2007 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
BUDAPEST - PREVIEW
Formula One heads east next weekend to Budapest for Round
11 of the World Championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix.
After a dramatic race in the cooler, wetter climes of Germany
last week, the Hungaroring is expected to bask in ambient
temperatures of up to 35 degrees celsius. The beautiful city
of Budapest is always a favourite pitstop on the Formula One
calendar and the Honda Racing F1 Team look forward to returning
to the scene of their first win one year ago where Jenson
Button scored his first victory.
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO - Senior Technical Director
"At our test in Jerez this week we worked on our set-up
for Hungary and conducted an evaluation of our aerodynamic
updates for this race. I am pleased to say that we found a
good baseline. The Hungaroring provides a mixture of high
and low speed turns and so mechanical grip is very important.
The extremely hot conditions provided a good opportunity to
test the engine and again the result was positive with good
reliability. We understand that next weekend will be very
hot indeed and so Jerez was a good acclimatisation opportunity
for the challenging air and track temperatures we will face
there. We hope to be in a position to score a point or two."
A LAP OF THE TRACK WITH JENSON BUTTON
"The Hungaroring is a track with good rhythm and a good
mix of slow-speed and high-speed turns. It was never really
one of my favourite races before, but for obvious reasons
that all changed last year. It will always be a special place
as the scene of my first win. Obviously it will be quite a
different race for us this year but hopefully we can keep
up the steady progress we have been making and take another
step forward. Here is what a lap of the 70 lap, 4.384 km Hungaroring
is like to drive:
"When we exit the final corner ready to start a clean
flying lap you can always really feel the drag due to the
high downforce configuration required for this twisting circuit.
We arrive at the first corner at 290 kph and we change down
five gears to 2nd gear, turning through a full 180 degrees
as the circuit drops away onto the short sprint towards the
second gear left-hand turn two. This opens out into a very
fast right-hand kink at the lowest point of the circuit. The
straight that follows climbs steadily towards turn four, which
is a pretty exhilarating left-hander taken in 5th gear. This
corner has seen many drivers come unstuck because it is so
very quick and if you get it wrong you go straight on into
the gravel. Another short burst before the tight right hander
turn five which is one of the very few potential overtaking
spots. We take this in 3rd gear. As we accelerate out of turn
five we only reach 5th gear before braking hard once more
and literally throwing the car over the kerbs at the right-left
chicane. We stay on the right-hand side of the circuit in
preparation for the quick entry to the next left-hander, which
is taken in 3rd gear. This is quickly followed by the 3rd
gear right-hander leading into a fast and flowing combination
of right-left-right and we have to take care not to exit too
wide onto the Astroturf at the last right-hander. Another
very short straight leads to a slow-speed right-hander in
2nd gear and then into another 180 degree left-hander, again
in 2nd gear, climbing past the pit entry and into the final
180 degree right-hander in 3rd gear which brings us all the
way back to the main straight again.
"A lap of the Hungaroring is quite tiring because there
is no respite and no opportunity to relax your hands, so you
are gripping the steering wheel hard the whole time. Although
last year's race proved a rather wet exception, the Hungarian
Grand Prix is typically a hot one and the relatively low average
speed means the airflow over the driver is reduced, so you
never really get the chance to cool down. It's quite a physical
challenge to be honest."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"Next weekend is going to be a hot one! Possibly one
of the hottest Hungarian Grands Prix. Our test in Jerez this
week was a good opportunity to acclimatise to those conditions,
both personally and for the car. We have some new developments
- aero and mechanical - which worked well at the test and
we seem to have found a little more performance, so we will
see how they translate to the Hungaroring. I have had some
good races there, winning once in 2002 and then a couple more
podium finishes as well. I'm looking forward to it as it's
a track I quite enjoy. I hope we can fight for a good result."
HUNGARORING, BUDAPEST
No of Laps 70 laps
Circuit Length 4.384 km
Race Distance 306.663 km
The Hungaroring has been a regular fixture on the calendar
since 1986 when it became the first Formula One event to take
place in Eastern Europe. Like Monaco this is a maximum downforce
circuit with lots of corners and short straights. It calls
for the use of Bridgestone's very soft compound tyres, which
were last used in Montreal. Track conditions are always very
dusty as the circuit sees little action during the rest of
the year. This leaves the track surface short of grip, particularly
offline, but also combines with the August heat to increase
tyre wear.
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