren will now race under appeal, with any constructors’ points they score in Hungary remaining provisional until that appeal is heard at a later date. Alonso has no right of appeal over his penalty.”

From the same FIA report:

In a separate incident, Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella was also demoted five places on the grid after he was deemed to have impeded Spyker’s Sakon Yamamoto on track during Q1. Fisichella drops from eighth to 13th in the starting order.

Which means the grid now looks like this: LH, NH, KR, NR, RS, FA, RK, JT, MW, DC, HK, AW, GF, FM, AD, VL, JB, RB, TS, SV, AS, SY.

Current weather conditions: air temperature 28°C; track 36°C; wind 1.5m/s; humidity 41%

Formation lap: LH leads the grid away – most are starting on the prime (soft) tyre, with the two Renaults on the option (super soft) compound
LH takes his time and makes sure to back everyone up, so he’s not sitting waiting for the backmarkers

01/70: KR passes NH before Turn 1
TS passes FM for P15
FA down to P7
FA runs wide in the last corner

02: LH, KR, NH, NR, RS, RK, MW, FA

03: LH fastest lap 1:21.783
FA passes MW in T1 for P7

04: LH f/lap 1:21.765
RK tries to hold off FA but loses P6

05/70: LH f/lap 1:21.529 – he leads KR by 3.3secs
LH, KR, NH, NR, RS, FA, RK, MW
Poor start for RB has him down in P21 now

06: Unsuprisingly SY is off – he’s put the Spyker into the tyre wall but he’s OK
That means RB is the last man running, with JB in P19 – another terrible race for Honda

07: LH f/lap 1:21.444
KR f/lap 1:21.302

08: FA closing on RS for P5

09: KR f/lap 1:21.191
FM is still down in P16, behind TS

10/70: LH f/lap 1:20.859
LH, KR, NH, NR, RS, FA, RK, MW

11: RS touches the grass and throws up some dust as he pushes to stay ahead of FA

12: LH lead still ~3secs

13: LH f/lap 1:20.713
KR f/lap 1:20.625
The top 7 drivers all set their personal fastest lap times

14: LH f/lap 1:20.171

15/70: LH, KR, NH, NR, RS, FA, RK, MW

17: LH’s lead now 4.5s, a handy buffer for the first pit stop which is due in a couple of laps

18: NH pits from P3, followed by NR and FA
Long stop for FA – 9.9s – and that was because of fuel, not “strategy”

19: RB pits from P21
RS pits from P3

20/70: LH and KR both pit
LH – 9.7s
KR – 8.5s
RK pits too

21: MW pits from P3
HK & DC are now the only drivers in the top 10 yet to pit

22: LH, KR, NH, HK, NR, DC, RK, RS (FA in P9)

25/70: FA ~1.1s behind RS

26: KR has got the gap down to just 1.5s behind LH

27: DC pits from P6

28: HK pits from P4 – that’s all the top 10 stopped now – he stays on the super-soft option tyres

29: KR just 0.8s behind LH – looks like LH is struglling

30/70: LH, KR, NH, NR, RK, RS, FA, MW
AW pits from P11

31: JB pits from P18 – his first stop
AD exits the pits right alongside AW – a light tap into T1?

33: NR makes his 2nd stop, and yet TS & FM have yet to stop once

34: TS pits – exits right in front of LH – causes LH to lock up

35/70: LH, KR, NH, RK, RS, FA, MW, NR; retirements: just SY
FA runs wide at T5 but fortunately the runoff is concrete not gravel

36: FM pits from P12 – 6.2s stop & super-soft tyres – rejoins ahead of LH

37: RB pits again
LH closes in to lap FM, with KR 0.8s behind him – a Ferrari sandwich

38: JB has parked the Honda off the track – he won this race last year

39: FM is lapping ~0.5s quicker than LH, so he’s pulling away from the blue flag zone

