Hungarian Grand Prix

With a mid season break and the Red Bulls flying at this track, it would seem that they could have the best break. Vettle got off to a good start and this time he didn’t push the P2 to the wall. He got a good start but Alonso got a better one passing Webber. Petrov got ahead of Lewis in his Renault but Lewis had the faster car and would over take him later. The biggest loser at the start was Button. It was already bad that he started in 11th but he was back in 15th by the 1st corner because the cars in front had just formed a grid of sorts and block him which gave the cars behind to get close and over take him.

Vettle was flying away and he built up a 12 second lead until there was some debris on the track and the safety had to come out for the steward to clear it safely. all the drivers came into the pits apart from Webber Rubens and Trulli. The safety makes the race good for the viewer, and the action happened in the pit lane. With the drivers rushing in the teams had both driver in at the almost at the same time, but the 2nd drivers managed to make a gap so they didn't have to queue. Lewis took advantage of this and passed Massa, and a good stop Kubica before he was released while the Force India of Sutil was coming into his stop, which was in front of the Renaults, and they hit each other. This happened at the same time when the wheel of Rosberg’s car came off and bounced down the pit lane, lucky that no one was injured. The wheel gunman on Rosberg’s tyre must not have turned the nut all the way and the excuse may be pressure, but the pressure is always there to get the job done right.

Webber didn’t come in under the safety car and was in first with Vettle in second. There was a big gap between the two and the stewards would later penalise Vettle for making a 10 car gap in front of him, under the safety car, and give Webber a good lead for a pit stop and come out behind him. Vettle got a drive through and ended up behind Alonso and Webber had been flying after the safety car making an over 20 second gap so him can have his pit stop and stay in first to win the race and lead the championship.

The big news was made by Schumi him self. Rubens, his old team in Ferrari, was trying to over take him for a few laps and Schumi was closing the door on him. that was fine, he is fighting to stay in front until he got out of the corner badly and Rubens made a good approach, got into his slip stream and pass him on the right. As he was passing Schumi, Schumi pushed Rubens to the pit wall and nearly caused an major accident. Schumi said he gave Rubens room on the left but when your racing for points you don’t give any room to any one.

A GP for the mid teams to take advantage of the poor performance of McLaren and Mercedes. Plus the so called second drivers betting there better team mates.

Red Bulls: They had the pace and where the best team all weekend. As a team they need to work better on finishing one-two, and Vettle needs to convert more poles to wins, he wont win the title only winning 2 races from pole.

Ferrari: They game come good in the last two races and are now the team challenging the Red Bulls. Could they give Alonso the great end to the season like Kimi got in 2007 to win the title? it is Possible.

Renault: Making a mistake in the pits with Kubica and him later retiring, Petrov drove a good race and with luck on his side, with retirement form others, he ended up fifth. Great job and more points.

Williams: With a fresh engine the Williams do will and Hulkenberg beat his team mate was good and finished in sixth and Rubens in tenth after passing Schumi in the last few laps. To think it has been 100 GP’s since there last win, the team need investment and I think a better engine. They had great success with Honda and Renault but i think they should get a Ferrari or one of the car manufactures will come back, not as a team but as an engine supplier to Williams.

Sauber: Had a great weekend. Rosa got into the top ten in qauly and stayed in the points to finish seventh and his team mate, Kobayashi started on the back room to finish ninth was a great result for the team.

McLaren: Had a weekend to forget. The car is not fast enough to be on front row or win races. Lewis had to retire with a gearbox problem and Button had a bad qauly with a poor start but ended up eighth. They have now lost top position on both championships and need to get their heads down if they want to be back on top. The next GP, Spa, may suit the car better but how much.

Mercedes: Schumi was only good at the start by passing two cars and making it into the points but made trouble for himself with Rubens. Rosberg could not do anything with his wheel not screwed on properly. Bad weekend with no points.

