Hungary GP Practice **WARNING, etc.** Spoiler

So true! I think session one looks encouraging for Ferrari.
Maybe Rubens and Michael can keep the pace up throughout the weekend.

 

I think its monoyas race to lose, kimi goes out too early in qual to be a real threat (the place is a dustbowl between sessions), and whilst alonso and the renault are still quick, i think the mclaren has the edge.

Expect to see the ferraris and toyotas holding people up in the race after some high qual positions.

JPM, Alonso, Fisi for top 3.

pez

 

did shumacher blow an engine? the only coverage we have here in the uk is the live timing from formula1.com, and it doesnt say why he stopped on track.

pez

 

The shots from the pits showed Ferrari working in the sidepods on the underside so it does not look like a transmission or an engine failure.

 

And the die hard award goes to Carol for a 4:20am posting.

 

UUUGGGGHHHH Rubens just wadded the car into armco on the last lap 7th fastest.

KR 3rd
Trulli 4th
RS 5th
Montoya 6th

Notice that the Minardi cars are faster than the Jordans.

 

i think the track will be in too bad a condition when kimi goes out for him to get anything other than a 6th place in q, hungary is notoriously dusty and historically grip drops off between sessions.

im not entirely convinced by trulli or ralfs race pace (could be the car, but theyve both been inconsisten at times during races in their carreers), so despite them qualifying well i think theyll be holding people up in the race.

Ralfs odds at getting pole are great if anyone fancies a shot at him down the bookies, i think i saw 60/1 earlier! He goes out 6th from last, and if theres not much fuel in the thing he has a good chance.

i still stand by my earlier prediction of montoya winning, alonso 2nd and fisichella 3rd.

Kimi is going to have a tough weekend.

pez

 

Excellent point!

 

I think Kimi would have to be dragging a chute to qualy 6th

Agreed, I hope not another Toyota rolling chicane this weekend ??

If Kimi has another bad weekend someone else at McL will be seriously hurt

 

I wonder whether they and Kimi are still seriously thinking about the championship. IMHO that train has left the station about two engine failures ago. Only a personal injury to Alonso could reverse the standings.

 

Can you say Tonya Harding ???

 

Would Michael have a realistic chance to go for the runner up spot in the drivers championship? He's only 3 points behind Kimi IIRC.

Ciao, Peter

 

Not really. He is only that close because the McClonks keep blowing up. But he isn't there "on his own power". As the season continues that difference will grow bigger again. Part of it is also courtesy of Michelin.

 

Championship contender Kimi Raikkonen and holder Michael Schumacher said here Thursday that Renault rival Fernando Alonso can only lose the title after admitting he is too far ahead to catch. Speaking ahead of this weekend's 13th race of the season, the Hungarian Grand Prix, Raikkonen, who is 36 points behind Alonso with 70 left available, admitted his title hopes have slipped away and it is now virtually a lost cause.

McLaren driver Raikkonen has the fastest car on the grid but when asked if he thought Alonso would win the title the Finn said:

"I think so, yes. We are slipping away a little bit too much now. I think we have to be realistic, and we won't be there without any problems for other people. It is good for him if he wins but right now he is in a strong position anyhow."

Raikkonen has suffered several failures on his McLaren-Mercedes machine in recent races and lost out on a certain victory in Germany last weekend thanks to an oil pump failure. He missed out on the chance to challenge for wins in the French and British races after starting down on the grid due to penalties for engine failures in practice and will suffer again here as he starts qualifying first Saturday.

A low grid spot will almost certainly count Raikkonen out of victory and he admitted: "I think it is quite difficult here because if you don't have a good qualifying it is hard to get past anyone here. We will see what we can do but I think we need to look for a good tactic and see what happens."

Raikkonen's comments came just a few days after seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher conceded that he cannot make up the 40-point gap he has to Alonso.

"I would count myself out of the title chase," said Schumacher. Rumours have continued to persist that third-placed Schumacher will retire at the end of the season, having seen Alonso, who turns 24 Friday, steal his crown and become the youngest ever World Champion.

The German driver arrived here Thursday in abrasive mood, admitting he cannot expect his Ferrari to deliver him anywhere close to race- winning pace this weekend, but he insisted he is already looking forward.

Asked about next season, Schumacher said: "Oh yeah, there will not only be a next year but from where we are it is natural there is only one target and that is to go for the next championship. This year it is not possible. If you look at the last three races, unless we have a miracle we will not be so different in this race. If you look at the points, the season has been what it is what it has been.

"There have been races where we didn't win but were still happy but we have had races where we clearly were far away from competition and the two worst ones, and fortunately only two, were Silverstone and Malaysia."

Schumacher is hoping that next season will see another shake-up in the running order with new V8 engines replacing the current V10 units and also the probable introduction of a change in qualifying regulations. But he knows it is important to get back on the winning road before this season comes to an end and, when asked if winning again in 2005 was possible, he said: "It should be and it can be."

Source AFP

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I think Michael is going to start driving very aggresively as he has nothing to lose. I actually think he has a chance at Hungary if Ferrari can find some more pace tomorrow before qualifying. Rubens can have a decent chance for the podium too.

I just don't see Toyota maintaing their current pace. I am almost certain we will see some more mechanical troubles for McClaren.

 

I'm putting the Champagne on ice.

The only time I saw Alonso this year and he had to crash, oh well:
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Ross Brawn, Ferrari Technical Director:

“We had an alternator failure on Michael’s car today so we need to understand why that occurred. We could see from the data that it had stopped working and that stranded the car on track which was a shame as he had just started a proper tyre comparison. Rubens did a good programme today. He had a first look at both tyre specifications this morning to get the new tyre performance and then did two very good long runs this afternoon which has given us some excellent information to make a tyre choice. It looks pretty clear which Bridgestone specification to use so as long as all the wear figures etc are OK then I think we’ve got a clear tyre choice for the weekend.”

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THE ENGINE IS FINE! THE ENGINE IS FINE!
The last thing Ferrari need is a 10 spot grid penalty.

 

Thats it we will send you to the rest of the F1 races so that Alonso will wad the car Kimi will blow up and MS takes #8 due to the "Andreas curse"

Andreas BTW how is that BigMa lens treating you?

 

My predictions for sunday.

1) JPM
2) GF
3) RS
4) FA
5) KR
6) JB
7) MS
8) JV