40/70: LH, KR, NH, RK, RS, FA, MW, NR; retirements: SY, JB
FM must have backed off because he’s blue flagged again; he lets LH & KR past cleanly

41: MW pits – 6.5s stop; prime tyres, so he’ll have to stop again

42: NH pits from P3 – 5.9s – he’s 3-stopping – rejoins ahead of RS
GF locks up and runs wide in T1

43: GF pits – prime tyres
RK pits from P3
AD has spun the Super Aguri and beached it
Replay shows he was pushed wide by GF and then they bashed wheels

44: VL pits and is pushed into the garage

45/70: LH, KR, NH, RS, FA, RK, NR, HK; retirements: SY, JB, AD, VL
FA is still tucked up behind RS, unable to pass the Toyota

47: KR pits from P2 – front wing adjustment, super-soft tyres, 8.3s stop
ITV-F1 confirm that JB’s problem was an engine failure

49: RS pits from P4 – that should give FA a chance to move ahead
TS runs wide and kicks up dust at KR

50/70: LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, NR, HK, RS
HK pits

51: LH pits from P1 – scrubbed super-soft tyres
McLaren team hurry to reset ready for FA
FA pits from P4 – super-softs too – rejoins well ahead of RS

52: FM pits from P12

53: LH, KR, NH, RK, NR, FA, RS, MW – everyone’s stopped twice
LH’s lead back up to ~3secs

54: FM now has AW just ahead of him after AW’s pit stop

55/70: NH pits from P3 – 5.9s “splash & dash” – rejoins ahead of FA
RB now 2 laps down

56: NR pits from P3 – 7.2s – that’s put him down to P8

57: KR is back to just 1.2s behind LH
RK pits from P3 – 5.8s – down to P5

58: KR now only 0.5s back from LH with 12 laps left

59: MW pits from P7 – he’s the last of the front runners to make their final stop

60/70: LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, RS, MW, NR; retirements: SY, JB, AD, VL
FA right on NH’s tail – can he take P3 even though he won’t get any points?

63: FM takes a look at passing GF for P12 but can’t make it stick
ITV-F1 says they’ve received a notice from the FIA saying McLaren will not be allowed on the podium to collect the Constructors’ prize if LH wins!
Damon Hill says F1 is just a step away from “the naughty chair” – he’s right – this is pathetic – McLaren have been allowed to race under appeal, so let them take the cup, but if they lose the appeal they’ll have to hand it to Ferrari … and isn’t that a bigger punishment?

65/70: LH’s lead just 1.0s
LH, KR, NH, FA, RK, RS, MW, NR

67: KR can’t get close enough to even think about making a move on LH
FA runs a bit wide – he’s trying really hard to close on NH

68: FA still pushing hard but NH is keeping the BMW Sauber on line

69: NR posts a 2nd consecutive personal fastest lap, but it’s too late

70 [final lap]: KR now 1.8s behind LH – no chance of him trying to take P1
FA, however, is still harrying NH for P3

LH takes the chequered flag – his 3rd victory in his first year
It’s interesting that there’s not a word from LH over the radio as the team debrief him – very out of character
KR f/lap 1:20.047 – way too late though
NH hangs on to P3
FA=P4, RK=5, RS=6, NR=7, HK=8
9=MW, 10=JT (+1 lap), 11=DC, 12=GF, 13=FM, 14=AW, 15=TS, 16=SV, 17=AS (+2 lap), 18=RB
Retirements: VL, AD, JB & SY.

Podium: LH takes the centre step, flanked by KR & NH, but no McLaren representative

Interviews:
LH: It’s been an eventful weekend; problem with steering in the 2nd stint; good to be back at the top; all the drama over the weekend has been a downer on the team
KR: They didn’t suffer as much as I’d hoped; boring race just driving behind [Hamilton]; in free air we would have had a good pace; it’s going to be hard but there’s many races to go
NH: qualified light in Q3
LH: probably one of the hardest races

Very provisional results: