MF1O Hungarian GP review

By Phil Giles
August 8 2006

Some people have suggested that Formula One is just plain boring. Cars just going round and round and round. Well, I for one hope that they were watching the Hungarian Grand Prix on the weekend and rapidly changing their mind.

Under normal circumstances, most people consider the Hungarian Grand Prix a bit of a procession. Monaco without the walls they've called it but far from it. This circuit has given us some of the most exciting and spectacular races in recent F1 history and Sunday was no exception.

Hoping for a good race from the Midland boys was perhaps a bit optimistic, however a sprinkling of rain changed the complexion of the race for all concerned, Jenson Button especially. However who would have thought that the eighth fastest lap of the whole race was posted by our very own Christijan Albers.

Qualifying just one grid slot behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, Tiago was again our best hope for a steady race and some points. If it wasn't for the cheating German, he may have got one too. I'm still at a loss to see how Schumacher snr wasn't disqualified for cutting the chicane and blocking both Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld. Tiago finished in 10th place, one behind Schumacher who had retired with a broken front suspension. BMW's Robert Kubica finished 8th, scoring a point on his debut only to have it taken away after being disqualified for a weight infringement. This promoted Schuey up into 8th and Tiago into 9th just one lap off a vital point for the team.

Tiago said afterwards: "Obviously, it's great for the team to get another top 10. We were hoping for conditions like this to try and get some points, but unfortunately for us, there are lots of reliable cars out there and we still need a little bit more luck to be able to do that. But in the end, it was a good race. I think we had a great strategy, especially with the tricky conditions. It was very, very difficult to drive initially and I made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the race. It's inevitable when you're trying so hard to push and find the limits in such slick conditions. But once I got settled, the car balance was pretty good and I have to thank the team for giving me a stable and reliable car that could bring me to the finish."

Christijan wasn't overly happy with the teams initial strategy choices. "We made the wrong tyre choice at the beginning of the race. I don't know why; we must analyse why this happened. I was just too slow on our standard wets and I took too long overtaking Tiago early in the race." he said. "The pit stops and traffic were always a problem and I kept having to race off line. But when I finally got on to dry tyres, I was able to push and put in some reasonable lap times. The overall pace is definitely getting better, so I'm feeling positive for the races ahead." Encouragingly optimistic from Christijan who's now looking to stay with the team for 2007.

Dominic Harlow suggested that there's another aero update due on the car as the team will be testing this week in preparation for the Turkish Grand Prix.