A Long and winding
road: Hot and dusty for
The 12th Hungarian
Grand Prix: Hungaroring
Williams team boss Frank Williams
won’t be mentioning it out loud and certainly
his drivers, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz
Harald Frentzen wouldn’t dare mention it to
him, but he will undoubtedly have his private
thoughts for this coming weekend. For, here last
year, was where he tied up the Constructors
championship title with a definitive 1, 2 win, his
two drivers crossing the line barely three quarters
of a second apart, a massive 141 points accrued for
the team. The drivers shared victories in 9 out of
the 11 races contested so far, and at the same time
equalled the points record previously set by Ferrari. Perhaps more to the point,
was that a Williams driver also occupied the lower
steps of the podium on 6 occasions, 5 of them second
places. The strength of the Williams cars was obvious
but few seemed to acknowledge the support that the
two drivers maintained for the team and the
consummate skills required to stay in such close
proximity to each other throughout the season.
Villeneuve in his
first year of F1, learning the tracks and driving out
of his skin and Damon Hill, as seems to be his
personal cross to bear, suffering the slings and
arrows from the press and his team boss for any small
lapse of concentration or purpose were, in hindsight,
the dream team. Even the great Michael Schumacher
could not have amassed all those points single
handedly (Eddie Irvine at best last year, was
an encumbrance) and even with the second best current
driver in the world (who? Hill? Villeneuve? Alesi?
Berger?), the points position after the eleventh
race of the season, probably would not have been a
great deal different.
Should Williams score a double this weekend,
it would only bring their tally to 91
constructor’s points, 50 less than last year and
had Ferrari not suffered a major hiccup at the British
Grand Prix, it would be less. The Wisdom of Frank
William’s choice of second driver now must seem
suspect to one and all, yet we all know that he is a
man, like Eddie Jordan, of rare vision and it
is seldom that he gets things so wrong.
It is unquestionable
that Frentzen is quick, even the lowly punter can see
his potential, but is it all a bit too early? Can Williams afford to wait until Frentzen
blooms into bud and starts filling the pits with the
rich perfume of success? Frank will be a brave man to
keep the young German on for a second year, but the
feeling is that he must, if only to protect his
investment. To fatten Frentzen’s skills up this
season and then release him to another team would be
unwise, yet the acid test will come, if he is kept
on, next season. If he doesn’t make good, then
Williams has saddled himself with a slow horse for
the whole season. It is also important for the team
to groom a German for championship status, as the
rumours of a tie up with BMW, make the inclusion of a
German in their driver package a sound business deal
as well. But then with Michael Schumacher free from
his Ferrari contract at the end of next
year, who knows how many noughts Frank might be
prepared to put on his cheque? Realistically, he has
only Villeneuve to rely on this season to grab the
driver’s title, as even he must see that the
constructors crown is slipping away and unless
Frentzen suddenly picks up some form, the Canadian
cannot do it on his own.
Going by
Frentzen’s form in the last two races, he would
do well to stay out of second slot on the grid. By
getting the ‘dirty’ side of the track his
attack for the front could be fraught with danger. A
fast acceleration along the pit straight to the first
180 degree blind corner will demand heavy braking and
the avoidance of other moving objects is of paramount
importance.
Alan Jenkins, Stewart Grand Prix Technical director, says of the
circuit, "You will see clouds of dust at the
beginning of every session. The conditions can change
constantly according to the amount of dust carried on
to the track by the wind, by cars going off or
support vehicles." He also commented on the
pressures of fitting in a good lap whilst waiting for
the track to clean itself. "There is a
notable reluctance on everyone’s part to be
first out on the circuit and clean it up for
everybody else, which often makes for a very quiet
first part of the practice sessions." He
said. "As yet Formula 1 has not established a
procedure stating who should clean the track for the
others! Schumacher thanked Rubens Barichello for
doing that in Canada but I don’t imagine we can
expect him to return the compliment in
Budapest!."
The Hungaroring
is a slow circuit with straight line speeds slower
than Monaco and an average speed only a little
higher. It is also a high downforce circuit and with
16 corners, good lap times are not easy.
Built in 1984 and host
to the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix in an Iron
Curtain country, the Hungaroring in 1986, saw
one of the largest ever crowds at an F1 event in that
opening year. Over 200,000 eager fans saw Nelson
Piquet take the chequered flag for the first time
in a championship race in the Eastern Bloc. The race
being unexpectedly slow, was curtailed after the two
hour time limit expired, a lap short of the scheduled
77.
Motor racing in
Hungary dates back to 1936 when the Budapest GP was
held in Nepliget Park over a 5 Km figure of
eight circuit. It was won by Nuvolari driving
a Ferrari entered Alfa Romeo. The war years
provided spasmodic racing and it was only in the
1960’s after Budapest’s airport at Ferihegy
was used for Formula Junior, that European Touring
car championship events were held on a modified
version of the park in the centre of the city.
