Hungarian Grand Prix - Preview
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Panasonic Toyota Racing heads east to Budapest and the twisty
Hungaroring circuit for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend,
the last race before Formula 1’s summer break. The team
suffered home disappointment at the Nürburgring last
time out after a chaotic, rain-affected race but returns to
action determined to improve. The 4.384km Hungaroring circuit
presents a unique challenge on the Formula 1 calendar, with
14 tight corners requiring a high-downforce set-up. As if
that is not demanding enough for the drivers, temperatures
in Budapest in August are traditionally very high, making
Sunday’s 70-lap race a test of endurance, but Ralf Schumacher
and Jarno Trulli have trained for the challenge. The team
has planned for the set-up challenge of the Hungaroring, and
it also has an updated floor for this weekend and beyond.
Bridgestone are bringing their soft and super soft Potenza
tyres to Hungary so Ralf and Jarno will be busy in practice
evaluating their performance and optimising the TF107 before
battling to return to the points.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 11): “The Hungarian
Grand Prix weekend is always enjoyable because there are so
many enthusiastic fans at the Hungaroring and the city of
Budapest itself is beautiful. Visiting Budapest in August
means we are almost certain to face some very hot temperatures,
even if last year was unusually cool. The heat can make it
difficult to concentrate but I have done my personal training
and I am well prepared so it will be no problem. The nature
of the Hungaroring also makes overtaking really difficult
so it is more important than normal that we continue our strong
recent form in qualifying. Unfortunately we have not translated
that into race results and that is our challenge this weekend.
I believe we are capable of scoring points so we will just
try to do a good job all weekend.”
Jarno Trulli (Car 12): “The Hungaroring
is a track I like quite a lot. It is tight and twisty, and
it is also quite a bumpy circuit, which makes it very challenging
for the drivers. It is important to have a good car balance,
as well as grip and traction. We can expect very hot conditions
as usual in Budapest so preparation will be very important
and I will be very well prepared because I am cycling a lot
at the moment to get ready for the hot conditions. I have
always performed very well there but I don’t think I
got the results I deserved in Hungary so I am really looking
forward to a strong race there this weekend. Clearly, the
result at the Nürburgring was very disappointing, especially
because we had a good chance to score points after we looked
competitive earlier in the weekend. That was a disappointing
race but we will work hard to achieve a better result in the
Hungarian Grand Prix.”
Pascal Vasselon – Senior General Manager Chassis:
“Hungary is one of the places where teams generally
face cooling problems for the brakes and engine. That is not
because it’s a high braking energy circuit or because
there is a lot of full-throttle running, it is because the
average speed is low, which simply means the cooling is low.
At the Nürburgring we used medium-high downforce and
in Budapest it is very high downforce because of the average
speed. You tend to gain more there from downforce than you
lose from drag. The aero efficiency required is the second
lowest in the season, after Monaco, so you tend to put downforce
generating parts on the car which you would not see at most
other circuits. After our very disappointing European Grand
Prix, we are hoping for a much better result in Budapest.
In qualifying at the Nürburgring we clearly showed a
competitive pace, as in the last couple of events. We were
expecting to score points but in the race we made too many
mistakes, and Ralf’s race ended after being hit by Heidfeld,
so we missed another opportunity. I believe we have the speed
to score points but we must prove that in the race this weekend.”
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