Google+ Jack Leslie F1: 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Weekend Report

26 July 2013

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Weekend Report

The stunning city of Budapest welcomes Formula 1 for the 28th time in the sports history. The tight and twisty Hungaroring may not produce some of the most dramatic on-track action but it is a circuit that is loved by fans, teams and drivers alike.

(c) Octane Photographic
After the strong form of Red Bull and Lotus in Germany three weeks earlier, all eyes were on them in anticipation for whether they could match their pre-break form.

The scorching Hungarian sun beamed down on the Hungaroring as the F1 circus rolled in. Pirelli were - as usual - the talk of the town thanks to their earlier troubles at the British Grand Prix and their rather swift reaction to it.

Focus also fell on McLaren who were confident that their struggled were over. Mercedes was also a popular topic over the race weekend as they looked to regain their strong race pace that we only got a glimpse of in Monaco.

Check out my 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix Preview for a look at the track and my Thursday Snap Shot for an insight into what the teams and drivers got up a day prior to the start of the on-track action.

FP1
It was a strong start to the Grand Prix weekend for Sebastian Vettel after the German topped the opening practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.
(c) Octane Photographic

The German continued where he left off at the Nurburgring with a best lap of 1m22.723 on the new Pirelli tyres - the Italian firm brought the medium and soft compounds to the Hungaroring. Despite the time-sheet topping lap, the triple world champion lost time early on with a brake issue and only managed 19 laps. Mark Webber was next up as he got his first taste of the Pirelli rubber - he didn't take part in the earlier Young Driver Test at Silverstone.

Webber and third place man Kimi Raikkonen were both within three tenths of their rival with Alonso and Grosjean slightly further back in fourth and fifth. Jenson Button showed strong form for McLaren in sixth - team-mate Perez set the ninth fastest time during the 90 minute session, cementing the fact that they are heading in the right direction.

Sutil, Rosberg, the just mentioned Perez and Maldonado rounded out the top 10. Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa found themselves down in 13th and 15th. It was largely incident free although Vergne spun his Toro Rosso at high speed at turn four. Bianchi was sidelined momentarily with a KERS issue but finished 21st, one position ahead of FP1-only Rodolfo Gonzalez.

FP2
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber continued their strong run of form by backing up their 1-2 in first practice with the same result in the second 90 minute session.
(c) Octane Photographic

It was a busy session that saw Vettel pip his team-mate Mark Webber by just 0.44 seconds with a fastest lap time of 1m21.264. He completed 34 circuits of the Hungaroring, gaining vital mileage on the new Pirelli's after losing time in FP1. The fastest non-Red Bull Racing driver was Romain Grosjean in his Lotus E21 - proving that the Enstone based team are still fast after their double podium in Germany.

He was just one and a half tenths off the German on his second soft tyre run. Alonso and Massa rounded out the top five with the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg next up. World champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button set the eighth and ninth fastest time and Sutil was in 10th - just over a second off the leading pace.

Di Resta and Perez were just outside the top 10 with Bottas ending the session in 18th, losing a few laps just prior to the chequered flag after a KERS issue. Max Chilton returned to his car after Gonzalez's FP1 outing and finished 1.5 seconds off the pace of team-mate Bianchi in last place. However the Brit did lose some time after a problem with his helmet caused buffeting. 

FP3
Romain Grosjean broke Vettel’s dominance in what was a dramatic final free practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix. 

(c) Octane Photographic


His best time of 1m20.730 was just under two tenths faster than Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari in second place. McLaren’s Sergio Perez finished the 60 minute session in third but on a final attempt to make up more time, he crashed in the final sector.



It gave his mechanics plenty to do and only managed 10 laps of running. Vettel slipped to fourth with Massa, Hamilton, Webber and Rosberg rounding out the top eight. Button and Sutil just managed to sneak in to the top 10 with their best efforts.



The field looked competitive with the top 12 separated by under a second (Raikkonen and Maldonado being those two drivers in 11th and 12th. Gutierrez finished rock bottom with no time set due to an engine failure after just two laps. Teams focused on tyre and part evaluations with the fast times not coming until the very end.

 

Qualifying

With drivers and teams admitting that qualifying at the Hungaroring is almost as important as it is in Monaco, the pressure was on to get a good slot on the grid. 


Q1

It was a quiet start to the first qualifying session with a full set of results not appearing until the closing stages. It soon picked up the pace with Nico Rosberg moving to the front for the first time in the weekend.
(c) Octane Photographic



His best time of 1m20.350 kept him well clear of the drop zone with Hamilton finishing just a few hundredths shy in second. Grosjean, Vettel and Alonso followed with Maldonado showing that Williams could be on the up.



