The next session of the weekend is the third practice session. If you want your predictions to count make sure you get them in before then.
Enter your Hungarian Grand Prix predictions here.
Here’s today’s round-up:
Links
Team orders would make me quit, says Button (Reuters)
“You’re here to win, you’re here to be the best, and you should have equal opportunity to the next guy that’s sat alongside you in the same car. He should also get every opportunity otherwise it’s not a drivers’ sport any more, it is a complete and utter team sport. Formula One is a team sport, but when you cross the finish line you are the person that wins the drivers’ championship. For me, if it wasn’t down to the individual, I wouldn’t be interested in racing any more.”
Will Texas fall in love with F1? (MotorSport)
Beaky Simms: "Bernie’s discovered how much money there is in Texas – in Houston and Dallas. There are plenty of wealthy and successful Texans who are falling over themselves to do business with Mr Ecclestone, and the track is going to be a proper race track with fast corners and elevation changes. I think this race in Austin is going to be a big success."
The Austin GP press conference
Part one of six. Find the rest here: part two, part three, part four, part five, part six.
McLaren query ‘flexible’ Red Bull front wing (BBC)
Martin Whitmarsh: “It’s difficult for us to imagine how with any form of linear deflection you can be in any danger of those [endplates] hitting the ground. Obviously there are [cars with] endplates that have skids, which would suggest they are making contact with the ground. We are trying to clarify that with the FIA because it seems unusual to us.”
History Repeating Itself (Viva F1)
“Today is the 37th anniversary of the death of Roger Williamson during the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix. […] It was therefore a shock to hear that another driver died today, on the same circuit and in an eerie reminder of the Williamson’s death, fire was the culprit although no prior accident is reported to have caused it.”
Hungarian GP – Conference 2 (FIA)
Christian Horner: “I think we’ve made it very clear that we let both of our drivers compete for that championship, so rightly or wrongly, we’ve let our drivers race. We will continue to employ that strategy, but you do have two championships and Drivers’ and Teams’ both carry the same significance, I would say.”
Comment of the day
Here’s how Eric reads the practice times ahead of qualifying today:
If Vitaly Petrov can get to fifth, then Robert Kubica could be right up there, i don’t think he has showed his hand yet.
McLaren have still a lot of work to do, this type of track just doesn’t suit there car.
Red Bull are looking good for one-two finish, which will just let Hamilton hold his lead for the long break if he can finish in sixth or better.
Eric
From the forum
Lots of people are enjoying Karun Chandhok on BBC Radio 5 Live
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to EGC!
On this day in F1
If you’ve never heard the bizarre story of Hans Heyer’s antics during the 1977 German Grand Prix you’re in for a treat.
Modern rules means that drivers don’t have to qualify to take part in a Grand Prix – witness Fernando Alonso’s situation at Monaco this year.
That was not the case at the Hockenheimring 33 years ago today, where only 24 of the 30 entrants were allowed to start. Having only set the 27th fastest time in qualifying, Heyer was out.
But he wasn’t prepared to let a minor inconvenience like failing to qualify keep from racing on home ground. As the race started amid some commotion – first, the starting lights failed, then Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni collided with each other – he slipped out of the pits and onto the track in his Penske.
Heyer completed nine laps before his gear linkage broke. It was his one and only Grand Prix start – regardless of whether or not the history books consider him an official starter!
theJ
31st July 2010, 0:14
part of the reason Karun is so good is because he would commentate on star sports in india
adam mason
31st July 2010, 0:25
Well,I just watched pt1, Tavo sure talks well, he didnt stop talking for the best part of 9mins.Lol.I,ll watch the rest later.
f1yankeeisfasterthanyou
31st July 2010, 0:33
Button, whose team mate is 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton, added: “You’re here to win, you’re here to be the best, and you should have equal opportunity to the next guy that’s sat alongside you in the same car.
“He should also get every opportunity otherwise it’s not a drivers’ sport any more, it is a complete and utter team sport. Formula One is a team sport, but when you cross the finish line you are the person that wins the drivers’ championship.
“For me, if it wasn’t down to the individual, I wouldn’t be interested in racing any more.”
i just happen to watch silverstone 2008 today, and guess what i saw: going into turn 1, kovalainen defending his lead hard against hamilton. after a few laps, martin brundle, james allen and mark blundell were all wondering aloud when, not if, mclaren would give the order for heikki to lay down for his faster teammate. no sooner said than done, as heikki gives lewis the entire width of hangar/stowe for the easiest pass in the world. blundell then says he witnessed dennis and whitmarsh conferring just prior to the order being given.
the press had not only acknowledged an illegal team order being given, but condoned it. calling for it, even. could someone please explain to me the difference between this and hockenheim 2010?
the way mclaren persists in denying the obvious, particularly after heikki’s comments at the end of 2009, is disgusting. perhaps mclaren has apple as a silent partner, for their Reality Distortion Field technology.
i was defrauded of a legitimate race that day, and on that basis hamilton’s 2008 title is equally fraudulent.
f1yankeeisfasterthanyou
31st July 2010, 1:42
my bad, it was ted kravitz reorting from the pits, not mark blundell
Maverick_23
31st July 2010, 11:59
The difference (if it was a team order) was how publicly and blatently it was done. “We” didnt hear any team radio with a “coded mesage” or anything like that. I can see why you think Heikki let Lewis past BUT they did it in a way where alot of F1 fans could argue that it WAS a genuine pass.
Ferrari made it so easy for fans to know what was going on in Hockenheim.
Team orders will always be in F1 no matter how you try to police it. The teams just have to do a better job of disguising them and a better job in post race allegations
Monad
31st July 2010, 15:31
“as heikki gives lewis the entire width of hangar/stowe for the easiest pass in the world”
According to who? You? A minute before Alonso overtook Hiedfeld and it looked just as easy. You know that overtake on the rain isn’t as minimal as in the try right? Also before that he found himself in frond of Piquet with out the camera showing it. I wonder if he passed or his teamate let him go threw?
Hamilton was obviously faster so how to you know he didn’t actually overtake him? Kovi was having a hard time. Did you see Kovalainen almost losing the car two turns after that? Oh! yes you heard the commentators speculating. Well that solves it all. As we all know those commentating guys know everything and they don’t like saying things like those speculations. Don’t make me laugh.
Cacarella
31st July 2010, 1:45
Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
matt90
31st July 2010, 2:51
Fair enough, but the last point is plain wrong. Kimi gave Massa a win in return (not to mention the dubious stewarding that season).
thestig84
31st July 2010, 8:45
If you cant see the difference between Silverstone 08 and Hock 2010 then its not even worth trying to explain to you!
Patrickl
31st July 2010, 9:39
Indeed. Kovalainen and Hamilton actually touched.
So annoying when these fanboys keep whining about how every pass between team mates (of another team besides Ferrari) MUST have been illegal team orders.
f1yankee
31st July 2010, 21:55
they touched at the start. i’m talking about hangar into stowe at 50 seconds into this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLGnFTl_6_I
and thestig84, thanks for the insightful comment ;)
BasCB (@bascb)
31st July 2010, 9:39
But where does the situation in 2008 (looks like a form of team orders, but letting Lewis through and have a chance at winning it is a lot different from last sunday) have much to do with Button stating he would not want to have inequal chances from his teammate?
Surely that desire from both guys is one of the main reasons, why McLaren is trying very hard not to favour any of their guys and take away any suspicions up front.
I suppose it was one of the things Button discussed most before actually joining and favouring Lewis might make Button leave with a very big price tag for McLaren. Button would only gain from such a move (going back to Mercedes, or joining Renault instead?)
Patrickl
31st July 2010, 9:58
He’s talking about Silverstone 2008 now. Where Hamilton actually overtook Kovalainen.
ashes1991
31st July 2010, 10:44
At the end of the day Hamilton was flying and from what we saw after the overtake going quite a bit faster than everyone else, did Alonso blow everyone away? And Kovalainen did not finish with in a couple of seconds of him either!
dragon
31st July 2010, 15:28
Perhaps not Silverstone ’08, but most definitely Hockenheim ’08, did Kovy let Hamilton by. Why was barely anything made of this? Because, Hekki was so clearly the number two driver that if he needed to move aside, he’d do so without a whimper. Him and Lewis were the perfect example of a clear favourite and a good supporting driver.
