[Official] Round 11- Hungarian Grand Prix

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Sorry about the delay, been flat out all week!
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After Sebastian Vettel’s dominant start to the season recent races have seen the reigning world champion stutter with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton winning the last two races at Silverstone and the Nurburgring. Their recent successes have buoyed the paddock with a belief that while Vettel is still firmly in the ascendancy that there is now potential for him to be forced to sweat it out for his second championship.

The Hungaroring Circuit

While not universally praised the Hungaroring is one of the more challenging circuits facing the teams and drivers throughout the season.

The challenge of Hungary is not found in fast corners that demand bravery from the drivers. The inherit difficulties of the Budapest venue is that the circuit is one of the most technical on the calendar.

Drivers are constantly active on a lap of the Hungaroring with no time to rest during the entire duration of the race.

Last year’s winner, Mark Webber, was one of many drivers to emphasise that point:

“The track is pretty short and very technical,” commented the Australian. “So it's a busy lap for us. There are limited places for overtaking, so we'll see how the DRS helps with that this year. The Hungaroring should suit our car well, we were very strong there last year and more of the same this year would be good.”

The performance of the Red Bull is sure to be one of the key developments of the weekend. The team has clearly lost a considerable amount of their early season speed advantage and with Alonso having taken the most points over the course of the last three races it is clear that this race is pivotal for Red Bull.

With the three break upcoming and the enforced factory shutdown whichever team wins this weekend can take crucial momentum into the rest of the season.

Red Bull’s struggles in recent races have been linked to their inability to maintain tyre life throughout race stints. This was perfectly illustrated at the Nurburgring by their inability to keep Webber in the lead after pit stops.

The Australian took pole position and it was clear that Red Bull had the fastest car once again in Germany but in race trim the ultimate pace of a car is less important because of the refueling ban. Tyre life has become the most important factor in race pace.

The main issue afflicting Red Bull seems to be linked to the amount of time it takes to get their tyres up to temperature. The team gains an advantage in qualifying because their tyres get into their optimum operating window before their single Q3 qualifying lap but in race trim this leads to their tyres losing grip earlier than their rivals.

Ferrari has found a great balance between qualifying speed and optimum race tyre life; this has been shown by Alonso’s performance since the Canadian Grand Prix. The other factor that will affect tyre life this weekend is the track surface. Renault’s Nick Heidfeld commented on this:

“It's a very twisty, tight circuit with tarmac that normally gives the cars high grip so it's good fun to drive and I'm looking forward to it.”

Setup challenges of the Hungaroring

Hungary is generally compared to Monaco in terms of car setup. Maximum downforce is required and quick direction change is a necessity for this track that constantly has driver getting ready for the next corner.

Williams' technical director, Sam Michael, commented on the challenges facing teams this weekend:

"Budapest is a high downforce circuit, with lots of slow speed corners,” said the Australian. “It has quite a bumpy track surface compared to normal. Usually there is a reasonable improvement in grip as the weekend progresses due to the dusty nature of the circuit. We will have new bodywork to test on the Friday, and we will also run KERS on both cars."

In the lead up to this race Williams announced that the Korean Grand Prix will be Michael’s last race with the team following their much publicised technical shakeup. The Australian though is clearly fired up to end his time with the team on a high note and with Rubens Barrichello having won here in the past the team is expecting a strong showing this weekend.

Due to its tight and twisty nature qualifying has traditionally been key at the Hungaroring. This season with DRS and the new Pirelli tyres could allow a driver to move through the field with greater ease but qualifying off the front two rows will still make for a very difficult race on Sunday.

Renault’s technical director, James Allison, knows that this is the primary challenge for teams this weekend:

“Getting a good qualifying lap will involve having a car which has a good high downforce setup and is able to cope with some of the bumps around the track.”

Alison went on to comment on the fact that track evolution will also play a key role over the weekend.

“It is tough for race engineers and drivers alike. Setup changes normally yield results which are of the order of 0.1sec/lap, but the track evolution can be over 1sec/lap. The challenge is the same for all teams however.”

Strategy for the Hungarian Grand Prix

The layout of the Hungaroring means that tyres take a pounding at the venue. With lots of slow speed second and third gear corners it is very easy to overheat tyres. This issue is also compounded by the fact that there are numerous long corners during the lap, corners like turn five, put considerable load on the outside tyres.

Any driver that can keep as smooth a line and throttle position through the corner will help tyre life and could be the difference between making a two stop strategy pay off rather than use an additional stop due to tyres “falling off the cliff.”

This phrase was key in the early races of the season but, by and large, teams have now found out how to avoid this. High temperatures are expected for Sunday and this could be the first time in recent races that the Pirelli tyres will be used in such conditions. This could play a key role during the proceedings.

Sauber confirmed that they would field an unchanged driver lineup next year and with Kamui Kobayashi enjoying a strong season the Japanese star could be well placed to cap off a great week with another strong race by taking advantage of a two stop strategy.

Can Red Bull regain the initiative?

Red Bull’s early season dominance saw Vettel take six victories in the opening eight races but the German had some very tight battles in Malaysia, Monaco and Spain. The race pace discrepancy of Red Bull versus the rest of the field was quite large but the inherit speed of the RB7 allowed the team to still win races.

With Ferrari and McLaren improving their one lap qualifying speed the challengers are now close to be being on par in qualifying but have, in the last two races, been faster on race day.

This weekend’s race will be very telling for Red Bull as to whether they can regain their race day form and take their first win since Valencia. Mark Webber has stood on the lowest step of the podium for the last four races and the Australian has clearly gotten on top of his early season issues adapting to the Pirelli tyres. Last year Webber won in Hungary and his improved form could play a key role in the championship with Alonso and Hamilton sure to be thrilled at the prospect of another competitive car taking points off of the reigning champion.

Webber was clearly fired up in Germany following the team orders in Silverstone but the Australian now knows that it is crucial that he starts to take advantage of his Red Bull and starts to win races this year.

Since winning in Canada Jenson Button has taken just eight points and the former world champion knows that it is very important to overcome his recent retirements in Britain and Germany.

The McLaren driver has been driving well in 2011 but after Hamilton bounced back to form last weekend it is crucial that the Woking based team get both drivers back to the front of the field challenging for victories.
Hamilton has always gone well in Hungary and is the only other driver on the grid, apart from Michael Schumacher, with multiple victories at the venue including a stunning win two years ago.

Coming on the back of his stunning victory in Germany, which Hamilton proclaimed as the best race of his career, it is clear that the Englishman is racing at the top of his game.

The battle between Hamilton and Alonso in Germany was thrilling but unless Ferrari has improved their slow speed corner performance it is unlikely that he will be able to challenge for the victory.

As a result it seems that Alonso may have to consolidate his title bid with a strong podium finish that will allow him to carry his strong momentum into the summer break before the Ferrari can stretch its legs at Spa and Monza.
This weekend’s race looks set to be a battle between Vettel, Webber and Hamilton but the fact that Alonso’s Ferrari is incredibly kind on its tyres could play a key role in the outcome of proceedings.

Sauber and Force India ready to push

In the midfield battle Mercedes have admitted that they are fighting a losing battle with their 2011 car. The team started the year in good form but their development has been disappointing throughout the season and now Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher are likely to be saddled with an increasingly uncompetitive car until season’s end.

This is great news for teams like Sauber and Force India. Both will have upgrades this weekend and with Sauber eager to hold onto a top six finish in the constructors’ championship it is clear that the Swiss team will be eager to push their development to the limit to aid Kobayashi and Perez until the close of the season.

Force India enjoyed a strong outing in Germany with Adrian Sutil returning to form. The German has been overshadowed by his rookie team-mate, Paul di Resta, in 2011 but in recent races his pace has improved and now the Silverstone based squad have two viable points’ scorers at each race.
The same cannot be said for Renault. The squad has struggled in recent months to regain their early season form and with Bruno Senna taking to the track in FP1 it is clear that the team are now looking towards next season and evaluating whether the Brazilian is a viable race driver in the future.

Williams have finished in the points the last two races, Barrichello finishing ninth both times, and the Cosworth powered car is clearly returning to competitiveness. This is one of Barrichello’s favourite tracks and the Brazilian will be looking to add to his ten top ten finishes at the venue.

His team-mate, Pastor Maldonado, has done well in his rookie season and having been victorious in GP2 in Hungary he is clearly confident ahead of the weekend:

"I really like the Hungaroring,” said the rookie. “I won the main race last year in GP2. The track is really slow speed so we might need to change our set-up quite a lot to adapt to that kind of circuit. There isn't a single corner I like more than any other, I just like the track as a whole."

F1 2011 revolves on Pirelli tyres

Pirelli are clearly looking forward to the challenges of this weekend’s race with motorsport boss, Paul Hembery, saying:

"Hungary certainly couldn't be more different to the races we have seen recently, as we found out when we went to the Hungaroring for our first season of the GP3 series last year. However, as the GP3 tyres are completely different to those we race in Formula One, there's not much that we learned apart from an initial idea of what to expect: high temperatures and a slippery track surface.

"The big challenge for the teams and drivers is going to be keeping tyre wear under control in the warm conditions, but we have used the P Zero Yellow soft tyre in warm weather before and it has shown good performance. The supersoft tyre is almost certain to result in some quick qualifying laps but obviously it doesn't have the same resistance to wear. How the teams juggle the parameters of speed and durability will once again form the key to their different strategies. There has been plenty of drama at the Hungaroring in the past and with so many new elements to the racing this year, I hope we're in for another exciting grand prix."

Weather for this weekend

Rain has followed Formula 1 around the globe in 2011 and this weekend’s proceedings will also be under threat of poor weather coming into play. Dark skies will be a feature throughout the weekend, with rain a possibility on Saturday, but blue skies and high temperatures are expected for the race.