2017 Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix

[Short_Circut]

Vettel P1, Kimi P2, Bottas P3

Here's hoping we don't get a repeat of Russia

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

FREE PRACTICE THREE (Saturday)

Ferrari Show True Form Ahead of Qualifying in Hungary

Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikonnen upped the pace at the twisty Hungaroring ahead of qualifying, leading the times by over 4 tenths of a second from Mercedes man Valtteri Bottas.

With Daniel Ricciardo having won most of the headlines on Friday, it was left to Ferrari to put right what seemed to be so wrong during the opening practice sessions of the weekend during FP3, topping the times for much of the running and leapfrogging big rivals Mercedes and a now dispirited looking Red Bull team.

Ricciardo would find the going much tougher during Saturday morning, ending the day down in a dispiriting eighth position, behind both Mercedes and Ferrari cars plus the surprise performance from McLaren and Vandoorne and the impressive Nico Hulkenberg Renault.

Sadly Felipe Massa would continue to feel unwell and would end the day after 12 laps, stepping out of the Williams car for the remainder of the session, to be replaced by Scotsman Paul Di Resta for the rest of weekend.

Free Practice Three Results

1. Sebastian Vettel VET Ferrari 1:17.017 17
2. Kimi Räikkönen RAI Ferrari 1:17.492 +0.475s 16
3. Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes 1:17.914 +0.897s 15
4. Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:18.194 +1.177s 25
5. Lewis Hamilton HAM Mercedes 1:18.434 +1.417s 14
6. Stoffel Vandoorne VAN McLaren Honda 1:18.638 +1.621s 18
7. Nico Hulkenberg HUL Renault 1:18.699 +1.682s 20
8. Daniel Ricciardo RIC Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:18.714 +1.697s 7
9. Fernando Alonso ALO McLaren Honda 1:18.884 +1.867s 14
10. Jolyon Palmer PAL Renault 1:18.956 +1.939s 19
11. Carlos Sainz SAI Toro Rosso 1:19.300 +2.283s 22
12. Esteban Ocon OCO Force India Mercedes 1:19.352 +2.335s 22
13. Daniil Kvyat KVY Toro Rosso 1:19.455 +2.438s 23
14. Sergio Perez PER Force India Mercedes 1:19.609 +2.592s 22
15. Romain Grosjean GRO Haas Ferrari 1:19.622 +2.605s 21
16. Kevin Magnussen MAG Haas Ferrari 1:19.895 +2.878s 19
17. Felipe Massa MAS Williams Mercedes 1:20.255 +3.238s 12
18. Lance Stroll STR Williams Mercedes 1:20.379 +3.362s 24
19. Pascal Wehrlein WEH Sauber Ferrari 1:20.446 +3.429s 24
20. Marcus Ericsson ERI Sauber Ferrari 1:20.748 +3.731s 19

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

QUALIFYING

Vettel in Pound Seat Ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix

Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel hold all the cards ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix while Mercedes and Hamilton remain out of sorts in Hungary.

Sebastian Vettel scored an important pole position for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix today, putting himself three places ahead of his championship rival Lewis Hamilton and forcing the momentum back in the favour of the red cars ahead of the summer break.

Hamilton and his Mercedes team have been making up ground in the championship race lately, appearing the stronger of the two teams for several events over the past weeks, however a virtuoso performance from Vettel and Räikkönen in Hungary, coupled with a mistake prone Hamilton session has set up a potentially thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Vettel will find himself not only with teammate Räikkönen for company on the front row, but with the further cushion of Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas between himself and Hamilton, on a track where overtaking has proven difficult in the past and where Mercedes are least able to flex their straight line speed advantage, the hopes of a strong result on Sunday remain high within the Ferrari garage.

Nico Hulkenberg can take rightful satisfaction from his performance pretty much all weekend, hauling a less than compliant Renault car to an impressive seventh place, due to become 12th following an unscheduled gearbox change ahead of the race.

Also showing much improved form over the weekend would be McLaren, with newly turned 36 year-old Fernando Alonso placing his car well inside the top ten in eight (to become 7th on the grid following the Renault penalty), just ahead of rookie team mate Vandoorne in P9 and Carlos Sainz rounding out the top ten in his Torro Rosso car..

