Round 11 - Hungary Review [Delayed]

Greetings Internet

Here we are now, a day after the race but there was a small mitigating circumstance of the blog going to the Olympics instead, I'm sure the people of the internet can forgive such a delay. Not that too many people really rely on this as a source of information, but hopefully more as a form of light entertainment, that said of course my rantings do go on for a while and the concept of 'light' reading tends to fail. Anyway it was a brilliant event at the stadium so well worth heading out for seeing a win for Japan over Morocco and the surprise of the day in the form of Honduras beating apparent favourites Spain. In a match which did get a little angry towards the end, with the Hondurans exploiting every form of time-wasting under the sun, infuriating Spain in the process. The crowd almost deserved the same amount of points as the competitors, legions of Japanese people turned up and impressively a decent quantity of Hondurans from 5,200 miles away in the Caribbean.

Aside from the games in Newcastle it is time to turn our attentions back a little further to the 70ish laps of the Hungarian GP, and because the rain didn't decided to fall - it was a long shot to begin with. The event did rather revert back to its processional nature, with high amounts of marbles laying offline constricting the amount of overtaking that was possible. Exacerbated by the fact that the DRS zone was close to being useless in Hungary due to the track configuration not containing a long enough straight to influence passing. As a result the race came down to strategy not pace, were passing was a product of the pit lane or blue flags, we saw cars with significantly better pace being trapped behind slower ones. Even the battle for the lead was reduced to a high speed procession due to the inability for a car to get past on roughly equal terms. We also saw some rather confusing strategy calls, teams expecting tyres to drop off dramatically at the end which never really materialised, costing drivers some valuable championship points. Even though we all know that it is the bonus point’s championship which is all that really matters, so let’s recap on how events played out yesterday.

Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

The Race

Time to dig deep in the recesses of my memory for the race because it was a while ago now, and most of it really wasn't that inspiring or memorable. At the start of the event there were hopes of some precipitation, something, anything to breathe life into what promised to be a tiresome event, but the skies were clear and blue...curses. Previous forecasts had speculated anything from a complete and utter deluge to baking heat, unfortunately from a spectacle point of view we were in for the latter. On the grid as the cars completed their formation lap the tarmac was glazed in a reflective heat haze, temperatures mirroring conditions in Valencia. A faint hope was building that a similar turn of events was in prospect - an expected dull race miraculously converted into madness and contact in the heat.

So all was poised for the start of 70 laps of the Hungaroring, and the lights turned red, and then yellow for some apparent reason, signalling an aborted start. The field was sent round again for another formation lap, leaving Michael Schumacher sitting on the grid in his stationary Mercedes. As his car was pushed away to be restarted in the pit-lane, he came over the radio saying he turned the car off as a result of the start-lights changing colour, therefore was not the blog assumes the cause of the aborted start.

*Some research later and fan phone footage shows it was indeed Michael's fault pulling up in the wrong grid slot on the first formation lap, stealing Heikki's 19th grid space.

The Race - Attempt 2

Here we go again, and the grid lined up this time with 69 laps on the counter, and only 23 cars in position due to Michael waiting to start from the pit lane as the team managed to get the car going again. There were theories regarding who would get of the line better based on which side of the track they lined up on, as the racing line passed through the outside grid hatchings and was much cleaner. When the lights went out finally announcing the start of the race it was Lewis who got off the line best while Grosjean had Vettel for company on the run down to turn one. A little further back Alonso got the better of Raikkonen who was without KERs power for the start so couldn't defend against the fast stating Ferrari. Through the first corner, Romain ran Vettel out wide on the exit, allowing Jenson Button to get a run round the outside of turn two to drive up into the podium positions.

It was single file for the remainder of the opening lap with Hamilton pulling out a considerable gap on the cars behind, and a similar margin behind Grosjean in 2nd. Button and Vettel had spaced themselves out in the early going, but a queue was subtly starting to form behind Alonso in 5th gaining the attentions of Raikkonen and Webber. Yet the nature of the track played to Fernando preventing the Lotus showing the true pace of the car and making a pass. Down at the back of the field Timo Glock was clearly bored of the race and decided to go for a little spin in turn 12 to liven up his afternoon a little in the Marussia. Things were also going from bad to worse for Michael Schumacher as after he had pitted for the harder option in an effort to counter the start issue there was an announcement. It turned out as he was driving to the end of the pit-lane to start the race he went a little too quickly and gained a drive through penalty - placing him 53s behind the Hamilton within 5 laps.

The DRS had now been activated, so did that mean there would be a chance of some overtaking, well perhaps not - Webber's team were on the radio claiming the Alonso train was due to the Ferrari saving tyres, but no-one could get past. We had to look a little further back, in fact a long way back to the end of the field to see some cars going past each other with the help of the magic wing. It was Kamui Kobayashi who from the television pictures seemed to make the first overtaking manoeuvre outside the first lap. An early stop for Kamui put him behind the HRTs and the sum total overtaking of the first ten laps was the Sauber going past the two tail end runners. Just a few laps later on the amount of passing doubled when Schumacher caught up to the back of the grid and had to cruise gently past the HRTs.

I think it was time for some pit stops to sort some of this out, and duly following an inevitable two stop strategy cars began to filter in, initiated by Jenson Button who out braked himself in turn four having a little off track adventure. One by one the rest of the front runners headed for the pits, leaving Raikkonen and Webber running the longest opening stints of the race amongst the leading cars. Outside the points contenders it was One-stop Perez who was also running long finding himself in the middle of the pack when others re-joined the race. Initially being pursued by Fernando Alonso on a set of fresher tyres. The Sauber couldn’t defend against Fernando for long resulting in Alonso making an actual pass up the hill towards turn four. That left us with some unspoken data, to complete a pass you need to be on much fresher tyres against a car on used set and a much lower base pace. Didn't look too promising for the remainder of the race on that note.

Even though Fernando was only caught up behind Perez for a lap or so, it had cost him enough time in relation to the cars around him. Meaning that Raikkonen after making his stop was released from behind the Ferrari and free to make a challenge towards the Red Bull of Vettel in 4th. On the softer of the two compounds the balance of power began to shift slightly away from the McLaren drivers. Both Button and Hamilton were having the advantage over the cars behind dramatically cut into, lap on lap. Grosjean had eroded a 2.6s deficit down to being within the DRS window in a matter of 2-3 laps bringing the Lotus right up onto the back of the McLaren. Jenson was experiencing a similar problem, instead of seeing a black and gold shape growing in the mirrors it was the Red Bull of Sebastien Vettel who was piling on the pressure. However because the track played to the defending driver, it was impossible to make a pass without punting the other car off, which is apparently not allowed. I would even forget to apply penalty points for a little bit of pushing and shoving.

We enter now that middle phase of the race where very little happens, it is generally the middle stint where the field settles down and assesses where they are going to place when it comes to the final phase of the race. However here in Hungary that pattern is the general pace of events for the vast quantity of the race, because everyone is trapped more-or-less in the place in the train. Noticing this some people decided to start introducing some alternative strategies, starting with Jenson, moving onto a three stop plan. But this plan rather fell apart at the seams really when he exited the pits behind the Williams of Bruno Senna, and behind the Williams he would stay until Senna took to the pits several laps later. Sebastien Vettel also chose to pit during this phase, aiming to cover Button in case he passed Bruno. Instead Jenson was losing so much time behind the Brazilian that Vettel re-joined ahead of both of them and up onto the podium.

It was the time of the leader Hamilton to pit and the pit-crew encountered more difficulties in the lane, after setting the world-record pit stop in Germany, the team produced a slower than normal stop opening a chance for Romain to take the lead. This was a race where the pit crews were virtually more crucial than the drivers where all the passing was done on the other side of the pit-wall, and it was up to Lotus to take advantage of a McLaren error. But it was not to be as Grosjean's stop was 0.7s slower than Hamilton’s quickly erasing the opportunity and passing it back to the McLaren driver heading into the final stint. However a little further back another challenge was making a charge...

All these cars pitting left a large quantity of open track in front of Kimi Raikkonen who had been trapped behind someone most of the day, and struggling with KERs problems. Now however there was space to demonstrate the pace the Lotus had, and it had a lot of pace to give. Racking up fastest lap after fastest lap Kimi was flying unleashing unassailable speed, matched with decent tyre wear, as other cars pitted - Grosjean and Hamilton, Kimi stayed out. Cycling through into the lead, where there was plenty of clear open space to go quickly, the Finn's pace became a problem for Button and Vettel as he was on course to jump both of them. A couple of laps later a call came through on the radio to second placed Grosjean in the other Lotus warning him that he was now racing Kimi for the position. As the lap times continued to fall and his temporary lead increased, the gap between him and Hamilton came under suspicion, as Raikkonen was within 4s seconds of being able to re-join in the lead of the race such was the spontaneous burst of speed.

