Tweet from @clubforce: Weather update. Still very damp with the odd spit of rain. Very overcast. Likely to be a damp start.
Tweet from @MyTeamLotus: General feeling is this could be a very interesting race - changeable weather and a greasy track is just what we want!
Tweet from @radarguruf1: #F1 radar update 12:25 CET: Slovakia showers decreasing to drizzle as they cross Hungarian border. Patchy drizzle risk for the next hour.
If you're watching the race today, please do join in the comments over on Sidepodcast - https://sidepodcast.com/dashboard
The direct thread has a poll for you - will Jenson Button be able to get to the end of the race today? https://sidepodcast.com/post/live-hungary-2011-the-race
Felipe Massa managed to outqualify Fernando Alonso for the first time yesterday, with a pretty impressive lap at the very end of the session.
Jenson Button will start from the second row, having qualifying third, and is celebrating his 200th Grand Prix this weekend. He's already had cake and everything.
Although Vettel is back in front, the victory could be anyone's given the conditions and the increased competitiveness of the top runners. Who will take victory today?
Pos | Driver | Total |
---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | 6 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | 2 |
3 | Jenson Button | 1 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | 1 |
Tweet from @InsideFerrari: Intermittent rain at the moment: asphalt still very humid
If you're hankering for more information as the race creeps closer. Here's live timing: http://www.formula1.com/live_timing/
Tweet from @ubaidparkar: Seven former Hungarian GP winners are in the this year's race: Schumacher, Barrichello, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Kovalainen and Webber #F1
Sébastian Buemi qualified 18th for Toro Rosso, but takes his five place penalty from Germany - a penalty he believes is too harsh - and will start 23rd.
Hungaroring, Hungary | |
---|---|
Local timezone | +0200 GMT |
First race | 1986 |
Number of laps | 70 |
Circuit length | 4.381km |
Race distance | 306.630km |
Start offset | 0.040km |
Yesterday post-qualifying, Mark Webber seemed baffled as to his lack of pace, saying: "Bizarre. I couldn't, no way I could do that lap time. Absolutely no way. Did my best, had a few KERS issues in the middle of the session, but I had it back for the last runs. 19s are a different zone to me."
If you missed any of qualifying, or want a reminder, the FBFB replay is here: https://sidepodcast.com/post/hungary-2011-qualifying-highlights and results: https://sidepodcast.com/post/hungary-2011-qualifying-results
Tweet from @gcreighton: Still drizzle in the air with 40 minutes to the start. FIA declare change in climatic conditions, allowing cooling tweaks. #F1
Great picture from @NobleF1 showing the dry line on the grid, a bonus for Hamilton at this point.
Although... Tweet from @Formula1_com: #F1 The rain has started to pick up, most drivers will be heading out on intermediates
The pitlane opens, the engines roar and the cars start to head out towards the grid.
The BBC show footage of Button's 200th GP party, with loads of people turning up to celebrate with him. Both Ferrari drivers were keen to congratulate him.
Tweet from @InsideFerrari: A front wing change in Felipe's car...
Replays show as Massa was making his way to the grid he ran wide off track, slipping off the kerbs.
Here's the top ten on the grid.
1 | S Vettel | Red Bull |
2 | L Hamilton | McLaren |
3 | J Button | McLaren |
4 | F Massa | Ferrari |
5 | F Alonso | Ferrari |
6 | M Webber | Red Bull |
7 | N Rosberg | Mercedes |
8 | A Sutil | Force India |
9 | M Schumacher | Mercedes |
10 | S Pérez | Sauber |
There are plenty of umbrellas on the grid too, sheltering the drivers from the conditions.
Interview with Jenson Button on the grid: "It's not that wet, but it's very slippery. Struggling to get heat in the tyres. It's going to be a pretty interesting first couple of laps. In certain areas, it's quite dry, the circuit, but surprisingly slippery."
The official Meteo-France pitlane weather shows: "Start of the Race with light rain."
(source Mercedes GP) | |
Average speed | 196kph |
Full throttle | 57% |
Gear changes | 51 per lap |
Interview with Paul di Resta as he walks to or from the grid: "It's pretty miserable. The forecast didn't predict this at all either, it just seems to be developing over the track. I'd say it's going to be pretty tough at the beginning, certainly to manage the tyres and see how the strategy pans out. It's slippy but it's definitely inters, the wet tyres would just destroy itself here."
Pastor Maldonado on the grid, via @WilliamsF1Team.
Turn 1 | |
---|---|
(forecast data from Brembo) | |
Initial speed | 309km/h |
Final speed | 98km/h |
Stopping distance | 113m |
Braking time | 2.21s |
Maximum deceleration | 5.23g |
Maximum pedal load | 135kg |
Mark Webber is strolling alongside his car, he looks deep in thought.
Interview with Felipe Massa: "I think it will be difficult, we saw that it's a little bit drier on the inside. The race is long, I hope we can do the best we can. It's very slippery, especially at the beginning until the tyres are getting warm, so we need to take care at the beginning."
Interview with Ross Brawn: "I think it is an inters start, presumably without a safety car because this sort of sprinkling of rain is predicted for the next 10-15 minutes. The key points then is when you get on the drys and where it goes from there. We haven't seen any rain coming for the rest of the race but it's possible because the showers seem to be forming over the mountains."
Toro Rosso are marking their 100th Grand Prix this weekend as well. Lots of pit board celebrations so far.
Interview with Christian Horner on the grid: "Alonso is going to be a factor. We know that Lewis and Jenson will be quick in these conditions. These are probably the worst conditions for a motorrace on the pitwall where it's right on the borderline of wet conditions but you know, strategy is going to be important today, reading the weather is going to be crucial, communication with the drivers is going to be essential, but it's the same for everybody so it's going to be a fascinating race."
Timo Glock waits on the grid.
17°C
Track | 18°C |
Humidity | 80% |
Wind speed | 5.1mps |
The Safety Car goes out for one last lap, testing out conditions. It doesn't look like we'll be starting behind that Merc though.
The cars pull away for the formation lap - inters throughout the field, it looks like. The spaces underneath the cars in the grid slots look completely dry.
The mechanics run, run, run their way off the grid to get out of the way for the start.
It looks like live timing hasn't kicked into gear yet, hopefully it will do soon.
Vettel slows round the final corner to back up the pack, then speeds forward to line up on his grid slot.
I've closed the poll and 81% are sure that Jenson Button can get to the end of the race.
Race started.
Vettel gets away cleanly, the two McLarens are side by side.
Both Mercedes have jumped right up behind Button, ahead of both Ferrari drivers.
Webber now sits in eighth.
Rosberg cuts the corner but yields to Button so he has not gained or lost anything. The cars look slow, and quite the handful!
Alonso has got ahead of Massa, and is hustling Schumacher for position. He makes the place.
Lewis Hamilton lost it in the early part of the second lap, caught the rear end slide, but is closing up to Vettel who must also be struggling.
Secretly, I am glad it is quite slow, because without live timing, it's tricky.
Michael Schumacher runs wide around the final corner, he's now being chased by Massa. Hamilton is so close to Vetttel.
Race Control: DRS enabled.
The replays begin. We'll have to wait a lap before seeing any more action now. It was a good clean start though.
Alonso passes Rosberg, whilst Massa sets an early fastest lap of the race.
Vettel | vs. | Hamilton |
1st | +0.272s | 2nd |
Looks like Rosberg has regained the position ahead of Alonso.
Liuzzi has slowed considerably at the back of the pack, he must have a problem.
Buemi, from his 23rd place start, has shot up to 12th place, sitting between Petrov and Barrichello.
Lewis Hamilton makes the place and takes the lead, he forced Vettel into running wide.
Tweet from @OfficialMGP: #F1 Conditions really tricky at the moment, oversteer in every slow corner
Jenson Button has now closed up behind Vettel, as Hamilton pulls out a gap in front.
Team radio to Button: "Okay Jenson, you can use the yellow button to overtake Vettel. Use the yellow button."
There's a fight in the midfield of four cars - Petrov, Buemi, Barrichello, Alguersuari all battling from 11th place downwards.
They're running about 25 seconds off the qualifying pace due to the conditions, but it's getting faster all the time.
Ooh, live timing woke up!
Fernando Alonso ran wide, and Massa took the position, but they have swapped right back again.
Mark Webber has also got past Schumacher, he's in 7th place now.
Pos | Driver | Gap |
---|---|---|
1st | HAM | 1:41.287 |
2nd | VET | +4.5 |
3rd | BUT | +5.9 |
4th | ROS | +9.4 |
Brief yellow flags as Massa spins at the exit of turn two, his rear wing tapped the barrier but no damage, he pulls away and continues.
He did a full 360, so must be dizzy, but Massa returned to the track 10th.
Actually, he's ninth, he's got Kobayashi hustling him from 10th place.
Alonso lines up Rosberg down the home straight and gets past with DRS. He takes the corner really wide but makes the position stick.
TedNews: The inters are starting to wear out, they're just readying some tyres at Mercedes. Red Bull don't know whether to put on slicks or actually put some more inters on.
The Meteo-France radar now reads: Drops time to time.
Ferrari mechanics are in the pitlane.
Team radio to Massa: "Okay, just think about the fact that from where we are now, we can probably take a little bit of a risk."
A closer look at Massa's rear wing shows damage to part of his rear wing, just a bit of bodywork missing, nothing major.
Fernando Alonso now has the fastest lap - 1:40.113.
Mark Webber dives into the pitlane, the first man to bolt on slick tyres. Supersofts go on.
Massa also comes in early.
The damage to Massa's rear wing.
Webber came out from his stop well down the order, just in front of Maldonado, and takes a minute to get his tyres working.
Button pits from 4th place.
He returns to the track sixth, with some nice clear air and some nice fresh tyres. He's a bit wobbly around the first few corners, but grows in confidence as he goes round.
Webber passed Alguersuari for tenth place, although the Toro Rosso just moved out the way.
Lewis Hamilton pits from the lead, followed in by Vettel and Alonso.
Schumacher currently sits in the lead, although he has not stopped yet.
Driver | L Hamilton |
Team | McLaren |
Pit lane | 21.880s |
Stopped | 4.1s |
Hamilton has closed up behind Schumacher, he'll want to get by but doesn't need to go mad about it. He gets the place, taking the lead from Schumi before he could complete a whole lap.
Schumacher pits.
Jenson Button is so close up behind Vettel, he must be able to get past. It was an easy move for second place. A 1-2 for MclAren at the moment.
Mark Webber has just passed Alonso. Pitting early seems to have worked out for him.
Race Control: Incident involving Pastor Maldonado under investigation - speeding in the pit lane.
Race Control: Drive through penalty for Pastor Maldonado - speeding in the pit lane.
Mark Webber ran wide at turn one, narrowly avoided losing a position to Alonso.
Race Control: Incident involving Timo Glock under investigation - unsafe release.
Pos | Driver | Stops | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Hamilton | 1 |
2 | 1 | Button | 1 |
3 | -2 | Vettel | 1 |
4 | 2 | Webber | 1 |
5 | 0 | Alonso | 1 |
6 | -2 | Massa | 1 |
7 | 2 | Schumacher | 1 |
8 | -1 | Rosberg | 1 |
9 | 5 | Heidfeld | 1 |
10 | 2 | Petrov | 1 |
Pastor Maldonado has pitted for the second time.
Tweet from @HRTF1Team: It's no longer raining and the track is drying up, so everyone is switching to slicks until the conditions change again
Pérez is way down the order in 19th. Kovalainen is doing well, up in 16th ahead of Heidfeld, Sutil and the Sauber.
Oops, correction, it's not Timo Glock under investigation, it's Heikki Kovalainen.
Hamilton's latest fastest lap is 1:28.264. These are lap times that look more reasonable!
Replays show an HRT losing part of it's front wing down the home straight, carbon fibre flying to the side of the track.
Team radio to Massa: "You should have the DRS, you're massively quicker than him."
It doesn't matter if it was Glock or Kovalainen, there's no further action to be taken on the incident. (Phew.)
Tweet from @MikeGascoyne: "no drive through but big oil leak for jarno, will be a retirement"
Hamilton has 9 seconds over teammate Button, who is being chased by Vettel. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa is hounding Schumacher for 8th.
Schumacher | vs. | Massa |
8th | +0.5s | 9th |
Tweet from @InsideFerrari: It is crucial for both our drivers to overtake the cars in front
Alonso is sitting about a second behind Webber, who can't seem to close the gap.
Replays show Pastor Maldonado attempting a move on Heikki Kovalainen, but he ran far too wide and ended up losing a place to Sutil. Oops.
Hamilton informs his team that one of his rear tyres is overheating, and he's advised to head for the wet patches on track.
Heidfeld has pitted, he's way down the order though.
Yellow flags as Nick Heidfeld's car bursts into flames.
He had that problem previously, but he leaps from the car seemingly unharmed. The mechanics are there with the extinguishers.
Some kind of little explosion blows the side of the car outwards, debris on track, and the marshal may have been hit a little.
Replays show that he had a problem with the tyre in the pitlane which held the car. On release, there was smoke already pouring from the car.
Drivers are pitting, Mark Webber included. The Renault is stopped right at the exit, so they have to avoid the debris and not cross the white line.
Lewis Hamilton comes into the pits now. There's no sign of a safety car for now.
Button leads, with Vettel behind. Neither of those have pitted. Hamilton returns to the track in third place.
A brilliant picture of Nick Heidfeld jumping: http://sidepodcast.posterous.com/ninja-nick-heidfeld Hopefully he escaped any major damage.
Jenson Button has pitted, and he rejoins in front of a battle between Pérez and Kovalainen.
Michael Schumacher has pulled off track, his race is over. Replays show a spin, but is that related to the retirement?
Sebastian Vettel pits from the lead, which gives Hamilton his rightful lead once more.
The Renault is being towed slowly back into the pitlane.
Any cars leaving the pits are having to avoid the stricken Renault now. That seems an odd move from the marshals.
Track is clear.
Tweet from @HRTF1Team: We're expecting rain in 5 minutes, it should last about 10 minutes. Will they hold out on slicks?
Sergio Pérez is under investigation for overtaking under yellow flags.
The top five have all stopped twice - Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Webber, Alonso. Kobayashi is sixth but he has only stopped once.
Felipe Massa is closing up to the Sauber, but that is still almost 30 seconds behind the front runners.
Race Control: Drive through penalty for Pérez - overtaking under yellow flags.
It was the move we saw, when Button rejoined the race track. Pérez passed Kovalainen at the end of the home straight, exactly where Heidfeld's Renault was being retrieved.
Massa passes Kobayashi for sixth place. Alonso is battling Webber for 4th.
Webber | vs. | Alonso |
4th | +0.4s | 5th |
Kobayashi pits for his second stop of the day, the last driver to come in this stint.
We're halfway through the race now, three retirements, and eight lapped cars. Hamilton leads.
Interview with Nick Heidfeld: "We wanted to stop early because we were quicker than the cars ahead but with one dry line, it was really difficult to overtake. And then the pit stop took longer than it should have and I think this is why probably something overheated.
"I was a bit scared. I had a fire in Barcelona as well, but I wasn't worried there at all. But this one was quite close. In Barcelona I didn't feel any temperature and this time I felt some heat so I had to get out quickly.
"After I stopped I think the fire marshals were trying to put the fire out and then there was a small explosion on the left. Never seen anything like that before."
Fernando Alonso has stopped, the first of the front runners to come in for the third time.
Team radio to Hamilton: "We need to try and get this set to go another nine laps or so."
Jaime Alguersuari overtakes Barrichello for 9th place, at the very end of the home straight, with Buemi closing up behind the Williams as well.
Barrichello pits, freeing up Buemi to take the last points position.
Pos | Driver | Gap |
---|---|---|
1st | HAM | 1:28.632 |
2nd | BUT | +5.9 |
3rd | VET | +10.8 |
4th | WEB | +21.7 |
Webber dives into the pitlane, he puts on the harder compound - hoping for the tyres to last longer?
Alonso's stop put him on the supersofts again, so it will be interesting to see which strategy works out better.
Hamilton pits from the lead. Which tyres will it be? It is supersofts.
Vettel pits from second, Button leads but still has to stop. Vettel has also gone for the harder compound, like his teammate.
Vettel feeds back out behind Alonso, the Ferrari jumping Red Bull in the stops, but Vettel likely to be able to go longer this stint.
Driver | S Vettel |
Team | Red Bull |
Pit lane | 19.664s |
Stopped | 3.1s |
Jenson Button comes into the pitlane from the lead.
He's put on the harder compound as well, the yellow striped tyres. McLaren have split their strategy.
Team radio to Button: "You are going to be racing Alonso."
Paul di Resta pits from 9th.
Webber asks his team whether his tyres need to last, and they replied in the affirmative. He's hoping to get to the end of the race.
Felipe Massa passed Alguersuari on the home straight, he's up to 7th, with Nico Rosberg his next target.
Vettel overtakes Alonso for 3rd place.
Hamilton has to either make his tyres last until the end of the race, or pull out enough of a lead to stop again.
Alonso is on a similar strategy to Hamilton, whereas the others plan to get to the end without stopping.
