Hungarian Grand Prix Practice Sessions
The Formula One caravan is ready to present the twelfth round of the season. The Hungaroring is all set to embrace the next show of cars and drivers in the beautiful city of Budapest.
The first two practice sessions held on Friday morning and afternoon had been smooth and safe without any serious accidents on the track.
After all the action on the day one thing was most obvious, Red Bull was the fastest. A rough conclusion from the first two practice sessions shows that Sebastian Vettel could prove to be the toughest contender for the race. His Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber finished the first practice at second and the second practice at third place. Webber is also the only racer of the season, who has been able to bag a total of three race wins so far whereas his teammate has been able to bag just two till date.
Ferrari and McLaren both could give tough competition for the second and third places on race day. This statement might surprise many as McLaren had not shown any brilliance in either of the practices. But going on previous races of the season one could safely say that practice as well as qualifying had not been their strength and on the final race day they to do far better. At the British Grand Prix, the McLaren driver, Jensen Button was able to pull up to ten places as he started the race from fourteenth place on the grid while he was able to end at fourth. Similarly, Lewis Hamilton, who had been calling his car the third fastest of the season, has been able to leap far beyond the fastest cars on the track several times this year and holds the top place in drivers’ standings firmly.
Ferrari, who have the second fastest car, Red Bull’s RB6 being the first, is very determined and motivated to repeat their last month’s one-two finish without any controversies. Felipe Massa confirmed at a pre-race press conference that if the team encounters a similar situation once again with both the team drivers heading for the first and second places he would not let Fernando Alonso pass, rather he stressed, “I will win”.
Renault’s Robert Kubica could be among the top six racers as he ended third in the first practice and seventh in the second practice. Also, he stands at seventh place in the drivers’ championship, having bagged eighty-nine points so far.
The two Mercedes men had not been able to do very well all through the season and again nothing miraculous is being expected from them. If they are able to finish among the top ten it would be a pretty good day for them.
Among the other drivers that are expected to score some points this weekend could be Rubens Barrichello of Williams. He snatched fourth and fifth places at the European and British Grand Prixs and had finished the first and second practice at fifth and twelfth place respectively. The Spaniard has taken his Williams’ car far beyond its capacity all through the season.
Another surprise was Vitaly Petrov of Renault, who secured fifth place in the second session while thirteenth in the first.
One can also expect a few points from the Force India team as they have brought one of their cars with the blown diffuser, which had completed the two practices without any severe issues.
With one more practice to go on Saturday Morning, qualifying positions are yet to be finalised before action and drama at the Hungarian Grand Prix begins this Sunday.
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