Toro Rosso: Having a quite weekend but Alguersuari’s engine blew in the opening laps. They failed where other teams around them capitalised on the big teams failures up front.

Force India: No points this weekend and an unfortunate accident for them in the pits made it a poor weekend by their standards.

Lotus: Both cars finished and they they were out qualified by one Virgin car but they finished ahead of them. Great for them and pushing for a quicker car with reliability good.

Virgin: Glock qualified ahead of the Lotus and they thanked there backers for there help, but they finished behind them. They also finished the race and are getting closer to the Lotus.

Hispania: For a team that is meant to be struggling to find money to keep it going they also had two cars that finished in the whole race. Can this help them find some investors, lets hope so.

Muteen Hussain

German GP

As always the start of a Grand prix is the most exciting to watch. I've noticed when Vettle is on pole instead of going straight on and concentrating on getting a great start he pushes whoever is on P2 to the side, he has done it to Webber a few times, and this cost him today. Massa took advantage of Vettle’s push on Alonso and that put Vettle off and soon had the two Ferraris ahead of him. Webber get a good start but the two McLaren just had better pace him and Lewis got ahead of his team mate at the start to have a go at Webber and stayed in fourth to have a quite race. Button had a challenge from Kubica but he had a better car to pull away and over take Webber. When Vettle came in to do his mandatory pit-stop his team got him to some open space and go as fast as he can. This had a chain reaction and the other lead drivers came in. Button did stay out longer and I'm wondering how long could he have stayed out i and pushed his car to the limit to over take Lewis after the pit-stop.

There are two stories today, but one will dominate. First about the fuel onboard cars. The car cannot go flat-out al through out the race because they do not have enough fuel onboard. So they have to slow down during the race at some point. If refuelling was bought back into F1 then the drivers will go flat out more. I know with refuelling last year some drivers slowed down a bit in the last 10 laps but today with Vettle behind the Ferrari’s he would have pushed them till the end.

Secondly, Ferrari’s team orders or code. Massa was in the lead fairly, Vettle was not catching the Ferrari’s and Alonso had a quicker car, but still Alonso should have taken his chances and passed Massa when he was struggling with tyres. They sent a coded message to Massa to let Alonso through but it was badly done. All team do it and have done it this year, Button told to save fuel when he passed Lewis in Turkey. Code or no code, Ferrari did not illegally tell Massa to move over and Massa did not have too but he is a team player and he wants to driver for Ferrari. This will take the attention away from what has been a boring race.

Ferrari: Got a one-two, been the strongest team over the weekend and Alonso is creping back into the title race. At the moment they have a £65k fine but will anything else happen to them?

Red Bull: They wanted a win but got some points and that has put both there driver level in the championship. They are probably glad that they wrong spotlight is not on them.

McLaren: There updates are not giving them the extra speed they need to challenge for wins. Played it safe to finish 4th and 5th. they are still on top of both championships and hope that Ferrari and Red Bulls keep taking points off each other.

Renault: Kubica has pushed the Team forward and have beaten the Mercedes GP. They are looking to finish 5th in the constructors championship but with luck on there side they can finish 4th.

Mercedes: Not a good home GP all around. Schumi had a good start from 11th and passed his team mate Rosberg, who passed him after the pit stops. The team are still developing this car but Schumi wants them to start on next years so that he can win the title. Ross Brawn did the same when he was at Honda and the next year they won both titles as Brawn GP.

Sauber: Had a little battle with the Williams but where just outside the points. Not looking as though they can break into the top 10 so may decide to work on next years car.

Williams: Both drivers started in the points but finished outside the top ten.Not a good weekend for them but this is a 2 race old engine and they perform better when they have a new one. The Renault engine would have been the better choice but why Cosworth.

Toro Rosso: With not many front cars pulling out of the race, they where unlikely to get any points. Didnt help that Buemi lost his rear wing and was out of the race, but onto the next one.