Interview with Michael Schumacher: "We had a gearbox failure. We obviously need to understand the details of the failure. But after spinning and continuing the race, shifting up through the gears, to the high gears, we lost a gear."
Team radio to Button: "Okay Jenson, we can get to the end on this set but we need to take care of the front left. Be careful of the front left."
It's starting to rain, and Jenson Button has overtaken Hamilton for the lead.
There were brief yellow flags, so it's likely Hamilton spun and lost his seven second lead.
None of the cars have pitted, so it can't be too bad out there yet. It looks like it's raining just at one part of the circuit.
Fernando Alonso pits, and puts on the harder tyres. He's obviously decided his strategy wasn't going to work.
Replays show he loses the back end round the chicane, narrowly missed by two other cars passing.
Button starts to pull out a lead.
TedNews: "I can put my hand out and feel the rain. The radar is saying this will be a short little drizzle and then it will stop, so, do we trust technology or not?"
Tweet from @clubforce: Still not we enough for inters but track conditions are tricky.
Hamilton has found some pace and is catching Button now.
Massa has overtaken Rosberg for 6th place.
Hamilton has passed Button, he's in the lead once more.
Hamilton got the position as Button ran wide, as did Petrov and Kovalainen behind him. They aren't battling for the lead, of course.
Rosberg has pitted, and he's bolted on intermediate tyres.
Vettel struggles at turn 13 as well.
Jenson Button takes the lead back with the DRS, but runs wide and Hamilton takes it back.
Meanwhile, Jérôme D'Ambrosio pitted and the mechanics pushed him into the garage. Race over.
Webber has pitted for intermediates. The rain is coming down a bit harder now.
Replays show D'Ambrosio actually spun attempting to get to his pit box, the mechanics all dashed out the way as he arrived sideways!
Hamilton has pitted, Button remains out on track.
Brief yellow flags, not sure what they were for.
Hamilton is under investigation for the incident where he spun the car into the racing line in front of other cars.
Jérôme spins into the pitlane.
Webber has pitted, Alonso overtakes Hamilton who is on the intermediate tyres... but it has stopped raining.
Double bad news for Hamilton who has a drive through penalty for the spin.
They're pitting him for new tyres, he's onto the harder compound, but he'll have to come in again for the drive through.
So, after that excitement, Jenson Button is leading, Vettel five seconds behind him, and Alonso a further 12 seconds down the road.
I said earlier that D'Ambrosio was out of the race, but it looks like he's still running. The mechanics must have just been pushing him back into position, rather than retiring him.
Comment from Journeyer: Lewis' drive-through will be his 6TH stop.
Tweet from @clubforce: Adrian's gamble on intermediates didn't pay off. He pits again for dry options. 15 laps to go.
After his drive through, Hamilton returns to the track sixth. Webber has just overtaken Massa, and Hamilton is attempting to do the same.
Button sets the fastest lap of the race, 1:23.937.
Fernando Alonso has had a spin at turn 12, but there was enough of a gap for it not to be a problem.
Hamilton has overtaken Massa, he's up to fifth now, and will chase after Webber.
Massa has pitted from 6th place.
Yellow flags.
Heikki Kovalainen has pulled off track, he retires from the race.
Paul di Resta is pulling away from a mammoth battle for the final points position.
Track is clear.
Kobayashi, Buemi, Alguersuari, Rosberg and Petrov are all separated by just 5 seconds.
Tweet from @OfficialMGP: #F1 Nico has a big train of 3 cars 2.5s up the road. Catching them fast. Push Nico!
Buemi passed Kobayashi, Alguersuari had a go but Kobayashi cut him off, and the Toro Rosso spun a little.
Some bodywork flew, but Alguersuari isn't damaged, he's making his way back through again.
DRS is making each lap a proper battle between those five or six cars. Rosberg has now made the pass on Kobayashi.
Hamilton and Webber now have to make their way through that pack. I do not envy them that.
Hamilton takes the place from Webber, up to 4th for the Brit.
Kobayashi may or may not have held them up, it's hard to see where else he could have gone, but Brundle and DC are having a proper argument about it on the BBC.
Five laps remaining, Button has almost a ten second lead now. Vettel and Alonso look secure behind him as well.
