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Hungary 2008 - Qualifying - The overtaking-free track makes grid position super important

Published by Christine

The man is making some tweaks to the new Live Commenting beta page, so I have been entrusted to write my very first Live Commenting opening thread.

What did we learn from Free Practice 3? On the face of it, very little. It was a slow start to the day, and even when cars were out on track, we were getting some very mixed results. Hamilton continued to dominate, and as it's looking very much like a McLaren weekend, we have to look further down the field for any notable scraps.

Räikkönen appeared to be struggling for pace in FP3, although he looks to have chosen the shark fin as a viable aerodynamic option, and may have been fiddling with the setup to accomodate that. Massa continues to be right on Hamilton's tail, so he may opt for a super-competitive qualifying lap to outpace the McLaren in qualfiying.

Renault look to be playing the long game, apparently choosing tyre optimisation over any flat-out lap times, but even so, by the end of the session Piquet still jumped into 5th. Compared to Alonso's 11th, the Spaniard may have something to prove in the qualifying sessions.

At the back of the grid, this may be a perfect opportunity for Force India to finally get into their desired second qualifying session, after both Hondas, Nakajima, and even Webber wound up FP3 towards the lower end of the timesheets. With little overtaking to be had on the Hungaroring, qualifying is going to be super-important for those wishing to fight for points.

Let us know if you are tuning in to watch / listen / read about qualifying, and how you are consuming it. We'll be ogling the Live Timings and watching on ITV. Hopefully 5live will deign to give us some coverage as well, although with Anthony on the box, it's not a difficult choice between the two.

Remember to test out the new Live Commenting for us, it seems to be holding up, and if you spot any problems, I'll get the man straight on it. Enjoy.




The man is making some tweaks to the new Live Commenting beta page, so I have been entrusted to write my very first Live Commenting opening thread.

Event start

13:00GMT +01:00

2 August 2008