The charge of the Lotus couldn't go on forever as the tyres were giving up their grip towards the end of the sting forcing him to pit before losing any of the advantage. Predictions saw the Lotus re-joining 4s seconds behind Hamilton, which conveniently was the same piece of tarmac that the other black car was holding. The estimations and assumptions were very accurate as Raikkonen re-appeared alongside his French team-mate in the breaking zone for turn one. Not wanting to give way to anyone, even if they happen to share the same garage space, Kimi left Romain less than no room on the exit of the corner to forcefully deny any attempt on the outside. Once his team-mate was defeated Raikkonen set his targets firmly on the car ahead, and there was only one car remaining ahead of him now - Hamilton.

It had been noted we had spent an entire race without people running into each other, so it would be a decent time to alter that statistic... hmm who can we find to do some hitting...ah the perfect candidate Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan was sitting in behind Paul Di Resta's Force India, and just like everyone else today was finding it difficult to make it past the car in front, something that clearly doesn't sit too well with Pastor. The pair were fighting over 12th position outside the points and Maldonado threw on down the inside of turn 12, for such a late move it almost looked as if it would pay off. An actual competitive pass, in Hungary... Alas it was not to be, the Williams got a heap of oversteer on the apex, instinctively Maldonado corrected the slide, into the side of the Force India knocking Di Resta off the track and claiming the position. The move didn't go down to well with the officials and a drive through penalty was handed to Pastor, which without checking the tables now makes him the leader in the penalties series. There should be a ceremonial passing of the stewards season ticket from Hamilton to Maldonado this year.

After several laps of watching Raikkonen close in on the leader, some strange strategies started to be put into place, namely by Red Bull. For some reason they decided to pit once more, jumping into a three stop strategy, in overall time that is the fastest way to complete a race avoiding the degradation in the tyres towards the end we've seen a lot this season. There is one problem with this plan, and that was in order for a three stop strategy is to pay off you need to be able to pass some cars to make up some track position. We have already seen how difficult that has worked out with Jenson being trapped behind Senna for ages, so the plan seemed doomed from the start as even on worn tyres drivers can defend their position. So, on that note it seemed most odd to see Red Bull bring Webber in from 5th and ahead of his main championship rival Fernando Alonso, but pit they did dropping mark down into 8th. Putting Alonso, Button and Senna between him and where he was running.

Given how badly that turned out for Webber you'd have thought that they might re-consider with a car they had in a better position, only a couple of seconds off the podium. The only point favouring a third stop for the other Red Bull car was there was a large enough gap behind to possible sneak out ahead of the nearest contenders. Vettel pitted from 4th and re-joined just ahead of Alonso in 5th, Fernando tried to take the position round the outside in turn two, but the German bloke closed the door on the exit and retained the position. In terms of track position it didn't hurt Vettel, but it could easily have done so had Alonso and possibly Button close behind got through.

With only ten laps left we still had all 24 competitors still running demonstrating how reliable cars have become this season, and also the fact that more often than not, drivers (except Maldonado) tend not to hit each other. But that pattern was about to come undone as the race was granted its first retirement, it wasn't due to mechanical failure or through the loss of wheels in contact, the opening retirement from the Hungarian GP can only be put down to boredom. After having a rather challenging race Michael Schumacher decided the race wasn't entertaining enough well down outside the points and gave up for the day... I sense a penalty point coming along for you Mr Schumacher.

Back at the very front of the field and Raikkonen had now caught right up behind the lead car of Hamilton, sitting within the DRS zone. However that was as close as he was going to get as the turbulent air flowing off the back of Hamilton's car was hurting Kimi's charge, preventing him from getting close enough and wearing his tyres in the process. To make matters worse for the Finn he still didn't have the full capacity and reliability out of the KERs system, being instructed to rest the system before using all the power accumulated. On paper a couple of places further back Vettel's strategy was going rather well, in the sense that the times he was putting in were exceptionally quick compared to the cars he was chasing. But catching Grosjean was inevitability, he was behind the Frenchman before the stop, but passing the Lotus was rather unlikely, meaning the only benefit of making the extra stop was claiming the fastest lap.

When we thought all the oddities were over, there was more to come, for a race with as much content as my dwindling social life it was making up for it in small strange moments. The latest one fell to HRT driver Narain Karthekeyan who was pictured pulling the car over at the side of the road before turn 4, with rather damaged suspension. It was rather perplexing as to what the Indian driver hit on effectively what is a straight, no-one else pitted for damage ruling out another car, and an impact with the barrier in the nearest corner would see the car stop much earlier. So where on earth the problem occured is anyone's guess, maybe if I had done some research before writing this I might have some answers but at this point I don't

Despite the attentions of the Lotus, Hamilton was able to maintain the lead to claim his second win of the season in Hungary, followed closely home by Raikkonen. Completing another double podium finish for Lotus was Romain Grosjean in 3rd, illustrating that Vettel's stop made no difference to his finishing position as the German Bloke came 4th. Extending his championship out to 40 points Fernando Alonso came over the line to round out the top five, ahead of Button who fortunately for him finished ahead of his friend for the day Bruno Senna. The points positions were completed by a confusing strategy for Webber in 8th, Massa under contractual pressure in 9th and the only remaining Mercedes salvaging a single point in 10th.

The bonus points championship points winners

It can be argued that this was the least eventful race of the season, yet throughout there were points of interest at varying stages mixed with some very bizarre decisions on strategy. Trying to find some people to hand points to in that has been challenging but here they are.

· 25pts - Kimi Raikkonen - An immense middle stint, and had passing been possible would have taken the win

· 18pts - Lewis Hamilton - A dominate performance all weekend and a controlled win

· 15pts - Romain Grosjean - Solid and consistently quick, the team could have cost him the win

· 12pts - Kamui Kobayashi - For the first on track pass outside lap one 

· 10pts - Fernando Alonso - For probably the only pass outside DRS for position on camera

· 8pts - Timo Glock - For doing something interesting 

· 6pts -Jenson Button - A Nice pass round the outside on the first lap

· 4pts - Lotus - For having both cars up for the win at one point in the race, and not being crazy on strategy

· 2pts - Honduras - For somehow beating Spain at the Olympic football

· 1pt - HRT - For not being last for a large portion of the race

• 
  

The penalties championship

Only two additions to the table can be submitted following the Hungarian GP:

· Michael Schumacher: Drive through penalty - speeding in pit lane

· Pastor Maldonado: Drive through penalty - hitting Paul Di Resta

The penalty points championship

There will some additions to this table as well following the weekend

· Michael Schumacher (again): This point for retiring for no apparent reason

· McLaren - for supporting sky sports coverage, gone to the dark side you have

· Hungaroring - in the end you were rather dull sorry about that.

Looking ahead to Belgium

The teams and drivers head into the summer break, conveniently timed with the majority of the Olympics so the blog can sit and watch those for a while awarding hypothetical bonus points to countries for their performances. There may be a table depending on if I record any of it and how many people reading this corner of the internet would be particularly bothered about that sort of thing.

But once the break is over something immense is waiting, the single greatest racing venue on the current calendar by a country mile in terms of scale and challenge. One of the most traditionally exceptional tracks of the season, nestled with the green canopy of the Ardennes is a ribbon of brilliant tarmac cascading between the trees and forming the ultimate track in current circulation in the form of the epic Spa Francorchamps the home of the highly anticipated Belgian GP. We have had a lot of rain interrupted sessions this season and now we plough headlong into the maddest micro-climate of the year, where rain is traditionally guaranteed at some point.

We have already had some of the other highlights of the season, in Monaco and Canada and this is a race well worth waiting over the summer break for, so until next time this is farewell from a belated blog.

Round 11: Hungary Pre-race

Greetings Internet,

As the opening day of the Olympic games here has kicked off seeing the first gold medal oddly enough not going to anyone here at blogHQ, despite my timing with the toastie machine being almost record breaking. However it was China taking the first medal instead in the shooting, which is a apparently a greater achievement then syncing the timing of the kettle and the toastie machine but never mind. The blog has taken in several sports this morning, such is the power of the Olympics when you sit and watch a whole bunch of things without having any idea what the rules are but still managing to figure out what is going on. Well loosely, the blog is currently watching Brazil play Croatia at handball where the concept seems simple enough but the little details are a little lost on me.

One interesting development is that the blog's tickets for the games have arrived booking the entire population here at HQ to head off to the events in Newcastle. It does mean the race coverage here will be delayed to Monday as the games go on for a fair while due to two matches being presented in the evening, meaning the return journey will be too late really to consider documenting the race.

But the vast plethora of other events that are going on over the coming days, are destined for other people to rant on and comment on the internet, as in the great scheme of things they are a long way outside my range of understanding. So it might be better if I was to turn the attentions of this blog to the events of this afternoon's qualifying session as in actuality that is why this part of the internet was brought into existence in the first place for. There were some rain showers in Friday practice but the session remained completely dry  with higher track temperatures suiting different cars and compromising others in the process. At the sharp end of the field things were almost business as normal, regular contenders performing well - for the most part anyway, so lets see how things turned out...

credit to F1Fanatic for the imagery

Qualifying 

After spending the morning watch China play Serbia in womans volleyball which was rather entertaining, not sure if that was the sporting content or the Lycra hot pants but either way it was time to turn over to the Hungarian GP qualifying session. To be greeted by a bright sky meaning we were in for the first dry qualifying in a while rain has played a part in the last two Saturdays and was staying away this time around. Something that would play more towards Lotus who prefer the higher temperatures.