Driver | Reason | Lap |
---|---|---|
H Kovalainen | Water leak | 61 |
M Schumacher | Gearbox | 29 |
N Heidfeld | FIRE! | 25 |
J Trulli | Oil leak | 21 |
Tweet from @easonF1: Before I forget. Massive congrats to Martin Whitmarsh for letting JB and Lewis race. The sport owes a debt and Red Bull should watch
Hamilton is sitting 4th, but Webber is closing up. 0.7 seconds gap, just over a lap to go.
They're coming up on traffic, but Rosberg moves out the way easily.
Jenson Button wins the Hungarian Grand Prix!
A second win for JB this year, with Vettel coming in behind him and Alonso set to join them on the podium.
Driver | Jenson Button |
Team | McLaren |
Race time | 1:46:42.337 |
Race distance | 306.630km |
Average speed | 172.416km/h |
Team radio from Button: "Guys, perfect going into the summer break. Let's come back and win them all."
Pos | Driver | Stops | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Button | 3 |
2 | -1 | Vettel | 3 |
3 | 2 | Alonso | 4 |
4 | -2 | Hamilton | 6 |
5 | 1 | Webber | 5 |
6 | -2 | Massa | 4 |
7 | 4 | Di Resta | 3 |
8 | 15 | Buemi | 3 |
9 | -2 | Rosberg | 4 |
10 | 6 | Alguersuari | 3 |
Incredible performance from Buemi, who started from 23rd, and finished 8th. Those Toro Rossos seem good at getting into the points from the very back of the grid.
Hamilton did well despite the fact he was on the wrong tyres a lot and got a drive through penalty. I suspect he will be disappointed though.
Jenson is out of the car, and celebrating with his mechanics, girlfriend and father. They're all cheering and clapping hands together. Good times for the JB crew.
Alonso is already in the pre-podium green room, helmet off, studying the times. Button makes his way up the stairs.
"That was tough, eh?" Button says to Alonso, before waving at the camera and saying "Hi mum!"
He also says to Alonso: "You kept going off didn't you?" Rub it in!
They take to the podium.
Pos | Driver | Gap |
---|---|---|
1st | BUT | 1:27.671 |
2nd | VET | +3.5 |
3rd | ALO | +19.8 |
4th | HAM | +48.3 |
88 pit stops in that race, which according to Martin Brundle, is an all time record.
Pos | Driver | Total |
---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | 6 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | 2 |
3 | Jenson Button | 2 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | 1 |
Red Bull, despite their pole position domination, have not won a race since Valencia now.
Jenson's race engineer joins him on the podium, and he is a victim of quite a lot of the champagne. Vettel sprays the bubbly directly into JB's mouth.
Pos | Driver | Pts |
---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | 234 |
2 | Mark Webber | 149 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | 146 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | 145 |
5 | Jenson Button | 134 |
6 | Felipe Massa | 70 |
7 | Nico Rosberg | 48 |
8 | Nick Heidfeld | 34 |
9 | Vitaly Petrov | 32 |
10 | Michael Schumacher | 32 |
The Hungarian GP podium.
Press Conference Quotes - Jenson Button: "For some reason I like these conditions, don't ask my why. It worked out again. A great call from the team to put me on the prime tyre when they did. A great call from all of us. All round an amazing weekend. I want to say a big thank you to the team. Everyone has worked so hard to produce the car we have now. I think we're going into the break on a nice high. Every day we're on holiday we'll be thinking about Spa."
Press Conference Quotes - Sebastian Vettel: "I was struggling a bit on the first stint on intermediate tyres. I lost it into tyres, it was quite tricky... I tried to be on the edge, I opened the car because I know the paint is quite slippy. On the supersofts, I was feeling quite good initially, but there was quite a lot of drop off. I think it was the same for all of us... both times I would have loved to come in a lap earlier. It was quite fun to see the McLarens quite close again, but in the last stint I had to let Jenson go because I did feel I had more speed in the car but I had a couple of problems with the brakes, and it was difficult to know with 20 laps to go how the car would be in the end. I think the win was in reach today and we didn't get it. We need to work hard because both the McLaren's are strong in all sorts of conditions. We need to make sure we come back."
Press Conference Quotes - Fernando Alonso: "I think in this type of conditions, the race is very long, you need to be always focused because with so many pitstops and weather conditions, anything can happen. Unfortunately the start didn't go as we predicted and both Mercedes overtook us on the start... I had to overtake them two times. With the pitstops, we found ourselves behind Webber for half the race. After that we were able to push, we were quite quick."
