Hungarian Grand Prix – Race

July 26, 2009 by
Filed under: formula1 

If you didn’t see Qualifying yesterday, you should at least catch the highlights before today’s race – the good news is that Massa seems to be OK. (I’ve been adding comments to my notes from Qualifying as I find news updates.) Obviously he won’t be racing today but hopefully he’ll be back for the next GP.

As I mentioned in my Qualifying notes, Toro Rosso have replaced Sebastien Bordais with Jaime Alguersuari – the youngest-ever F1 driver.

The provisional grid: FA, SV, MW, LH, NR, HK, KR, JB, KN, [FM], SB, JT, RB, TG, NP, NH, GF, AS, RK, JA.

Air temperature 25°C, track 43°C, wind 8.6m/s, humidity 41%, pressure 993.3mBar.

As always, my race notes are behind this cut …

FA leads all 19 cars away on the formation lap
Looks like most of the front-runners are on the super-soft (option) compound; SV is on the soft (prime) tyre

01/70: KR side-swipes LH as they come off the grid

02: FA, MW, LH, KR, NR, HK, SV, KN (JB P9)
JB makes a nice move up the inside of KN in Turn 1 and takes P8
AS pits and is put onto rollers to push him into the garage

03: FA fastest lap 1:25.176
Replay shows KR also made contact with SV
BBC report AS has a water pressure problem that was leading to overheating

04: FA f/lap 1:24.436
Based on the official pre-race weights, FA will pit about 7 laps before the other front-runners

05/70: FA f/lap 1:23.529
FA, MW, LH, KR, NR, HK, SV, JB
LH takes P2 from MW coming out of Turn 1

06: No mention of the race officials investigating KR after 2 collisions at the start of the race

07: LH f/lap 1:23.218
New boy JA is in P18 (last) but posting respectable lap times (1:24.966)

08: LH f/lap 1:23.207
LH asks his engineer if he needs to conserve fuel; he’s told no, keep up the pace
FA’s right rear tyre is graining, which will reduce his rear grip

09: LH has closed the gap to FA to 1.4secs
HK is dropping back from NR, which means JB is falling away from MW

10/70: FA, LH, MW, KR, NR, HK, SV, JB; retirement: AS
MW f/lap 1:23.190

11: Personal f/laps for KR and NR; HK now 4.3s behind NR

12: KR will be investigated after the race – the usual FIA way of making sure not to impact Ferrari :(

13: FA pits from P1
Looks like the front-right wheel didn’t go on properly – visible vibrations on FA’s car
The spinner (the bake duct) has come off – obviously debris causes concern after yesterday’s accident

14: LH f/lap 1:22.868
FA front-right wheel has come off and bounced across the track

15/70: FA back in the pits; rejoins right in front of LH – lets him through and is now a lap down

16: LH, MW, KR, NR, HK, SV, JB, KN
Replay shows FA was released from the box while the mechanic was still working on the front-right wheel
LH f/lap 1:22.795

17: LH f/lap 1:22.479 – he’s now got a 4.2s lead over MW
FA pits again and is pushed into the garage

18: JB is struggling to brake the Brawn car into corners; KN is closing on his tail

19: NH pits from P13

20/70: MW and KR pit from P2 and P3 respectively
A shambles in the Red Bull pits – they start to release MW but change their mind (the fuel hose was still on the car), and then release MW almost into the side of KR – that will probably cost him a drive-through penalty

21: LH pits from P1
NR pits from P2

22: HK and SV pit – looks like another slow stop by Red Bull

23: KN pits, which should be a relief for JB
Pit-car reminds LH to look after this set of tyres

24: Personal f/lap for JB and JT (currently P2 and P3)
NP pits from P4
KN tries to run around the outside of NP but NP holds his line

25/70: LH, JB, JT, KR, TG, MW, HK, NR … but we’re in the middle of the first pit stop window so some positions are artificially high

26: JB pits from P2 – rejoins behind his teammate RB
GF immediately rushes past LH to take P11

27: SV tells his engineer “something is broken”; “I can’t control the car”
SV’s Red Bull seems to be running low at the rear, so it could be a suspension problem

28: SV pits – a long stop as they check the car over but they release him back into the race

29: JT pits from P2 – rejoins ahead of JB
JA makes his first ever F1 pit stop

30/70: LH, KR, TG*, MW, HK, NR, RB*, JT (*=yet to stop)

31: SV pits and retires – that’s the front row of the grid both out!
JB complains of serious oversteer

32: HK takes a look at passing MW but backs off

33: TG pits from P3 – rejoins in P7, behind RB

34: RB pits from P6 – the last to pit – rejoins in P13

35/70: LH, KR, MW, HK, NR, TG, JT, JB; retirements: AS, FA, SV
HK still pushing MW for P3

37: LH has a 7sec lead over KR, who in turn is 13s ahead of MW

39: Yellow flags are out for SB – went off in Turn 2 but recovered OK

40/70: LH, KR, MW, HK, NR, TG, JT, JB
SB pits – rejoins in P16/last, over 35secs behind JA

42: Personal f/lap for KR
Pit-car for MW tells him to push so that LH will exit the pits behind him

43: HK continues to harry MW

44: McLaren getting ready for a pit stop

45/70: HK pits from P4 – prime (soft) tyres – 8.1s stop – rejoins in P6, ahead of JT

46: KR pits from P2 – primes – 8.3s … no, over 11s because he couldn’t find a gear

47: LH pits from P1 – primes – 8.3s – rejoins clearly ahead of MW, still in P1

48: GF pits

49: NP pits

50/70: NR pits from P3 – primes – 6.7s
NH pits too
TG all over the rear of KR’s Ferrari

51: MW pits from P2 – options – 7.4s – rejoins ahead of NR

52: BBC report HK has a problem with brake temperature but McLaren have told him to change some settings to address it

53: JA pits from P14

55/70: LH, KR, TG*, MW, NR, HK, JT*, JB*; retirements: AS, FA, SV
JB only 0.8s ahead of KN

56: JB pits from P8 – primes – rejoins in P10, behind his teammate

57: KN pits from P8 – rejoins behind JB

58: RB pits from P8 – rejoins behind KN
Personal f/lap for JB

59: JT pits from P7

60/70: LH, KR, TG*, MW, NR, HK, JB, JT; retirements: AS, FA, SV
When will TG pit?