The consistent temperatures meant there wasn't the long queue of cars waiting at then end of pitlane, because the best times would be set at the very end of the opening segment, due to the track being cleared by the early runners. In the old system of running an hour long open session, the larger teams would let the slower teams, the likes of Minardi, Prost and Tyrrell at the time, to clear the track of dust and debris before going out. Today it was the Lotus of Grosjean who took to the track first on the medium compound tyres, a compound that had worked well for the team in Hockenheim last week in Q1. Naturally the Frenchman set the opening time while the Force India's took to the track, but starting on a very beatable time.

It was the other of the Lotus cars that took the top spot in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen, beating Hulkenberg and Perez, while the main contenders remained in the garage, biding their time. The Ferraris appeared and slotted subtly into the middle of the top ten, despite Massa complaining about blocking from Schumacher on the short run to turn five. Kimi extended his lead by a couple of tenths, but Hamilton came out and decided that he wanted pole position by a significant margin, posting a unbeatable time. With six minutes remaining on the timer the positions seemed rather settled, the relegation area contained the default teams plus Jean Eric Vergne.

Then things shifted, Vergne put on the softer tyres and immediately went 4th, meaning a large quantity of the field were then under threat and no-one was safe. This pivotal time sparked the rest of the grid into action, well everyone barring Hamilton and the two Lotus cars who risked staying in to save tyres. A series of different cars found themselves in the relegation zone, cycling on through the Saubers, Di Resta, and Senna, but it fell to Ricciardo who was still in the pit-lane for some reason. However the Torro Rosso team helped out their sister team, as Vettel was right on the edge of relegation, 0.6s only away from being knocked out by the Caterham of Kovalainen.

Heading into Q2, and it was the two Mercedes cars who took to the track first, followed by Massa in the Ferrari and it was the Brazilian who took the top spot from the first three runners. It was only a temporary lead because Hulkenberg stole the top spot from Felipe before the main contenders started the second session. One of the main contenders, Jenson Button, was having more difficulties with setup citing troubles with understeer and car balance, but still managed to take the fastest time. Only for a short time however because the Lotus team were rediscovering the old squadron from the Renault days locking out the front row of the session. It was the turn of another McLaren to go fastest, in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, unleashing yet more domination knocking six tenths of a second ahead of the first of the Lotus cars. However Lewis came on the radio after the effort claiming there was more time to find, after supposedly being blocked by what he thought was a Sauber. There was no footage of any of it so it can't be confirmed, so that may well have been merely a psychological message to the rest of the field, at this point it did seem like a foregone conclusion for the pole in the final session of the day.

 As the session winded down the timesheets started to tighten up immensely, the tiniest of fractions separating the entire top ten - except Hamilton. At one point there was a grand total of 0.000s between 10th and relegation - because Rosberg and One-Stop Perez setting an identical time. Just as we saw in the first session the positions were changing rapidly each lap saw different drivers sitting in relegation, Webber's engineer came on the radio while the Red Bull was in 5th saying he wasn't safe and had to go back out. On the final laps, it was the chicane where the final positions were set, kicked off when Maldonado used the grass on the exit casting clouds of dirt into the air. Michael drove through the cloud coating the tyres with dust and lost grip into the subsequent turn eight, compromising his final run locking him in relegation. The dusty track slowed the section for the final runs which hurt Webber as he was trapped in 11th place and out of the session.

In the final phase of qualifying it was the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg who lead the field out, as the German had once more pulled the car into the top ten along with both of the Williams cars for the first time this season. From the earlier runners it was Kimi Raikkonen who went fastest, before Hamilton took to the track and once again claimed the top spot by a substantial margin. The first runs of the session were only contended by four drivers while the others were waiting for the second part of the session for their only runs to save tyres for the race. It was initially feared that Hulkenberg was only going to set some sector times without completing a full lap, heading for penalty points but he joined the list of drivers taking to the track.

Vettel looked like a challenger for the pole position on his final run setting quicker sector times in the first two sectors, but lost time in the final sector finishing second. On his warm-down lap he cut the chicane ahead of Hamilton on his out-lap while Maldonado was making his final effort only managing 8th ahead of his team-mate. The positions were fairly static towards the front, only be reinforced by Hamilton extending his lead yet further, only Grosjean came close to making an effort at pole, only hundredths down at the first timing point, but the gap only widened as the lap progressed. Romain completed the lap to take second, forcing Vettel down to third. Button was fourth ahead of the second Lotus of Raikkonen rounding out the top five, it was an all Ferrari affair behind Alonso heading Massa. And at the back of the top ten, the Willams cars lined up in order and Hulkenberg did complete a lap but only managed tenth.

The bonus points championship points winners


It wasn't an overly dramatic qualifying session but is was very close as per normal in the middle session and from the competition some points are to be awarded as follows:

• 10pts - Bruno Senna: First time in the top ten all season 
• 8pts - Romain Grosjean: Almost taking pole in the final moments of the session
• 6pts - Nico Hulkenberg: Making it into the top ten once more, 
• 5pts - Jean Eric Vergne: Not being relegated in the opening session for once
• 4pts -Lewis Hamilton: Has been rather dominant all weekend so should have some points
• 3pts - Yi Siling - First gold medal of the Olympic deserves some bonus points
• 2pts - Charles Pic - Out qualifying Timo Glock in the Marussias at the bottom of the grid
• 1pts - Felipe Massa - For being rather close to Fernando as the time for contract negotiations approaches 

Because everyone was well behaved today I have no entries for any of the other two tables at this point in the weekend.

Looking to tomorrow

The prospect of a Hungarian GP never instils one with the huge quantities of anticipation that a race such as Canada or Monaco would generate, in fact it generally results in a long event-less afternoon. Where the starting order could likely be the finishing order at the end of 70 laps of the track, which will be hopefully be swept of all the discarded rubber from the morning support races. One thing we can count on to bring a faint hope of unpredictability is the tyres falling away towards the end of a stint creating enough of a time difference to encourage a pass. The standpoint on tyres has been conflicting up and down the pit-lane, some people reckoning that they will degrade quite a lot, while others theorising there may be some one-stop strategies. Yes Sergio the blog is pointing at you on that point. The thing is the way a tyre reacts over the race distance seems to be race specific, playing mainly towards Sauber and Lotus - making Grosjean a threat.

Of course, there is a small matter of another variable hovering ominously in the skies around the track, forecasts suggest there may be some rain showers in the area. Now the Hungarian GP has been in place since 1986 and only two of those have been rain affected, both of those were won by a certain bonus points champion Jenson Button. So should the skies open up on raceday, then Button could be on for a hat-trick of wins at the Hungaroring, and on top of that rain has usually been the only thing that can convert this race into an enthralling spectacle. So until Monday this time I shall bid you all farewell, as the post will be delayed as the blog heads to the Olympics virtually as the chequered flag falls on tomorrow's race. 

Round 11: Hungary Preview 2012

Greetings Internet,

Less than a week since the fall of the flag in Germany and the blog is here once more in preparation for the next thrilling instalment of the 2012 season. Well I say thrilling but it is the inevitable point in the championship when heads into eastern Europe and to the Hungaroring, one of the few tracks on the calendar famous for being appallingly dull. Usually the race of the season where very little is expected to happen, the narrow dusty track is cursed with the problem of being a nice place to drive around on but the racing it produces is negligible most of the time.

However if the track action does get a little tiresome we do have another large scale distraction gracing out little corner of the world in the form of the Olympics, which doesn't seem to include any motor-racing for some reason. In fact it only seems to include sports which are only either really hard, or really expensive to pursue, hence why the blog isn't representing the island at anything. If there was a medal available for writing a whole bunch of nonsense on the internet then perhaps, but everyone who has access to the internet is usually guilty of that. Because here in this corner of the room, the blog would like to have a go, at what who knows, but it would be brilliant. So we have to resort to the next best thing, well a couple of tiers down the hierarchy, but a long way up from hiding in this corner. As the blog is indeed heading to the Olympics if only in a spectoral capacity, and not all the way down to see the scary southerners. Instead travelling east into Newcastle to see some group stage football. The blog doesn't really understand football, but given the scale of the whole thing it does seem like a rather good idea.

That does bring us to one problematic consequence of this little venture, is that the post-race review post may have to wait until Monday as of course at the time I would normally be writing it I will be watching Japan play Morocco and then Spain playing Honduras. Therefore not returning back to headquarters until really late in the evening virtually the morning and no writing will be taken care of at that time of night. It might make the report a little sketchy and out of date but these things don't really come around that often and certainly not to this corner of the world. Anyway this is blog HQ and that means were are here now for motor-racing purposes and it is time to bring on this week's track.