Press Conference Quotes - Jenson Button: "It's very easy to say now, but personally I felt at the end of the first stint, I felt that I was able to look after the tyres for the remainder of the first stint. I think about halfway through people started struggling but I was able to push on and the car felt really good... I knew I was in good shape, the car was working well for me, I thought it was a matter of time in the dry conditions to get the jump on Lewis because at the end of the stints he was struggling. It turned out a little bit different with the rain coming down... I had a lot of fun all the same. It's always fun racing with Lewis. Great to come away with a victory this weekend."
Press Conference Quotes - Sebastian Vettel: "I think the win was in reach today, not impossible. The emotions I'm going through right now, looking at the championship it was a good race. There's still a long way to go, and we've seen with races like this how quickly things can change. We need to come back so we're pushing hard for Spa."
Press Conference Quotes - Fernando Alonso: "I think we are confident we can do a good second part of the championship. The car did improve a lot, we're fighting for podium and pole positions in the last few races. We're happy and I think the team did a step forward. I think McLaren did also, so the competition is quite fun for you to watch, with three teams able to win races. Unfortunately it was not very hot in July, we like high temperatures in our car. Hopefully August and September will be better for us."
Tweet from @OfficialLRGP: P12 for Vitaly, early bath for Nick, much work to do for the crew
Tweet from @wtf1_co_uk: BBC Headline "Button beats Vettel in Thriller". Last race: "Hamilton beats Alonso in Thriller". Sign of a great F1 season.
McLaren | Finished Ahead |
---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 7 |
Jenson Button | 4 |
Interview with Lewis Hamilton: "First of all congratulations to Jenson, he was pushing me hard the whole race. The better man won today, he did a fantastic job and congratulations to the team. It was an intense race. We got a good start, did great for the first half of the race. I was struggling a lot with the graining on my left front tyres, I don't know if it was my fault pushing too much.
"Then I had a big mistake, my left front tyre was pretty worn, so I went a bit wide, came out of the chicane which is very, very rare. I think it's one of the first times I spun. After that, I have to apologise to Paul di Resta, I didn't see him. I had absolutely no clue, I don't know where or what happened but I got a penalty for something which is to be expected I guess, sometimes, so apologies to him.
"We were having radio issues and I could hear my engineers but they couldn't hear me. I was constantly asking for information but they couldn't hear me so it was a very difficult call for them and I think there was one point where they got some information from me and I heard them say it was going to rain and it was already spitting so we opted to go for the wet tyres. They called me in, I did the lap, the tyres went off, it wasn't necessarily the best call but that's my racing.
"I think we can definitely say the team have done a fantastic job and for us to both be the most competitive this weekend is a fantastic way to go into the break. Of course we would have loved a 1-2, I feel like I let the team down a little bit but we'll bounce back at the next race."
Interview with Paul di Resta: "I think, thankfully, I saw him quite early. Going into the chicane he had a bit of a moment, and just as I came out of the chicane I was a bit surprised but at the same time, there was time to take action on it and I think Lewis was leading the race at that point, so I can fully understand what he was trying to do. There's no harsh feelings, I spoke to Lewis about it and he just said he didn't see me but, you know, if it had cost us a lot of points then it would have been a hard one."
Pos | Driver | Pts |
---|---|---|
1 | Red Bull | 383 |
2 | McLaren | 280 |
3 | Ferrari | 215 |
4 | Mercedes | 80 |
5 | Renault | 66 |
6 | Sauber | 35 |
7 | Force India | 26 |
8 | Toro Rosso | 22 |
Well, that was quite the race. Button gets his second win, and goes into the summer break fully motivated for more.
Hamilton did not seem to upset about his afternoon's work, and McLaren will hope to keep their momentum. Red Bull have work to do but they're still competitive.
Further down the order, Renault and Williams had difficult days, no points, and a scary fire for Heidfeld.
Pérez looked like he might be able to do great things, but the race slipped away from him and he ended up 15th. Kobayashi just missed out on points in 11th.
With three weeks to rest up, Formula One now takes its summer break. From the action in Hungary, we will return to racing at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the favourites on the calendar.
Thank you for joining me today, and I hope you'll be back here in three weeks for Spa. I know I will be. Stay happy, fact fans,
All content in the series Hungary 2011
Filed under Lap by lap coverage
Previous post Hungary 2011 - Qualifying highlights
Next post Hungary 2011 - Race results
365 F1 stories
Recent stories