Michelin Hungarian GP Preview
By Michelin Press Release
August 11 2004
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| Michelin: Hungarian Grand Prix Preview | |
| Michelin
and its six partner teams return to the track this weekend in the wake of
Formula One’s mid-season mini-break. The Hungarian Grand Prix has been a
permanent fixture on the sporting calendar since 1986, when it made history
as eastern Europe’s first F1 world championship race. Sunday’s event will be
the 19th of its kind and all have taken place at the Hungaroring, less than
half an hour by road from capital city Budapest. The circuit was
significantly revised in 2003, when Michelin scored one of the most emphatic
of its 73 F1 grand prix successes. Fernando Alonso (Renault) led all the way
and finished more than a lap clear of the best non-Michelin runner en route
to becoming the youngest race winner in F1 history. Drivers from four
Michelin teams took a clean sweep of the top seven places. Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director: “Last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix was a spectacular success for Michelin – but you can never take anything for granted in Formula One and we have worked flat out to make sure we are in even better shape this season. The Budapest track presents a number of interesting challenges. Although it is a permanent facility, it is used less frequently than many grand prix venues. This and the dusty local landscape dictate that it is inevitably very slippery to begin with, although it evolves fairly dramatically as the weekend goes on. Even when some rubber has been laid down, however, tyres are still subjected to significant loads because the only straight is relatively short and cars are constantly turning in track temperatures verging on 50 degrees. Whatever the conditions, though, I believe our engineers’ endeavours will give Michelin’s partners an edge in one of the most demanding European races.” Pascal Vasselon, Michelin F1 Programme Manager: “Budapest is spiritually close to Monaco in terms of average lap speeds – but that’s where any similarity ends. While we are able to use our softest compounds of the season in Monte Carlo, the Hungarian Grand Prix is a very tough event for tyres. It used to be incredibly difficult to strike the right balance. Overtaking was almost impossible, so you needed a soft, effective qualifying tyre, but at the same time it had to provide consistent performance during a race stint. “The emphasis changed in 2003, however, when the circuit was revised to create more passing opportunities – and we saw the positive benefits of that during last season’s corresponding event. This has allowed us to adopt tyre compounds better suited to racing conditions.
“This weekend we will offer our
partner teams three dry-weather options from the medium sector of our range
– and one has never previously been used during a grand prix. It was
designed specifically with Budapest in mind and we finalised its
specification last month, during a test session at Jerez.” “When setting up the chassis,
our goal is to look after the rear tyres. With so much acceleration out of
slow corners, this is very much a 'rear-limited' circuit and we have to
protect the car against possible blistering during long race runs. |
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