On Friday the Hungarian Grand Prix looked as though it was going to be a very processional affair, but thanks to a safety car and a drive through penalty for Vettel, Webber emerged victorious in an action-packed race.
During practice the Red Bulls were worryingly (for the other teams and viewers who were looking forward to an action-packed race) faster. Indeed come qualifying on Saturday it was a question of whether Webber or Vettel would be on pole such was the speed of their cars. After a small mistake from the Australian it was Vettel who went fastest in Q3 and started the race from P1.
The German managed to get cleanly away, protect his place from Alonso who made a lightening start, and then casually walk off into the distance. After a matter of a few laps he was a five seconds ahead, then 10 and eventually 12 seconds in front of second-placed Alonso who had jumped Webber down to the first turn on the first lap.
However, after all this hard work from Vettel the safety car was deployed to clean up some debris on the track and everyone dived into the pits. Chaos ensued as the Renault lollypop man released Kubica into the path of Sutil’s Force India and Rosberg left his box with his right rear tyre loose. This promptly came off and proceeded to bounce dangerously through all the teams in the pits – it was a miracle that no one was hurt.
Once the cars were back on track and the order had settled down Webber was in the lead as he hadn’t pitted, Vettel second and Alonso third. If Webber could build up enough of a lead he could jump Alonso and feed in behind his team-mate after pitting so off he went banging in fastest lap after fastest lap. The whole plan was to soon fall apart though as Vettel was given a drive through penalty for dropping more than 10 car lengths behind the safety car. The German was furious. This then left Webber the chance of victory if he could build up a large enough gap to Alonso who was now in P2 following Vettel’s penalty. It was in the ensuing laps that Webber left no doubt about his talents behind the wheel as on old soft tyres he managed to lap almost a second a lap faster than the Ferrari and build up a gap of 22.8 seconds before pitting. It was a quite astonishing stint of driving and although Vettel was visibly angry about his drive through, Webber must have been delighted about the fact that he managed to make the most of his car’s superiority.
The Hungaroring was perfectly suited to the Red Bulls, having lots of high-speed corners, but the other teams will be scratching their heads over the summer break to try and close the gap. If they don’t, we may be looking at our third Australian World Champion after Jack Brabham and Alan Jones (provided Vettel carries on his run of bad luck of course).
It’s also worth mentioning Petrov who finished an admirable fifth after out-qualifying Kubica. The Russian drove an almost faultless race – apart from letting Hamilton through easily in the opening stages – and was clearly, and understandably, delighted as he crossed the line. If he can produce a few more results like he did in Hungary then his place at Renault may just be secure after all.
What wasn’t such a delight to watch was Schumacher’s move on Barrichello in the latter stages of the race. The Williams driver pitted late and emerged behind Schumacher with fresh tyres and a low fuel load. However, the German has never known to be easy to overtake and such was the case for Rubens. His chance came on the pit straight as he got a good exit from the last corner. He dived down the inside before the end of the pit lane, but unbelievably Schumacher nearly drove him into the wall. Thankfully he has received a 10-place grid penalty although, if any more proof was needed, it’s now clear that he is exactly the same man as he was before retiring. Thankfully nowadays the stewards seem not to be turning a blind eye.
Well Rafael, I don’t think there’s any interpretation of the Hungary 2007 events.
They are basically facts.
- Hamilton didn’t comply with original and alternating arrangements during the fuel burn phase;
- Alonso felt duped … so he blocked Hamilton;
- Hamilton’s camp – against the wishes of McLaren – complained to the stewards…and Alonso got a grid penalty;
- Alonso wasn’t happy and blackmailed his boss the next day.
Alonso was then sacked at season’s end for blackmailing the McLaren Group.
Either that or he ran away like a coward with his tail between his legs instead of being a man and facing someone who was going to be superior in due time.
In normal business, I would have fired Alonso that very Sunday morning in Hungary…but I suppose there were sponsorship deals that made it complicated.
- Alonso wasn’t happy and blackmailed his boss the next day.”"
This is not a fact. Alonsos said it didnt happen this way. ALonsos manager says it didnt happen that way.
Only Ron Dennis says it went this way.
In short, its unverifiable thus speculation and not a fact.
Now thats a fact.
