2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

User avatar
TwistedArmco
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 2010
Joined: 30 May 2008, 18:44

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 27 Jul 2009, 15:57

phil1993 wrote:Maybe McLaren will win the next 7 races and Hamilton will win the title by 1 point from Button who will finish the next 7 races 6 or 7th with Webber and Vettel struck by bad luck in terms of reliability and Barrichello slow :rofl:
If that heppens, I will find you and kill you. Slowly. :p
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 27 Jul 2009, 16:01

TwistedArmco wrote:
phil1993 wrote:Maybe McLaren will win the next 7 races and Hamilton will win the title by 1 point from Button who will finish the next 7 races 6 or 7th with Webber and Vettel struck by bad luck in terms of reliability and Barrichello slow :rofl:
If that heppens, I will find you and kill you. Slowly. :p
Heppens? Is that German for 'happens' - is this some sort of war?

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 27 Jul 2009, 16:04

What I don't understand is how Hamilton was so supreme in S2? S2 consists of fast, sweeping bends: something which the McLaren has struggled with. If they've solved those problems they're gonna dominate Valencia with the long run down to T1 and heavy braking zones and long straights (KERS)

User avatar
Ali
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 2476
Joined: 07 Oct 2007, 21:13
Location: Istanbul
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by Ali » 27 Jul 2009, 16:24

phil1993 wrote:What I don't understand is how Hamilton was so supreme in S2? S2 consists of fast, sweeping bends: something which the McLaren has struggled with. If they've solved those problems they're gonna dominate Valencia with the long run down to T1 and heavy braking zones and long straights (KERS)
Let's say "competitive", not supreme. McLaren's and Raikkonen were the fastest drivers in S1 due to KERS but they were giving away some tenths in S2. Hamilton's times though were very competitive in this sector but not supreme.

Here is the best S2 times:

[pre]NO DRIVER TIME
14 M. WEBBER 29.569
4 K. RAIKKONEN 29.625
16 N. ROSBERG 29.775
10 T. GLOCK 29.812
22 J. BUTTON 29.832
7 F. ALONSO 29.843
1 L. HAMILTON 29.899
12 S. BUEMI 29.967
15 S. VETTEL 29.991[/pre]
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying" -Woody Allen

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 27 Jul 2009, 16:50

oh my bad I must have got confused. But its still a mega improvement.

User avatar
megasyxx
F1 Routinier
F1 Routinier
Posts: 5873
Joined: 10 Apr 2007, 18:30
Location: Pasig City, Metro Manila PH

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by megasyxx » 27 Jul 2009, 17:26

phil1993 wrote:Maybe McLaren will win the next 7 races and Hamilton will win the title by 1 point from Button who will finish the next 7 races 6 or 7th with Webber and Vettel struck by bad luck in terms of reliability and Barrichello slow :rofl:
it might happen you know.. :n some sort of luck needed > like someone winning a 100 million $ lottery jackpot in his first and only attempt.
Image

User avatar
Ali
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 2476
Joined: 07 Oct 2007, 21:13
Location: Istanbul
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by Ali » 27 Jul 2009, 19:00

This season is really a very interesting one, if not the most compelling season we have ever had in the entire Formula 1 history. Level of the competition can well and truly be seen in the qualification format having been brought to the sport in 2006. Unlike the previous years, teams now would have to be dead sure whether they are thru the next session. They can’t afford to wait in the pit and see what the others are doing. They must be on track and do some work. Let's see the situation in Hungaroring in 2008 to demonstrate what I mean. In last year's Hungarian GP, all drivers did 14,75 laps in average in Q1, Q2 and Q3. Do you know what the number of this year is? 27,65! Since nobody's place is guaranteed, teams prefer being on track to improve their lap times, instead waiting in the pit, as we saw it may lead very damaging consequences for some. Let's make a comparison again with 2008 Hungarian GP in terms of lap times. In 2008, the difference between the worst time and the best time in Q1 was 3 seconds, while the difference in this year is just 1 second, even though we had a über-rookie in the field. He even was just 1 second off the pace. So that means 20 pilots were separated within 1 second which further means that each driver was separated by only 0.05s. It is just amazing.

In a season characterized by such a competition, a team who was 2,5 seconds off the pace in pre-season tests could manage to return to winning ways after just 6 months in a dominant fashion. McLaren deserved this win, traces of which was apparent in German GP. If it weren’t for the puncture, Lewis could have shown what this car were capable of. This guy is really amazing. Although I don't like him, I do respect his talent. He of course did some stupid mistakes but when he is meant to business, he mostly delivers it. Hats-off to both McLaren and Hamilton. Anyway, it was the first victory of Martin Whitmarsh after he took over the role from Ron Dennis.

