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Formula One world champion, Sebastian Vettel, finished a wet and wild Hungarian Grand Prix in second place to ensure that he goes into the summer break with a commanding overall lead of 85 points in the driver's championship. Here are Seb's thoughts in his latest blog...
by Sebastian Vettel on Aug 1, 2011
Szia!
It wouldn't be accurate to say that we're satisfied with our second place, but I guess that it's okay in the end. It just bothers me to know that it could have been better.
The race itself was just unbelievably hard and the conditions didn't make it a lot easier, especially at the start. The first laps felt as if I was driving on ice, which was a bit hard to cope with. Luckily that got better towards the end of the race, but it still had an impact on our performance.
'The first laps felt as if I was driving on ice'
I guess the car hasn't reached its maximum right now and that is something we have to work on after our summer break. After all, we don't want to rely on our current points, but to continue to win as many races as possible!
Though I'm a bit sad that the next race is four weeks away, I know that every one of us needs this break right now. The team deserves to go home and relax to come back with even more energy and enthusiasm. I'll also get away for a few weeks and try to get some sun. After the last few weeks, I've definitely had enough of the non-stop rain.
But before I leave, I want to use my blog to send out a last big 'Thank you!' to everyone who has made this season so amazing. My team on the track and at home in the factory did a great job and also the fans blew me away wherever we were. So, thank you guys! I'll talk to you again from Belgium!
Seb
Source: Red Bull
Jenson Button talks to Jake Humphrey, Martin Brundle and Eddie Jordan after a his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Button was competing in his 200th race in Formula 1 and won after starting third on the grid and coming out on top after a battle with McLaren team-mate Lewis HamiltonSource: SixtyBuckss
Official website of Jenson Button got hacked last night. The hacker wrote to the site a headline wich told Button was at serious accident and is in critical condition. It was vandalism and Button is fine. The British driver reaches his 200th GP at F1 this weekend.
The headline said Button is in critical condition and he is in the same hospital at Hungary, where Felipe Massa was two years ago after his accident wich happened during Hungarian GP qualifying.
McLaren confirmed soon that Jenson is fine and his website got hacked. Button himself commented this morning on Twitter what happened.
- Morning everyone. I'm sure you've realised by now but someone hacked into my website last night, I'm completely fine and on my way to 200. The guy who did it obviously didn't have any better offers on a Saturday night so stayed home to do that instead. Get some friends, Button commented.
Source: RacingNewsFlash
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton rued a missed opportunity after finishing fourth in the rain-affected Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2008 world champion, who led much of the race, pitted six times, including a drive-through penalty.
"I was struggling a lot with the graining on my left front tyres," said Hamilton. "I don't know whether that was my fault, pushing too much.
"We would have liked a one-two. I let the team down a little bit but we will be back."
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel made a clean getaway from pole to stay ahead of Hamilton, however, the McLaren driver was clearly the faster of the two in changeable conditions.
Hamilton passed Vettel on lap five after the German ran wide at Turn Two and began to build a lead at the front.
But his decision to pit for more option tyres on lap 41, when his rivals - including team-mate and eventual race winner Jenson Button - chose the primes, proved to be the wrong one as he would have to stop again.
When the rain came, Hamilton decided to switch to intermediates, but the wet weather didn't last and he was forced to make a fifth stop for the primes.
"We were having radio issues," added Hamilton. "I could hear my engineers but they couldn't hear me.
"I heard them say it was going to rain and it was already spitting so we opted to go for the wet tyres. It wasn't necessarily the best call, but that's motor racing."
A drive-through penalty, for forcing Paul di Resta's Force India off track after a spin, dropped him further back, but his fresher tyres helped him to pass Red Bull's Mark Webber for fourth.
"My left front tyre was pretty worn so I went a bit wide, came out of the chicane and spun which is very, very rare for me. I think it's one of the first times I've spun," said Hamilton.
Reflecting on the Button's win, Hamilton added: "Jenson was pushing me hard the whole race and the better man won today.
"For us to have been the most competitive cars this weekend means we go into the break in good spirits." Source: BBC Sport
Having achieved his fifth podium finish in six grands prix, Fernando Alonso reckons Ferrari are looking good for the second part of the season
After a trying start to the Championship, which resulted in wholesale changes within the Scuderia, Ferrari and Alonso have come good in recent races.
