2011 Hungarian Grand Prix - McLaren's renaissance continues

MASTERFUL: Button was the expert again in slippery conditions

MCLAREN’S mid-season renaissance continued at the Hungaroring yesterday.  Britain’s Jenson Button celebrated his 200^th Grand Prix start in tremendous fashion, as he recorded his second win of the 2011 season, making it back-to-back wins for the Woking team.  However, Sebastian Vettel took full advantage of errors by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to increase his world championship lead to 85 points.

      In very challenging circumstances in Budapest, it was Button’s brilliant ability in these conditions that excelled once again, as he has shown on many occasions in the past, not least five years earlier when he won his first Grand Prix here.  It was Vettel who held off the McLarens in qualifying and halted a ‘supposed’ mid-season slump to take another pole position.  He made a perfect start in unseasonable wet weather in Hungary, leaving the silver cars behind.  The two Ferrari’s and Mark Webber’s Red Bull all made tardy getaways, allowing the underperforming Mercedes GP cars of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher vault up into fourth and fifth places.

     As the Mercedes cars struggled to keep up with the three leaders, it was Hamilton who looked the most comfortable.  He pressured Vettel into a small error on lap five and charged by into the lead.  Quickly, the track began to dry and Felipe Massa was caught out.  At the same place where Vettel and Alonso had ran wide in the opening laps, the Brazilian fought his moment on lap nine, but it left him in a spin and a harmless kiss with the barriers.  Two laps later, Webber was the first driver to make the switch to dry tyres and his solid sector times forced all the major players to make changes shortly afterwards.

EXPLOSIVE: Heidfeld's demise was a scary, fiery moment

     Lap 25 saw a catastrophic fire, which ended the race for Lotus Renault driver Nick Heidfeld.  Heidfeld was having a bad weekend and pitted from a lonely 19^th place for his second stop of the afternoon.  A wheel nut problem at the pitstop led to oil and smoke smouldering from the car on the pit exit, spewing across the pitlane.  As the engine blew up, Nick parked the car on the grass as the fire began to take hold through the exhausts of his car, and for the second time this season too (he had a similar issue in Barcelona practice this season).  Seconds later, something else around the area, possibly the KERS battery pack on the Renault exploded as marshals attended the scene with fire extinguishers.  Luckily, nobody was seriously injured, although team boss Eric Bouillier seemed to hint that Heidfeld had been over-revving the engine before his demise, which will increase the possibility of him being replaced in the team after the summer break.

     With the possibility of a Safety Car to clear away the remains of Heidfeld’s Renault, the leaders all pitted for a second pitstop with Button using the pits to outsmart Vettel and make it a McLaren 1-2.  On lap 40, Webber was the guinea pig again, as he made the move to the prime, harder tyre.  Meanwhile, Alonso on super-soft, option tyres moved upto third, ahead of the Red Bull’s, but within seven laps, his rubber looked very second-hand.  Hamilton went in a similar direction, whilst both Button and Vettel went down the Webber route.  Meanwhile, a gearbox problem after a silly spin ended Schumacher’s day before half-distance.

     Seven laps later and Hamilton spun away his six second lead at the turn six chicane.  As he recovered, Lewis spun his rear wheels up, which forced the lapped Force India of Paul di Resta off the road to take evasive action.  The move was considered dangerous by race stewards, despite Hamilton’s claims that he couldn’t see di Resta when he started the manoeuvre.  A drive-through penalty was awarded, but by then, his race chances had already been ruined.

     A brief rain shower made grip on the slick tyres almost non-existent.  New leader Button and Hamilton enjoyed a great mini battle, swapping lead position on several separate occasions.  It gave Alonso the chance to pit and repair some of his damage, although a later spin lost him any chance of catching Button and Vettel.  Rosberg, Webber and most crucially Hamilton decided to make a gamble for intermediate tyres, but lost their initiative.  The rain quickly stopped and all three were forced to make an extra pitstop.  Plus the penalty, Hamilton was relegated to sixth, but passed Massa, whose tyres were finished on lap 60 and then, with aid from Kamur Kobayashi’s grip less Sauber, overtook Webber with six laps remaining for fourth.

     Button kept his nerve and brilliantly won from Vettel by 3.5 seconds.  On an off-day, Alonso somehow kept his Ferrari pointing in the right direction for a podium, with Hamilton, Webber and Massa ensuring that McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari dominated the afternoon.  The Force India of di Resta survived his near-miss with Hamilton to finish seventh; his first points since Malaysia and also, the Scot’s best ever finish.  Rosberg recovered to ninth in his 100^th GP start, whilst the Toro Rosso team, also in their 100^th GP celebrated the milestone with a double points finish, with Sebastian Buemi in 8^th and Jaime Alguesuari tenth.