2006 was a winless season for McLaren after a decade and will 2009 be the same for Ferrari after sixteen years later? Ferrari’s last winless season was back in 1993 (and to some extent 2005, I don't dare calling US GP a win) and it gets very unlikely for them to be on the top spot of the podium. Raikkonen’s form was very encouraging in Hungaroring, although he lost a bit of time in traffic. Hungarian GP was the best chance for Ferrari to win a GP this season. I pretty much doubt whether they will manage it in the upcoming races. We’ll see.

It is a different story for Brawn nevertheless. They were leading the pack by quite a margin and now did they become a midfielder? Absolutely not but then what just happened? This team crashed all of their opponents just 3 races before. What is intriguing is that nobody understands what’s going on. Jenson Button does not know, neither does Ross Brawn. James Allen suggests that improvements made to the BGP001 were in wrong direction, diminishing the tyre advantage which Brawn enjoyed until now. Button's fastest lap was 0,8s slower than Webber’s fastest lap and just 0,7s faster than Alguersuari’s lap time. Red Bull picked a total of 42 points (24 Webber, 18 Vettel), where Brawn took 18 (9 Button, 9 Barichello) points in the last three races. Button's lead to his nearest Brawn competitor had increased to 32 points after Turkish GP, which now has been eaten to 18.5 after Hungarian GP. If this tendency will continue, the difference is to melt rapidly, making Webber or Vettel be the championship leader in Japan.

We should also talk about Williams and Rosberg, who always managed to place his car in a point paying position for the 6 consecutive races. Despite the fact that they started the season with a diffuser advantage, they fell back taking points but they kept pushing and improving their car remarkably. In order to explain what I mean, here is some statistics. Williams picked only 4,5 points in the first 4 races, where they were supposed to crack the code of points as they had diffuser, while the others did not. However, they managed to improve his car so fantastically that they took more points in just one race than those of first four races in a more competitive environment where Ferrari and McLaren improved massively. Second hats-off to Williams and Rosberg.

The last but not the least hat is off for über-rookie Jaime Alguersuari from Spain. He did everything right in his first outing, managing to leapfrog his team mate. Although he started his carrier on a highly technical track, he looked very promising for the future. Good for him.
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying" -Woody Allen

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 27 Jul 2009, 19:11

Nice report Ali. I will write one tomorrow, I am very tired now :p

User avatar
TwistedArmco
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 2010
Joined: 30 May 2008, 18:44

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by TwistedArmco » 27 Jul 2009, 20:22

phil1993 wrote:
TwistedArmco wrote:
phil1993 wrote:Maybe McLaren will win the next 7 races and Hamilton will win the title by 1 point from Button who will finish the next 7 races 6 or 7th with Webber and Vettel struck by bad luck in terms of reliability and Barrichello slow :rofl:
If that heppens, I will find you and kill you. Slowly. :p
Heppens? Is that German for 'happens' - is this some sort of war?
lol, I just don't want you to jinx my sporting experience for the rest of the year.
No, I'm not calmer. Just more jaded.

User avatar
SHINLAZER
kart driver
kart driver
Posts: 50
Joined: 26 May 2007, 04:01
Location: Dominican Republic
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by SHINLAZER » 28 Jul 2009, 00:17

thanks for the videos
Image

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 28 Jul 2009, 08:57

Such is the competition in the 2009 season, Fernando Alonso found himself top of the timesheets, while they lasted, in Q1 only to be knocked down to 15th and perilously close to being eliminated. In this session, all 20 cars were covered by around a second, even with a 19 year old who had only completed less than 3 hours in a 2009 spec F1 car.

McLaren have completed an amazing turn around in fortunes, from struggling to escape Q1 in Silverstone to winning the race, and by some margin, in Hungary. Hamilton was supreme through S1 and S3 in the race, but S2 was his down point, being 0.3s slower than Webber in a 30 second sector, which could prove to be a downside for Valencia and the upcoming races, but a few months ago they would have been 1 second slower in this sector, so McLaren could be the key in deciding which direction the championship goes, and Hamilton has already declared his support for his compatriot. McLaren will also enjoy the long straights and heavy braking zones of Valencia, as should Brawn, where they can utilise the power of the Mercedes engine, and, in McLaren's case, enjoy KERS to the maximum.