The Spaniard has bagged five podium finishes in six races and achieved his fourth successive top-three result in Hungary on Sunday afternoon.
Starting the race from fifth on the grid, Alonso made the most of the changing conditions to work his way up into third place, adding a further 15 points towards his title campaign.
"I think we are confident we can do a good second part of the Championship," he said. "The car has improved a lot, we are fighting for podiums, pole positions.
"July was a fantastic month. I am the driver who scored the most points in July, in three different conditions, at three different tracks. The team did a step forward and McLaren also did a good step forward so competition is quite fun.
"Unfortunately it was not very hot in July. We love high temperatures so hopefully August and September will be better for us."
As for Sunday's grand prix, the double World Champ will probably wonder about what could have been had he not been bogged down at the start, losing places to both Mercedes GP drivers before coming up behind Mark Webber.
"I think in these type of conditions the race is very, very long - you need to be always focused with so many pitstops and so many weather conditions," he said.
"The start did not go as predicted, both Mercedes GP cars overtook us at the start, so I had to overtake Nico (Rosberg) and Michael (Schumacher) then with pit stops I was stuck behind Webber.
"After that I was able to push with free air, and was quite quick, but for the first 20 laps we were behind Mercedes and Mark."
Source: Planet-F1
Sebastian Vettel feels the Hungarian Grand Prix race win was within his grasp, but a problem with his brakes prevented him from pushing too hard
The defending World Champion started Sunday's race at the Hungaroring in pole position but he slipped to P2 behind Lewis Hamilton as he struggled on the wet track. Things didn't get much better after the second round of pit stops as he dropped to fourth behind the two McLarens and his team-mate Mark Webber.
However, the move to put him on super soft tyres for his last stint, as well as the decision not to bring him in for a change to intermediate tyres, paid off for the German and he was able to move up to P2.
"I was struggling a bit in the first stint with the intermediate tyres, Lewis (Hamilton) was a bit faster, then I lost it down into Turn 2," Vettel said after the race. "I lost the lead and obviously the circuit was drying, so we maybe could have come in a lap earlier.
"On the super soft tyre I was feeling quite good initially but there was quite a lot of drop off, I think it was the same for all of us with the track being quite green. I think both times I would love to have pitted one lap earlier, although it was quite fun to see the McLaren's very close again. But then in the last stint, I had to let Jenson go."
Vettel finished just 3.50 seconds behind Button in the end, but he says he couldn't push any harder as he had a problem with his brakes.
"I felt that I had a bit more speed in the car but I had a couple of problems with the brakes and it was difficult to know how the car would be at the end. I couldn't push as hard as I would like to, second today is an important step, but I think the win was within reach today and we didn't get it.
"We need to work hard because both of the McLarens are very, very strong in all sorts of conditions, so it's clear now for a couple of races that they have done a step forward. We need to make sure that we come back, definitely."
Source: Planet-F1
McLaren's Jenson Button gives his reaction after victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Button's second victory of the 2011 season comes on the occasion of his 200th grand prix.Source: SixtyBuckss
Jenson Button won an action-packed and extremely intriguing Hungarian GP to celebrate his 200th grand prix start in style
The two McLarens immediately took the fight to Sebastian Vettel as the race got underway on a damp track with all the drivers on intermediate tyres.
However, it was Lewis Hamilton who had the edge, overtaking Vettel before putting in fastest lap after fastest lap to build up a lead.
And although there was plenty of action and overtaking behind the race leader, it was the tyres and a few spots of rain that eventually decided the outcome.
With Hamilton, Button and Vettel on track to make up the podium, Hamilton slipped up on a few drops of rain.
That put him into a spin, put Button right on his rear wing, put him into the pits for inters, put him back into the pits for dries when it became apparent there was barely any rain and again put him into the pits for a drive-through penalty for correcting his spin when there was traffic coming up behind (Paul di Resta had to leave the track to avoid Hamilton).
It also put him off the podium, freeing the track up for Button to take his second victory of the season.
Vettel finished in second place while Fernando Alonso got to complete the podium despite running off the track at least three times and having a spin.