The Track

credit to the FIA for the graphic

The Hungaroring is a world of contrasts and contradictions it drives and races like two completely different entities and throughout the course of the weekend will change and evolve very dramatically. During the year the track isn't used that often, not like courses such as the Nurburgring which see several categories use the facility. Which means when the teams first turn up on Friday for first practice session, the surface will be very dusty and slippery and the early track action only serves to clean a line. Then as the weekend progresses, a thin racing line will develop and offline will be coated in a layer of discarded rubber and the dust pushed off line by the runners. A problem which will be compromised by the support races, so by the time the race rolls round on Sunday afternoon the racing groove will be really narrow and overtaking will be strictly limited to the first corner under normal circumstances.

How much of that can we put on the layout, well perhaps there is a fair amount of blame to be placed there, because the flowing nature of the lap does make it difficult to pass and the abrasive surface will exacerbate the build-up of marbles offline. But although it makes the racing a little, or more than often a lot, dull in places  - the track is a nice place to drive on the simulator. As one corner flows into the next with the exception for the chicane at the top of the track. Now I like a good chicane as much as the next person, but this isn't one, it fits for some other car types, ran some laps in a touring car and it wasn't so problematic or clumsy. Yet in a high powered formula one car, even the blogmobile struggles to get through without losing mechanical grip. 

The only other problems with the track, lie with the opening and concluding two corners at either end of the track. Because they seem like a contrast to the rest of the lap, almost as if they were somewhat of an afterthought, and don't exist as a challenge to the drivers, but tempts drivers into carrying that little bit extra through the apex and drifting offline leading to being trapped in the vast fields of marbles and generic debris. 

One place where marbles and dust isn't a problem is in the virtual world of the simulator, so driving the blogmobile round the track is a little more forgiving, where the track traditionally behaves like a street track in race conditions I have more freedom in the virtual realm. That is the cue to release this week's video which returns to the traditional format since the Hungaroring has remained roughly the same since its introduction to the calendar barring some minor corner re-profiling. So here it is.

What to expect

Well given the nature of the track we may as well print out the qualifying result as the final standings where overtaking is a long forgotten concept at the Hungaroring.  However through tyre degradation things may change this season, allowing cars to have enough of a time difference to encourage some position changes, but that is wishful thinking. This does make the single lap pace on Saturday so much more important which could play more into the hands of Red Bull and Mercedes who have demonstrated stronger performances in qualifying rather than the race. Conversely it could hurt the likes of McLaren and Lotus who race a lot better than they qualify at the moment, that could be minimised for Lotus if the track temperature remains high across the weekend as their car appears to be very temperature sensitive working much better in warmer climates.

The mid-field this weekend will be exceptionally competitive and be much closer to the front of the grid to the point where a surprise winner from this part of the grid would not be too much of a surprise as Sauber and Force India were strong in Germany and that pace could be translated through into this race. At the other end of the scale, as the track is harder to overtake on there is a slightly large risk of drivers trying moves out of frustration or impatience. Which could be a problem for someone like Pastor Maldonado who could put his recent streak of not hitting anyone under threat.

Naturally down at the back there really isn't that much of a need to predict what is going on, as the three teams have developed their own permanent hierarchy. Caterham are in a division of their own, roughly 1s behind Torro Rosso ahead and a similar distance in front of the other two teams at the bottom of the grid. The static nature of this race isn't conjusive to the high amount of randomness needed to bump them up anywhere near the points positions. Even in the unpredictable events in Valencia only saw Petrov temporarily hold 10th while driver were out of sync in the pit stop phase, so scores in Hungary are not really on the cards.

Blog predictions

This is time for the blog to demonstrate how little the blog knows about the forever changing realm of current form and relative pace across the field. 

1. Hamilton 
2. Vettel
3. Alonso
4. Raikkonen
5. Webber
6. Button
7. Grosjean
8. Kobayashi
9. Rosberg
10. Di Resta

Qualifying Battle

• Red Bull  - Vettel
• McLaren - Hamilton
• Ferrari - Alonso
• Lotus - Raikkonen
• Sauber - Kobayashi
• Force India - Di Resta
• Williams - Maldonado
• Torro Rosso - Ricciardo
• Caterham - Kovalainen
• Marussia - Glock
• HRT - De La Rosa

So there we go then, on the eve of the opening ceremony for the Olympic games blog HQ has set all the preparations for the other important sporting event this weekend across on the other side of Europe, well as far east on the continent the series visits this season. At the conclusion of the opening post from the weekend and one of the few that will be on time due to the events and the fact the the blog is going to the Olympics this weekend after the race, I shall bid you all farewell until after qualifying on Saturday.

Round Ten: Germany Review

Greetings Internet,

Well there we have it, we did manage to go an entire session without some form of rain interruption, a start contrast to the past few days where storms have been a recurring factor. We escaped the rain here in little old England but so too on the continent, which this time didn't really harm the spectacle as we were in for a decent race. The track demonstrating that it can be entertaining despite being visually rather dull and uninspiring, but it was the design of the track which has lead to a little bought of controversy towards the end of the race. I knew this plague of excessive concrete run-offs would be more problematic than it would be beneficial. Personally don't understand why there is no boundary of grass between the edge of the track and the extra tarmac. That way drivers could run off and rejoin without a problem, no unnecessary retirements would be caused and additionally no-one would gain an advantage from running wide. Hockenheim has always had problems with cars running wide in the fast corners, and in the hairpin - to the point where on occasion tyre bundles have been placed on the outside of turn one for other races.

 The change from wet to dry across the weekend did see fortunes and pace change throughout the field, widening the range of competitors at the front and making the competition in the mid-field very close. Where there is close competition there is room for great battles and inventive overtaking, and we certainly had some of that, bounded with an impressive lack of contact between drivers. Even Maldonado was on his best behaviour, not that the Williams was that competitive on race day in the dry, as other drivers came forward. What was also rather interesting was the lack of attrition for the race, no-one retired from contact or mechanical problems, in fact there was only one retirement overall - but I shall get to that later. As with the last race report there is a matter of an Indycar race cropping up so should get a move on.

credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

The Race


Yesterday the climate was definitely questionable, but on activating the coverage today seeing blue skies and dry tarmac was no great surprise. What was interesting however at the time I managed to escape the cocoon in which I sleep, was Christian Horner having words with the FIA - regrading an emerging issue regarding some questionable engine mapping. The current theory is that Red Bull are using an engine setting to act as a form of traction control on their car, the FIA have stated that this is not an acceptable practice, but the regulations don't prevent it. Therefore as per the rule book, they are not doing anything technically wrong, so we can expect those rules to be modified at the end of the summer break after Hungary next week. Making it two issues that Red Bull and the stewards will be contemplating for a while this weekend, but onto the race.

The grid had been reshaped yet more following qualifying with One-Stop Perez being handed a 5-place grid drop for impeding other drivers in the second part of qualifying and therefore was relegated down to 17th. Bringing the total of penalised drivers up to four, only one of which was for driving standards. At least for the beginning of this session I had timed the consumption breakfast (not that food at 1pm could really be considered breakfast) meaning I was in place for the start. And at that start it was the Ferrari's that made a strong initial getaway, a little too quickly for Felipe as he drove straight into the back of the Torro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo. Sending Massa's front wing floating through the along with many shards of carbon fibre littering the track, surprisingly Ricciardo avoided a puncture which is so often the case with wing to wheel contact. Other than that the start was clean and free of contact - for the first three corners anyway. It was the turn of Romain Grosjean to encounter difficulties, running up to the back of a damaged Massa faster than he anticipated chipping half of his front wing in the process, seeing him skate off down at the hairpin.

Further up front Vettel and Schumacher duelled through the opening lap, two wide into the hairpin and defending a second challenge towards the Mercedes Arena. As the cars returned at the start of the second lap they were greeted by a lake of debris in turn one from Massa's wing, questions were raised as to whether the safety car should have been deployed in case of shards causing punctures. Fortunately everyone managed to navigate the field of shrapnel on the first encounter, but it was on the second time round where it would affect the race. Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus was running quickly and had caught up to the back of Lewis Hamilton, and had a look to the inside turn one - that meant Hamilton took a slightly wider line and into the debris fields. This excursion resulted in the McLaren picking up a rear puncture and dropping to the back of the field - Lewis came on the radio claiming they needed to retire the car, but through the advances in modern technology it turns out tyres can be changed. Allowing Hamilton to continue albeit in last place.

With Hamilton now out of the way Raikkonen was now heading towards the next car in his sights, the Force India of Paul Di Resta. Paul had the end of the DRS zone covered defending into the hairpin, but that wasn't going to discourage the Finn, as Kimi went to the outside cutting back to the inside on the exit. Running two wide on the way down the straight and still two wide millimetres apart through the entrance to the Mercedes Arena. At the point where you'd think Di Resta had done enough to keep the position, Raikkonen managed to go round the outside of the Mercedes Arena to take the place away in one of the best overtaking manoeuvres of the day. There were position changes in place for the other of the Force India cars, as Button was on the charge towards the front, finally gaining some form after some challenging races this season - lining up Nico Hulkenberg. Jenson threw the car down the inside from quite some distance back at the hairpin, almost surprising Nico in the process at the apex.