Force India: They had a weekend to forget. Sutil had to take a 5 place penalty because he had a gear box change and Liuzzi had a crash in qualifying which has not done him any good.

Virgin: They need to start getting some speed now. They have finished ahead of there two other rivals but need some points and that will only come with speed now.

Hispania: Senna had his best qualification in 20th and brought the car home. Not sure about there new driver for just the one race but that is a money decision and they need it.

Lotus: Had looked good in qualy and Trulli had done a great job hoping to do well in the race, but it wasnt to be both cars had retired. The new boys need to pick up there pace.

Muteen Hussain

European GP

After missing the Canadian GP i was kicking myself because i was looked forward to that race and it was great(from what i saw)

Now the Valencia, normally a boring race in opinion but it started well, Vettel and Lewis had made contact but both still stay in the front, but Webber was falling back.He must have had contact with Button because they where racing each other before he fell further back. There wasn't much else happening in the race until Webber was fighting for position against Kovi. With the superior Webber was about to take over but Kovi had hit the breaks and Webber hit the back of him at nearly 200mph and went flying in the air out of the race. A debate opened about slower cars fighting for position against a superior car should just back down. Well no. It doesn't matter if your going to lose the battle in the end the drivers should race and the slower cars have the right to be there otherwise the FIA shouldn’t have given the slower teams a place in the starting grid. The safety car came out and most of the drivers went into the pits to change their tyres. It would later be announced that 9 drivers had to be investigated for speeding under the safety conditions, and Lewis had a drive through penalty because he over took the safety as it was coming out if the pits and just pasted the line when the safety car is active. It stopped use from having a battle between Vettel and Lewis but the BMW driver Kobayashi made the safety car work for him and he was in 3rd place for most of the race because he didn't come into the pits for his tyre change. He would pit late into the race and come out behind Alonso in 9th. With only a few laps left he made a passed Alonso and at the last corner of the race he past Buemi to finish 7th. Not a bad race but looking forward to the next in Britain.

Red Bulls: It was a good day, not a great one but good. Vettel got them the win but Webber had crashed out.

McLaren: 2nd and 3rd was good for a team who said they didn't have the complete upgrade to the car, which would have given them an extra half second. They look dangerous if that is true.

Williams: A superb result for the Williams with Rubens finishing 4th. They got the upgrades they wanted and a fresh engine gave them a great qualy and they took it into the race.

Renault: As always Kubica put in a solid performance, keeping Renault in the points and the pressure on Mercedes.

Force India: Had a bad qualy but the safety car helped them and a decision to get the tyres changed then got Sutil in the points.

Sauber: They had the best day and the best race for there season. In 3rd place for most of the race and having some speed to help build up a gap from the last of the points drivers helped them to the best result.

Ferrari: Looked good in practice and qualified good but had bad luck when the safety car came out when Alonso and Massa had to go around the whole track to the pits and change their tyres plus Massa had to que for tyres.

Toro Rosso: Always at the back of the point hoping they get into them and they do pick up a few.

Mercedes: They had the worst weekend this season. Saying the tyres are to blame. Schumi being picked out as not doing well but thats not fair on him. Rosberg didnt do well and for a first season after a long break he is doing well.

Virgin: They had a good battle with Hispania, Good to see the back markers pushing each other.

Hispania: Same as Virgin and glad to have finished ahead of Lotus in sure.

Lotus: 500th GP for them and it was nice to have the son of Lotus founder there, but with the crash involving Kovi will be there main story for this GP.

Muteen Hussain

Turkish GP

Just a quick blog. I had to work so i missed the race in whole,which is a shame because i like this GP, i have always found it entertaining. Team mates racing each other and accidents. a lot of talking after the race on who was to blame for RBs losing the race, could this spell the down fall of RB?

McLaren: The upgrades are working on the car and their race pace is almost as good as the Red Bulls. A Great one-two with a little luck and that is needed in competition. Its was great to see them race each other for a few corners, but they had a problem with fuel running low, with Canada next will they have enough fuel to push to the end?

