Hungary GP - Race: Hungaroring - 26/07/200

Hamilton rides high with Hungarian GP victory

Lewis Hamilton dominated the 24th running of the Hungarian Grand Prix to claim his first victory of the season and the tenth of his career. Starting fourth, the defending champion made short work of Sebastian Vettel and then passed Mark Webber before taking the lead when Renault and Fernando Alonso faltered. From that point on Hamilton controlled his pace and took the chequered flag 11.5 seconds clear of Kimi Raikkonen while Mark Webber finished third.

As expected the KERS-equipped McLaren Mercedes proved rapid off the line at the start of the 70-lap marathon, as Hamilton briefly secured second position before running wide at the first turn. This allowed Webber to regain the position but on lap four Hamilton pressured Webber into a defensive line into the first turn and took the position at the next corner with an aggressive pass around the outside.

At this point pole-sitter Fernando Alonso was three seconds up the road on his light fuel load. The double world champion pitted as expected on lap 13 but the team did not fit the front right wheel correctly and the Spaniard was soon three-wheeling his way back to the pits and a few laps later into retirement.

Out front, Hamilton quickly pulled an advantage from Webber who opted to take the harder prime tyre for this second stint. This cost the German Grand Prix winner pace but that would prove academic anyway as a slow pit stop had already allowed Kimi Raikkonen through into second position.

Raikkonen kept the pressure on Hamilton with the gap steady at six or seven seconds until the second round of stops and then controlled his pace to the chequered flag to record his best result of the season and to make a little history as he and Hamilton celebrate a KERS one-two result.

Nico Rosberg finished in fourth position to extend his points run with the Williams Toyota team while Heikki Kovalainen secured his third points finish of the season with fifth position in the second McLaren Mercedes.

Toyota used long first stints to really push Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli up the order after a poor run in qualifying.
Glock finished sixth in his TF109 as he chased Kovalainen across the line while Trulli took the final point in eighth position.

Jenson Button started seventh in his championship leading Brawn Mercedes and finished one place higher. It was not a good race weekend for the team as Alonso’s early exit helped him up one position as he and the team continue to mention ‘tyres’ as the reason in their recent decline in performance. Perhaps it is the problem, but Button’s championship advantage is trimmed to 18.5 points from Webber ahead of the summer break.

Kazuki Nakajima battled hard but was just out of the points once again in his Williams as he chased Trulli for the final point in the closing laps. Rubens Barrichello was unable to make up much ground after his qualifying problems yesterday in the second Brawn as he finished tenth.

Other notables included Sebastian Vettel who started on the front-row of the grid alongside Alonso but made a poor start and dropped down the order. Battling with Raikkonen exiting the first turn his front left wheel came into contact with Raikkonen’s right rear and this would later force his retirement with suspension damage. Vettel’s DNF, his fourth of the season, combined with team-mate Webber finishing third sees him drop to third in the standings.

Jaime Alguersuari meanwhile made his Grand Prix debut and achieved his objective of finishing his first race with the Toro Rosso team. Not only that, the youngest ever Grand Prix driver finished ahead of team-mate Sebastien Buemi. Mission accomplished for the Red Bull protégé.

Today however was all about Hamilton’s stunning return to the top step of the podium with McLaren Mercedes ahead of the looming summer break and then back-to-back races in Valencia and Spa Francorchamps. The championship is far from over…

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Germany GP - Race: Nurburgring - 12/07/2009

Webber takes maiden victory in style.

Mark Webber overcame a questionable drive through penalty in a thrilling German Grand Prix to record his first victory by some margin from Red Bull Renault team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Significantly, the Milton Keynes-based team secured their second straight one-two result as rivals Brawn Mercedes continue to struggle at this critical mid-season point.

It was not a straightforward victory for Webber however as the start saw fellow front-row starter Rubens Barrichello pull alongside the Red Bull on the run to turn one. Webber moved to his right and light contact was made. It was a racing incident but a few laps later the team were informed that Webber, running second at the time to Barrichello, must take a drive through penalty for his actions.

A little good fortune would come to his aid however as Barrichello made his stop and found himself stuck behind Felipe Massa who was running a long first stint and therefore relatively heavy on fuel. This allowed Webber to lap quickly at the front of the field ahead of his own first stop for fuel and fresh rubber.

Webber’s impressive pace allowed him to exit the pits close behind Barrichello and ahead of Button and when it became apparent that the Brawn Mercedes team were three-stopping both drivers, Webber knew the race was his for the taking.