Raikkonen, Massa, Hulkenberg and Button rounded out the top 10 with Bottas, Ricciardo, Webber, Vergne, Sutil and FP3 crasher Perez making it through to the second session.



It was unsurprising that Gutierrez dropped out in Q1 after missing out on rubbing in FP3. He finished 17th with Di Resta a surprise 18th ahead of Pic, van der Garde, Bianchi and Chilton.



Q2

It was a similarly slow pace that welcomed the Hungaroring for the second qualifying session, with the top 16 battling it out to get a spot in the top 10 shoot-out.
(c) Octane Photographic

However the pace soon picked up with Raikkonen and Rosberg taking turns at the front. The German managed to maintain his lead by the chequered flag with a 1m19.778 on the soft tyres. Hamilton finished second for the second session in a row with Vettel, Grosjean and Alonso following.

Raikkonen and Massa made it through to the top 10 shoot-out with Webber overcoming a KERS issue to make it through in eighth. Ricciardo snuck in with the ninth fastest time – his fourth successive appearance in the top 10 – with Perez just making it through in 10th.

Despite showing Q1 promise, Bottas and Maldonado failed to make it in to Q3 with the Finn out qualifying his more experienced team-mate. Vergne was next up with Button dropping to 14th by the chequered flag. Hulkenberg and Sutil rounded out the finishers.

Q3
The top 10 shoot-out commenced at the Hungaroring with drivers vying for pole position. It was another discreet start to the session as drivers waited for their scheduled runs to take place. 
Raikkonen was the first driver to set a benchmark before his rivals displaced him – Hamilton and Vettel being the first to do so. Unbelievably the triple world champion put in benchmark eight tenths quicker than his British rival.

With the chequered flag flying, it was a frantic run to the line. Despite the formidable first lap, Hamilton managed to better that with a 1m19.338 to take pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Vettel’s final run wasn’t good enough and he missed out by 0.038 seconds. 

The Brit had a mega first sector and managed to maintain that throughout the lap to take first place on the grid. Grosjean impressed in third place with Rosberg – who lost time in the final two sectors – and Alonso rounding out the top five.

Raikkonen and Massa were the sixth and seventh fastest drivers in the final qualifying session with Ricciardo – who emerged to set a time – and Perez rounding out the time sheets. Webber failed to set a time in 10th.

Results:

Pos  Driver               Team                  Time      Gap       
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m19.388s
 2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m19.426s  +0.038s
 3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m19.595s  +0.207s
 4.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m19.720s  +0.332s
 5.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m19.791s  +0.403s
 6.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m19.851s  +0.463s
 7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m19.929s  +0.541s
 8.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m20.641s  +1.253s
 9.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.398s  +3.010s
10.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault             no time set
Q2 cut-off time: 1m20.545s                             Gap ** 
11.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m20.569s  +0.791s
12.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m20.580s  +0.802s
13.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m20.777s  +0.999s
14.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m21.029s  +1.251s
15.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m21.133s  +1.355s
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m21.219s  +1.441s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m21.612s                              Gap * 
17.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m21.724s  +1.374s
18.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m22.043s  +1.693s
19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m23.007s  +2.657s
20.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m23.333s  +2.983s
21.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m23.787s  +3.437s
22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m23.997s  +3.647s

 

107% time: 1m25.974s
 
The Race
The weather was typically scorching hot in Hungary as the time for lights out closed in. All eyes were on the front with Hamilton on pole yet again, with questions being raised as to whether he could - for once - stay there.
Tyres were also the topic of discussion with Pirelli's new compounds making their race debut. The grid was shook up after a dramatic qualifying session (which you can read above) and with the notoriously tricky Hungaroring to master for 70 laps, anticipation was high.
(c) Octane Photographic
Hungary extended it's contract with Formula 1 prior to the race which will see the round continue on the calendar until 2021. Reports bubbled about races being dropped from the 2014 calendar and there were questions as to how successful the pitlane changes would be.
The cars lined up for the start, the revs rose, the lights went out and we were racing in Hungary. Off the line, Hamilton managed to get a clean getaway with Vettel falling into the clutches of Rosberg and Grosjean. Despite getting alongside, Rosberg had to back out into the braking zone and braking late meant the leading Lotus could not get past either.

Behind, it was a good first corner for Webber who advanced ahead of Perez. The run through turn two and into the medium-speed hairpin of turn three, Hamilton had eked out a slight lead with Vettel clear of the squabbling Grosjean, Rosberg and Alonso. The latter had a good run out of the first turn and went around the outside of the German at the third corner.