Button wasn't done yet, and was driving towards another German, this time the target was the slightly more successful Michael oh Sch...umacher in the Mercedes, but the extra experience wasn't going to stop Jenson's early charge. In an almost identical manoeuvre into the hairpin Button went to the inside forcing Michael to turn out of the corner to avoid damage. Towards the bottom of the top ten were the Saubers running virtually in formation behind Di Resta, Sergio went to pass the Force India but both cars ended forcing each other wide allowing Kobayashi to take his team-mate. Due to the different strategies within the team Kamui didn't resist when Perez re-took the position after both of them dealt with the Force India.

It was time for the first round of pit-stops and it played into the hands of Kimi Raikkonen, who jumped ahead of Webber and placed right behind Schumacher and Hulkenberg. Michael went for the pass on the Force India in a late move down the inside through the Mercedes Arena, Raikkonen watched the battle unfold and saw an opportunity to follow Michael through, driving round the outside of another Force India on the exit of the arena.Heading in the opposite direction was Pastor Maldonado rejoining just ahead of Webber. Pastor managed to pull out a slight gap while negotiating the Caterham of Petrov who hadn't stopped by this point, Mark's difficulty in dealing with the slower car demonstrated he was having difficulty on the harder compound affecting his confidence on the brakes while the Williams scampered away. Only to be caught back up several laps later to regain the position.

Running longer on the strategies the top three took their stops, as they were in a race of their own, dropping the cars behind - where the Saubers yet to pit were lurking and briefly overlapping with Vettel, but they too pulled in returning back with the Force India's continuing the race long duel as to who would be the champion from the mid-field teams. It was time for some more overtaking and it was Kimi who had caught up to Schumacher after both of them dealt with Hulkenberg a few laps earlier, it was once more down at the hairpin - one of only two overtaking places developing on the track. Michael defended the position but drifted a little wide and Kimi got a better exit to claim the position up into a net fourth position. A little under the radar making places from a low grid slot was Nico Rosberg, working his way into the points from 22nd place. While Sauber were launching a coordinated strike against  Force India - Sergio attacking Hulkenberg and Kamui re-passing Paul Di Resta, everything taking place down into the hairpin.

Well almost everything - as the Kobayashi battle raged all the way to the Mercedes Arena, with the Japanese driver throwing it up the inside at the last possible second, but carried too much speed and was re-passed again.

Then that almost guaranteed moment of stability we get in the middle of the race, where not too much happens, with a little twist this time around. As the leaders encountered a rather unusual scenario - being caught by a lapped car, and this lapped car was being piloted by Lewis Hamilton a long way back due to the early puncture. We had the situation where Hamilton was trying to unlap himself, against Vettel, and in the DRS zone managed to do so, much to the German bloke's displeasure waving his arms and gesticulating at the McLaren as it passed. Lewis tried the same procedure on the leader Alonso but Fernando held off the challenge

Things didn't pick up again until the second round of stops were completed, as everyone was handed fresh tyres to reinvigorate their battles. The stops gave Raikkonen a severe burst of speed but the top three were too far ahead, but it did build a gap to the two Saubers behind still running in formation, something the former Renault Squadron were famous for last season. Back in their own battle up front, Vettel had the attentions of Jenson Button once more and the German bloke was soon passed by the McLaren. He set his sights firmly on the leading Ferrari, incurring a flatspot locking up into the hairpin on mounting the charge.A little further back a Force India was in a battle with a Sauber as the two white cars were coming back after their final stops. Hulkenberg had both Saubers closing in lead by Kobayashi a second ahead of Perez, it was in the DRS zone once more where the pass was finally completed. Kamui looked to the outside before switching to the inside just as the apex approached in an undefendable move.

Some drivers were starting to explore the fringes of the track, Grosjean venturing through the gravel on the exit of the mobil curve, while Vettel was running wide virtually everywhere in an effort to catch up with Button ahead. Jenson was right behind Alonso now but was unable to make any advances on the Ferrari and allowing Vettel to close up slowly behind. With laps running out some drivers opted for an extra pit stop to counter the tyre degradation, as the new tyres would easily recoup the time lost pitting for them. The furthest forward of those pitting in was Michael Schumacher out of 5th, as he was about to come under threat from the Sauber duo - Kamui was running over a second per lap faster than the Mercedes. Someone else entering the pit lane was Lewis Hamilton, except he wasn't coming back out again, driving into retirement - citing damage from the puncture. Now there are a couple of problems with that theory, a car with terminal damage tends not to compete for over 50 laps after sustaining the puncture, additionally the car wouldn't be able to catch and un-lap Sebastien Vettel. What the blog assumes is a play here, is that because he officially retired the car, it means Lewis gets to swap the gearbox without a penalty - we're onto your plan Hamilton....

Back at the front and Alonso was able to pull away from Button and Vettel was closing in rapidly on the McLaren, while Schumacher's anti-sauber plan wasn't working out as he wasn't fast enough to charge down Perez in time. Rosberg on a similar strategy to his fellow German team-mate was making some gains being the latest driver to have a go at passing some Force India cars, passing Di Resta for the last championship point.

It was on the penultimate lap where Vettel was within passing range of Jenson in the DRS zone, Button naturally defended the inside lane forcing Sebastien to use the outside. Not that it would stop the German bloke driving round the outside of the McLaren on the exit of the corner. There was only one problem with this is that Button was against the white line at the edge of the track, therefore for Vettel to pass on the outside he was off the track. Using the run-off area as a passing zone, which isn't really allowed and following a long post race investigation Vettel was to handed a 20s time penalty.

Alonso was free and clear to take his third win of the season, staking a claim on the top spot in the championship, Vettel finished on the road in second ahead of Button. Raikkonen finished fourth ahead of the Sauber duo Kamui heading Sergio Perez, they were followed by Schumacher ahead of his friend from Valencia Mark Webber, the points were finished by Hulkenberg in 9th and Rosberg in 10th. Vettel's penalty dropped him in between the two Saubers bumping Raikkonen up onto the podium and Kobayashi into 4th.

The bonus points championship points winners


We not have had some rainfall, or any quantity of mayhem, but the track did offer some great racing overtaking to the outside and the inside and thats where bonus points can be won and lost and these are the winners from the German GP.

• 25pts - Kimi Raikkonen - A strong performance but some brilliant overtaking manoeuvres especially the early more on Di Resta
• 18pts - Kamui Kobayshi - The best finish of his career and some great moves on the way to it
• 15pts - Nico Rosberg - From 22nd to 9th is generally worth points, good job
• 12pts - One-Stop Perez - Another very strong performance from 17th to 5th
• 10pts - Jenson Button - Some forceful late moves into the hairpin, and a nice comeback podium
• 8pts - Fernando Alonso - For a dominant performance  in an age of competitiveness
• 6pts - Michael Schumacher - Good racing early in the race, with Hulkenberg and Raikkonen
• 4pts - Lewis Hamilton - For unlapping himself during the race, novelty points there
• 2pts - Maria De Vilotta  - Deserves some points to aid the recovery from the testing accident
• 1pt - Pastor Madonado - The first race in while he hasn't hit anyone

The penalties series

There are two entries to add to the table today, and those go to Sergio Perez for his blocking in qualifying and the 20s time penalty handed to Vettel for the illegal pass on Button.

The penalty points series

Considering everyone was so well behaved this weekend for the most part I thought I'd go an entire race without penalising anyone, but I found Hamilton's retirement rather curious, and very suspicious, so suspicious it was going to get a penalty point.

Looking to Hungary

Ah... suppose it is that time of the season again when we head off to Hungary one of the tracks famous for being usually agonisingly dull and processional, as a track is it quite nice to drive on - it flows well and is challenging in places. But as a race it normally is rather lifeless, although when it rains it can get interesting as it was last season, however in all the years the race has featured on the calender it has only rained twice and Button has won both of them attaining a 100% record in the Hungarian rain. That does mean that rain is a little on the unlikely side, therefore we could be in for a rather boring race next week.

Yet, the blog has been surprised before - a similar prospect was planned for Valencia - and that turned out really well with crashing mayhem and some great racing in the process. If we were to look at the different layouts you'd have to say there was a greater chance of carnage in Spain than there is in Hungary because he lap is more flowing and single file. Hopefully the severe drop off in the tyres will allow for some action along the way and make the Hungarian GP another entertaining step in this season. So until them this is farewell from the blog.

Round Ten: Germany Pre-race

Greetings Internet,

On Thursday when the first post went up there was a slight remark on a higher degree of climatic consistency  in practice this weekend. Well from the session we have had this afternoon, that process has gone completely out the window, as there has been all sorts of showers dowsing the track across the two practice sessions on Friday. Would today be any different, dry and consistent maybe - well apparently not, however that isn't a bad thing at all, actually makes things a fair bit more interesting, but looking at the forecast for the rest of the weekend it might stay dry. Shame on that note, because the rain during the race would be more entertaining. On a hilarious note, just the final warning on the grid for the GP3 race went out the rain started to fall as the drivers for the most part opted for slick tyres, this is not going to end well for about half the field.