Provisional Qualifying Times:

• Sebastian Vettel VET Ferrari 1:17.244 1:16.802 1:16.276 14
• Kimi Räikkönen RAI Ferrari 1:17.364 1:17.207 1:16.444 14
• Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes 1:18.058 1:17.362 1:16.530 18
• Lewis Hamilton HAM Mercedes 1:17.492 1:16.693 1:16.707 17
• Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:17.266 1:17.028 1:16.797 14
• Daniel Ricciardo RIC Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:17.702 1:17.698 1:16.818 14
• Nico Hulkenberg HUL Renault 1:18.137 1:17.655 1:17.468 14
• Fernando Alonso ALO McLaren Honda 1:18.395 1:17.919 1:17.549 17
• Stoffel Vandoorne VAN McLaren Honda 1:18.479 1:18.000 1:17.894 17
• Carlos Sainz SAI Toro Rosso 1:18.948 1:18.311 1:18.912 19
• Jolyon Palmer PAL Renault 1:18.699 1:18.415 14
• Esteban Ocon OCO Force India Mercedes 1:18.843 1:18.495 16
• Daniil Kvyat KVY Toro Rosso 1:18.702 1:18.538 15
• Sergio Perez PER Force India Mercedes 1:19.095 1:18.639 15
• Romain Grosjean GRO Haas Ferrari 1:19.085 1:18.771 15
• Kevin Magnussen MAG Haas Ferrari 1:19.095 9
• Lance Stroll STR Williams Mercedes 1:19.102 9
• Pascal Wehrlein WEH Sauber Ferrari 1:19.839 9
• Paul di Resta DIR Williams Mercedes 1:19.868 11
• Marcus Ericsson ERI Sauber Ferrari 1:19.972 8

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

DRIVERS: 1 – Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 2 – Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 3 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)


GRID INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Will Buxton)

First question inaudible.

Sebastian Vettel: … to have the car in the right window, to have the sun shining, to have people around, that’s what it is about, so it was really big fun. Obviously a front row for us, which is incredible and now we are looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: Yeah, no, front row in front of all the Ferrari fans, the flags waving in the grandstands. What changed overnight, between yesterday and today?

SV: Nothing. We are working hard. Obviously the last race wasn’t great for us, but it doesn’t matter now. We are here and try to do the best and that’s what matters. Really step by step and I am very happy with where we are as a team. Again, we need to remember where we were 12 months ago and where we are now. Also thanks to the support, people believing in us. It’s great to get the result also on Saturday, but as I said, the main task comes tomorrow so nothing won today but sure we are very happy and take it to move forward.

Q: Kimi, that was a superb lap, absolutely sensational. Listen to all you fans, massive fan base in from Finland. How good did that lap feel?

Kimi Raikkonen: Actually not too good. The start was good and the end was not too bad but in the chicane I braked on the outside kerb and got loose and really threw it away there but you know, it was decent enough for second place but it is disappointing. I felt I had it quite comfortably but you know I couldn’t really finish.

Q: Is it too easy to say that this is a track naturally should have suited Ferrari?

KR: If you purely looked at lap times, yes, but then if you look from yesterday it wasn’t the easiest day and today we have definitely been pretty happy with things. I managed to improve my car for the qualifying and I must say we are happy with how they are handling now. So far, so good but tomorrow is going to be a long race and a hard battle, so we have to keep it going.

Q: Valtteri, lots of Finnish flags. A great lap, phenomenal job. How hard has it been for you guys to take the fight to Ferrari today?

Valtteri Bottas: They’ve been quick all weekend and coming into qualifying we knew it should be close and they will be tough to beat and they really had the upper hand today. They had a quicker car, so they have clearly got everything right for this track and we still have work to do on circuits like this, but you know, let’s see tomorrow.

Q: Are you guys on the back foot a little bit this weekend?

VB: This weekend, yes, clearly. We can see that we are not performing as we should, as we want, so that just highlights that we still have work to do with the car. But now we are focusing for the race tomorrow, because it’s going to a long one and still anything is possible.

Q: Seb, you lead the championship by one point, summer break starts tomorrow. Is it going to be, well, 25 points tomorrow? How big is that gap going to be?

SV: Not by my count: summer break starts on Monday. Not even that, we have the test next week. Numbers… I was decent I would say in maths in school but yeah it’s way too early. We go racing; we go flat out. That’s what we have been doing for the first races and that’s what we keep doing. I think that’s the only way to succeed. Certainly we have a lot of boost from people here, at home and in Italy, you know, it can’t be better than that and the main thing is to enjoy.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian, your 48th pole. It looked a pretty seamless session from where we were sitting, how was it for you?