Results
01. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h43:42.337
02. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 3.588
03. Alonso Ferrari + 19.819
04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 48.338
05. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 49.742
06. Massa Ferrari + 1:17.176
07. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
08. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
09. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
10. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps
15. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 2 laps
16. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 4 laps
18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 5 laps
20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 5 laps
Retirements
Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 56
Schumacher Mercedes 27
Heidfeld Renault 24
Trulli Lotus-Renault 18 Source: Planet-F1
Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel put the disappointment of last week firmly behind him by grabbing pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday
by Sebastian Vettel on Jul 31, 2011
What an amazing result! Especially after the not so perfect days of last week – the pole position is something really special for us. I just feel really comfortable here and I guess that's one of the most important things. Once the feeling is right, everything comes in time.
After Friday night's hard work it just went better right from the start on Saturday. We thought that we could do well in qualifying, but being on pole made our day even better. Sure, it was really tough at times, especially with the McLarens on form, but right now we're just happy that we did a great job today.
'The pole position is something really special for us'
Today's pole is kind of a reward for the team's hard work – some of them stayed until the early hours of the morning. I'm just incredibly glad to have them and very proud of their performance.
Besides the tyres, we should also be aware of the constantly changing wind conditions. The winds are really strong and sometimes you kind of get a push from behind or from the sides. Luckily we have a lot of flags beside the track so we can be sure of the winds.
I know that my official home race was last week, but this one in Hungary has a similar feeling because of the closeness to Austria. There are a lot of fans who come to the track and support us with their signs and flags. We're really lucky to have them and we'll be even more motivated tomorrow!
Talk to you later!
Seb
Source: Red Bull
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel dedicates his pole lap to his team after they broke curfew on Friday night to improve the car after they struggled during Friday's practice sessionsSource: SixtyBuckss
While admitting he could have qualified higher, Fernando Alonso concedes he was never in the running for pole position
The Spaniard secured fifth spot on the grid for Sunday's Hungarian GP, falling behind his team-mate Felipe Massa for the first time this season.
The 30-year-old admits that the result is disappointing but believes that third was the best he could have hoped for.
"It's the same result as a week ago, so yet again today, we're neither surprised nor disappointed," he explained.
"It's true I did not do a perfect lap in Q3 and I'm happy to admit that, but I don't think I could have made it to the front row.
"Third place was within our grasp and it would have been a great place from which to start the race, but others did better than us, including my team-mate who drove a nice lap: it's important that both our cars are in positions from which we can fight for a place on the podium.
"All the same, better fifth than fourth as it means at least I start from the clean side of the track. It seems that when it's time for Q3, Red Bull has a magic button that suddenly makes them go faster, but then it seems the button switches off in the race."
Overtaking at the Hungaroring is always a challenge, a point Alonso does not expect the use of the Drag Reduction System to change, and the Ferrari man believes that pitstops will prove pivotal.
"It's always very difficult to overtake here and I don't think DRS will change that much: maybe a good tow and a gust of wind will be of more use," he said.
"We will try and move up a few places tomorrow: we will need to maintain a good pace, doing a perfect job at the pitstops, of which I think there will be a lot, maybe three or four, because tyre degradation is significant.
"It will also be important to get the timing of the stops right. I reckon anything could still happen: it will be a very open race."
Source: Planet-F1
Jenson Button: All in all, I guess I'm pretty happy with P3. I'll start from the clean side of the track, and I'm feeling very positive about the race
Jenson Button has said he is feeling 'very positive' about Sunday's F1 2011 Hungarian GP.
Button has had a bit of a difficult run of late, especially in qualifying, and so he was 'pretty happy' to secure third in his McLaren MP4-26 following the top-ten shootout today at the 2.72 mile Hungaroring.
Furthermore the fact he was only 0.046 seconds off Lewis Hamilton in the sister car in P2, was another very encouraging sign, although admittedly his team-mate did mess up his second lap.
Still it was a good performance and it bodes well for tomorrow, when JB will be out to bounce back from two retirements in succession, both through no fault of his own though it should be added, with a wheel nut problem putting him out at Silverstone and hydraulics sidelining him last weekend in Germany.
“All in all, I guess I'm pretty happy with P3. I'll start from the clean side of the track, and I'm feeling very positive about the race,” Button said.
“Having said that though, after a lap that was as close to pole as mine was today, you always catch yourself thinking that there must have been a little bit here or a little bit there that would have been enough to bridge the gap, which was just two-tenths this afternoon, but to be fair to myself I actually think I drove a pretty decent quali-lap.
