 |
 |
As it happened: Race day at the Hungaroring
By Geoff Creighton and Emlyn Hughes
The live commentary has ended. No further updates will be posted.
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
| OVERVIEW |
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX |
 |
| CURRENT WEATHER |
 |
 |
Mainly sunny |
High Temp: |
26°C / 79°F |
| Track: |
Dry |
| ABOUT |
 |
Emlyn Hughes and Geoff Creighton are autosport.com's live commentary team. The dynamic duo have developed an inimitable style and a reputation for fast, accurate and insightful commentary. With unrivaled access to events unfolding at the circuit, they bring you the very latest, as it happens.
Bugs and Feedback |
|
 |
 |
The sport has travelled to eastern Europe this weekend for the final race before the four-week summer break, and the chasing pack are keen to make a further dent in Jenson Button's and Brawn's championship lead.
It's the 24th Hungarian Grand Prix from the 4.381 km Hungaroring circuit, near Budapest.
The race itself starts at 12:00 GMT, but before then we will review Saturday's action at the circuit incase you missed it, take a look at this morning's support races as well as updating the latest weather situation. We'll also analyse the weight of fuel onboard each car and what that may mean for the first stint of the race.
McLaren Mercedes was the team on everyone's lips, following their performance on Friday. The 60-minute morning practice session proved that they would be a major force this weekend, as Lewis Hamilton topped the times with 1m21.009s, set late in the hour as the drivers tried out the super-soft tyres.
Nick Heidfeld gave BMW something to smile about with second place, with Nico Rosberg again showing well in third, Heikki Kovalainen backing up Hamilton's speed well in fourth, and Sebastien Buemi fifth for Toro Rosso.
The only major incident during the final practice befell Adrian Sutil, who got a wobble on approaching Turn 8 and crashed into the tyre barrier - giving the Force India mechanics a lot of work to get his car ready for qualifying.
Sutil's car was still under repair as the knockout session began, but the team did a great job to get him out with several minutes remaining in the first period. The German did well given the circumstances, but found himself eliminated in 18th place, along with Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella, Robert Kubica and Jaime Alguersuari.
There would be more chaos in the second phase of qualifying. Many 'big name' drivers found themselves in the dropzone during the 15-minute scramble. Rubens Barrichello suffered a suspension problem on his final run and was unable to improve. The Brazilian was eliminated for the first time this season. Joining him would be Sebastien Buemi, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock and Nelson Piquet.
Just nine cars would take place in the final scramble for the top places on today's grid, following Massa's serious accident at the end of Q2.
Nico Rosberg put down the early marker for the rest to aim at, and predictably they did. Fernando Alonso in the improved Renault R29 posted a great 1m21.569s to go quickest ... and then the timing screens went blank. As the cars came in to parc ferme, the general belief was that Alonso had done enough for pole, but for several minutes no-one was certain.
A short while later the confirmation came through that Alonso had indeed bagged the pole, with Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber second and third, and championship leader Button way down in eighth place.
A few hours after qualifying had been completed, Massa underwent a successful operation on a skull fracture and this morning he remains in stable condition at a Budapest hospital.
Clearly, Massa won't take part in the race today and 19 drivers will start this afternoon's Hungarian Grand Prix, with the cars behind his grid slot each moving up one place. We wish him a safe and speedy recovery.
The British Formula 3 champion learned the circuit and the STR4 simultaneously on Friday, and drove very well in tough conditions. Yesterday he delivered another strong showing both in final practice and then in qualifying itself.
Today, however, he will face the most difficult challenge - that of keeping the car on the island and then dealing with the leaders coming round to lap him. Expect Jaime to leap out of the way when the likes of Alonso and the Red Bulls come through.
Hopefully, Alguersuari will keep his concentration in a long, hot race and bring the car home to cap a wonderful debut in the sport.
Scorching conditions on Friday were followed by the predicted rain early on Saturday morning, with the promise of conditions improving steadily through the remainder of the weekend.
That has come to pass, and today the Hungaroring has basked in the sunshine, with temperatures up slightly from yesterday's values. The top temperature today will be around 26 degrees Celsius, and with prolonged sunshine we can expect the track temperature to approach the 45 Celsius mark.
The strong breeze that has been evident all weekend will continue, from the west, making driving conditions consistent - if a little tricky.
• Will Alonso hold the lead at Turn 1 and make use of his light load to bolt away in the early stages of the race?
• What can Lewis Hamilton do from fourth on the grid with his magic KERS button?
• The Brawns are on a points-salvaging mission today. Where will Button and Barrichello finish?
• Will Jaime Alguersuari complete the job and see the chequered flag in his first grand prix?
Tell the world what you think.
Click the SHOW LIVE FORUM link in the red bar at the bottom of your browser window if you'd like to join the debate.
Russian Sergey Afanasiev took the Master win after beating pole position starter Erik Janis off the start, while Dane Michael Christensen took his third BMW win of the season.
Championship contenders Lucas di Grassi and Romain Grosjean finished thrid and fourth after Javier Villa dropped to fifth with a late spin. Alvaro Parente took the final point in sixth.
Championship leader Jeroen Bleekemolen held of a frantic pack to finish third, from Stefan Rosina, Damien Faulkner and Siso Cunill.
Bleekemolen's consistent string of podium finishes still leaves him well on course to claim the title, with Rast's recent form cementing his position as the closest championship callenger, albeit a long way behind with only three rounds of the series remaining.