SV: Seamless? Well, it was seamless in terms of we didn’t have any problems. I felt quite good straight away from Q1 onwards, we did the laps that we had to do and then come Q3 I was fairly confident… you always debate about small things you can do with the car. I was very happy with the first run. I knew there was still a little bit, so I went flat out on the second attempt and I was a little bit faster, it felt like I was faster, but then I arrived in the last sector and I think I asked a bit too much of the tyres beforehand and lost it, sort of, all in three corners and did the same time. So then I didn’t know. I looked up and I didn't know who was coming behind me because there was a bit of time. I was very happy with the first lap. I think the second could have been a little bit better. The car was phenomenal. And then when I saw it was two red in the first two positions then obviously… the same time, simultaneously the radio opened and there was a big scream. So, really nice. Obviously it is only Saturday, so nothing to get from today other than the best position but we did that and it’s great I think, especially after… there’s always a lot of talk but the talk after the last race was a bit too much so it’s good to give the answer on the track. I’m just happy, as I said. I really like the track. The car was fantastic today and it was really a pleasure to just go round.

Q: Kimi, it is a Ferrari front-row lock-out. You came on the radio at one point and said you were unhappy with your braking, so was there more to come from you? Had you been happier with the car?

KR: No, in the end it was OK. Obviously when you lock the front, it’s not ideal but there is nothing wrong with anything, it’s just you try to always find a better way of driving and doing things, so it’s a very normal thing to discuss stuff like that. I was pretty happy with the last apart from going into the chicane, I dropped the wheels on the left kerb and got sideways. I lost an awful lot of lap time. I really felt I had a good chance to put it in first place but anyhow it was decent enough for second place, so obviously great for the team. But it is only Saturday. We have a long way to go tomorrow, both cars, and we try to keep the positions and see what happens.

Q: Valtteri, Mercedes were seeking their third consecutive front row lock-out here in Hungary. It hasn’t happened. How surprised have you and the team been by the pace of the guys sat alongside you?

VB: I definitely think today, all-day, Ferrari has been just too quick for us. We saw in the practice the times they were doing: after that we were expecting a tricky qualifying but I think, y’know, it felt like we got most out of it, more or less but just they were quicker today and yesterday it was looking a bit better for us, so, yeah, today was a little bit surprising but it just shows that we definitely have work to do. Tracks like that that requires the maximum downforce of the car, we seem to be struggling a bit more, for one reason or another. So, just need to keep working.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) Sebastian, of course from here the aim must be victory – but you haven’t had a clean race since the Monaco Grand Prix. So which is more important: having victory tomorrow or having a clean race at last before the summer break?

SV: Well, if you say the last clean race was Monaco, it ended in a victory so… I don’t know. Chances are good, we start at the front, they couldn’t be any better but tomorrow is a long day. It’s hot, it’s always hot here. It’s tough for tyres. We saved a set compared to the others. We’ll see. I think the race is long and a lot of things to look out for so… yeah. A clean race is a good race and then we’ll see which result we get.

Q: (Péter Vámosi – Vas Népe) Question to all drivers. Since 2005 there is a tendency here, if you win the Hungarian Grand Prix, you will be not the champion at the end of the year. What do you think about this?

SV: I don’t know what happened in 2004?

Michael Schumacher won here…

SV: 2003? I don’t know. Statistics! I think if you ask us, we all want to win tomorrow. That’s it.

Kimi, Valtteri, anything to add?

VB: No. Nothing to add, we all want to win tomorrow.

KR: I’ll happily take it. See what happens.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Valtteri, the car was lacking a little bit here in the supersoft tyres but how was it on the soft tyres in the long runs?

VB: I think long runs seemed OK but it seemed OK also for Ferrari and actually Red Bull, so at least what we could see from the practice long runs, all three teams were really consistent actually. So, yeah, that’s why today in Budapest is always important but yeah, I’m sure we can still fight for… trying to gain position, trying to win the race. That’s still the goal although it’s not going to be easy because it’s consistent pace between the teams.

Q: (Ysef Harding – Xiro Xone News) This question’s for Valtteri and Kimi. Both of you have had some interesting interactions with some young fans. What does it feel like having that kind of support from the smallest of F1 fans?

VB: yeah, so y’know, I saw the picture of this guy. I’ve never had that kind of fan: face painted, hair painted blue. Just wanted to cheer him up. The boy was in the wheelchair as well. The team managed to find his parents and that was really cool. I’ve never seen the reaction of a fan like that, so it made my day really, also meeting him.

Kimi, you remember back to the Spanish Grand Prix?