“To be honest, qualifying has been a bit of an issue for me recently – and, although I relish attacking any circuit in an effort to make up places on a Sunday afternoon, I guess you're always going to be playing catch-up if you start much farther back than the first two rows.
“So, this weekend, it is very nice to be in a position to drive for a win from the outset, and that's definitely what I will now be attempting to do tomorrow,” he vowed. Source: Crash.net
Sebastian Vettel put in a blistering 1:19.815 to beat Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix
Having lost out to their rivals in Friday's practice sessions, Red Bull pulled an all-nighter, using one of their four curfew exceptions. And the late hours paid off.
Vettel, who set the pace in final practice, claimed pole position on Saturday afternoon with a 1:19.815. It is the reigning World Champion's eighth pole of the campaign but his first in three races.
Hamilton was bumped off the P1 slot by just 0.163s, however, he'll be delighted with his second successive front row grid slot.
Jenson Button was third fastest ahead of Felipe Massa, who edged his team-mate Fernando Alonso for the first time this season. Alonso will start the Hungarian GP P5 alongside Mark Webber.
Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil completed the top eight.
Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m19.815
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m19.978 + 0.163
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m20.024 + 0.209
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.350 + 0.535
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m20.365 + 0.550
06. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m20.474 + 0.659
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m21.098 + 1.283
08. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m21.445 + 1.630
09. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m21.907 + 2.092
10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari No time
11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m22.256 + 1.994
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m22.284 + 2.022
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.435 + 2.173
14. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m22.470 + 2.208
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m22.684 + 2.422
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.979 + 2.717
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth No time
18. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.070 + 2.492
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m24.362 + 2.784
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m24.534 + 2.956
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.294 + 4.716
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m26.323 + 4.745
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m26.479 + 4.901
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.510 + 4.932Source: Planet-F1
Rising temperatures and an all-nighter played into Red Bull's hands in Saturday's final practice in Hungary where Seb Vettel set the pace
After finishing half a second behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in Practice Two, Red Bull opted to use one of their curfew exceptions on Friday night.
And the extra hours, coupled with rising temperatures, paid off with Vettel setting the pace on Saturday morning.
The reigning World Champ clocked a 1:21.168 to finish 0.301s ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Jenson Button was third quickest.
Report: A warm start to the day with the track temperature already at 32'C as final practice got underway with Tonio Liuzzi leading the field out for their installation laps. Jerome D'Ambrosio posted the morning's first time, a 1:32.884.
The Virgin driver, though, was soon dropped as Nico Rosberg hit the front followed by Jenson Button. Michael Schumacher went third quickest. With the track rubbering up, more drivers ventured out including reigning World Champ Sebastian Vettel. However, he could only manage 17th place on his first lap.
The German went on to lead the way with a 1:22.021 while his team-mate Mark Webber took second place ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Problems for Rosberg, who climbed out of his car while his team worked on something around his seat area.
Halfway through the session it was Vettel leading with a 1:22.021, followed by Hamilton, Webber, Buton, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher and Alonso.
Alonso improved to fourth place before being dropped as Rosberg, with his seat now sorted, climbed to second. Schumacher moved ahead of Massa and Vettel struggled to stay on the track. However, he wasn't the only one as several drivers ran wide, although with plenty of run-off area there were no accidents.
The final ten minutes saw the drivers take a run on the super soft tyres. Alonso jumped into the P1 slot, Massa took second place and then ran off the track on his next lap, Hamilton got it wrong at the first corner, Button didn't do much better on his out-lap, Jaime Alguersuari ran it wide, Button improved to second and Vettel hit the front with a 1:21.169.
Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m21.168s 17 laps
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m21.469s + 0.301s 13 laps
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.639s + 0.471s 14 laps
04. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.645s + 0.477s 18 laps
05. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.002s + 0.834s 14 laps
06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.534s + 1.366s 22 laps
07. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.667s + 1.499s 14 laps
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m23.037s + 1.869s 19 laps
09. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m23.175s + 2.007s 19 laps
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m23.276s + 2.108s 18 laps
11. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m23.281s + 2.113s 13 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.375s + 2.207s 18 laps
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.626s + 2.458s 25 laps
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m23.663s + 2.495s 17 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m23.894s + 2.726s 17 laps
16. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m23.966s + 2.798s 18 laps
17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.998s + 2.830s 15 laps
18. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.061s + 3.893s 19 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m25.141s + 3.973s 20 laps
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m25.501s + 4.333s 20 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.955s + 5.787s 20 laps
22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m26.991s + 5.823s 19 laps
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m27.174s + 6.006s 16 laps
24. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m27.713s + 6.545s 20 laps Source: Planet-F1
Lewis Hamilton is confident he can follow up his victory at the German Grand Prix by challenging for another triumph in Hungary on SundaySource: SixtyBuckss
McLaren-Mercedes star Jenson Button will join F1's 200 club in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix around the Hungaroring a race that the 2009 world champion confesses holds 'special' memories for him...