But the grid that we have been dealt does bear a resemblance to a simple dry qualifying with a couple of fluctuations up and down the field where the conditions caused problems or induced an advantage elsewhere. The results from the session will be rather different from the order in which the teams line up on the grid tomorrow afternoon as a spate of gearbox penalties have blighted the field, dropping the likes of Webber, Rosberg and Grosjean all suffering five place drops from their final qualifying position. So lets examine how a very changeable session fell into place.

Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

Qualifying


After two days of severe rain showers, it was anyone's guess what the conditions were going to be when the coverage started, there were hints of previous rainfall in the pitlane, but the track was effectively dry and easily clear for slick tyres. The skies overhead were also clear and bright, something that this island is only recently getting itself used to after rainfall drowning the nation for the past month. So at least the first part of the session was going to be dry.

On the other note, the rainfall in GP3 has now brought out the red flag, pfft, it was going to be rather hilarious but not anymore...

Back to the qualifying update and at the end of the pit lane was a growing queue of cars, as people in the area had pointed out there was a large cloud bearing rain coming towards the track, and peering over the pit lane grandstands the black cloud was visible. It was Force India leading the train out of the garage followed by the lower running teams of HRT and Marussia. Now this is where the blog encountered a minor problem regarding nourishment, prior to the green light, a toastie was prepared and inserted into the machine, aimed to be returned on the warm up laps. In theory this was a flawless plan, but the things didn't follow the plan, because the machine wouldn't release my food - so several minutes of fighting later some laps had been completed.

On return from the toastie machine battle, it seemed that the McLarens were at the top of the timesheets with Hamilton leading from Button, but the silver dominance at the top was divided by the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi moving into second position. Down at the other end of the field the relegation zone was populated by the common six runners still as far off the pace as they were in Silverstone. Demonstrating that the updates that the likes of Caterham haven't made any real net improvements in catching likes of Torro Rosso. Joining them for now was the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, having not set a competitive time, the other Mercedes of Schumacher wasn't to safe at the time either.

With more than half the session completed Hamilton returned to the pit lane, under advice that his time was safe, based on predictions of the tyre performance differences in FP3. But then drivers who had fitted the softer tyre started to go rather quicker, Hulkenberg found 1.5s in the Force India to go second making the McLarens look a little less safe. Then out of nowhere, Raikkonen found half a second over Hamiltons fastest time - on the harder tyre of all things to set an unbeatable time, but it was at the back where things were more interesting. As each lap saw a different driver holding the final relegation place, passing from Rosberg, to Senna and then to Micheal Schumacher. Yet with seconds left on the clock Michael managed to find half a tenth to escape the zone, dropping relegation regular Vergne out of the first session of qualifying.

Moving swiftly on to Q2, and the attention turned to the sky as that cloud had moved a lot closer and was leaking over the track, drawing a rather unusual response from the teams - in Silverstone everyone rushed down to the end of the pit lane. This time no-one was queuing and even at the turn of the green light no major rush to get on with things. It seemed nonsensical considering the rain was only going to get worse therefore it would be quicker at the start of the session. Only Button and Maldonado left the pits on the intermediate tyres. Then the mother of all delayed reactions took place as teams started throwing tyres at the cars and getting them onto the track as more rain fell. Jenson and Pastor were sliding on the slippery track on way to setting the opening times. A train of cars was circulating round the track a little too close for the Ferrari team as Massa and Alonso almost bumped wheels in the stadium section.

Then things got really interesting, as the rain steadied, the times were actually getting faster despite the track being wetter than it was for Jenson and Maldonado at the start of the session. Hamilton went fastest finding an inexplicable amount of time compared to the drivers around him, what was more interesting is that he was joined by Schumacher - who only just made it through and left the pit lane last a long time after the track was at its driest. Down in the relegation zone this time were the likes of Massa, Grosjean who had KERS problems and Rosberg. But that was where they were going to stay because the rain picked up a lot, too much for the intermediates and the times suffered. Several drivers went out on the full wets in some vain hope it would help, or to learn something for Q3. The conditions severely hampered the Sauber team who were quick in the dry but trapped in relegation at the we conclusion of Q2.

Only ten cars remained and the rain was beginning to ease off a little, but the track was going to remain rather wet for the remainder of the session. Fernando came on the team radio before the session began complaining that the Q3 shouldn't go ahead due to the weather, being a little whiny perhaps on that occasion. But ahead it was going to go whether the grumpy Spaniard liked it or not. This time the best laps were scheduled to happen at the tail end of the session as the track dried slightly but all laps were to be done on the full wets. McLaren were out first with both drivers setting the initial pace. Nico Hulkenberg had an almighty moment through the parabolika, getting some wheelspin on a gear change spinning the car on one of the fastest points of the circuit. Luckily there was enough run-off to control the slide and keep it off anything solid so he could rejoin undamaged.

The McLaren domination at the top of the timesheets was ended by a strong time by Schumacher, who had also been complaining about the conditions on the radio, then it was Alonso's turn - assuredly happy the FIA decided to run the session now... Well that would have been until the German bloke took the top spot by a tenth of a second. Several drivers opted for some new tyres, to displace the water from the track a little better, as the conditions were gradually improving meaning times were falling rapidly. Illustrated by Schumacher taking the provisional pole by 1.7s away from Hamilton. That in turn was defeated by Vettel and then it was time for a new leader in the form of Mark Webber in the other of the Red Bulls, albeit weighted by the penalty hanging over his grid position.

With the drivers on the final laps of the session it was Alonso who claimed the top spot, 0.7s clear of Webber, and it was that gap Vettel managed to move into placing his car on the front row. Schumacher and Hulkenberg made it three Germans in the top 5 (top 4 after Mark's penalty). Maldonado finished in 6th, ahead of the two McLarens Button heading Hamilton. Paul Di Resta completed a British trio in the mid pack with his Force India in 9th while Raikkonen rounds out the top 10.

The bonus points championship points winners

From another session which has shifted from completely dry to using the full wets, here are the points scores from the qualifying phase of the German GP.

• 10pts - Kimi Raikkonen - mainly for destroying everyone in Q1 on the medium tyres while others were fitting the soft compound
• 8pts - Michael Schumacher - in comparison to his team-mate a brilliant job, starting a net third
• 6pts - Nico Hulkenberg - A very strong performance in the Force India, and avoiding the wall in Q3
• 5pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Not bad for the Torro Rosso, almost making the top ten
• 4pts - Fernando Alonso - Suppose there are points for pole position
• 3pts - Charles Pic - Out-qualifying Glock on home turf deserves points
• 2pts - Kamui Kobayshi - For the strong Q1 pace when things were dry
• 1pt - Pastor Maldonado - For not hitting anyone for an entire session

The penalty points series

Although several grid penalties have been awarded before the race, they are all for technical infringements and gearbox changes, so we shall move on to the penalty points awards.

• Fernando Alonso - for whining about the weather, it certainly wasn't wet enough to stop the session at all, you were just being silly. 
• The Toastie Machine - for trying to take my breakfast away from me
• Windows Movie Maker - for ruining the initial upload of my video on Wednesday.

Looking to tomorrow

As it has been said already in the run up to this race, the track does look a little simplistic on the surface, even Webber this weekend has stated that is it a little dull in design but can work well in terms of entertainment on race day. Because of the slightly mixed up grid from the wet final segments it could get rather more interesting indeed, especially if it does stay dry as the likes of Sauber and Lotus will be moving forward while Mercedes will be falling backwards. With Schumacher so far forward the train of cars behind the German could get long and agitated which can only lead to hilarity and mayhem. There is also the matter of cars dropped down the grid from gearbox penalties to look out for coming through the grid as well.

On top of everything once more is the weather, the forecast is for a dry race, but as I've seen in the support races the showers are sweeping in very rapidly and dropping a lot of water in the process, so the broad forecast probably cannot be trusted. A shower mid race would spice the show up quite a lot and throw in yet more unpredictability into a season which is completely mad at the moment. And who will suffer the wrath of Maldonado this weekend, all in all this German GP could be surprisingly entertaining one. So until then this is farewell from me here at Blog HQ.

Round Ten: Germany Preview 2012

Greetings Internet,

Two weeks after the British GP the blog has returned at this, the half-way point of the season well it will be once this weekend has been completed at the fall of the chequered flag on Sunday afternoon. By this point last year, the outcome of the championship had started to turn slowly into a formality as that German bloke was walking away with it a little too easily. Fortunately it has turned out rather differently this season where in the first nine completed races we've had seven different winners, and no one is running away with the championship. There is a slight contrast in the bonus points championship has been a little less competitive than its opening year, where six drivers came into the final race looking to claim the inaugural title. It might be a by-product of the change to the points scoring system which may be recalibrated for 2013, but there is the slightly more pressing matter of the race ahead this weekend.