Brawn, however, have gone from dominant pacesetters to midfield strugglers - the car having gone from "a monster of a car" to "how can it be so bad to drive" in just under 2 months. Jenson's 4 in a row will now seem like a distant memory for the team with the excuse of tyre temperatures out of the window - something has been put on the car which has made the tyres more difficult to manage than in previous races, such as Melbourne or Monaco, where the car was kinder to its tyres. Brawn can take some satisfaction in the prediction that Valencia should be sunny and hot, but the next race at Spa is likely to have similar conditions to the Nurburgring at a track that should suit the Red Bulls.

Red Bull were also surprisingly slow, although part of that is due to a different strategy for Webber, which saw him use the option tyres at a different phase to everyone else and he came alive in the last stint, setting personal bests and subsequently setting the fastest lap, the first of his career. Vettel on the other hand had a poor weekend. He struggled for pace in Friday practice and was complaining of the "temperatures of the tyres being sky high", however, he nailed a lap in Q3 for a front row starting position but was brushed by Raikkonen at the start and his race was effectively over, however, this shows problems with the reliability of the Red Bull RB5 if a slight brush like that caused a major suspension problem that made the car impossible to handle. How often does a driver win a championship with 4 retirements in a season... and there have only been 10 races - not a great statistic for Vettel, who, on his day such as in Silverstone, can be unstoppable. Red Bull's problem will come in the shape of four letters - KERS. They are now in a position to dominate, like Brawn were, but keep getting mobbed at the start by the KERS-equipped cars and their races are ruined. Brawn didn't have this problem due to the poor pace of the Renaults, BMWs (who have now dropped the system), Ferraris and McLarens in the first half of the season.

Toyota have failed to live up to expectation, although they got both cars in the points for the first time in many races and Glock was very fast when it counted. Williams, despite failing to gain any advantage with the diffuser at the start of the season, are proving to be a real force and Rosberg, who has taken 14 points in 3 races, could also be a deciding factor in the direction of the title, although speculation continues about his future, he has moved into best of the rest in 5th place in the championship, ahead of Trulli and the unfortunate Massa.

Ferrari claimed their best result of the season in a difficult weekend, although speculation continues with Alonso and the 'will he, won't he' factor, which now could be decided as early as a few weeks should Renault's ban be upheld. This was Ferrari's best hope of the season and they will be thoroughly disappointed not to win, despite Raikkonen's awesome start, but they probably don't much care for race results, as long as Felipe is okay and they gave him a heartwarming message prior to the start of the race.

Renault had one of their worst races for years, and because of this, are going to miss Valencia. They didn't tell Alonso about the problem and it was a huge hazard for fans, marshalls, photographers and fellow competitors. It may be a bit harsh, but deserved, considering the circumstances.

Force India failed to live up to their pre-race hope and Buemi was poor, despite a career best 10th on the grid. BMW still have just a dismal 8 points.

The final word must go to Jaime Alguersuari who matched and then beat his team mate Buemi without putting a foot wrong

User avatar
Ali
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 2476
Joined: 07 Oct 2007, 21:13
Location: Istanbul
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by Ali » 28 Jul 2009, 09:05

Thanks phil, it was an article nice to read :thumbsup:
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying" -Woody Allen

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 28 Jul 2009, 09:38

Thanks Alios. Nice to be appreciated

User avatar
blizzard
F1 Driver
F1 Driver
Posts: 1169
Joined: 15 Jun 2008, 15:07
Location: Duisburg, Germany

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by blizzard » 28 Jul 2009, 12:55

I must say Lewis gained a fair amount of credit from me for that race.

He drove good and focused. None of that sometimes pathetic stuff we saw last season. The talent was always there, he only needed to get his mindset right. Maybe races like Istanbul have helped him to find himself.

Having said that, I still think he could be a more likeable person, if he wasn´t driving for McLaren and Anthony wasn´t his manager.


btw: Does anybode else think that Phil Prew´s voice sounds weird? :blink:
Image

User avatar
phil1993
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 25503
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 17:32
Contact:

Re: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Post by phil1993 » 28 Jul 2009, 16:47

blizzard wrote:I must say Lewis gained a fair amount of credit from me for that race.

He drove good and focused. None of that sometimes pathetic stuff we saw last season. The talent was always there, he only needed to get his mindset right. Maybe races like Istanbul have helped him to find himself.
True. IMO he's driving better this year than last (except for Silverstone 08) - he made mistakes but only because the car is c**p. When you have a good car it is not possible to make the mistakes! (that makes sense right? :p) - and he proved that on Sunday; he was blisteringly quick and a hell of a lot faster than Heikki. Yes, its a McLaren track, but he was still supreme. As Brundle said, he was composed when he lost his position to Webber, whereas last year he probably would have lost a wheel with a banzai move

Locked