     Sebastian Vettel took another big stride towards the title in Hungary, but Jenson Button showed his supreme skill in slippery conditions once again.  Formula One now goes on an extended summer break, with the next action at Spa in Belgium in four weeks time.

F1 classic races - Hungary

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  This is my selection, of races in Hungary between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1992

FINALLY: Mansell achieves his goal, although Senna won the race

WINNER: Ayrton Senna (McLaren Honda), 2^nd: Nigel Mansell (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Gerhard Berger (McLaren Honda)

ONE man dominated the 1992 world championship, but it was a charging drive that earnt Nigel Mansell his coveted crown.  Starting second behind team-mate Riccardo Patrese, Mansell made a bad start, dropping behind both McLaren’s of Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger.  He fought back past Berger and when Patrese spun off, the championship looked secure.  However, a puncture forced Nigel into the pits and back down to sixth spot.  Catching Senna was a forlorn task, but ‘Our Nige’ ensured he fought for his title.  First, Michael Schumacher was catapulted off the road when his rear wing flew off in the direction of Budapest airport!  The Lotus of Mika Hakkinen and Martin Brundle were easily dispensed with and finally, a bullish pass on Berger got Mansell back into second spot, even when third was enough for the title.  After many near-misses, Nigel had done it at last!

1997

WINNER: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Damon Hill (Arrows Yamaha), 3^rd: Johnny Herbert (Sauber Petronas)

THE Damon Hill/Arrows combination always looked like it would fail and so it did; but for one magical weekend in Hungary.  The world champion recaptured his 1996 form to qualify his underpowered chassis in third spot.  Hill jumped past Jacques Villeneuve into the first corner and then sensationally overtook Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari on lap 11 into the first corner.  Blistered tyres and a spare chassis finished Schumacher’s podium chances and he wasn’t the only one suffering.  Giancarlo Fisichella spun off trying to pass the Ferrari; Mika Hakkinen lost engine power on his McLaren and Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s bad luck continued when the fuel filler cap refused to open at his pitstop.  After seeing off the threat of David Coulthard, Villeneuve pursued in vain, but cruel luck was about to strike.  Hill’s throttle started cutting out with three laps to go, leaving him a sitting target.  On the last lap, Villeneuve used the grass on the exit of turn three to steal victory from Damon’s deserved grasp.  Johnny Herbert came home in an excellent third for Sauber.

1998

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Mecachrome)

HALFWAY through the 1998 race and Michael Schumacher’s world championship hopes looked to be in tatters.  The McLaren’s were walking away into the distance and Schumacher was struggling to pass Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams Mecachrome.  Ross Brawn came up with an absolute masterstroke and brought Schumacher in for an early second stop, turning his race into a three-stopper.  His searing pace was unleashed and when the McLaren team tried to respond, they crucially lost track position.  Even a brief excursion onto the grass on lap 52 couldn’t halt Schumacher’s charge and he started lapping three seconds quicker than anyone else.  By lap 60, his advantage was sufficient enough to pit for the third time and retain his lead.  Mika Hakkinen’s challenge faded thanks to a faulty shock absorber, which relegated the Finn to a lapped sixth, behind David Coulthard, Villeneuve, Damon Hill’s Jordan and a flu-ridden Heinz-Harald Frentzen.  Even today, this remains one of Michael Schumacher’s greatest ever victories.

2001

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 3^rd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes)

THIS was nowhere near a classic, but it was a title clincher.  David Coulthard had to beat Michael Schumacher to stand any hope of launching a title fightback.  It became ever more unlikely when Schumacher lapped 0.7secs quicker than anyone else in qualifying.  He took off at the start and wasn’t seen for the remainder of the afternoon.  The main scrap was between Coulthard and the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello.  DC lost out at the start to the Brazilian, but slick McLaren pit work got the Scot out ahead in the first round of pitstops.  However, Ferrari turned the tables at the second stops and Barrichello leapfrogged ahead again.  The path was clear for Schumacher to take his seventh win of the season, his fourth world drivers’ championship and to equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 GP victories.  With Barrichello second, the constructor’s championship was also sealed in Ferrari’s favour, having scored nearly double the points of nearest rivals McLaren.  For Ferrari, it was the perfect day and years of Maranello domination were well and truly underway.

