Formula One Eni Magyar Nagydij 2011

So here we are, the halfway point of the 2011 Formula One season came and went on lap thirty of the British Grand Prix last weekend. For much of part one, Sebastian Vettel was very much the man to beat, and it seemed nobody could stop him on his way to his second world championship. But in the last few races, his momentum has started to slow as McLaren and Ferrari fight back, with Alonso and Hamilton taking wins at Silverstone and Nurburgring. So now we arrive at Budapest in Hungary at the Hungaroring. McLaren and Ferrari are both looking to continue their attack on Red Bull and Vettel, but Seb is hoping to move past the mid-season sputter and get back to his winning ways. Here we go!!

Round XI of the 2011 Formula One season is...

the Eni Magyar Nagydij
(Hungarian Grand Prix)

From the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary



A lap with Michael Schumacher with narration by Martin Brundle:

Number of Laps: 70
Circuit Length: 4.381 km
Race Distance: 306.630 km
Lap Record: 1:19.071 (M. Schumacher- 2004)

2010 Podium Results:
First: M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
Second: F. Alonso (Ferrari)
Third: S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)


2011 Drivers Championship standings after ten rounds (top ten only):
1. Sebastian Vettel (RBR-Renault) - 216
2. Mark Webber (RBR-Renault) - 139
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren-Mercedes) - 134
4. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) - 130
5. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) - 109
6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 62
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 46
8. Nick Heidfeld (Renault) - 34
9. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) - 32
10. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) - 32

2011 Constructors Championship standings after 10 rounds (top five only):
1. RBR-Renault - 355
2. McLaren-Mercedes - 243
3. Ferrari - 192
4. Mercedes - 78
5. Renault - 66

Weather Information:

Rain expected on Friday, temps ranging from 16C to 24C. Saturday to be cloudy, temps ranging from 15C to 24C. And raceday Sunday to be sunny with temps ranging from 15C to 23C.

 

How about everyone who makes a gp thread make the post first and if someone beats you to it then tough boobies.

 

Its all quiet here!

 

You'll never guess what though...

It's actually Tuesday! And there's only a thread now!

Although to be fair, that's because the Hungaroring doesn't get much interest

 

Because it's a rubbish circuit for F1

 

Hungary is always the one I forget about, hence me not thinking about the fact there was none yesterday.

 

It's the Grand Prix of (nation, or event placeholding as a nation because it has an event already)! The (next race) of the season at the (track name) circuit.

(Team) will be good here, as they can take advantage of their (aero/power/potentially illegal cheat device) against the (other team, who had mechanical issues/technical regulation which now reduces their pace/coasting to championship).

There's also the (disappointing team) who (is steadily losing ground/technical director left for another team/lost their sponsor). And this is also an important race for the (backmarker team), because at the (last race) Grand Prix, they (cheated/disqualified/put the car in a crate that was too large for the aircraft, and didn't show up).

This is also an important race for (Grand Prix driver), who is racing in front of his home crowd this weekend. (Another driver) will be looking to (close the points gap/get revenge/bore the crowd by leading every lap), so he can (show off to his VIP visitors this weekend/explain things to his work-release officer/get free champagne).

[You Tube video that will be removed eventually.]

[Other data.]

[More data]

[Photo of racing car with driver skillfully rounding a corner.]

[Prediction based on whim.]

 

Okay. Prediction based on whim. A McLaren 1-2 with Ferrari 3rd and 5th and Red Bull 4th and DNF.

This is a traction circuit and should suit the McLaren. In other words Vettel wins again.

 

You mean Ferrari, their mechanical grip is awesome.

 

Because by the time you make the op, another one might show up. Then the decision will have to be made as to which one is used. Then there's the fact that someone might want to be the first to make it. No problem, so long as someone does it good.

No, this track is a mixture of aerodynamic and mechanical grip, just like Monaco. So, it'll be a toss up between Red Bull and Ferrari, that is, if the conditions are hot. McLaren had the pace in Germany because conditions were cool, and their car is harder on its tyres, so could warm their tyres up better than the other guys. It's almost always very hot in Hungary, so expect McLaren to struggle with tyre wear. As for their pace, they will be a fair bit behind RB and Ferrari, as they don't have better aero or better mechanical grip than either. Renault should do a good job here, the track suits their car well i'd assume.

 

The OP is complete now. I posted the thread before finishing the OP so we wouldn't have any duplicate threads. It would be a shame if you made one and then find that someone beat you to it. And that goes for me or someone else.

I'll say that Vettel will make pole and it will be another procession until the checkered flag. Just like the good ol' days. What happens behind him is still up in the air. It seems like an easy circuit for Vettel that won't provide any fuss, especially with the weather not playing any part in this race.

 

I expect a return to red bull dominance this weekend, this track suits their car perfectly.

 

This.

 

It looks fun to drive on though, judging by the video. It looks fast as hell! There's just no place to pass, really, although DRS is bound to change that up somewhat.

 

Boring races made up for by awesome corners and TREES! Everybody likes trees.

I suspect we'll be seeing a new winner for this race.

