With a distinct absence of high-speed corners and the expectation of hot summer temperatures, the Hungaroring is a unique and demanding challenge. And as Budapest beckons, the drivers and senior team members discuss their prospects for the race...
Fernando Alonso, Renault
2008 Qualifying - 7th, 2008 Race - 4th
The memories of my win in 2003 in Hungary are very special as it was also Renault's first victory since returning to Formula One and it gave the whole team a lot of motivation and self-belief. I always enjoy visiting Budapest as it's a beautiful city, the people are friendly and there is usually a relaxed atmosphere in the paddock as everybody is looking forward to their summer holidays. It's one of the slowest tracks of the season and you are almost constantly in a corner so the track is quite demanding mentally and physically, especially with the high temperatures. With so many low-speed corners you need a stable front end because if you understeer wide it will cost you a lot of time. Good traction and mechanical grip are also important to get a clean exit from the slow corners. Overtaking is really difficult and the only real opportunity is into turn one at the end of the main straight, so it's important that we maximise our performance in qualifying so we can start the race well inside the top ten.”
Nelson Piquet, Renault
2008 Qualifying - 10th, 2008 Race - 6th
“I enjoyed Hungary last year and it was probably one of my best races as I finished sixth. It's also a circuit where I won in GP2. Although there are no quick corners, it's a fun place to drive and the twisty layout makes it feel like a go-kart track. It's still quite challenging and you have to find the rhythm of the circuit and be accurate through the slow corners as the exit of one corner is the entry to the next. Any mistakes therefore cost you a lot of time. I should have the same upgrades as Fernando in Hungary and I think I can be more competitive. As always I will be aiming to qualify in the top ten and hopefully score some points in the race. Qualifying will be vital as it's so tough to overtake at the Hungaroring because the braking zones are small and it's very dirty offline, so it's important that we concentrate on getting the most from Saturday.”
Bob Bell, Renault technical director
“In Germany we only had the new updates on Fernando's car, but next weekend Nelson will have the same upgrades as Fernando. There will also be some more bodywork updates that should take us another step further forward. Hungary will also give us more time to optimise all the previous upgrades in terms of car set-up, so I expect to see further benefits coming from the upgrade package we introduced in Germany. The problems we have been experiencing with the car in the first half of the year have not been related to specific circuit characteristics and are more general as we were lacking a little bit of performance in all areas of the car. To some extent those deficiencies have been corrected by the recent upgrades and so there's no reason why we can't produce a similar level of performance in Hungary as we did in Germany. The Hungaroring is also a circuit Fernando enjoys and has always gone well at so I think he can be competitive again.”
More to follow.
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