Jenson Button will reach a milestone at the Hungaroring on Sunday, as he celebrates his 200th grand prix start around the same circuit at which he claimed his breakthrough F1 victory five years ago – and the McLaren-Mercedes star admits that after his torrid run of late in 2011, he would love to turn the tide 'on such a special weekend'.
Button debuted in F1 in the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne back in 2000, and following several seasons of nearly-but-not-quite, it was not until the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix – his 113th start in the top flight, and just the kind of wet/dry race in which he traditionally excels – that he finally succeeded in reaching the highest step of the rostrum with Honda.
The weather forecast is uncharacteristically mixed once again in Budapest half-a-decade on – and the 2009 world champion concedes that he wouldn't mind a touch of precipitation on race day one little bit.
“I've got very good memories of 2006,” he reminisced. “[It was] obviously a long time ago now, but it's the perfect place for me to have my 200th grand prix, I suppose. The last couple of races have been a bit difficult in terms of not finishing, so hopefully we can have a good result here on such a special weekend.
“Rain would be a lot of fun around here. We've been here in the wet before, and for me, it was one of the best races I've been involved in and actually watched back, because there was a lot of overtaking, a lot of fighting. Yeah, it brings something to the race, but I think even in the dry, wet or intermediate conditions we've got to make sure we're quick.
“Lewis [Hamilton – team-mate] proved at the last race the pace of the car is very good in dry conditions, in cool conditions. I also think we'll be there in hot conditions. Whatever the weather does, we've got to be ready for it. I agree that when it's mixed conditions here, it's fun.”
The race to which Button alludes was last weekend's German Grand Prix, in which there was little to choose between the McLaren MP4-26, the Ferrari F150° Italia and the Red Bull Racing RB7 in terms of outright pace, as Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber ran nose-to-tail for a number of laps at the Nürburgring. The 2009 F1 World Champion agrees that such a scenario bodes well indeed for the remainder of the campaign.
“I think it's a great time for F1, to have three top teams fighting at the front,” he enthused. "We've had four different winners from the last four races, and hopefully we will have a great race here. As we've said, we don't know who is going to be the most competitive.
“It was great to see three teams fighting for victory at the last race, and hopefully it's going to be the same thing here; hopefully, there will be six of us really at the front with a chance of victory. That's what we all love doing; we all love the challenge, and hopefully we will get the chance to fight for it here.
“I think if you look at the last three races, you would say we've all been making improvements in different areas. The races have been reasonably close. Even if there's been a different winner in every race, there's been a good fight – it hasn't been an easy victory for anyone.
“Obviously, I hope that we are the quickest and we can win every race, but I think it's also fun when you have the challenge of fighting with other top teams, and I think that's the way it's going to be when you're at the pinnacle of the sport.”
Meanwhile, as he prepares to overtake his racing hero Alain Prost in the longevity stakes – the Frenchman's final grand prix start in Adelaide in 1993 was his 199th – Button has reflected that he could remain a fixture on the F1 grid for longer than he had originally anticipated.
“I was thinking last week, if I did four more years in F1, I would be 35 and I'd retire from racing,” he told the Daily Mail. “What the hell am I going to do at 35-years-old?!” Source: Crash.net
Fernando Alonso hopes Ferrari will make steady improvements, especially in the third sector, over the weekend in Hungary
The Spaniard followed up his second-place finish at the German Grand Prix on Sunday with solid displays during both first and second practice at the Hungaroring on Friday. He was also one of the busiest drivers on the track and completed 69 laps in total.
He was third-fastest in the first session with a 1:23.642 and then improved his time to 1:21.259 in the afternoon to be just 0.241 off Lewis Hamilton's best time of the day.
