.:: 2008 Hungarian GP Thread ::.

.:: 2008 Hungarian GP ::.

Welcome to the 2008 Hungarian GP thread, where you can discuss anything to do with this weekend's race. cjek will update the thread with the latest times as they happen.

RANDOM FACT

The Brazilians and Brits are both as successful here, with representatives for each country winning a total of 5 times.

POINTS OF DISCUSSION

1. Lewis Hamilton was dominant in Germany. Even when a call was incorrectly made, he still passed Massa and Piquet to win the race. What was Ferrari's downfall, and can they re-capitalize in Hungary?
2. Alonso didn't have a great race. Not only was he pushed over the pit-lane line by Vettel, but he also saw his teammate take an unlikely podium. What is going through his mind?
3. Last year saw the controversial "PitLaneGate" incident that ruined McLaren's season. How have both drivers developed personality-wise in that past year?
4. Hungary 2006 was one reason for the talks of "random sprinklers" at the side of the track. How realistic is the possible future of seeing this put into effect so as to liven up the more "boring" races?
5. In Germany, it was announced that Vettel would become a Red Bull driver in 2009. How do you see the team of Vettel and Webber, and how effective will it be for the team?

ITV-F1 PRESENTS LIVE STREAMING OF THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX WEEKEND: FRIDAY PRACTICES, QUALIFYING & THE RACE

It's gonna be a nice ol' sunny weekend in Budapest, with the sun beaming down and giving temps of 31 deg. cent on Friday, and reaching 32 on Saturday.

And then, Sunday. Yep, you guessed it. RAIN AGAIN. Can the madness of 2006 really be happening again? If so, my money's for Button winning :lol:

Just a reminder of how unbiased our wonderful ITV commentator, Mr. Allen is...

JAMES ALLEN CALLS BUTTON'S WIN

Friday Practice 1

Friday Practice 2

Renault have certainly impressed this session with both cars faster than Ferrari.. they could be testing with minimal fuel, but doing so on both cars seems odd. Are they genuinely fast this weekend? But it's going to be a poor weekend for Vettel, who has barely had any track time whatsoever :(

Saturday Practice

Hamilton still on top, Raikkonen still falling back. But I guess I was wrong about Vettel; despite an awful Friday he's up in touch with his team mate. Renault were indeed running light yesterday, and their pace today confirmed that. And it's not looking great for Red Bull, who are stuck in the bottom half of things. Looks like a straight shootout between Hamilton, Massa and Kovalainen for pole. Raikkonen shouldn't be forgotten, but you'd think he would have shown some kind of pace by now.

Qualifying Results:

No real surprises then in the top 3, but McLaren will definitely be happy about Kovalainen overcoming a quick Massa, and Glock really stands out up in P5. Disappointment for Heidfeld, but did Bourdais really block him? I don't think so.

Agreed. Seb wasn't in trouble with Nick, however he may get in trouble for holding up whoever he did in Q2 apparently.

As for Kimi, he's reverting back to the Kimi of the McLaren days, which would never win a World Title. He's not happy with the car, and thus is reverting back to his "can't be bothered" moodset. Ferrari need to help him with whatever the problem is on the car, and then Kimi will become the Iceman of Ferrari once again and prove a threat to Hamilton. Right now though, Lewis is able to focus more on Massa because Kimi's not 100% focused it appears. Kimi needs the boost of confidence.

UPDATE: I can agree with the drivers now, it's gonna be a hot, hot, hot, sunny day tomorrow in the race.

Bourdais given five-place grid penalty

Sebastien Bourdais has been given a five-place grid penalty for impeding Nick Heidfeld during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The German driver complained that Bourdais had slowed him down during his final run in Q1, when the Frenchman was right in front near the end of the lap.

As a result of the incident, Heidfeld failed to make it to Q2 for the first time this year.

The stewards decided to give Bourdais a five-position grid penalty, meaning the Toro Rosso driver will start from the back of the grid.

The stewards also investigated an incident between Williams' Kazuki Nakajima and Renault's Fernando Alonso, but no action was taken.

AUTOSPORT

Race Results

What a race.. both main championship contenders suffering problems, and Kovalainen benefiting from it all. Amazing drive by Glock to take a comfortable 2nd place, and Raikkonen will be thankful that he was gifted that podium. Raikkonen is now back into the battle in terms of points; but whether his pace will also improve is yet to be seen.

Good race i have to say, better than other races here in Hungary, Heikki deserves his win and that should now boost his confidence and be a real contender to bring himself back to show he belongs next to Lewis.

What a disaster for Massa. :(

Good to see Heikki finally get a win on the board, but Massa was absolutely robbed after a great drive.

Lady Luck shines not on the pretenders today.

It was an impressive move nonetheless by Massa right at the start, but it looked bleak for a while when Lewis got the puncture, as it meant no more battle at the front, denying us a great final third of the race. However, the championship was rocked by that blown Ferrari engine... notice how those blow up when they least need it? :lol:

Still, a great win by Heikki with a solid drive, even if the result was rather unexpected. Great job from Glock as well, shame that with the Massa blow-up we didn't get the battle with Kimi at the end either, and what was up with so many cars becoming a BBQ today? :?

ALLEN: This is just what Hamilton wanted... the two former World Champions coming in...

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Raikkonen is the CURRENT world champion?

This will shoot holes all through everyones predicitions!!

Hamilton's tyre failed after picking up debris hugely poor luck for Massa and Hamilton to a lesser extent. Pity Kimi's mistake in quali ruining his race. Big kudos to Glock on his performance this weekend, great double score for Renault and a big hand for Heikki on his 1st race win.

ALLEN: And here comes Glock into the pits...hang on, I thought he wasn't coming in again. This must be his third stop...

Hello? The screen says TRULLI!