“It’s an incredible day,” Webber stated. “I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone, as I thought I had a good chance there, then after yesterday’s pole I knew I was in a good position to try and win the race today.

“It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so that kept my motivation very high when I was hurting a lot with all the rehab,” he continued with reference to his cycling accident that left him with a badly broken leg ahead of the season. “I had great people around me to recover from all the injuries I had and the team have been incredibly patient with me as well.

“It’s just an incredible day for all the people who have helped me get to where I am today.”

While Webber celebrates his well deserved first victory, team-mate Sebastian Vettel took second position having recovered from a poor start. The one-two result moves the British Grand Prix winner second in the championship with Webber now up to third. Barrichello drops to fourth position while Button’s advantage at the head of the field is trimmed down to a still considerable 21 points with eight rounds remaining.

Felipe Massa finished third in his Ferrari after another canny tactical drive with a long first stint. The Brazilian finished six seconds behind Vettel and five seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg who made best of a fast start and strategy after a poor qualifying run to secure points for Williams Toyota once again, gaining no less than 11 positions during the race.

Jenson Button vaulted Barrichello in the final round of stops to finish in fifth position with his Brawn team-mate taking the chequered flag less than a second behind. However it is clear that the team's early season performance advantage has been eroded and now surpassed by the Red Bull team.

The BGP 001 did not have particularly good race pace despite the rather odd three stop strategy and the team will be looking ahead to the scheduled aerodynamic enhancements that should come on stream for the next Grand Prix in Hungary. Brawn still lead the constructors’ championship but the gap to Red Bull has now been trimmed down to 19.5 points and the latter now has momentum on their side.
To make matter worse, Barrichello is clearly unhappy with the team’s performance and made his feeling clearly known to the media and general public with a surprising post-race outburst.

Fernando Alonso spun his R29 on the parade lap as he tried to warm the tyres but started 12th as planned and finished seventh in his Renault after a low-key start to the race followed by a very impressive second and third stint. The double world champion chased and hounded the Brawn pair over the final laps but could not find a way to pass. Team-mate Nelson Piquet finished 13th.

Heikki Kovalainen took the final point on what was a disappointing day for the McLaren Mercedes team. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton made a very fast start from fifth position on the grid and looked to be challenging for the lead into the first turn. Sadly for the defending champion, his eagerness to make up ground from the outset saw his McLaren clip Webber’s Red Bull, puncturing the right rear tyre in the process.

Hamilton subsequently pitted for a fresh set of tyres and then ran at the back of the field to the chequered flag. Kovalainen meanwhile had also made a good start and ran as high as third in the opening stint. However his MP4-24, which does not feature all of the updates enjoyed by Hamilton this weekend, was off the pace of the front runners and the Finn would slip down the order as the race progressed.

Kovalainen was forced to fight very hard for the final point and to his credit, made no mistakes to take the chequered flag ahead of Toyota racer Timo Glock who had started the race from the pitlane.

Nick Heidfeld finished tenth in the leading BMW Sauber with team-mate Robert Kubica back in 14th while Giancarlo Fisichella ran well in his Force India Mercedes to finish 11th. While the Silverstone-based team will be happy with Fisichella’s performance, they will be most disappointed to see Sutil well out of the top ten after a terrific drive.

Sutil started seventh after a great run in the mixed qualifying conditions and ran as high as second in the race during the pitstops. Battling with Kimi Raikkonen over sixth position, Vettel exited the pits and ran side-by-side with the 2007 champion into the first turn. Contact was made and it was Sutil who lost his front wing and with it any hopes of securing the team their first points of the season. The German finished a disappointed 15th.

Kazuki Nakajima’s point-less season continues with Williams Toyota as he finished 12th following a trip through the gravel trap on lap one and then losing a position to Fisichella on the very final lap of the race. Sebastien Buemi was 16th in the surviving Toro Rosso behind Nakajima, Piquet and Sutil while an early stop for a new front wing saw Jarno Trulli just 17th ahead of Hamilton at the chequered flag in the second Toyota.

Kimi Raikkonen looked set for points this afternoon before his F60 lost power and he was forced to retire while Sebastien Bourdais also failed to go the distance in the second Toro Rosso Ferrari due to hydraulics failure. The Frenchman may deny it, but the body language and exchange on the pit wall seemed to confirm that it was indeed his last Grand Prix for the team.

After the weeks of politics and infighting, Formula One fans were finally treated to a great race this afternoon and a very worth winner…

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International