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.
Autosport.com reports:
FIA report “Renault suspended from European Grand Prix”.
BBC says:
No mention of the investigations re: Raikkonen (on the opening lap) or Red Bull (releasing Webber almost into KR at a pit stop).
OMG dude, this stuff is far over my head… you’ve already forgotten more about racing than I’ll ever know.
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).
🙂
p.s. @KeriCDN – did you see my notes from qualifying (https://henman.ca/blog/2009/07/25/hungrian-grand-prix-qualifying/) with the video & photos of Massa’s accident?