Where we head shift from the home of the bonus points champion into that occupied by the actual world champion, along with several other members of the grid. Meaning the next stop on the European leg of the season is indeed the German GP. With its history linked to some of the greatest tracks the sport has encountered including the epic Nordschleife which ended up on the blog for this weekend last time. But this time around the race is handed over to the other track that operates the shared hosting of the event, another former legend of the series  - Hockenheim. Initially famous for the long full speed straights powering through the forest between walls of trees. Interspersed with chicanes to break up the straights, to stop people hitting the fence too hard in places. However those powerful blasts out into the wilderness have been amputated from the track Leaving us with a rather shorter version of the lap, but despite the loss of the original sections what we have is still a decent set of corners.

The Track

credit to the FIA for the map

So what do we have here now, and looking at the map the layout does seem a little simplistic in comparison to some of the more extravagant efforts on the calendar, Abu Dhabi is a prime example of taking things a little too far. Having far too many corners and placing the design of the surroundings far and above the requirements of the track, the same could easily be said of the extension that was added to the Bahrain lap in 2010. This track runs in contrast to that removing any unnecessary corners and features that would only get in the way of good racing.

It could be said that the track is a stereotypical representation of Germany, because it has been engineered specifically to function in the capacity of a racing facility, and therefore works for all series that compete on the layout. Where other tracks designed initially for F1 are oversized and ineffective for any other category, this one functions for everything. What is also rather impressive is that the track also manages to balance all the different elements that form the circuits of the world, including slow corners for overtaking chances merged into the rest of the lap without coming across as contrived. Something the likes of Korea and India have been guilty of in their latest efforts.

Incorporating faster, more interesting corners into the lap as well, the turn into the Mercedes arena and the mobil kurve are key highlights although one consequence of the improvements to aerodynamic technology minimises the challenge these corners present. The opening corner still maintains some of it's difficulty because the rough edges of the curbing can throw the car off balance if they run a little wide, which is all to often the case through the corner. It does make lap one an interesting prospect in these uncertain times. 

But after repairing this weeks video it is now time to unleash it onto the world, and there may be some typos as I has to revert to an earlier version since WMM ruined the first release, hideous program always trying to destroying everything. In this week's edition as with last week, there is an element of nostalgia going on once more, from a less historic time. Taking a visit back to the time the blog first started tuning into the world of motor-racing well - three years after that. So this is the video release from the German GP.

What to expect


This could prove to be a rather interesting weekend, as the track should keep the cars rather close on pace, which should carry through into the race leading to the chance of long car trains forming - probably behind Schumacher as other events have shown. It could be a track that will close up the front teams leading to conceivably four teams competing for pole and that is before you throw in the competitors from the mid-field that can mix things up a little.

So at the front Ferrari, Red Bull, Lotus and McLaren will be the main contenders one can assume, and perhaps this weekend McLaren won't be so far off the pace in comparison to Silverstone. But because the times will be so close only a couple of tenths would shuffle them down to the bottom of the top ten, to where Mercedes and Sauber will be lurking to benefit from a fortunate lap.

That means the mid-field will be in contention for some serious points and close on pace to the front running cars, which can cause a very uncertain grid, as a will timed run in qualifying can jump a driver several places further up then we'd normally expect. This applied to all of Sauber, Williams and Force India who have all exhibited strong turns of speed in the recent races through the large amount of updates brought to the cars. It does sort of leave Torro Rosso in a division of their own towards the back fighting to stay ahead of the three newer teams.

Looking at those teams and the updates didn't work out too well as a large gap had opened up between group leaders Caterham and mid-field tail enders Torro Rosso, a gap which was completely erased in Valencia. This time however the two phases of the grid should be a lot closer, and there is a chance for Heikki to break out of the first qualifying session again probably at the expense of Vergne. As for the other two teams back here, well they are now roughly on the same pace once more, as they managed through the middle of last season. Illustrating that it takes half a season for HRT, to get up to speed with the next slowest team on the grid which doesn't bode too well for their future really.

The blog predictions.


It is that time once more, where the blog gets to demonstrate how little idea how badly the blog can figure out who belongs where in the rapidly changing hierarchy this season and the scoring reflects how not so well it has gone, so here we go again.

1. Vettel
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton
4. Webber
5. Raikkonen
6. Grosjean
7. Button
8. Rosberg
9. Massa
10. Kobayashi

qualfying battle

• Red Bull - Vettel
• McLaren - Hamilton
• Ferrari - Alonso
• Mercedes - Rosberg
• Lotus - Grosjean
• Sauber - Kobayashi
• Force India - Hulkenberg
• Williams - Maldonado
• Torro Rosso - Ricciardo
• Caterham - Kovalainen
• Marussia - Glock
• HRT - De La Rosa

So there we go then, all the criteria for setting up a race weekend have been put in place for the weekend, and the event does omit a subtle hint of anticipation. Because on the surface it may not seem like one of the races that would be picked out as a certain highlight, the actual race can still prove to be rather exciting. Hockenheim may not have the climatic variability that the Nurburgring does, but the simplicity of the layout and the refreshing focus on the racing a track can provide make this one race that could go either way in terms of entertainment. Yes this isn't the original charge through the forest that is used to be but the shorter modern layout has a different charm and personality and can lead to an unpredictable and enthralling weekend. So on that note the blog shall bid you all farewell until the post qualifying update.  

Round Nine: Great Britain Review

Greetings Internet,

So there we have it, the most important sporting event on the British calendar has now been completed. There is a lot of people paying a lot of attention towards a couple of people hitting a small green sphere backwards and forwards, where the nation only really seems to care because some Scottish bloke is having a go. The bandwagon there is starting to get rather full, until the guy loses then there will be complete public outcry - how fickle the general public are, the BBC made a great point post race - the world of motor-racing is much more tolerable. Yes people have their favourites and here at blog HQ there is a practice of neutrality in place, but there is a greater respect for all involved. If a driver has a bad day, ends up in the fence or falls down the standings, there isn't the same international petition to have them exiled back home and completely rejected only until the event rolls round again next time. It could be said that the British GP isn't so much of a race like the other 19 on the calendar this season, and more of an event where pre and post show entertainment are just as important and sometimes moreso entertaining than the 52 laps round the track.

Which can only help when the race itself was a little minimalistic in terms of action for the most part, featuring more of a strategic event than the wheel to wheel contact based mayhem we fought with on the pseudo streets of Valencia. Still doesn't make that track any better, but that's a rant for that time next season. Today's race did have it's moments and wasn't completely devoid of action, intrigue and a small component of controversy. One of the elements that we were robbed of this weekend, was the rain, which now has decided to fall while the coverage moves onto the forum. The track stayed dry throughout the race and that could have rearranged the finishing order a fair bit, so we did keep up with one of the great British traditions in the form of disappointment and underwhelming performances. However there is a rather promising Indycar race on a bit later on at Toronto and that is predicted to be a series of collisions in-between which a race might break out.

credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk for the image

The Race


When the TV coverage opened the focus was drawn to the skies and the tarmac to make an initial judgement on whether the rain would be coming, and the clouds were similar in colour to the final practice session on Saturday morning. Where things remained dry for that session and all the way up to qualifying - roughly the same time window as a race distance which was rather unfortunate. But bigger problems were elsewhere as Vitaly Petrov in the Caterham returned from his lap to the grid with plumes of smoke leaving the rear of the car. The fuel pressure problem brought the car to a halt on the pit lane entry road and proved to be a terminal problem, meaning grid was going to be one car short for the race.

Patches of sun and blue sky erupted of the start finish straight as the drivers lined up in position alongside the swanky new pit buildings - dispelling the threat of inclement conditions for the afternoon ahead. When the lights went out under the uncharacteristic British sun Fernando made sure he was going to be the first car heading into Abby corner on this opening lap. Cutting across the front of Webber's nose, leaving only inches between cars being pitched into pit-wall, but they kept all parts on the cars through the opening sequence. A couple of rows further back Vettel was having to defend against Massa and Kimi - running close to three wide on the apex at turn 4. With all the cars running so close at this point it was miraculaous there were no shards of carbon fibre sailing through the air, a problem slightly rectified as Vettel trimmed some of Massa's rear wing aero-vanes off. But that wasn't the end of it all, Holy endplates Lotus as Grosjean after finding himself on the outside of Hamilton brushed Di Resta's rear tyre with his wing. The Force India took on a puncture and span off before retiring later with further damage from the flailing tyre.

At the end of the opening lap Alonso had built a small lead ahead of Webber while Schumacher maintained third ahead of the second Ferrari of Massa - a little too orderly at the front so we have to look a little further back. Holy understeer Lotus, as Romain was missing a proportion of his front wing the car was struggling to stay on the track in the high speed corners spending some time on the astroturf on the fringes of the circuit. He had fallen back into the clutches of Jenson Button, the Frenchman defended from the McLaren into turn three failing to notice a Sauber finding space on the outside. That Sauber was piloted by Kamui Kobayshi who passed both Jenson and Grosjean in the one corner, Romain fought back as Kamui slide wide in turn four but it was only delaying the inevitable, surrendering the position in Brooklands. In the same corner a couple of cars further up the grid.. Holy Run-off Lotus as Kimi found himself on the outside of the ever friendly Pastor Maldonado - the thing is that Pastor isn't particularly respectful of personal space. Therefore Raikkonen no found soggy green false grass underneath his tyres instead of dry tarmac as the Williams eased him out and off the track.

