Hungarian Grand Prix: Teams and Drivers Preview – Part III
McLaren Mercedes
Champion Position: 1
Points: 300
The championship leaders barely saw their lead cut off despite their worst performance in the last five races and they will now look to extend their lead. Jenson Button said that Hungaroring is a place where drivers need to drive with a lot of control if they are going to get a good lap time. Some of the kerbs are quite high, so they need a bit of precision through the high-speed stuff. It is a high-downforce track, so there’s usually plenty of grip. Jenson is very optimistic about the car’s pace and said that this tracks suits McLaren better than any other car. He said that the team is learning more and more about the blown floor after every session and the team feels they got some very useful data from Sunday’s race in Germany. Lewis Hamilton did not agree with the fact that there were no overtaking opportunities on the track and said that the track has a couple of high-speed corners including the blind left-hander at turn 4 and the right-hander at turn 11,and with the revisions to the first corner, it is a place where passing is definitely possible. Lewis said that it is a circuit that really requires the driver to pull it all together and there is nowhere to relax and the driver has to hustle the car the whole way through the corners.
Red Bull Racing
Championship Position: 2
Points: 272
The Red Bull Team is confident that they will be able to fend off the challenge by Ferrari and maintain their footing and that the high downforce track with many slow corners will favour the Red Bulls more than Ferrari. Red Bull is the only team that did not face set-up issues in the season and the car adjusted well to all the circuits. However Team Principal Christian Horner is worried about the fact that despite their pace, the good results in qualifications are not being converted into race victories.
Ferrari
Championship Position: 3
Points: 208
After their race in Germany, which invited a lot of criticism from all corners due to team orders, Ferrari is looking forward to another strong finish to be at the top. Fernando Alonso said that the team were aware quite before Hockenheim that the car was much more competitive and that was what made him confident. Now they must continue in this direction, starting this coming weekend in Budapest. Alonso added that the track can almost be described as a go-kart track for Formula One cars. The corners follow on, one from the other, so there is nowhere for a driver to pause for breath and it is vital to have a car that deals with the many bumps in the track surface and handles riding the kerbs. From the physical and mental point of view, it is a pretty demanding race and it is important not to get impetuous and overcook things, because any mistake is heavily penalized, especially in qualifying. He said that it is best to stay focused and concentrate on your own work, trying to put together the perfect weekend, one step at a time. Massa, the driver at the losing end of the exercised team orders, will look to finish the business he started in Hungary last year before he was knocked unconscious by debris flying off the track and into his helmet. He said that in Germany, Ferrari produced a great team result but that does not mean they are sitting on their hands, because there will be even more updates coming this weekend. He said that there are other reasons to be optimistic about this weekend, including the fact that Bridgestone is bringing its Super-Soft and Medium tyres that have always suited the F10 very well. Throughout the year, it is seen that various teams’ performances have been very much related to the track characteristics, with the exception of Red Bull, who have been competitive everywhere. It will be interesting to see how Ferrari go at the Hungaroring.
Mercedes GP
Championship Position: 4
Points: 132
Despite a disappointing performance in the home race, Schumacher feels positively about Hungary. He said that the team and drivers need to understand the car better and the race in Budapest and constant upgrades will help them in this regard. He also said that in order to improve the situation they need to remain calm, look into the details and analyze the performance of the car. Nico Rosberg said that last race was a disappointment after a podium in Britain and he hopes to put another good performance in Hungary. He said that the team is constantly working and doing a good job on the car but the pace is still lacking. The next race will be very good for testing new upgrades and finding the optimum set-up for the car. Mercedes Vice President Norbert Huag said that the Hungaroring circuit near Budapest is very different to that of the last race in Germany with a slow and twisty layout requiring maximum downforce. One weekend after the home race of Mercedes-Benz, the team wants to achieve a better result than they managed at the Hockenheimring.
Tags: