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Race Preview: Hungary; Round 11
Topic Started: Aug 2 2007, 06:59 AM (206 Views)
Paul_Murtagh
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After what was a dramatic race at the Nurburgring, F1 moves on to it's only Eastern European race in Hnugary. It has a hard act to follow now - the European GP provided some great entertainment from start to finish, beginning with the rain as they started, several drivers spinning off at Turn 1, several position changes and the now infamous on-track battle between Alonso and Massa, where they touched as the Spaniard passed the Ferrari driver. It was just what the sport needed to capture the headlines for all the right reasons after the Stepneygate affair.

At the 'Ring, Ferrari looked the stronger of the top 2 teams in the dry, however once the rain fell it was McLaren who had the advantage with Alonso. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton had a dramatic race, including a spectacular blow-out of his right front tyre during qualifying, then a farce of a race where he puled himself back into contention after going off, only to pit when it seemed he was about to catch the rest of the field. Alonso never seemed to put a foot wrong and took advantage of the slippy track to pass Massa. Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen once again suffered from mechanical problems, and cannot afford another DNF this season if he is to challenge for the title.

Third-placed BMW Sauber threw away their chances of extending their lead over Renault by colliding with each other at the second corner. They will need to get back on form if they are to continue to maintain a comfortable distance between themselves and Renault, who looked strong in the closing stages of the European race. However their lack of pace in practice suggests they are beginning to struggle, and could lack pace compared to the BMW's at the Hungaroring.

Red Bull had a bit of an odd weekend that ended with a great result. After sending Coulthard out too late in qualifying and leaving him down in 20th, they profited from the rain and by the time of the restart they were up in 3rd and 4th. Webber was the one who grabbed the podium with DC slipping down to 5th, but a repeat performance shouldn't be possible unless we have similar weather conditions. And their junior team Toro Rosso are a team in dissarary - both their drivers spinning out early last time out, resulting in a confrontation between Scott Speed and team manager Franz Tost. The result - Speed being replaced by BMW test driver Sebastian Vettel for the rest of the season.

And spare a thought for poor Marcus Winkelhock. Named as a temporary replacement for the sacked Christijan Albers, the team took a gamble by sending him out on wet tyres at the start, and when the rain came down it left him comfortably in the lead in the slowest car on the grid when everyone stopped and pulling away. But this weekend, after one race, he has been replaced by former Super Aguri driver Sakon Yamamoto who will drive for the team for the rest of the season.

So can the Hungaroring produce just as much entertainment as the Nurburgring? Last year it did, but like the Nurburgring this was down to the weather. With it's tight and twisty nature, and the dust gathering off-line all weekend, it can be a tedius track from a spectating point of view. But you never know - once again F1 can gain the headlines on-track and not from the courts
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