After the opening phase of cars being entertaining and racing each other, things did decide to settle down and take on the other great British tradition of queuing - mainly behind Schumacher who once more was demonstrating that the Mercedes is not so quick in immediate race pace. Speaking of traditions and Britain there was another one filtering through and that was moaning and complaining, usually while queuing, and this was Hamilton running between Raikkonen and One-Stop Perez. Lewis made a radio call back to the team complaining that the car had no pace, which might have been a consequence of being one of the few cars on the hard compound tyres.

Back in the Schumacher train - shade of Valencia were coming through here, though in this case the queue of followers didn't stretch as far back and wasn't quite so rowdy as last time round. Felipe was the first car in the line behind the Mercedes and was looking considerably faster. However Schumacher has been doing this driving thing for a long time and was able to defend the position from the Ferrari, because the queue was costing those trapped in it time Vettel opted to pit and get out of sequence to avoid any problems. As the last time there was a Schumacher queue there was contact and madness. Michael in the high top speed of his car  was able to counter the DRS attacks on the Wellington straight - formally known as the national straight - but was slower in the faster corners. Massa figured this out and focussed the charge on the high speed middle sector and got a good run out of Chapel diving down the inside of Michael into Stowe breaking free of the queue.

It was time for the rest of pit stops to unfold for the starters on the softer compound tyres, so we saw Hamilton and Kobayashi filter up onto the podium on account staying out. Through stopping earlier Vettel had jumped ahead of Massa and Schumacher into a net third position - but it wasn't all going to plan through the field as it had been a little while since everything happened. We turn the focus down towards One-stop Perez and Maldonado having just made their stops the pair were released in close proximity onto the track. Maldonado doesn't do close proximity, as it normally results in issues. This time was to be no different, Sergio in the DRS zone went to the outside as Pastor defended the inside as is the correct thing to do. They entered the corner side by side, and in a scene of deja vu, the Williams drifted wide and into the side of the Sauber. Contact was made and the rear suspension on the Sauber was damaged and Pastor suffered a puncture but could continues. As the commentary mentioned this could be classed as a racing incident as the Williams got loose on the apex and that precipitated the contact - at this point no decision has been made as to any possible penalties for the accident.

We headed into a phase of inactivity and serenity only permeated by Alonso catching up with Hamilton who hadn't stopped by this point on the harder tyres. Lewis fought with the faster Ferrari losing the position in the slower hairpins in the arena section before Aintree corner. Meaning Alonso was able to use the DRS while being in front, but that didn't seem to matter as Hamilton managed to out-drag the Ferrari even with the wing open, yet the McLaren went deep into Brooklands surrendering the position once more. The rest of the middle stint was almost eventless where Fernando lead from the Red Bull pairing of Webber and Vettel, Massa held fourth which was a good day for the pressured Ferrari driver with Raikkonen fifth.

The second run of stops started to turn into target practice in the Sauber pit as Kamui collected a fair amount of his pit crew all of the escaping any serious injuries as they were launched into into the air. We also found out that while the suspension on the Sauber can't survive an attack from an errant Williams the front wing can withstand bouncing off pit crews. On the plus side the pit stops did place cars out of position in relation to their strategies - Hamilton found came out with a warning coming over the radio. Holy comeback Lotus as it was Grosjean on the charge behind him - Lewis tried to put cars between himself and the Lotus starting with the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Hamilton took the German into Copse but Holy overtaking Lotus, Grosjean went one better and threw one down the inside of Maggots. Closing the battle up once more, Lewis needed another car to put between them, and convenienly there was one just ahead, it was almost as if this was planned as that car was Jenson. The two McLarens ran together for a while not being particularly decisive as to where the pass was going to happen, but it was to be into Copse once more. Leading to Grosjean repeating his manoeuvre this time to the outside of Maggots on Button.

Holy perseverance Lotus Romain spent a while behind Hamilton before being able to use the DRS to take the position from the McLaren and setting off after Raikkonen in the other batman sponsored machine further up the road. At this late stage in the race the drivers starting on the harder tyres were beginning to suffer on their strategy falling back towards the cars behind them, a situation that did include the leading Ferrari of Fernando Alonso being closed in on by Webber in the Ferrari. The only car on this strategy looking like making progress was Button locked in a battle with Senna and Hulkenberg trying to claim the final point in another challenging day for McLaren. Senna took a look at the inside of Nico to take the place and the Force India ran wide on the exit of Aintree allowing Button and Kobayashi through handing Jenson the single point for tenth place.

More woes in McLaren as Hamilton's tyres had seen their best, allowing Schumacher to close considerably, Lewis tried defending but the position on the Wellington straight but the Mercedes drove completely round the outside into Brooklands easily taking the position away. Holy team-mates Lotus for a while it seemed like Romain was going to drive up to the back of Raikkonen, carving into the gap, but towards the end of the race Kimi started setting fastest laps and charged after Massa in 4th. One gap that was still coming down and getting rather close was the battle for the lead - because Webber was getting very close to Alonso as the laps were running thin. With only four remaining, Mark took a tighter line through turn four resulting in a better run through Aintree onto the back straight. Instinctively Fernando defended to the inside leaving the only the outside lane open. A combination of extra momentum from the DRS and a wider line allowed Webber to sweep around the outside of Brooklands not only just to pass Alonso but to take the lead of the British GP.

The positions were now settled for the run to the line, meaning Webber becomes the second driver to double his win tally of the season with the rest of the podium filled by Alonso and Vettel. Just outside the podium was Felipe Massa having the strongest race he has had since 2010, fending off the position from Raikkonen at the end of the race. Grosjean recovered from the opening lap contact with Di Resta to finish in 6th place ahead of Schumacher and Hamilton finishing where he started in 8th. The top ten was completed by Bruno Senna in 9th and the last point went to the second McLaren of Jenson Button.

The bonus points championship points winners


Even through this race may not have had the immense quantity of racing and action that other races this season including the surprise entertaining race last time in Valencia, there has to be the same amount of points on offer for the British GP, because there were some performances worth handing points to.

25pts - Romain Grosjean - Holy recovery-drive Lotus from a damaged wing to be within 7s of Kimi
18pts - Mark Webber - A relentless drive and a strong pass to take the win
15pts - Fernando Alonso - Again a very accomplished drive
12pts - Felipe Massa - His best race since a very wet Korea 2010, very composed considering the rumours of being replaced remained
10pts - Sebastien Vettel - Some points for a decent, race but for his shameless interview with Lee Mckenzie in the post race Forum, and pouring champagne on Jackie Steward on the podium
8pts - Lewis Hamilton - Two main reasons firstly for making a pass against a car using DRS, and secondly for doing doughnuts, automatic bonus points for that
6pts - Jean Eric Vergne - For making the most places in the race, even through 66% of them were the newer cars
4pts - BBC F1 Team - A great broadcast including David Couthard crashing Martin Brundle's sky tv broadcast on the grid - legendary
2pts - Kimi Raikkonen - For a great opening battle with Vettel for the opening sequence of corners
1pt - Jenson Button - There is the single point you fought for at the end of the race

Penalty points championship


As there as of yet has been no decision on the Maldonado/Perez contact so there hasn't been any official driving penalties followed today's race we shall move swiftly onto the penalty points series and there are going to be some penalties from the blog.

• Pastor Maldonado - not so much for the crash because that wasn't an intentional event getting loose mid corner and sliding into the Sauber, but for earlier in the race when he forced Raikkonen off in the same corner
• Tennis - for taking over the BBC HD channel, shocking confusion of priorities there
• Kobayashi - hitting your own pit crew, not cool there really 
• Rain - you let us all down hiding until after the race had finished, also not cool.

Looking ahead to Germany

For this year the German GP is to be held at the Hokkenheimring as part of the alternating deal with the Nurburgring, a similar deal to the one that is planned in response to managing the cost of having two races in Span. The track continues the pattern of traditional European tracks we visit in this phase of the season in a run that will see us all the way to the end of the European season. Hokkenheim used to be a very formidable high speed and exciting track featuring powerful blasts through the dark and mysterious forest, where rain and mist hung in the branches creating a special and eerie atmosphere in the wet. 

Sadly now, the track is now a faint shadow of its former self, where the long straights have been neutered from the layout, replaced with a smaller more technical spectator friendly infield track. As much as it may be less enthralling and challenging to drive the racing on the track has generally been good. Designed as a nice balance between speed and precision and with the current tyre scenarios and the DRS system which will be debuting there the results could be rather spectacular. So until then this is farewell from me here at Blog HQ