[Mark]

2008 - Hungarian Grand Prix Preview








Race Track Diagram:





Location: Nagydij, Budapest

Race Date: 03 Aug 2008

Number of Laps: 70

Circuit Length: 4.381 km

Race Distance: 306.663 km

Lap Record: 1:19.071 - M Schumacher (2004)


Last Year Table:

f1.com text preview:

Can Lewis Hamilton and McLaren continue their triumphal progress on the track at which the Englishman was so dominant in 2007? That is one of the big questions of the weekend, together with whether Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa can get their championship campaigns back in the groove as they challenge the silver arrows.


Testing in Jerez last week tended to be clouded by the fact that several teams chose once again to run 2009 slicks with 2008 aero packages, but both of the top teams are confident of strong performances this weekend. Massa and Raikkonen do not believe there is anything fundamentally wrong with their Ferrari F2008s, while Hamilton believes McLaren have made serious progress in the past month.


Last year the Englishman was embroiled in that celebrated inter-team spat with Fernando Alonso in qualifying, which appeared to have cost the former his shot at the pole until Alonso was docked five grid places. It’s unlikely that Heikki Kovalainen will be anything other than 100 percent supportive of his team mate this time out, but for sure qualifying will be crucially important on a circuit on which overtaking is traditionally so difficult.


The track could also suit BMW Sauber, since it requires similar downforce settings to Monaco, which, walls apart, it so closely resembles in many ways. Nick Heidfeld was on the podium here in 2006 and 2007, and Robert Kubica would like nothing more than to satisfy the strong Polish contingent and to win again on the second anniversary of his Formula One debut. A strong result will also keep his championship hopes on track.

“For sure we can expect a lot of Polish fans in Budapest,” Kubica said. “The Hungarian Grand Prix is the closest race to my home country, so in some way it is my home race. The Hungaroring is the track where I had my first Formula One race in 2006. As a driver you always have a special relationship with the track where you had your first Grand Prix.

“However, it is not for these reasons alone that I like this track. For most of the lap you have some steering angle, which means you rarely get a break, and this is made worse by the fact the straights are very short. The Hungaroring is a difficult track, but then Formula One is about challenges.”


At Renault, Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet will also have anniversaries in the back of their minds.

“I won my first Formula One race at this circuit with Renault in 2003 and it’s a place were I have always gone well,” the Spaniard said. “So I’m happy to go back there again this year and determined to bounce back after my result in Germany.”

The driver who did so well there, Piquet, is on a roll and has fond memories of the Hungaroring GP2 event in 2006.

“That was very special because I won the feature race on the Saturday from pole position and then the sprint race on the Sunday, as well as setting the fastest lap in both races,” he said. “It was definitely one of my best weekends in racing. It’s quite a rewarding track to drive if you can find a good rhythm and it seems to suit my driving style.”


Yet another man pondering anniversaries here is Jenson Button, whose sole Grand Prix success to date came in the rain at the Hungaroring in 2006.

"The Hungarian Grand Prix will always be a special race for me as the venue of my first win in Formula One but obviously I would much prefer to be going back with the chance to challenge for the win again,” he said. “The new parts which we tested in Jerez last week are a small step forward, so it will be interesting to see how this places us in the midfield pack for the race weekend.

“The Hungaroring circuit itself has a good rhythm and a nice mix of slow-speed and high-speed turns. A lap around the circuit is actually quite a challenge because there is no respite and no opportunity to relax your hands, so you are gripping the steering wheel hard the whole time. As a city, Budapest is fantastic and definitely one of the most exciting places that we visit during the Formula One season, with a great atmosphere during the Grand Prix weekend, both in the city and at the circuit.”

The Hungaroring changes throughout a race weekend. It begins dusty and cleans up gradually, so teams have to keep changing set-ups to keep up with its improvement. The possibility of the usual high temperatures and rain could add to the unpredictability of this weekend’s race.

Paddok Pics





Weekend weather update - unsettled conditions forecast





Welcome to the 11th round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring near Budapest. You might not believe it after the similar warnings in Canada, France, Britain and Germany, but for the fifth race in succession the weather could be unsettled this weekend.


It will be partly cloudy on Thursday with an ambient temperature high of 32 degrees Celsius. Showers are expected in the region on Friday, when the temperature will drop to 31, and thunderstorms are forecast on Saturday and Sunday when it will be 32 degrees again.


The race will run over 70 laps of the 4.381 kilometre (2.722 mile) circuit, or 306.663 kms (190.560 miles). It starts at 1400 hrs local time, which is two hours ahead of GMT.







Bridgestone on the challenges of the Hungaroring






The eleventh round of the 2008 FIA Formula One season takes place at the Hungaroring, a circuit located near to the Hungarian city of Budapest, and Bridgestone relishes the challenge of a circuit which presents a unique set of challenges.


“The Hungaroring is certainly a difficult circuit to master from a tyre perspective, and for a number of reasons,” says Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone Motorsport director of motorsport tyre development. “Because it is not an easy track, it is very rewarding to have a tyre that works well.”

Hungary is the slowest permanent race circuit that Formula One visits during the course of the season. Last season the pole position lap around the 4.38-kilometre circuit, after Fernando Alonso was handed a five place grid penalty, was a 1m 19.781s, set by Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren.

The highest speed achieved on a lap is set on the main start/finish straight where cars achieve around 290 km/h. This straight heads straight into the circuit’s slowest corner, Turn One, where cars have to slow to around 90 km/h to make it round the corner.


“The layout of the Hungaroring is tight and twisty,” explains Hamashima, “and the track surface is very smooth, meaning that we need to bring the softest two tyre compounds from our range.”

With the circuit surface in optimum condition grip is at a premium, but because the track is not used as much as most circuits that Formula One visits, the start of a race weekend is usually more difficult for competitors.


“Often we find the Hungaroring to be quite dirty and dusty for the practice sessions and this means that graining is far more likely to occur,” says Hamashima.

Tyre graining happens when the side-forces on the tyre cause the surface rubber to roll up and present a non-uniform contact patch with the road, which affects the grip level.


“Graining occurs on the front left tyre in particular at the Hungaroring, and it is more likely to happen when the track is dirty because understeer occurs as the tyres slide across the track surface.”

As the weekend progresses there should be less graining as a cleaner track with more rubber laid down makes for better grip. “Track conditions are certainly a variable at most tracks we visit, but in Hungary it is more pronounced than we see at most other circuits,” says Hamashima.

Despite the difficulties, this track has good memories for Bridgestone as it was at this venue, in 1997, that a Bridgestone shod car first led a race.


“In 1997 Damon Hill finished in second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix, in what was our first season in the sport, and only our eleventh Grand Prix. A Bridgestone driver had finished second before but to lead the race was very thrilling for us. It was an interesting event. Hill’s Arrows car suited this circuit and he had qualified in third place so we knew we were well placed and it was very nearly a race win.”

Hill’s pace was not just in qualifying. Even though his previous best qualifying position that season had been ninth place, and his best finish eighth, in Hungary he had the measure of his opposition and overtook rivals Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher to take the race lead.


“In our first season our tyres were performing better than expected,” says Hamashima. "However, our tyre performance was somewhat flattered in Hungary as the track requires a soft tyre, but our rival had perhaps gone too soft and they were suffering from blistering in the heat of the race. This was a valuable lesson for us and even though we were so close to having our tyres on the winning car of a Grand Prix it was still satisfying to lead for a while and finish in second place.”