61: TG pits from P3 – rejoins in P6, ahead of JB
Personal f/lap for MW

62: LH has a 17s lead over KR; MW is 6.5s further back in P3
Pit-car for RB urges him on – he’ll get 1 point if he can pass KN then JT

64: HK & TG both post personal f/laps

65/70: LH, KR, MW, NR, HK, TG, JB, JT

66: MW f/lap 1:21.931 – he’s still 5s behind KR so he can’t catch him

68: LH has a comfortable 15s lead over KR, who in turn is 4.5s ahead of MW

69: Looks impossible for RB to get the 1 point his team want, unless KN makes a mistake and KR is penalised for the first lap incidents

70/70 – final lap: LH starts celebrating before he crosses the line
LH takes P1 – his first podium of the season, and the first win for a KERS car
P2=KR (but remember the stewards are going to review the first lap incidents but I can’t believe they’ll penalise a Ferrari)
P3=MW, 4=NR, 5=HK, 6=TG, 7=JB, 8=JT
P9=KN, 10=RB, 11=NH, 12=NP, 13=RK, 14=GF (+1 lap), 15=JA, 16=SB
DNF: SV, FA, AS

LH clearly pleased to be back on the podium after so long.

Interviews:
LH: “Incredible to be here” after such a long time away from the podium
KR: “I made a good start”; “some issues on the last pit stop”; “more close than we expected”
MW: thought they’d be near the front but not the same advantage as the previous couple of races
LH: “Yesterday was a sad day” (re: Massa’s accident)
KR: claims to know nothing about hitting SV at the start; liar!
MW: too early to ask the team to back him; thinks he & SV can both battle the Brawns
LH: “we’re now on the right track”

Provisional result: LH, KR, MW, NR, HK, TG, JB, JT, KN, RB, NH, NP, RK, GF, JA, SB; SV, FA, AS … but will the post-race investigation move KR?

The next race is four weeks away (the teams have to take a 2 week break according to the rules) – it’s the European GP in Valencia on August 21-23.

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Comments

7 Comments on Hungarian Grand Prix – Race

  1. paul on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 12:47 pm

    2. Autosport.com reports:

    Representatives from the Renault and Red Bull Racing teams have been summoned to see the race stewards at the Hungarian Grand Prix following incidents in the race.

    It is understood that the Renault matter relates to the wheel that fell of Fernando Alonso’s car following his first pit stop, while Red Bull Racing will have to explain the late release of Mark Webber’s car from the pits, which resulted in a near collision with Kimi Raikkonen.

  2. paul on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 3:06 pm

    3. FIA report “Renault suspended from European Grand Prix”.

    BBC says:

    Race stewards ruled that Renault released Alonso from a pit stop knowing the wheel was not properly secured and then failed to tell the driver.

    Renault have told the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, that they will appeal.

    Should it stand, the ban would apply to the whole team and would deny Alonso the chance to race in front of his home fans at the European Grand Prix on 23 August.

    The stewards said Renault’s pit crew “knowingly released car number seven from the pit stop position without one of the retaining devices for the wheel-nuts being securely in position, this being an indication that the wheel itself may not have been properly secured.”

    They also determined that “being aware of this, Renault failed to take any action to prevent the car from leaving the pit lane… and failed to inform the driver of this problem or to advise him to take appropriate action given the circumstances, even though the driver contacted the team by radio believing he had a puncture.”

    No mention of the investigations re: Raikkonen (on the opening lap) or Red Bull (releasing Webber almost into KR at a pit stop).

  3. KeriCDN on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 7:22 pm

    4. OMG dude, this stuff is far over my head… you’ve already forgotten more about racing than I’ll ever know.

  4. paul on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 11:09 pm

    5. Hi Keri (I’m going to struggle with this – my wife is Kerri with two Rs!)

    I use the drivers initials because it’s much quicker, so you’ll need a list of the current season’s teams & drivers – http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/drivers_and_teams/default.stm

    Maybe a circuit map too, but that’s not really essential; the BBC site has some fancy maps but the official FIA ones are OK, e.g. http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/hungary_815/circuit_diagram.html

    The only *essential* I need when watching the race is the official live timing data @ http://www.formula1.com/services/live_timing/

    Other than that, I just write what I see as I watch practice (on Speed), qualifying and the race (on TSN).
    :)

  5. paul on Sun, 26th Jul 2009 11:10 pm

    6. p.s. @KeriCDN – did you see my notes from qualifying (http://henman.ca/blog/2009/07/25/hungrian-grand-prix-qualifying/) with the video & photos of Massa’s accident?

  6. Paul Henman at henman.ca » Blog Archive » Hungarian Grand Prix – points update on Mon, 27th Jul 2009 9:49 am

    7. [...] Comments « Hungarian Grand Prix – Race [...]

  7. Paul Henman at henman.ca » Blog Archive » Back to business on Thu, 20th Aug 2009 3:49 pm

    8. [...] been almost four weeks since the Hungarian Grand Prix; so much happened in the following few days that I wrote an update post to summarise the news, [...]

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