Grand Prix of Hungary 2010 – First Statements
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A special Grand Prix for Massa and Alonso Maranello, 28th July - This year, the Hungarian Grand Prix celebrates its quarter century, the first ever race dating back to 1986, all of them staged at the Hungaroring, outside Budapest. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has won here five times: three of those victories were also one-twos involving permutations of Schumacher and Barrichello. In addition, the Hungaroring witnessed the German clinch the title very early on in the 2001 season, while in 2004 the Scuderia secured that year’s Constructors’ trophy at this event, safe in the knowledge that one of its drivers was assured the Drivers’ crown. But perhaps the Prancing Horse’s most memorable Magyar victory was its first at this track, courtesy of Nigel Mansell in 1989. Conventional wisdom says that only a grid position in the front few rows can deliver the win at a track notorious for the difficulty in overtaking other cars. The Englishman had qualified in a poor twelfth place, complaining of traffic, but he was already up to eighth at the end of the opening lap. Pit stops and two passing moves had him running fifth and then fourth when team-mate Berger pitted. He caught the leaders, passing Prost for third. When the leader Patrese retired, Mansell was second behind Senna and as the two men came up to lap Johansson in the Onyx, the Brazilian hesitated for a fraction of a second and Mansell dived into the lead with a courageous pass to take the win.
This event has a special significance for both of Ferrari’s current drivers: in the case of Felipe Massa, it will be his first visit to the circuit that ended his 2009 season, after he was seriously injured when hit by a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn during Saturday’s Q2. The Brazilian is planning to meet up with the doctors and track personnel who looked after him so well at the time and then he will be hoping for the sort of on-track form that saw him lead sixty laps of his last race here in 2008, before he was sidelined with an engine problem. As for Fernando Alonso, he has happier memories, having recorded his maiden F1 win here in 2003. He revisited the podium in 2004 when he finished third and last year, he started from pole position. Added to that, the Spaniard will celebrate his twenty ninth birthday this Thursday. The track itself is usually popular with the drivers in terms of actually dealing with the interesting challenge of fourteen corners and such a short straight that there is little time to pause for breath, a problem compounded by the bumpy surface. However, on race day, the lack of any real straight, despite the stretch past the pits having been extended a few years ago, makes overtaking a rare commodity. This problem could well be compounded by the lack of strategic opportunities since refuelling was banned. With so many corners, the emphasis is on traction and also braking, given that a very short 4.381 kilometre track requires no less than 70 laps to complete a race distance, second only to Monaco’s 78 on the current calendar. |
Montezemolo: “Ferrari is strong and winning again” Maranello, 28 July – On the eve of the team’s departure for Budapest, at what is a crucial moment in the season, Ferrari President, Luca di Montezemolo chose to send it an encouraging message. “With all the comments made recently, most of them misguided, there is only clear and concrete truth: Ferrari is strong and winning again. That is what I, everyone in the company and our fans wanted.” Everyone at Ferrari was naturally delighted with the fantastic one-two finish in the German Grand Prix last Sunday, which proved assertions that the car had improved considerably over the past few races, even if the results had been lacking. While the quickest car outright in qualifying was still a blue Red Bull, the next two cars on the grid were both red and, in race conditions, it seemed that the Cavallino was quicker than the Bull. It certainly eased the task of packing up the cars and equipment as quickly as possible after the race, as the team transporters headed immediately for Hungary. The engineers returned to Maranello to begin planning for the twelfth round of the championship, in the spirit of keeping the development momentum moving forward, to close the gap to the leaders in both classifications, before flying out to Budapest on Thursday. The German result is also gratifying because a few days after the Hungarian Grand Prix, all work stops at Maranello, as indeed it does for the other teams, during the compulsory Formula 1 shut-down, prior to the following round in Belgium, when more updates can be expected on the car, Meanwhile, the mechanics headed immediately for Budapest, where work on preparing the cars began on Tuesday. The F10s will therefore be essentially to the same specification as in Hockenheim, apart from a few minor updates on the aero front, although they will be set up with more downforce to deal with the requirements of the Hungarian track, where almost all corners are slow to medium speed. Bridgestone brings its Super Soft and Medium compounds this weekend and they have usually been well suited to the Ferrari F10, as was demonstrated in Bahrain, Canada, Valencia and Monaco. However, the use of dry tyres does not seem to be guaranteed for much of the weekend: currently the forecast is for some rain on Friday, thunderstorms on Saturday, with drier conditions prevailing on race day, which sounds like a very similar scenario to the German GP weekend, rather than the inferno of heat that usually characterises this event. |