What is proven beyond doubt, and thus is a fact, is that Ron Dennis LIED to the WMSC court when he stated nobody in his organistaion knew about those Ferrari documents.
Therefore, we must treat every sentence coming out of Dennis hole, as very suspicious and not necessarily the truth. ANd that gives Alonso and his manager the benefit of the doubt.
No, you’re incorrect, Jack.
It’s a matter of record that Alonso said to Ron Dennis that if he didn’t do anything about the Hamilton thing, then he’d hand the e-mails into the FIA.
That’s a matter of record.
It is a fact.
There’s no debating it.
PS
It’s also a matter of record that Alonso then apologised to Dennis later.
I’m not disputing what RT says, but I’d like to see the record of it…where can I find that?
Hi Everyone,
Please remember that this is a forum of discussion rather than a place to have one-on-one arguments!
Please do make your opinions heard, but if someone disagrees, then someone disagrees.
Anyway, last time I checked only the FIA decided what was fact!
All the best
EF
Thanks ED
Back to Webber, I’m glad good things does happen to nice guys
the success of Mark Webber has been a bright light for me in F1 these past two years. Makes me sad that my dad chose Ohio to get away from his Florida-based family in 1950 rather than Australia!
No problem RT. If you give me a link that provides the source of your info il be happy to take it back.
Untill then its just speculation on what Dennis has claimed.
Well I don’t want to incur the wrath of Ed Foster but if you go to the FIA website and look at the ruling which got McLaren hit with that $100 M fine, Dennis told the FIA the above.
As soon as Dennis heard about the e-mails from Alonso, he (RD) told him (FA) to “stop” and then the next thing he did was to notify the authorities (Mosely).
That’s in his testimony.
Apparently not long after, Alonso apologised to Dennis…that’s what is known.
Again, I don’t want Mr Foster to get angry…and I would rather discuss Hungary 2010 (as opposed to Hungary 2007) and Spa.
You can Google it easily…although it’s a very long, convoluted and unsavoury affair with it’s roots in the Winter and the first two GPs of that season.
Remember – and this is also FACT – that Alonso was asked to the hearing…but he didn’t attend.
Why didn’t Alonso attend?
Lewis attended…and the e-mails in question had nothing to do with him…it was between Fernando and de la Rosa!
If there was any other side to it, Alonso would have already said something.
It was Alonso making Dennis aware of the e-mails on the morning of the Hungarian GP three years ago which led Dennis to notifying Mosely of the existance of those emails.
I totally endore the views of Tim Burton with regard to Aileen Bodiwala’s opinions. As others have stated and despite Schumacher’s achievements he should never be regarded as one of the greats of F1, due to his ‘darker side’. He has been involved in the sport long enough to realise that it is an extremely dangerous occupation and many, including some of his contemporaries are, sadly, no longer with us. I agree with those who state that a ten place grid penalty is totally inadequiate for such a crass and highly dangerous manoeuvre. If the man can’t find it within himself to accept he is no longer as competitive as he once was, then he should retire gracefully, before a far more serious situation manifests itself. For me, a two race ban, or at least one, would be more fitting, if for nothing else to reflect the sum of his actions in 2010. As a footnote, we are all aware as to how the young mimic the actions of their heroes. How long before such actions become endemic in other forms of motorsport if the punishment does not trully fit the ‘crime’?
RT: you present Dennis statement as being a fact.
But its not verifiable because noone else was there. There was no F1 journo present that confirms it. In fact the other party denies it was said like that.
So, with all due respect: stating that Alonso blackmailed Dennis is a fact, is rubbish. Its an insult to the other folks here trying to have a grown up discussion. Please dont polute it.
You do mention another point wich raises an interesting question: how come Lewis Hamilton, self declared live in Mclaren simulator, never knew anything about the testing of Ferrari stats all through march 2007 to jully 2007?
I thought Lewis was so integrated in the team?
Did Lewis Hamilton have some sort of black out with Mclaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa from March 2007 till july 31 2007?
Why was Lewis Hamilton locked out of the email exchange between the test driver and the rest of the team?
To me it sounds like it is ridiculous to assume Lewis knew nothing about all the email exhange between the test driver and Alonso. Mclaren was testing all kinds of Ferrari info and Lewis knew nothing?
RT, Lewis had a long nose. But what he said at that WMSC meeting made it a lot longer.