KR: Yeah, obviously it was a sad moment at first, so not very happy memories of the first part but then the second part cheered me up and cheered up the little guy and his family up a lot, so obviously it was great. Can’t expect to happen every time, just by luck it all went like that, I guess. It's great if we can please somebody. Had quite a hard time with me going out so, yeah, it turned out to be OK and that’s the main thing.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboEsporte) Question to all drivers. The qualifying, we were in 56°C in the asphalt. It seems to be it will be a challenge to keep the tyres for tomorrow. Ferrari at the beginning of the season had an advantage on that. Comment of all drivers, Mercedes and Ferrari.

SV: Yeah, I think your question is also a good summary. I have not that much to add. It’s been really close. Tomorrow will be largely unknown because we didn’t get much yesterday. We got a glimpse but there was a lot of red flags so nobody could really do what they wanted to do. So we’ll see. We’ll see how it works. Obviously first we focus on the start and then we see how the race goes – but really happy with the car today. The balance was better than yesterday. I don’t see why it should change for tomorrow. It was hotter today than yesterday and yeah, I think we were coping quite well with that. Should be OK – but yeah, for sure it will be the main challenge tomorrow to survive longer than the others in better shape.

Kimi, anything to add about the balance of your car and the track temperature?

KR: No, that’s perfect.

OK, Valtteri, how about the Mercedes?

VB: Well, can’t say it was absolutely perfect but for sure it’s going to be more tricky tomorrow than the long runs we did yesterday – but that’s going to be the same for everyone. I think us, as a team, we have improved since some of the struggles we’ve had in hotter temperatures, it’s gone in a bit better direction. Tomorrow will be a good test for that.

Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1vilag) Kimi and Sebastian: F1 teams will have two days of testing at the Hungaroring next week. So how important will those days be for Ferrari in terms of upgrades and in terms of fighting with Mercedes during the second half or the season?

KR: Obviously it’s important. We don’t get an awful lot of track time so you can do simulations and stuff like that but when you get track time, it’s definitely the best option and obviously we have two days so we will see what we come up with and what we try and find out but it’s definitely helpful and we can obviously have a bit more freedom and time to try things and learn about certain things.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos - Formula Press) To all three: given how difficult it is to overtake here and recent history at starts, how much risks are you all prepared to take in the first few moments of the race?

VB: Yeah, it is one of the most difficult circuits to overtake, that’s for sure. So yeah, the start will be important. It’s quite a slow speed corner, turn one, high braking so normally you can see places being exchanged so for sure, trying to gain if there’s any possibility.

KR: Obviously, if you could chose, you would take the left hand side but I don’t think it’s really going to destroy your day, it’s more about making a good start rather than which side you are and try to do that and see what happens in the first few corners.

SV: Well, it’s not the first start for us. I think we’ve been there… I think we all focus on the start and then you have to react from there, it’s impossible to predict. I think we’ve had good starts, especially this weekend so let’s see tomorrow.

Q: (Peter Farkas - Auto Motor) To all three of you: all of you have been doing spectacular lap times today, in fact Sebastian broke the lap record from 2004 by more than two seconds, so could you please describe how much more spectacular it feels from the car to drive on a twisty circuit like this so much quicker than before? And in which corners is the most spectacular compared to last year?

SV: Well, it feels great, I think we always want to go faster so… we always want more so it’s good to know and to feel that the cars are fast, certainly faster than they’ve ever been so that’s great, also in terms of power, I think we’re getting there so it’s quite nice. Biggest differences I would say is that you tend to gain everywhere but braking, I think, is a big difference and then talking specifically about corners, obviously you’ve got the high speed (turns) four and eleven and I think also the fact that they resurfaced for last year helps, especially in turn five. Eight and nine are less bumpy so you can extract the grip a little bit more. Yeah, it’s always nice to go fast.

Kimi, you were in Formula One back in those… the halcyon era of 2004; how does this compare?

KR: Obviously very difficult to compare. I think the biggest improvement comes from resurfacing the circuit and it improved the grip like in Austria. It’s very smooth and a lot of grip. Obviously the cars are faster this year than last year but no way to compare. It feels very normal for us because we get used to it. Done it for a lot of races that are actually a lot faster circuits so it’s not suddenly like… even if the lap time is a lot faster, it doesn’t feel like… it just feels normal.

VB: Yeah, definitely it is quick like all the circuits; all the corners this year are pretty much quicker so you always enjoy it more, especially turn four and eleven here is impressively quick and I like it.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

RACE REPORT

Vettel Clear Up Front as Chaos Reigns in Hungary

Sebastien Vettel scored an important victory in this afternoon's Hungarian Grand Prix, on a day where his Mercedes title rival appeared out of sorts and short on form.