Massa’s diary: “Budapest, a very special weekend for me” Going back to Budapest will be a very special weekend for me, for reasons which you can all appreciate as it was there, just over a year ago, that I was seriously injured when a spring from another car hit me on the head during Q2 on Saturday afternoon. My first meeting when I arrive at the Hungaroring circuit will be with all the marshals and medical staff who did such a very good job of carefully getting me out of the cockpit. I want to thank these people, with whom I now feel a special bond. I had to stay in hospital for a week after the accident and I got to know the staff, who all treated me so well and one unusual result of the whole unfortunate episode is that I know I now have a lot more fans in Hungary. Quite often this year, at press conferences at the track, journalists ask me if I feel I am back to normal and if I am driving as well as before and my answer is always the same: yes, in terms of my work, absolutely nothing has changed. But as a person, the accident did change me: it made me value life much more than before and I appreciate the ordinary things in life ten times more and it has put life and my health in perspective, not taking anything for granted and not just for me, but also for life in general and what it means to everyone. I know what it means now and I feel I am much more mature as a human being. However, on the professional front, nothing has changed, because once you shut the visor and go out on the race track, you just do everything as before, without thinking of the accident. In Germany, we produced a great team result and if people were asking why Ferrari kept saying for several weeks before that the F10 had improved a lot, they got the answer in Hockenheim. But that does not mean we are sitting on our hands, because there will be even more updates coming this weekend and the result last weekend is motivation for everyone in the team to keep pushing even harder to keep the momentum going, improving race by race. 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, so maybe we can have another very competitive race. Throughout the year, we have seen that various teams’ performance has been very much related to the track characteristics, with the exception of Red Bull, who have been competitive everywhere. So let’s wait and see how we go at the Hungaroring. Personally, I have never had a good result at this circuit, but that has simply been down to circumstances, as I do enjoying driving here a lot and, in 2008 for example, the last time I actually raced here, I led for sixty laps until my engine failed. So all in all, there are many reasons why I am really looking forward to going back to Budapest in a couple of days time. |
Alonso’s diary – A win down to hard work from the team All wins are special. Winning is a great feeling and that was the case in Hockenheim, especially when I think of the huge workload undertaken by everyone at Maranello to achieve this fantastic one-two finish. No one ever gave up and I know how pleased they were to see two Ferraris cross the line ahead of all our rivals. For over a month now we have been saying that we had to get back to winning at least once before the summer break and finally, we did it. We did not have much luck in some races and, because of unusual incidents, we did not pick up the points we deserved. There was a slight feeling of frustration with this lack of results, but at last in Germany, for once we had a normal race on a weekend when he had no problems whatsoever and the result was there for all to see. However, the win does not change my approach to the rest of the season. We knew full before Hockenheim that our car was much more competitive and that was what made me so confident. Now we must continue in this direction, starting this coming weekend in Budapest. The Hungaroring is a special circuit for me. It was here in 2003 that I scored my first Formula 1 win and I was on pole here last year. Returning to that 24th August seven years ago, I don’t remember much about the events of the day, because it was so emotional I had the impression that everything happened incredibly quickly: it would be nice to relive that experience this weekend at the wheel of a Ferrari. The track can almost be described as a go-kart track for Formula 1 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, so it is important not to get impetuous and overcook things, because any mistake is heavily penalised, especially in qualifying. It’s best to stay focussed and concentrate on your own work, trying to put together the perfect weekend, one step at a time. That is what we plan to do, starting on Thursday. I have already said it many times before: there is still a long way to go in the championship and the maths will only be done at the end. |