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It is
something
of a
cliché
that
while
Budapest
, the
only
capital
city on
the F1
calendar,
is a
great
venue
for a
Grand
Prix,
the
actual
Hungaroring
produces
a rather
dull
sporting
contest.
Today,
that was
far from
being
the
case, as
nearly
the
whole
grid was
very
close in
terms of
lap
times,
which
promises
more
excitement
to come
over the
remaining
two days
of the
meeting.
With
temperatures
up in
the
thirties,
tyre
management
was a
key
consideration
and of
the
Scuderia
Ferrari
Marlboro
duo, it
was
Felipe
Massa
who
seemed
the
least
happy
with
this
aspect
of the
day,
further
affected
by an
off-track
excursion
which
damaged
his rear
suspension.
Kimi
Raikkonen,
a past
winner
here,
seemed
more
satisfied
with his
day’s
work,
reflected
in the
fact
that
while he
posted
the
eleventh
fastest
time
this
afternoon,
the
Brazilian
was down
in
eighteenth
spot.
All this
meant
plenty
of work
for the
Scuderia
mechanics,
especially
as the
day’s
programme
also
involved
evaluating
some
solutions
aimed at
the 2010
season:
with the
ban on
in-season
testing,
Friday’s
three
hours of
practice
has to
be used
in every
way
possible
and
future
planning
will
become
an ever
more
important
part of
the
programme
as
Ferraris
head
towards
the
final
part of
this
year’s
championship.
Signs of
a
McLaren
revival
first
noticed
at the
Nürburgring
a
fortnight
ago were
reinforced
today as
the two
fastest
drivers
were
Lewis
Hamilton
and
Heikki
Kovalainen.
Third
was the
Williams
of Nico
Rosberg,
followed
by the
Red Bull
of
German
GP
winner,
Mark
Webber.
The top
six was
rounded
off by
this
pair’s
team-mates,
Kazuki
Nakajima
fifth
and
Sebastian
Vettel
sixth.
Cooler
weather
is still
on the
menu for
tomorrow.
This and
the
evolving
track
conditions
will
provide
drivers
and
engineers
with
another
set of
variables
to deal
with in
Qualifying.
The first day of testing
for the Hungarian Grand Prix is
traditionally very difficult to
interpret or to offer pointers because
of the track conditions, which usually
change significantly over the course of
the weekend. This Friday was no
exception to that rule, with 19 drivers
all within eleven tenths and the two
Scuderia Ferrari drivers' ending
the day on track with contrasting
impressions. “It was a slightly
different Friday to usual,” said Stefano
Domenicali. “This was because we also
began to work with a view to next
season, especially so in the morning.
The classification is very tight and
clearly, while evaluating it, we have to
take into account the usual unknowns
linked to fuel loads and tyre use. We
still have work to do to be as well
prepared as possible for tomorrow’s
qualifying which is bound to be very
tight. It won’t take much to be either
on the front row or down the back.”
Felipe Massa:
“I’m not happy with how things went
today. I struggled a lot just to get the
balance on the car to an acceptable
level and found the tyres offered little
grip, especially the harder ones, to
such an extent I wasn’t able to do a
real long run on either types of tyre.
On top of that, in the final part of the
second session I had a problem with the
rear suspension after going off the
track, which cost me valuable time.
Here, the conditions change a lot from
one day to the next and I really hope
that will be the case again this time.”
Kimi Raikkonen:
“Today, the car wasn’t that bad. There
are still some small things that we can
work on to make it quicker, but overall,
I am reasonably happy. This year, the
supersoft tyre has always been very
difficult to manage, but here it seems
the situation is rather more
straightforward. We’ll see what we can
manage tomorrow, but this is definitely
a better Friday than those in the recent
past. Seeing how close the times are, we
will have to try and do the maximum to
get a good grid position. It seems to me
that the performance level of the
various cars at this track is much
closer one to the other.”
Chris Dyer: “A
very busy Friday for the team, both
because we worked in a slightly
different way to usual and because we
had to solve a few problems on the rear
suspension, linked to some off track
excursions. Furthermore, we did the
usual job of comparing the two types of
tyre brought here by Bridgestone and
it’s clear we are struggling a bit, as
indeed we usually do, in terms of doing
a time on the first flying lap,
especially on the harder tyre. From what
we could see in today’s three hours of
practice, everyone is very evenly
matched and we will have to do our
utmost to get a good qualifying result,
which here more than at some other
tracks, is very important in terms of
the outcome of the race.”
First Session
F. Massa: 8th
1.22.855 25 laps 277 Chassis
K. Raikkonen: 7th
1.22.796 23 laps 279 Chassis
Second Session
F. Massa: 18th
1.23.156, 32 laps 277 Chassis
K. Raikkonen: 11th
1.22.763, 38 laps 279 Chassis
Weather
First session: air 26/29
°C, track 30/37 °C; sunny.
Second session: air 30
°C, track 42/41 °C; sunny.
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