He tried to nab the position from Grosjean too but the Frenchman pushed him out wide. That left Rosberg side-by-side with Massa who shoved the Mercedes driver wide at turn four. Raikkonen was brought into the mix and went up the inside of Rosberg at turn five. However both Massa and the 'Iceman' ran wide and that put the Monaco Grand Prix race winner back in front.

It wasn't over just yet. Massa dived up the inside of Rosberg at turn six. The two touched and Rosberg was thrown onto the run-off, dropping behind Webber, Button - who was charging through the field, making up positions on Perez and Ricciardo in the space of a few turns - as well as Ricciardo, Perez and Maldonado.

As the cars crossed the line it was Hamilton who led the field with Vettel just over a second shy of the Brit. Grosjean, Alonso and Massa rounded out the top five with Raikkonen, Webber and Button following close behind - both on the medium compound rubber. 
(c) Octane Photographic
By lap four, Vettel had clawed the gap back to six tenths of a second and Grosjean was holding on surprisingly well. What wasn't so surprising though, was the lacklustre pace of the Ferrari's with both cars consistently dropping back.

That continued throughout the new few laps as the soft tyre runners started to drop off the pace and the medium compound runners came into play. Webber started to close in on Raikkonen with Button maintaining the gap to them both. Surprisingly, Rosberg was unable to close in on Maldonado's Williams.
Jean-Eric Vergne and Giedo van der Garde were the first to enter the pit lane - with the new 80km/h speed limit - at the end of lap eight. Lewis Hamilton pitted on the following lap from the lead, pushing hard on pit-entry and emerging just behind Jenson Button - something that would prove crucial.
Strangely, Red Bull and Lotus didn't react to the stop and kept their drivers out until lap 11 and 13 respectively. Meanwhile Hamilton displaced Button with the help of DRS, with Vettel re-joining on the gearbox of Button's McLaren. 
Lotus impressively double-stacked their cars with Grosjean emerging behind Vettel and Raikkonen re-joining behind Massa - who stopped earlier and didn't change his damaged nosecone. That left Webber in the lead with Hamilton extending his lead over Vettel - who was stuck behind third place man Button. The RB9 just didn't have the straight line speed and the team radioed to stress the need for cooling.

Button backed Vettel up into Grosjean, the squabble continuing to aid Hamilton's escape and Webber's strategy. There were a few over-ambitious attempts - one that saw the briefest of touches between the two - as his chances of victory slipped away.
(c) Octane Photographic

Sutil retired with a hydraulics problem on lap 20, as Force India's weekend went from bad to worse. Raikkonen displaced Massa with the latter's team-mate closing in on the dueling Button, Vettel and Grosjean. Webber pitted from the lead on lap 24, on a two-stopper, coming out behind Alonso.
Vettel finally managed to get ahead of Button in a strong move at turn five. Grosjean attempted to make a similarly spectacular move into the chicane but left the Brit with no room on the outside, making contact and sending Button across the chicane. The McLaren driver pitted immediately and sent him out on the soft tyres.

Grosjean pitted at the end of lap 25 and emerged ahead of Button - confirming he was on a three-stop strategy. Webber managed to close in on Alonso and by lap 29, they were battling closely. Vettel was setting the pace in the mid-point of the race after being freed from the dirty-air of Button, making small gains on his 13 second lead.

Massa was under pressure from Grosjean at this point and the Frenchman made a stunningly brave overtake on the Brazilian driver at turn five - the fast left-hand kink that starts the first sector. He went around the outside but unfortunately put all four wheels over the white line that marks the edge of the track - he was later penalised for this.
Button was the next driver to displace Massa, overtaking him into the chicane and showing Grosjean how to do it. Hamilton pitted from the lead for the second time at the end of lap 33 with a good three second stop. He emerged behind Webber, meanwhile someone who failed to emerge from the pit lane was Esteban Gutierrez who retired. 

Hamilton was fully committed and had his eyes firmly set on the prize. He swiftly moved ahead of Webber before moving ahead of Alonso when the Spaniard pitted at the end of lap 34. Vettel pitted on the same lap and emerged behind Jenson Button - yet again - as the race moved past the half-way mark.
(c) Octane Photographic

However, unlike the German's first stint, he moved ahead of the 33-year-old shortly after his pit stop thanks to DRS. Grosjean took his drive-through penalty and Hulkenberg joined him on the naughty-step after speeding in the pit lane. Webber pitted on lap 43 and emerged just ahead of Alonso, Grosjean and Raikkonen - who was one of the only drivers to stop twice.