Red Bulls: A bad day for them. both cars hitting each other and only one finishing when they could have had a perfect race. I would say it Vettel’s fault because he was going into Webber’s racing line and he knew it at the interview when he wasnt put the blame on anyone. Red Bulls are losing so many races and it was at this point last year when it changed for Brawn GP and they started falling back. Will that happen to RB, and will they rush the F-Duck onto their cars to keep the edge?

Mercedes: A great start for Schumi, he is getting better and better in each race. I still think he will win Hungarian GP, the team just need to improve there speed. Rosberg is still pushing Schumi but on the outside it looks he’s losing to him team mate in the backrooms.

Renault: A surprise that they are pushing Ferrier. Mainly thanks to Kubica. The team do have a good leader in him, and they will have Mercedes to push. They had a quite race but are picking up many points. if the second car can pick up some points, they could finish in the top 4.

Ferrier: What has happened to the team everyone thought would be going for wins to saying ‘its the best we can do’. Alonso not leading them in right way? Is the team principal the wrong man? or have they been so use on focusing on one main driver(during Schumi days) that trying to keep both drivers equal to much for them. Remember they offered Massa an extended contract if he support Kimi for the Championship and they did the same to Kimi to help Massa the year after. they are a One Main driver team. Finishing 7th and 8th is not them.

Force India: Strong performance from Sutil again, keeping the car in the points, and beating the Williams team must put a smile on there faces.

Sauber: What an improvement form the most disappointing team of the season so far. Getting a car into Q3, was a great achievement and getting a point. I didnt think they would be getting anything after the last few races, but i do think De La Rosa will be dropped for next season.

Toro Rosso: A quite race after an early punched tyre but having the second fastest lap.Not sure if that proves anything because that is at the end of the race when most cars are slowing to save fuel.

Williams: They havnt got the upgrade they wanted for this GP and it showed. They are not fighting for the points and this will get Rubens down. Thats not good for him cause i think it take him time to recover and thats the last thing they need. Upgrades are needed quickly and a different engine, id say Renault.

Virgin: These boys will be on a high after having two cars complete the race and their main rivals not finishing at all. a great improvement from them. let the momentum continue.

Hispania: They where doing, both cars were doing well but they will be disappointed in not having at least one finish the race.

Lotus: The worst race of the season for them. Their main rival finishing ahead of them. They have normally had the edge over them and they may still have.

Muteen Hussain

Monaco GP

Get ting pole helps to win races, but no more than Monaco, and Webber lead with a master class. He was building up a lead only to be cut because of the safety car. Its puts him top of the Drivers title, level on points with Vettle but he has one more win. Vettle did well to take second and keep Kubica behind him, but i think Kubica would have been second if he wasn’t concentrating on Vettle at the start of the race. Alonso had much to do, considering he started from the pits and lucky for him the safety car came out and he changed his tyres for his one and only pit stop. with a superior car he normally would be overtaking the back markers but this is Monaco and its not easy to over take anywhere. He had a good battle with Di Grassi. He wasn’t going to let Alonso past but made a mistake and took advantage. Alonso made his way to sixth only to lose it to Schumi on the last lap when the safety car came in. Schumi was later punished with 20 sec added to his time, because the rule says the safety car will come in on the last lap of the race but the cars will take the chequered flag without overtaking. That is were Schumi lost and i think the rule will be changed soon. Not a bad race with many crashes and only half the cars finishing but Turkey will be a better race, I hope.

Red Bulls: Finally, the team that has taken all the poles this season and are the top dogs, have got to the top of both championships and its really close. have they left it late with the other teams ready to catch them up in qualifying?

Renault: a good day for them. not only did they get a podium, but the top three cars all had their engine, i would think they have the best engine this year.

Ferrari: Massa had a quite race. Gave a solid performance and Alonso made his way through the field like a great driver. They got more points than they thought after Alonso crash.