With this being as close to a home race as possible for Pole Robert Kubica, much of the support was reserved for him as the flags waved and the airhorns blew.
The 19 drivers are now back in the team hospitality units, preparing for the race.
Fernando is due to stop around eight laps earlier than the pair of Red Bulls behind him and it is likely that he will slip down the order after such an early stop. "We will try (to win) but being honest and realistic, our target is to get some good points," said the Spaniard after the session.
The Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber are in a very good position, with stops planned around lap 18 and the flexibility to adjust their plans based on track position. However, the worry for the championship challengers must be the brace of KERS-equipped cars immediately behind them on the grid.
A chotic start is likely and the outcome of the race will hinge on how far Hamilton, Kovalainen and Raikkonen can leap up the order when they deploy their boost into the first corner.
Nico Rosberg qualified extremely well, with plenty of fuel in his Williams and should score well again today. Jenson Button has work to do from eighth, after a disrupted qualifying effort, and the championship leader will be looking for damage limitation with his heavy fuel load. The Briton needs to stay out of trouble at the first corner but may profit from any collisions in the opening scramble.
The cars outside the top ten are mainly fuelled for a traditional two-stop, with Rubens Barrichello clearly hoping the Brawn will be gentle on its tyres as he challenges with a mammoth one-stop fuel load. Both Force India drivers are also looking at a one-stop strategy, and will be trying to make good progress in the middle of the race.
The drivers will perform radio checks, ensure that the car is functioning properly and get a feel for the track conditions.
Jenson Button, 8th, speaking to British broadcaster BBC
We could have five cars arriving at Turn 1 together here.
We await the lights ...
Fisichella is tailing Barrichello closely and Alguersuari brings up the rear.
Nakajima is being held up by Button in eighth, and is starting to look for a way round the Brawn.
Nick Heidfeld in 15th is close behind Sebastien Buemi.
Hamilton is now as close as he can get to the Renault in dirty air, with Mark Webber moving back in on the lead pair.
Behind them, Nelson Piquet (11th) is holding up Timo Glock and Robert Kubica.
Kimi will be investigated after the race for moves he made off the start.
He resumes 10th, ahead of team-mate Piquet.
Jenson Button is still holding up Kazuki Nakajima. Jarno Trulli is ninth and just over one second behind this fight.
Kimi Raikkonen is also in.
But over the last few laps Piquet is motoring. He has pulled away by a couple of seconds from the Toyota, and he also nails Raikkonen and Weber as the battling leaders exited the pits.
Piquet is now 14th with Nakajima 15th.
Jenson Button reports on the radio that he can't believe the car is so bad to drive at the moment. He is ninth right now and has Piquet and Nakajima climbing all over him.
Jenson Button is eighth and barely able to keep pace with the Toyotas ahead of him. Meanwhile he has to pay attention to his mirrors, because Piquet and Nakajima are right there with him with Nick Heidfeld (11th) is just a further second behind.
Jenson will have to be careful, or he could be shunted out of the points altogether.
To put things in context, Alguersuari is only 20 seconds behind Button in eighth.
Sebastien Buemi has spun at Turn 2 and brings the Toro Rosso into the pits.
The McLaren team expect the Red Bull to stop after Kovalainen, so Heikki really needs to use KERS to push himself by.
Sensibly, he comes into the pits, and rejoins.
Kimi Raikkonen is now over 14 seconds down on the lead after that struggle to get away from his stop.
Raikkonen's robust tactics will be investigated after the race by the stewards.
He has the super-soft tyres for the last stint.
Timo Glock is up to third ahead of his final stop.
Meantime, Alguersuari came out in 15th and is 13.5 seconds behind Fisichella. A good performance from the youngster - it wasn't so long ago that he was six seconds behind the Force India. You would expect him to be dropping away more quickly than this.
Nakajima comes out and he is a couple of seconds behind Button.
A shame for Piquet as he needs all the support he can get from the team as he fights to save his Formula 1 drive. He is seven seconds off the points at the moment.
After a dismal season so far, it has been a brilliant drive from the world champion and he has made the most of a massive upgrade to the McLaren that has propelled the team back into contention at the front of the field.
This is the first win for a Kenetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) car, which Hamilton used brilliantly off the start and in taking a crucial position from Mark Webber early on.
A positive result to give the Scuderia some joy after the Massa crash and injury yesterday.
Heidfeld was 11th, with Piquet 12th, Kubica 13th and Fisichella 14th.
Sebastien Buemi was the last classified finisher in 16th place.
Sebastian Vettel retired in the pits after a mechanical problem, triggered when he made contact with Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap.
Fernando Alonso retired after a pitstop muddle during his first stop. He lost a wheel on the circuit and soon came in to retire with further problems.
Adrian Sutil retired in the pits after just one lap.
The tide is turning and the championship challengers have serious work to do now.
Hamilton and Raikkonen have sent a chilling message to the rest of the teams today - we're back! Not even the dominant Red Bull could cope with the pace of McLaren, and Brawn could only manage seventh with Jenson Button limping home after another disappointing race.
Formula 1 now enters its four-week summer break, but it won't be so relaxing for the championship leaders. In fact, it would be reasonable to think that the performance of the rest will play on Button's mind on every day until the sport reconvenes in late August.
This was the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend on AUTOSPORT Live. We hope you have enjoyed the coverage throughout the weekend and thank you for joining us.
Have a pleasant break and we will see you again for the European Grand Prix at Valencia in four weeks' time.