2003

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW)

THE remarkable Fernando Alonso had gone off the boil in mid-season and Jarno Trulli had outpaced him in the last three events.  When Trulli went quickest in Friday’s qualifying session, with Alonso down in sixth, it looked like we were in for more of the same.  However, Alonso stormed to pole position on Saturday and never looked back.  He was massively helped by Mark Webber’s much slower Jaguar getting into second position in a chaotic start.  Webber held up the rest of the opposition, allowing Alonso to build up a 30 second cushion in the first 15 laps.  Rubens Barrichello’s championship challenge ended when he suffered a calamitous rear suspension failure.  After spinning at the second corner, Ralf Schumacher produced a stirring fightback to fourth position, but his title chances also looked dead and buried.  This was because his team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya survived a scrappy spin in the closing stages to finish third.  Kimi Raikkonen was an excellent second and it set the championship up for a grand finale, especially as Michael Schumacher qualified and finished a very distant and lapped eighth.  At least he started; Ralph Firman fractured his heel and missed the race after a terrible crash in practice, but this was Alonso’s weekend, as he stole Bruce McLaren’s record to become the youngest ever Formula One winner.  That was until a young German called S. Vettel came on the horizon of course!

2006

WINNER: Jenson Button (Honda), 2^nd: Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren Mercedes), 3^rd: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)

BOTH Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher entered the race with grid penalties.  Alonso had been penalised for brake-testing Robert Doornbos in Friday practice, whilst Schumacher overtook Alonso and new BMW driver Robert Kubica under red flags on Saturday morning.  On a wet day, the unpredictable took place.  Alonso produced a great drive and looked set to win from 15^th on the grid.  However, a wheel nut came loose after his second pitstop, which left him spinning helplessly into the barriers.  Schumacher couldn’t take advantage though; retiring with suspension damage after minor contact with Nick Heidfeld with just three laps remaining.  Kubica’s later disqualification still earnt the German a fortunate point.  All this opened the door for Jenson Button to storm through from 14^th on the grid to claim his first Grand Prix victory.  Pedro de la Rosa was a notable second for McLaren, recording his first podium finish.

Crufts - Is It Healthy or Wrong?

This weekend, the NEC Arena (now known to some as the LG Arena) played host to the most spectacular dogs show in the world, Crufts 2010.  For the first time in nearly two years, the annual event was shown on our TV screens last night.  Whilst some will have seen Danny Young’s departure from Dancing on Ice on ITV1 or highlights of a snoozy Formula 1 opener on BBC Three, More 4 had won the rights to this colourful event.

Sponsored by the furniture group, DFS, Crufts is in a strong position, maybe stronger than it ever has been, but there are those who won’t agree it is healthy competition, instead it is animal cruelty.  More 4 were the first company to show Crufts, since a controversial BBC documentary on 'Pedigree Dogs Exposed' was screened in the summer of 2008.  Having held the rights to Crufts for ages, the documentary showed disturbing breeding practices of dogs and consequently, saw the BBC scrap its coverage, ending a prestigious relationship.

However, despite no TV deal last year, the event was still declared as a rousing success and the final line-up last night for the hotly-contested Best in Show was very interesting.  All seven finalists were declared fit and healthy to take part, with the award going to a Hungarian dog, called Yogi.  Yogi had won his category ‘Gun Dog’ earlier in the weekend and is a Vizsla breed, so winning the overall show must have been a massive surprise to his overjoyed owner, John Thirlwell. 

Of course, as ever with this type of event, controversy ran over the winner of the ‘German Shepherd’ category.  Experts were dismayed to see that the winner, Clokelly’s Lagos clearly was suffered with poor back legs and ankles.  The chief vet of the event has insisted that he inspected all dogs during the four-day event and insisted that all dogs passed the demanding medical trials.  Others disagree, including the maker of that BBC documentary, Jemima Harrison.  Harrison now campaigns to improve the health of all dogs, and in preventing cruelty, many believe she is a strong believer of the banning of such an event like Crufts.  It is known that all associated bodies, including The Kennel Club and the RSPCA are working closely together to make sure that all dogs are kept to a strict and healthy regime, should they take part in such prestigious competition events, such as Crufts.

The debate of animal cruelty will rumble on and personally, I don’t want to drag myself into such a controversial and hotly-debated topic as animals being harmed.  However, if Crufts disappeared from the event schedule, it would be a major shame.  Crufts is an established and prodigal event for the British and for me, as long as the dogs are all healthy, then I can’t see a problem with such a competition taking place.