Despite his impressive showings, Alonso knows Ferrari will need to make up more time on McLaren if they want to walk away with top honours come Sunday evening.
"We finished the planned work programme and that's always a positive start to a race weekend. Now we will analyse all the data gathered and make the best choices for qualifying and the race," the double World Champion said.
"I am pleased I was able to do so much running, especially from the point of view of studying the tyre degradation, which at this track is always a significant factor. The track is still very dirty, as is the norm for a Friday at the Hungaroring: however, we know it will improve each day and by Sunday afternoon, it will be much more rubbered in than today.
"We saw that McLaren looks very strong, as indeed it was last weekend. Now we must try and improve the car, especially in the third sector of the track, where we seem to be suffering more than most."
Alonso celebrated his 30th birthday on Friday and feels he will spend another five season with the Italian team.
"Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes on my thirtieth, especially to Bernie, who came along to wish me the best along with you journalists during the press meeting!" he said.
"It's nice to celebrate here with Ferrari, a team I will definitely be with at least until I am thirty five."
Technical director Pat Fry admits it's still hard to say where they are compared to their two biggest rivals.
"As usual we had a packed programme to get through, including an evaluation of various configurations both on the aerodynamic front and in terms of the management of the exhaust gases," he said.
"We concentrated principally on the updates to the 150º Italia in the morning and then in the afternoon, we switched more towards finding the best set-up on the car and on a comparison between the two types of tyre Pirelli has brought for this race.
"As you can imagine, there is nothing new under the sun: really just a Friday like so many others. The obvious consequence of that is it's very hard to say where we are compared to our closest rivals. The only thing we can be sure of is that Red Bull and McLaren both seem very competitive, irrespective of the fuel levels they were running." Source: Planet-F1
Lewis Hamilton's Hungarian run continued on Friday afternoon as the McLaren driver concluded Practice Two with the fastest time
Hamilton crossed the line with a 1:21.018, cementing his position as one of the front runners to take the victory come Sunday afternoon.
Second place went to Fernando Alonso with the Ferrari driver 0.241s off the pace while Jenson Button was third quickest.
The two Red Bulls were next in line with Mark Webber ahead of Sebastian Vettel with it coming as some surprise that the Bulls were half a second off the pace.
Felipe Massa was sixth quicket ahead of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.
Report: As rain moved towards the Hungaroring, Jaime Alguersuari got proceedings underway at the start of Friday's second practice, crossing the line with a 1:27.596. With drivers quickly putting in laps while the track was still dry, Sergio Perez went quickest ahead of Nick Heidfeld.After five minutes 12 drivers had already set times.
Vitaly Petrov then hit the front before losing out to Perez and then Lewis Hamilton and then Felipe Massa. The Ferrari driver lowered the benchmark time to a 1:22.928.
Sebastian Vettel took over from Massa at the front with a 1:22.666. Massa locked up and put his Ferrari into a spin down into Turn 12 while his team-mate Fernando Alonso went quickest, a tenth up on Vettel, before he was dropped as Jenson Button took the P1 slot by two-tenths. Mark Webber, coming back from his FP1 shunt, claimed sixth place in the early action. Alonso hit the front again with a 1:22.070.
After the initial assault on the timesheets it was down to the hard yards with the drivers putting in lap after lap with heavier fuel loads.
Alonso lowered the benchmark to a 1:21.259, eight-tenths up on Button's best. Hamilton overhauled the Ferrari by 0.241s while Webber climbed to fourth place. With the option tyres on his RB7, Vettel moved up to fifth place ahead of Massa, Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Webber has another go on the option tyres but stays fourth.
Hamilton ended the session with a 1:21.018, 0.241s up on Alonso.