The yellow flag emerged briefly thanks to Valtteri Bottas pulling off track at the exit of the final corner thanks to a hydraulics issue. Grosjean and Alonso pitted on separate laps shortly after with the former emerging behind Button and the latter coming out ahead of the battling duo. Hamilton pitted for the final time on lap 50 for a new set of medium compound tyres.

He returned to the track behind Mark Webber but he soon changed that, diving up the inside at turn four after he was blocked by Nico Hulkenberg. Vettel pitted from the lead on lap 56 and emerged some way behind Raikkonen. With fresher tyres, he soon caught up and the battle commenced.

Webber emerged from his last stop ahead of Alonso's Ferrari and in fourth place. As the race finish closed in, the fight for second started to heat up. Traffic didn't help Raikkonen's case and Rosberg's engine failure with five laps remaining must have set some hearts beating even faster on the pit wall.

Grosjean closed in on Alonso but as one Lotus failed to overtake, the other managed to keep the chaser behind. Out front, Hamilton drove the final corner to take his first victory of the season and his first for the Mercedes team.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Hungarian Grand Prix
(c) Octane Photographic
 
Hamilton took the chequered flag to take his fourth win at the Hungaroring. He drove a stunning race to take victory, his first for his new team. Kimi Raikkonen suffered a huge amount of pressure from Sebastian Vettel in the last stint but managed to hold the German off and advance from sixth on the grid. 

Vettel had a difficult race after losing time behind Button. The two made contact after a desperate attempt to overtake the Brit and by the time he found his way past, it was too late. Still, he took a strong points haul to extend his championship lead with rival Alonso finishing fifth, behind team-mate Mark Webber. 

The latter recovered from qualifying struggles and drove a strong two-stopper - a long stint leading on the medium compound rubber helped elevate him to fourth place. He attempted a late challenge to his team-mate but had to settle for 12 points. 

Alonso crossed the line in fifth place after a race that saw him complete plenty of defending and his fair share of overtaking too. However the Ferrari failed to show the pace of the Lotus E21, Red Bull RB9 and Mercedes W04 and just could not challenge for a better result.

Grosjean had a messy race that saw flashes of brilliance and a few disastrous moments too. He gained a drive-through and a time penalty - the latter after stewards deemed him responsible for contact with Button - which didn't impact his finishing position.

Button made his two-stop strategy work well but spent the majority of the afternoon defending his position. He drove a mature race but seventh was all he could do. Massa had another contrasting race with strong pace at times but contact with Rosberg and a damaged front wing which halted his charge slightly. Perez managed to sneak into the points in ninth after a similar strategy to his team-mate.
(c) Octane Photographic

Williams gained their first point of the season after a controlled and consistent run to 10th for Maldonado. However it was contrasting fortunes as team-mate Bottas failed to reach the chequered flag after a hydraulics problem - his first retirement of the season.

Hulkenberg lost points thanks to a penalty for speeding in the pit lane with Vergne and Ricciardo completing the runners on the lead lap. The Toro Rosso duo had a disappointing race after Ricciardo's strong qualifying session.

Van der Garde scored his best result of the season in 14th and had a strong and consistent race to finish fastest of the back markers. Pic finished next up but was bettered by his rookie team-mate. 

Bianchi out-raced Chilton with the Marussia duo finishing in 16th and 17th. The latter completed the results, contrasting with his GP2 race win 12 months earlier.

Di Resta had a quiet race and had a similarly quiet retirement with a hydraulics issue. It was a poor race for the Force India team with Sutil being the first driver to retire with a hydraulics problem similar to the one that Di Resta's VJM06 suffered. Bottas and Guttierez both retired from the race with the latter's exit being caused by a gearbox issue. Rosberg had a dramatic exit from the Hungarian Grand Prix late on with a spectacular engine failure. 

Results - 70 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1h42m29.445s
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault             +10.938s
 3.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault          +12.459s
 4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault          +18.044s
 5.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                   +31.411s
 6.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault             +52.295s*
 7.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes          +53.819s
 8.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                   +56.447s
 9.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes            +1 lap
10.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault            +1 lap
11.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari              +1 lap
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari          +1 lap
13.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari          +1 lap
14.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +2 laps
15.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault           +2 laps
16.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +3 laps
17.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth          +3 laps
     Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   +4 laps/DNF
     Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               +6 laps/DNF

Retirements:
     Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault           42 laps
     Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari             28 laps
     Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       19 laps

* 20 second penalty added to race time

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