 

As I managed to predict correctly last week i'll go again:

Alonso is Ferrari's number 1 no? so he'll be fastest with the grip they have, he'll get pole and win imo. For second I'm thinking Jenson Button, no tactical thinking here just think his luck needs a change lately after the last 2 although I think he'll come second he'll probably qualify 4th/5th.
Now third...Vettel has to be an ovbious choice for a top 3 but I'm going to say Webber for 3rd qualifying around...3rd or so.
vettel 4th, Hamilton 5th and Petrov 6th (little bombshell of sorts)

 

Dont think Hamilton will be 5th, he is on a charge. Beating Massa at Silverstone by inches and having that brilliant win at Nurburgring and the fact Alonso is on similar form and it's a track which suits the Red Bull. This could be an epic race!

 

Massa will win comfortably.



Might as well start doing this every thread.

 

Timo Glock will win comfortably.

Oh, wait, I'm supposed to make predictions not based on the theory of everyone else retiring? Then Vettel wins with Alonso trailing. Button will finish this one and finish out the podium. Massa and Hamilton will tango (or is that tangle?) again, with Massa beating out Hamilton by no more than a car length.

 

That's partly to do with the fact that the op has chosen a video from 2002, when they were using V10 engines. Also, the track has changed since then, with the start finish straight lengthened by 200m, turn 1 has been tightened and turn 13 has been tightened. Kind of a fail on the op's part. No offense astros.

Here is what the track looks like now.

 

Yay, Hungary means the return of live racing in the states!!!!

 

That's because too many people would take a nap on the couch between noon and 2pm if Hungary was shown on Fox Sports.

 

As much as i'd not like that, I second this. I'm seriously hoping to see Webber top Vettel again, he's on a roll, 2 races in a row he's faster than Sebastian, and he did win this race last year.

 

But that was only because of a mistake from Sebastian.

 

Not at all! Its one of the best circuits they go to in my opinion and it will be shame if its ever taken off the calendar.

For me the Hungaroring has the following positives:
-Its a "drivers circuit", i.e. its fantastic fun to drive as the corner combinations flow so well and really challenge the driver, just like Monaco, the old Nordschleife, Oulton Park, etc.
-It represents the North-Eastern European round, as many Finns, Poles, Russians, Austrians, etc don't have a GP and its in a great spot for them all.
-It has frequently thrown up a bizarre race and usually has a new race winner every year.
-Contrary to popular opinion, overtaking is fairly frequent at this circuit compared to most modern F1 circuits. It has 1 more overtaking spot than Catalunya, Monaco, Valencia and Singapore do (in theory those have 0 proper overtaking spots, though they do have frequent places).
-It has produced some very famous moments in F1 racing, e.g. Piquet overtaking Senna on the outside, Mansell taking Senna after a blinding race, Damon Hill sticking an Arrows to near-victory, Schumacher winning on a qualifying-pace 4-stop strategy...

So, going by the tradition of Hungary usually giving a new winner each year, Sebastien Vettel or Felipe Massa should be in line for a race win. Hamilton has won it most recently (07 and 09), Alonso hasn't won it for a while and Jenson so maybe them?

By the way, this circuit was another that Kobayashi proved us all wrong with the "no overtaking" tagline, considering he went from 23rd to finsh 9th here last year, and not all of those were first lap overtakes. Granted, once again we didn't see much of it sadly - just as we again didn't see how he got from 17th to 12th in the first lap last weekend. The FOM TV director needs to split the World Feed screen in two - one for the normal race, one for Kobayashi's onboard!

I also don't get the comments that the top 3 or 4 will be stuck behind each other - as if to suggest its boring! Webber/Alonso/Hamilton and Vettel/Button/Alonso were mostly just behind each other for most of the races at Nurburgring and Monaco and was it boring? Hell no! The tension of watching 3 or 4 drivers push it to the limit for race victory is one of the joys of F1! Who cares if there isn't 100 overtakes? I don't even need 1 for it be exciting.
This is the frustrating thing with DRS - it mostly takes away a lot of the tense, close battles and makes good defensive driving such as Petrov did at the Nurburgring useless. There could have been a great fight between Rosberg, Schumacher and Petrov but because of DRS, Petrov didn't stand a chance. Sure they were going to get past anyway sooner or later, but perhaps the fight might have lasted a few laps longer if DRS hadn't closed them up like that so quickly. Any gap Petrov pulled out over sectors 1 and 2 was gone for sector 3 in one lap.
But at least it hasn't affected the fights at the front, where the cars are fairly equal it seems.

 

3-stop strategy actually, everyone else was doing 2 stops before that race and Schumacher introduced the 3-stopper.

At Magny-Cours in 2004 if I recall correctly he did 4 pitstops and won.

Just pointing it out to everybody and I don't really know why I am.

 

Ah yes, thats correct. But still I seem to recall Schumacher had to pull qualifying-pace laps to make the strategy work?

 

Yes I think he did. It was exciting anyways that's for sure!

I wonder if it will be shown on the BBC classic races slot or will it just be favorites from some driver? Some good races in Hungary in the past.

 

It's on the website anyway. Just google "Andrew Benson's Blog" and go through the archives.