McLaren: Lewis too also had a quite race kept the car in the same position as he started but Buttons engine and blew and questions will be asked if an extra piece was left in the car that shouldn't have been there.

Mercedes: Not as good as ending as it should have been. Schumi had 20sec added to his time for overtaking when he shouldn't have done, so no points for him, and Rosberg says he should have been on the front row, he must be playing a bit of mind games with Schumi to let him know I'm faster.

Force India: Having both cars in the points was a good day for them. they took advantage of the cars dropping out.

Toro Rosso: they got lucky and picked up a point after Schumi’s penalty.

Hispania: Chandhok was doing well keeping the car on the road and was heading for a finish, but it was unfortunate that the Lotus hit him. It would have been a good day other wise.

Lotus: Kovi had been having problems with getting 2nd gear all weekend and they replaced a few bits in it, but it put a stop to his race and Trulli will have to be careful because he caused a crash and that has cost the team lot of money to repair the car.

Williams: Rubens was sure to be in for some good points at Monaco but the news is the car had a failure. Williams need to find some upgrades soon because they will be fallling behind Renault more.

Sauber: is was another quite day for Sauber and De La Rosa is still having bad luck. I get the feeling he may be kicked out soon. Could Kimi come back and take his seat? he was at the GP.

Virgin: It was good to see Alonso trying to pass the Virgin car. he was raising his hands, well that was tough for Alonso, its racing and these guys are as competitive as the rest. A good show but same the cars didn't last.

Muteen Hussain

Spanish GP

As I only got the chance to watch the highlights of the race, that's all i can comment on.

It was a great day for Webber, leading from start to finish. He had a good start and kept Vettle and Lewis behind to bring home his first win of the season. The Red Bulls have a great car in qualifying but where does that speed go in the main race? They are not as dominate in the race as Lewis showed he could give them a challenge when the cars are filled with fuel. So when the McLarens do get that extra bit on the Red Bulls we good be in the a great race. Unfortunately for Lewis he had a puncher on the penultimate lap. More points lost but he seemed positive on taking the on the race and i think he see’s a good season unfolding for him. His team mate, Button, still remains on top in the championship but couldn't overtake Schumi. With Barcelona being a track not for overtaking, it played into the hands of Schumi when Button came out the pits behind him. Schumi did well keeping him behind and showed he still is as competitive, looking forward to seeing him in the next race. Alonso finishing 2nd was great for the home fans but the Ferrier only got to the front when the cars in front have problems,they will need a big upgrade. The race was not a classic and i think we need to bring in a mandatory 2 pit stops. This will give the drivers the chance to push the tyres to the limit instead of trying to hold on to them, it will make for great racing plus we could see more cars with mechanical failures as we saw with Vettle who had to take it easy because his breaks were about to break. Not good for him if his car is going to break at every race.

A fourth winner of the season out of five races, will there be a fifth at the next? Schumi?

Red Bull: Superb for two drivers on the podium, should have been a 1-2 but reliability is an issue with Vettle and maybe his driving style. They have lost many points this season and could lose both championship if they don't stop that.

Ferrier: Having luck is a good thing and Alonso had it today. With Vettle pit stop problems and Lewis’s puncher, 2nd was better than what they could have hoped for, they just need to keep Massa’s chin up and not turn him into a Rubens, a quite second driver.

Mercedes: Disappointing for Rosberg with a bad start and the upgrades not working as well for him as Schumi, who had a good race and had his best finish in forth. Looking forward to there next race.

McLaren: Not as bad as the result shows, i think. Showed they have good race pace and need to improve on qualifying but they still lead in both championships. There consistency should help them win the titles.

Force India: Got more points making this season very good for them. Sutil is raising his stock and some teams will be looking for his services.

Renault: Kubica got more points for them but did move up the grid with Massa and Sutil passing him. they have a good car but at what point in the season will they say, lets start work on next years car’?

