iGav
Aug 13, 2004, 06:15 AM
So after the 3 week summer holiday since the German GP, the F1 circus arrives at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian GP.
Have to admit, I usually find this the most boring and tedious of all the races during a season, the circuit is not only slow, but also devoid of overtaking places and lacks flowing corners, even the drivers describe it as a go cart circuit.
Rarely do we see an exciting race here... the only 2 that spring to mind are 1989, when Nigel Mansell qualified 12th only to work his way through the field to overtake Senna and win the race in one of, if not his greatest drive ever. And 1998 when Schumacher put on a display of 20 qualifying laps in the middle of the race, to build the necessary lead he needed to enable him to take an extra pitstop to beat the McLaren's of Häkkinen and DC.
This race has also seen a couple of changes on the grid, the first being Toyota's decision to drop De Matta, which wasn't really much of a surprise, infact the biggest surprise is that Toyota didn't drop him at the end of last season, he comes across as a nice enough chap, but he just isn't an F1 calibre driver. He has been replaced by test driver Ricardo Zonta.
The 2nd noticeable change is BMW Williams decision to drop the 'Walrus' nose, and replace it with a more conventional one. Whether this will make a big difference to their performance however, remains to be seen.
As for quali and race predictions... this is a circuit that is thought not to favour either Ferrari or Bridgestone after last years performance, there's a chance of rain for Saturday Quali and possibly the race as well (the first time in 18 years at this circuit).
So then, this is going to be a complete guess... the Renault's and McLaren's should be very strong here... so I'm going to go with.
Quali
1. Raikkonen
2. Trulli
3. Alonso
4. Schu
5. Barrichello
6. DC
Race (dry)
1. Raikkonen
2. Trulli
3. Alonso
4. Schu
5. Barrichello
6. DC
Race (wet)
1. Schu
2. Barrichello
3. Trulli
4. Raikkonen
5. Alonso
6. Montoya
Watch how wrong I'll be... heheheh
Thoughts??
Have to admit, I usually find this the most boring and tedious of all the races during a season, the circuit is not only slow, but also devoid of overtaking places and lacks flowing corners, even the drivers describe it as a go cart circuit.
Rarely do we see an exciting race here... the only 2 that spring to mind are 1989, when Nigel Mansell qualified 12th only to work his way through the field to overtake Senna and win the race in one of, if not his greatest drive ever. And 1998 when Schumacher put on a display of 20 qualifying laps in the middle of the race, to build the necessary lead he needed to enable him to take an extra pitstop to beat the McLaren's of Häkkinen and DC.
This race has also seen a couple of changes on the grid, the first being Toyota's decision to drop De Matta, which wasn't really much of a surprise, infact the biggest surprise is that Toyota didn't drop him at the end of last season, he comes across as a nice enough chap, but he just isn't an F1 calibre driver. He has been replaced by test driver Ricardo Zonta.
The 2nd noticeable change is BMW Williams decision to drop the 'Walrus' nose, and replace it with a more conventional one. Whether this will make a big difference to their performance however, remains to be seen.
As for quali and race predictions... this is a circuit that is thought not to favour either Ferrari or Bridgestone after last years performance, there's a chance of rain for Saturday Quali and possibly the race as well (the first time in 18 years at this circuit).
So then, this is going to be a complete guess... the Renault's and McLaren's should be very strong here... so I'm going to go with.
Quali
1. Raikkonen
2. Trulli
3. Alonso
4. Schu
5. Barrichello
6. DC
Race (dry)
1. Raikkonen
2. Trulli
3. Alonso
4. Schu
5. Barrichello
6. DC
Race (wet)
1. Schu
2. Barrichello
3. Trulli
4. Raikkonen
5. Alonso
6. Montoya
Watch how wrong I'll be... heheheh
Thoughts??