Making up for something of a disastrous British Grand Prix weekend, Sebastien Vettel and Ferrari never appeared under threat during the Hungarian Grand Prix, romping home to a superb 1 - 2 finish whilst Mercedes unexpectedly struggled for pace, and Red Bull and Max Verstappen struggled for common sense.

Vettel would take home the 25 points for first place on Sunday afternoon, however the real controversy would be in the Red Bull garage, with Max Verstappen bringing an early end to the day for his teammate and Friday pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo on lap one, damaging both cars and putting pay to any chance of a strong result for the team on a track they expected to be able to challenge at the front of the field.

Verstappen would be in receipt of a 10 second penalty for his opening lap fracas with Ricciardo, winding up too far away from the front of the field to be in contention despite a strong recovery drive to fifth, just behind the Mercedes of a struggling Lewis Hamilton come the chequered flag.

It would be a very successful 36th birthday weekend for Fernando Alonso in the McLaren team, having their best weekend of the year with a double points finish, Alonso coming home sixth and with fastest lap, Vandoorne completing the top 10 to record a useful bag of points from the struggling outfit.

Up front it would be a day of minimising the pain for Mercedes, with team orders coming in to play between the Silver Arrows as they put in a charge to fight Ferrari up front. Mercedes would request Valtteri Bottas allow team mate Hamilton through earlier in the race, a position that ultimately Hamilton would return on the final lap, with neither car able to force an overtake against an inspired Kimi Räikkönen in second.

Notable shout out should go to Force India who once again over achieved in eighth and ninth, plus Paul Di Resta acting as late stand in at Williams, scoring a retirement but remaining constant and clean throughout his running on track.

Provisional Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results:

1. Sebastian Vettel VET Ferrari 70 1:39:46.713 0
2. Kimi Räikkönen RAI Ferrari 70 +0.908s 0
3. Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes 70 +12.462s 0
4. Lewis Hamilton HAM Mercedes 70 +12.885s 0
5. Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 70 +13.276s 0
6. Fernando Alonso ALO McLaren Honda 70 +71.223s 0
7. Carlos Sainz SAI Toro Rosso 69 +1 lap 0
8. Sergio Perez PER Force India Mercedes 69 +1 lap 0
9. Esteban Ocon OCO Force India Mercedes 69 +1 lap 0
10. Stoffel Vandoorne VAN McLaren Honda 69 +1 lap 0
11. Daniil Kvyat KVY Toro Rosso 69 +1 lap 0
12. Jolyon Palmer PAL Renault 69 +1 lap 0
13. Kevin Magnussen MAG Haas Ferrari 69 +1 lap 0
14. Lance Stroll STR Williams Mercedes 69 +1 lap 0
15. Pascal Wehrlein WEH Sauber Ferrari 68 +2 laps 0
16. Marcus Ericsson ERI Sauber Ferrari 68 +2 laps 0

Nico Hulkenberg HUL Renault 67 DNF 0
Paul di Resta DIR Williams Mercedes 60 DNF 0
Romain Grosjean GRO Haas Ferrari 20 DNF 0
Daniel Ricciardo RIC Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 0 DNF 0

 

[kedy89]

Fastest lap Alonso

 

[GianmarcoFiduci]

Kimi is driver of the day.

 

[Jim Liak]

 

[BoogerMac]

Hope the second half of the season for Honda McLaren proves a completely 180 from the first half. I'd love to see Honda PUs in more than one team.

 

[RoMaN14]

I did not expect Hamilton to give the points back, pretty nice of him. Great job to both Ferrari's as well, they were incredible.

 

[MrCharme]

Hamilton earned some respect today. That was a great move on the last lap

 

[apex11]

That one move Hamilton did today changed completely my opinion of him.

 

[hugopor]

That one move Hamilton did today changed completely my opinion of him.

It was a pr move. Just think about what the you would see in the press if he didn't give the pos back...He HAD to.

 

[paracletus]

Close racing this year has been very disappointing - probably even worse than 2016.
Especially on twisty circuits, they still can't follow closely despite the massive increase in mechanical grip.
Biggest problem could be the hideous front wings. Not only do they look awful, these create so much turbulence that the front of the chase car just lifts and skids.
Masterpieces of engineering, but they have to go for the sake of the sport.
New regulation for 2018 should be "front wings must be flat - no complex designs".

 

[theiceman7]

I wouldn't say worse than 2016... but yes, improvement is needed. Still enjoying the season at hand, though.

 

[leichti]

How can it be that HAM was so much faster than BOT during the race? However, it's bad that its more or less impossible to overtake in Hungary.. He just had a pretty bad Q3.