Williams: After a bad qualifying for Rubens and the upgrades not working that well, the race turned out to be great for them. Going from 18th to 12th in the 1st lap and finishing 9th, a great day for him, but his team mate will need help to improve.

Toro Rosso: Another point on the board and pushing the Williams, which i didn't think they would be as competitive.

Sauber: Kobayashi gave them a great qualifying in 10th, shame he couldn't get any points, it would have been a much bigger step up.

Lotus: Shame that Kovi couldn't get to start the race, he has been doing well for the team and Trulli has got them some good race info so that they can improve the car.

Virgin: Both cars officially finished but the cars are slow. They are hoping to get a few points this season will they have a lot to do.

Hispania: A disappointing home race, they would liked to have completed the race but it just wasn't there weekend.

Muteen Hussain

Chinese GP

‘A Rebel Race’, that’s what I am calling this race. Started with Alonso jumping the start and for a two time world champion and a man with his experience that is bad. He also over took his team mate on entry to the pits, I think he will have trouble with team orders at Ferrier especially with Massa always being a great dark horse. Lewis and Vettle had action when Lewis over took Vettle on his way into the pits but they touched in the pits after there release, which was dangerous especially when Vettle was pushing Lewis near the tyre guns; it could have caused a major accident. Button had a good race but he did bunch the pack up to much and Martin did comment on it, possibly, breaking the F1 law.

As for the rest of the race, will its was good to watch. Chaos ruled the race, Rosberg and Button made the choice of the day by staying out on slick tyres. That decision could have easily been bad for them if it did rain a bit more. The rain gave us the chance to see some over taking and Lewis was on a roll, passing Schumacher must have been a dream come true for him. Action for the last points went on through put the race. Alguersuari made a good challenge but couldn't stay in the points. Massa overtaking Schumacher in the last few laps and Schumacher did not make it easy for any one to pass him. A good chaotic race, but i still feel there was something missing, I'm thinking that maybe the crowds atmosphere. The European race would see a chance to that.

McLaren: A great race for them with having a one-two. They will enjoy this win going into the little break before the next race and being on top of both championships

Mercedes GP: Rosberg make a great choice on tyres and another podium will be great for him. Schumi was frustrated because the car did have a little problem but we saw how competitive he his when others tried to overtake him. He will win a race and should not be written off.

Ferrier: Alonso making a Rookies mistake and Massa not finishing further up the grid will make a below par weekend for the team and could we be seeing the beginnings of a friction between Alonso and Massa after Alonso overtake Mass into the pits?

Renault: Quite but both drivers did well on being in the points especially Petrov starting from 14th to finish 7th. Renault bosses will be thinking next year will be great for them.

Red Bulls: A bad day at the office. They are the team to beat on qualifying but they lose it in the race. They are throwing away what could easily have been a perfect start to the season. Only converting one pole into a win and that was with the other driver isn't a championships winning team.

Force India: Sutil lost out on the two Red Bulls overtaking him and he couldn’t over take Schumi for the final point, but they have a Mercedes engine, probably the best, and would expect more.

Williams: Early in the year i thought they where having Renault engines, i was wrong sorry, they are using Cosworth. Its not an engine that will help them finish 5th(but what do i know). they had a great partnership with Renault in the 90s and I think will be need for them again as well as bringing Kubica to the team.

Toro Rosso: Alguersuari had an entertaining race. nearly in points, battling with many cars and losing his front wing, and he has matured. He could be the next great Spaniard.

Lotus: Kovalainen has been consistent, it will pay off and they will get some points.

Hispania: Both car lasting the race, they are making big steps forward and more so now that they got both there cars to the end. A great day at the office.

Virgin: They still haven't got the car up to shape. They have a lot of work to do. The petrol tank will be full size soon so then they can use there engines to full revs.

BMW Sauber: A team will a lot of experience just not getting things right. There need to be some major changes on the reliability.

Muteen Hussain