Times
01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.018 29 laps
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m21.259 + 0.241 40 laps
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.322 + 0.304 34 laps
04. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.508 + 0.490 35 laps
05. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m21.549 + 0.531 31 laps
06. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.099 + 1.081 40 laps
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.121 + 1.103 36 laps
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m22.440 + 1.422 36 laps
09. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m22.835 + 1.817 40 laps
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m22.981 + 1.963 37 laps
11. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.030 + 2.012 34 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.399 + 2.381 37 laps
13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m23.679 + 2.661 34 laps
14. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m23.861 + 2.843 28 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m24.181 + 3.163 39 laps
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.182 + 3.164 26 laps
17. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m24.546 + 3.528 21 laps
18. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.878 + 3.860 35 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m24.994 + 3.976 38 laps
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m25.447 + 4.429 39 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.823 + 5.805 33 laps
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m27.261 + 6.243 28 laps
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m27.730 + 6.712 31 laps
24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m28.255 + 7.237 25 laps
Source: Planet-F1
Hungaroring, 29 July –This is a special day for Fernando Alonso, as he celebrates his thirtieth birthday. Making it even more special for someone like him, who likes playing with numbers, the Hungarian weekend is also his thirtieth Grand Prix at the wheel of a Ferrari
The Oviedo man’s phone has been bombarded with text messages and lots of people have personally wished him all the best when he arrived at the track this morning. President Montezemolo spoke to him this morning by phone, but what one might call the official greetings were put out through the media in a letter published in today’s “La Gazzetta dello Sport” newspaper in Italy. Here is the complete text:
Dear Fernando,
Here’s wishing you a very happy birthday in the hope that you can celebrate it in style on Sunday in your thirtieth race with Ferrari. Thirty is an important age, as it means you are no longer a youngster. You gave us a bit of a hard time when you were an opponent of ours, but we have always appreciated your talent and your personality. Today, after one and a half years together, we have got to know you better and we have discovered those personal qualities you had kept hidden. It is because of these and not just your skill at the wheel, that our relationship is destined to last a long time. Best wishes once again and thanks for all your efforts and for the way you work with the team, as well as the determination you have shown and the fact that you never give up; just like Ferrari in fact.
Luca Montezemolo
It’s easy to work out what present Fernando and indeed all fans of the Reds would like to see being handed over on Sunday afternoon…
Source: Ferrari.com
Having arrived with the team from Maranello today, Fernando Alonso faced the media on another wet Thursday, after the one in Nurburgring a week ago. With his 30th birthday tomorrow, the Scuderia Ferrari driver was asked to look at similarities with Michael Schumacher, who was with Ferrari when he was 30, had also won two titles and had 20 race wins to his name. “I never thought to have two world championships by the time I was thirty, because I know how difficult it is to win in Formula 1 and how difficult it is to succeed here,” began the Spaniard. “I was extremely lucky to get all the wins I have to date, but I am not thinking of having seven world titles by the time I am 42. At the moment, Formula 1 is very competitive, very close and it will be very difficult for someone to be as dominant as Ferrari was with Michael, so I think seven titles is a record that will last for many years. In 2007, I missed out on a third title by one point and I also missed the chance last year in Abu Dhabi. That means that on four occasions I have been fighting for the title at the last race of the season and I have won two and lost two, which I feel is fair. Let’s see, if a fifth opportunity comes, we will see if I can win it again.”
After strong showings in recent races, the Ferrari driver was asked if the Scuderia could be dominant here. “I don’t think we can be dominant this weekend as dominant only applies to Red Bull at the moment,” maintained Fernando. “We need to have both cars consistently in the top three in qualifying and the race if we want to say that Ferrari is dominant. It was a nice surprise for us to see how competitive our car was in Silverstone and at the Nurburgring, we are pretty certain that if the temperature had been about 10 degrees higher, our performance could have been better. Hopefully here we will have a hot weekend, although the forecast does not predict that and then we can see how competitive we are here. We still need to make another step forward as Red Bull is still the reference point and yes,, we would like to see a strong McLaren to help our chances in the championship. There is no doubt that the soft and super soft tyres seem to work a bit better on our car, as we are gentle on the tyres and can maximise them for the race, running long stints with no degradation. Also in qualifying, where these tyres warm-up quickly they suit us, so we should be okay here and have a better weekend than in Nurbugring. We want the hottest temperatures possible, both ambient and track. Let’s hope on Saturday and Sunday we have 40 degrees!”
Overtaking has been a media topic all year and Fernando holds the view that one element holds the key to all the passing moves. “Even without KERS or DRS, with these current tyres we would see plenty of overtaking. Obviously the DRS is an extra help, allowing you to overtake maybe even when you have two cars with tyres in similar condition, but that would only happen about once per race. But with these tyres you get at least ten or fifteen passing moves per race.” Source: Ferrari.com
by Sebastian Vettel on Aug 1, 2011