Joey-Poey
31st July 2010, 0:49
“about a year ago New York mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Ecclestone to talk Grand Prix racing in Manhattan. “We’d be delighted to host Formula 1,” Bloomberg said. “How much will you pay us?””
Literally laughed out loud on that one. I would have payed to see that go down.
newnhamlea1
31st July 2010, 1:44
that story shows how far f1 has come since those days.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
31st July 2010, 2:03
I really like Button… but let’s be honest, he never said a word when he was benefited at Brawn last year…
of course he would quit NOW, if team orders return, as he would have to play number 2 role to Lewis…
DC’s opinion about the matter is a lot better, stating that the only way of any transparency is by scrapping that team orders rule… he’s right!
gabal
31st July 2010, 6:58
So the rule is hard to enforce therefore lets remove it. Even if such way of manipulating race results wasn’t illegal it would still be amoral.
Ferrari have lost their soul, I don’t think Enzo Ferrari would ever do something like his team did last Sunday.
Adam
31st July 2010, 7:33
Really?? You obviously haven’t read much about Enzo Ferrari.
gabal
31st July 2010, 12:41
To him selling cars was just means to finance racing.
His racing team is now a ”business” first. Where did the passion go?
f1yankee
31st July 2010, 21:59
enzo ferrari would gladly throw you, me and anyone else under one of his cars if it meant getting what he wanted.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
31st July 2010, 3:57
The story is great.
If Horner think that both the driver are equal then what happened in the British GP.
IDR (@idr)
31st July 2010, 6:31
Happy birthday, EGC!!!
Calum
31st July 2010, 8:19
I saw a book in town yesterday called ‘This Day in F1’ or similar, but I didn’t buy it cause it would spoil the surprise on this everyday :P
Calum
31st July 2010, 8:35
Remember moveable front wing flaps from last year, they are still there this year.
Perhaps they are a key in the whole flexible wing situation. I think that when the moveable wing is tilted ‘up’ to be steep it locks the front wing so it can’t flex and will pass parc ferme weight test., and when the car is enjoying track time, the moveable front wing us tilted down it allows the wing to flex.
Remember I’m not trained in this field :L
EGC
31st July 2010, 9:00
Thanks!!! :-) now i need as present a pole for Alonso ;-)
BasCB (@bascb)
31st July 2010, 9:26
That press conference is really good. Nice questions being asked. For me the Boulliard makes most sence, followed by Kolles in their answers (Kolles comparing team orders to the “legal flex wing” both Ferrari and RBR have). I also liked the questions from the italian yournalist about “educating the fans” to get them to understand the “team first” aspect of F1.
Schumi_the_greatest
31st July 2010, 9:27
totally agree with fer no 65
we all saw at last year’s spanish gp when barrichello was for some reason on a 3 stop strategy that there might have been slight favourism towards button.
He’s a pretty genuine guy button but the fact hes won the world championship seems to make him think that he can make these bold statements for change in the sport….dont remember hearing him say alot during the barren honda years!
Electrolite
31st July 2010, 11:05
If you’re a world champion of course you’re in more of a position to make statements like that. Those Honda years would have had his head down and trap shut :P I think there’s nothing with him making these statements personally.
Electrolite
31st July 2010, 11:06
If you’re a world champion of course you’re in more of a position to make statements like that. Those Honda years would have had his head down and trap shut I think there’s nothing wrong with him making these statements personally.
Patrickl
31st July 2010, 9:41
This whole flexible front wing debate and it touching the ground makes it even more likely that Vettel damaged his “new” front wing himself.
Calum
31st July 2010, 9:53
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8807373.stm
Maybe is just hit a bump at Abbey? Ant Davidson thinks so, but he didn,t know about the concept at the time. Could be a problem at Monza with high kerbs
BasCB (@bascb)
31st July 2010, 9:56
Thanks Keith for putting the Austin GP press conference up here. So far i have watched the first part only.
But from what they are telling us it looks a pretty solidly based enterprise.
They do seem to know what they are doing if the land had been discussed already about a year ago and backers had been contacted more than a year ago as well.
Osvaldas31
31st July 2010, 12:44
I hope Red Bull will take the pole. Would be a nice present for my birthday today :)
US_Peter (@us_peter)
31st July 2010, 20:14
Happy birthday, you got your wish!