The Hungaroring
was a brand new track built in a natural bowl and
designed to give spectators maximum viewing. It has
an almost oval infield and a multi cornered outfield
taking it into the Harmas Forrest close by the
village of Mogyorod about 12 miles North East of the
city. Only one small alteration has been made since
it’s construction, bridging the original
downhill chicane after turn two behind the paddocks.
Put there originally to by-pass a previously
undetected underground spring, the unpopular chicane
was straightened to provide the only fast section of
the circuit. Nigel Mansell’s 1992 World
Championship was decided here and Damon Hill won his
first Grand Prix in 1993. "The city of
Budapest has a special atmosphere, and the atmosphere
of the circuit is also very pleasant," said
Michael Schumacher and, sounding a bit like the elder
statesman of F1, he added "With the public
sitting on the grass, it reminds me of the old days
in racing." Well, pass me the Ovaltine
and the Daily Sketch.
The race is usually
one of the less exciting moments of the season,
processional out of necessity, as there are so few
passing places. Jordan’s Gary Anderson
explains, "There are 16 corners per lap and
the drivers will need to get a rhythm going and learn
to drive their cars smoothly through theses corners.
It is also impossible to overtake and this, plus the
fact that tyre wear will create the need for more pit
stops than usual, makes race strategy in Hungary
crucial." In fact the last three Grands Prix
have been won by drivers on three stop strategies. Eghbal
Hamidy Aerodynamicist with Stewart thinks otherwise:
"Tyre wear here is generally very low, which
means a probable one stop strategy for most teams. If
you plan just one, you minimise your chances of
losing time in traffic."
This leads one to
surmise therefore that the top four teams will
probably go for more stops than the lower half of the
grid, as their power advantage will take them more
easily through the slower back-markers. It will be
interesting to see where Rubins Barichello and
Jan Magnussen are, half way through the race.
The fact that the lower half of the grid contain all
the Bridgestone runners, may prove eventful
and with a reputation for keeping their tyres going
longer, we may indeed see the Goodyear shod
cars stopping three times out of necessity.
‘Passing in
the pit lane’ at the Hungaroring may
be the only chance of a podium finish for Damon Hill
and the singularly unspectacular TWR/Arrows team.
Ferrari not really
suited to such a twisty course, surprised the
spectators last year by taking pole in the mercurial
F310. Gearbox selection problems curtailed his race
with only seven laps remaining giving Villeneuve and
Hill the space to take the Constructors title for
Williams.
For Benetton also, the circuit is not
conducive to their approach, despite their victory in
1994 with the Cosworth. As with Ferrari in 1996, it
was Schumacher rather than the car, that won them the
points. Gerhard Berger after such a brilliant
comeback a fortnight ago must surely have sparked a
positive wave of renewed motivation through the
Enstone factory, but he cannot be expected to
maintain such indomitable form, yet a higher placing
than of late could be on the cards.
"It may have
been our first victory for some time, but we see it
as the start of something again and of a 'let's get
on with it now attitude." says the
team’s Technical Director, Pat Symonds. "Everyone
is very highly motivated, especially Gerhard and Jean
who just want to win as much as everyone else. But
Hockenheim and Hungaroring are at opposite ends of
the spectrum so we can make no assumptions and will
have to work very hard if we are to do it
again."
The Jordans of Giancarlo Fisichella
and Ralf Schumacher should go well, as the
constantly improving Peugeot engine is
flexible enough in the slow corners to push them to
what little straight line speed is attainable. The
Italian, so cruelly beaten by a puncture at Hockenheim,
will now be desperate to find a win before being
forced out of a two year contract with the team by Flavio
Briatore who has taken up his option on him for Benetton in 1998.
Mika Hakkinen
in the McLaren, made 3 points from last years
race and with the recent upturn in form him and the
evolution Mercedes engine, there is no reason
why he should not find himself on the podium. "Despite
the inherent difficulties of the track, I am looking
forward to the race," He said. "The
Finnish supporters always make the Hungarian Grand
Prix something special."
Ferrari, the prancing horse turned
lion, is now in the driving seat and looks likely to
pull off a victory with Schumacher, provided pole
position can be achieved. The Senior German driver is
well aware of the pitfalls of the circuit. "The
configuration of this circuit is similar to Magny
Cours. Normally it is very slippery because there is
all the sand on the track surface and is a bit bumpy
as well. It is always quite difficult to find the
right set-up and the race often turns out to be tough
because the absence of long straights means that you
never have a chance to relax."
Of the 572 points that
the past 11 Hungarian Grands Prix have thrown up,
Williams have taken 212, by far, the greatest points
tally for this particular race. Whether they can add
another 32 to that score remains to be seen, but if
the new improved and leaner Ferrari grabs that pole
position, quite literally, it wont be seen for dust.
Chris Richardson: zoom@yeahright-no-sorry.com
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