Hungarian Grand Prix Preview

By SAUBER PETRONAS
August 9 2004

For the 13th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring on 15 August, SAUBER PETRONAS will have a further refined aerodynamic package to generate maximum downforce.

Giancarlo Fisichella (135 GPs, 13 points 2004):

The Hungaroring is one of my favourite circuits. It´s twisting, demanding, and has lots of corners that flow one after another in combinations of medium- and low-speed. The ambient and track temperatures are always high, so it´s hard physically and mentally. I like that. The 2004 Bridgestone tyres will be much better suited to the track, after the company has made big steps forward, and this will go hand-in-hand with the major step we made with our lower engine cover at Silverstone.

Felipe Massa (28 GPs, 5 points 2004):

The Hungaroring is a bit like a kart track, and although I haven´t seen the modifications that were made since I was last there I think the character changed only slightly. It´s a tough place. The straights are so short that you can never relax there, it´s one corner coming after another. So it´s doubly important to keep your concentration. It´s very difficult to overtake there. You need a speed advantage around two seconds a lap to be able to overtake on track, as opposed to in the pits.

I´m looking forward to the race. I had a very good one in 2002 when I finished seventh after all of the top teams´ cars finished, and I fought my team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella (who was at that time with Jordan) all the way. This year I know Bridgestone will have a good tyre for the track, so hopefully I can score a similar result to earn some more points for the team.

Willy Rampf (Technical Director):

The Hungaroring shares two things with Monaco: it requires maximum downforce, and it is very hard to overtake there. It can also be one of the hottest races: it is common for this circuit to require the most cooling we can muster. This is partly because of the very high ambient and track temperatures, and partly because of the nature of the circuit. The straights are short, the corners follow one another very quickly, and none of them are really high speed. This means that ducting and hot air extraction are critical factors, and this is an area in which we are very strong.

Then there is the tyre wear factor. The Hungaroring has low grip because the surface is often dusty, so degradation can be high because the car will slide around a lot and the sequencing of the corners gives the tyres little respite from side loadings. That´s why you need such high downforce, but traction is also vital, together with decent balance and good turn-in.

Generally this is a three-stop race; in 2003 eight of the first nine cars stopped three times. I am confident that Bridgestone will give us a strong tyre for the conditions we expect. We cannot test prior to the race because of the summer break, but we will have more new aerodynamic parts from the wind tunnel at Hinwil.