Bernie Ecclestone, the man who holds the commercial rights to Formula 1, criticizes the extra-large circus and expresses doubts about the financial stability of some teams that might end their 2010 adventure prematurely. Twelve teams participate in the World Championship, which, according to Bernie, is too many.
"I think there are a couple of teams in Formula 1 that shouldn't be here".
It's not difficult to identify the targets: this year, Lotus, Hispania, and Virgin joined the scene.
"Lotus is a valid brand, I wouldn't want to lose them. What we've always wanted is ten teams on the grid".
The presence of uncompetitive teams adds nothing to the show and becomes more of a nuisance.
"Keeping these teams in the race comes at a cost. It takes a lot of money to make them compete, and I wouldn't be surprised if one or two teams didn't make it to the end of the season. Ultimately, their presence has not provided any added value. If these teams suddenly didn't show up, I don't think the audience would decrease. I don't think the TV would turn off, or the newspapers would stop writing. Or would they?"
If the 2010 grid doesn't lose teams, in 2011 Ecclestone risks witnessing an even more crowded World Championship. In theory, the 13th team could enter, replacing the defunct US F1 team that failed to hit the track this year. As loquacious as ever, the Formula 1 boss also gives his opinion on the ban on team orders to drivers, following the controversies sparked by the orchestrated overtake that allowed Fernando Alonso to cross the finish line first at the German Grand Prix. Former driver David Coulthard has suggested lifting the ban, and Ecclestone says he's not against it.
"I have to confess that I can't disagree with those who think that way. I believe that what is done within a team and how that team is managed is the team's business".
After the disputed overtake by Alonso on his teammate Felipe Massa at Hockenheim, Ferrari was fined $100.000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and referred to the FIA Council on a date to be determined. To keep their World Championship hopes alive, Ferrari heads to Budapest after their double victory in Germany. Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's team principal, states:
"We've taken the right direction, and we mustn't stop here. We know how difficult it is and how our competitors will continue to develop their cars".
Alonso's triumph has reopened the competition:
"It was a breath of fresh air to continue this pursuit; we believe we can achieve our goal. The comeback started from a good mechanical foundation: the development of the car in the wind tunnel has brought greater efficiency, allowing us to exploit the full potential of the car. We approach the Hungarian Grand Prix with conviction; we want to bring home a good result".
There will be emotions for the two Ferrari drivers: in Budapest, Massa experienced a terrible accident last season, while Fernando Alonso will celebrate his 29th birthday.
"For Felipe, it will be a weekend full of memories, and I believe he wants to prove he is a great driver. Fernando has seen that the car goes as he wants it to, and I think he wants to repeat the 25 points obtained in Germany".
There is much joy and pride in the words of Luca Montezemolo, president of Ferrari:
"Only one thing remains true and concrete: we have come back strong and victorious. This is what we all wanted, from myself to the collaborators. It's a joy that sweeps away the many words spoken out of place in these past months, and we dedicate it to our fans".
On the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa reiterates that he is not second to anyone in Ferrari and that he will always fight to win.
"I am not the second driver of Ferrari. The day I say I am the second driver, I will stop racing".
And to those who ask what he would do if the same situation as Hockenheim were to happen again on Sunday, he responds:
"I will win".
Massa does not want the situation to repeat:
"I have spoken with everyone inside the team. As I said, I am not here to race; I am here to win. As long as I am in the condition to do so, we have to go all the way and fight for victory. I am a professional. I work for the team, and everyone must understand my point of view. Everyone knows how important this is. Just remember what happened in 2007 and 2008".
Felipe Massa refers to the World Championship won by Kimi Raikkonen and the one in which the Brazilian fought for the title, even with the help of his Finnish teammate, fading only in the last race in Brazil with Lewis Hamilton's victory.
"If the team really has the chance to win the World Championship, I want the best for the team".
When asked if this episode has changed anything in his relationship with Ferrari, the Brazilian responds:
"Surely that episode made me even stronger".
Four days after the masterpiece of the Maranello team at Hockenheim, Felipe Massa suddenly contradicts the line held by Maranello so far, that of the team above all else, of Ferrari first and then the drivers. Not content with delivering his team to the judgment of the FIA (in addition to the $100.000 fine, on Wednesday, September 10, 2010, Jean Todt could nullify the points earned in Germany), the Brazilian arrives in Hungary, speaks at a press conference, and, as if in a strange state of exaltation, presents his unexpected point of view to the whole world. A journalist asks: If you find yourself in the same situation as Hockenheim this weekend, would you do the same or not?
"I will win".
Translated: if the opportunity arises here in Hungary to definitively launch Alonso (and Ferrari) in pursuit of the World Championship victory by playing a bit of team strategy, Felipe would behave differently this time. He wouldn't let Alonso pass even at the explicit request of the team and would defend himself in every way from possible attacks by his teammate. A chilling resolution. Not so much for what it means in itself, Felipe is a driver, and drivers are made like that, they always want to win. But because it is expressed at the end of a week in which Ferrari, through its president, Luca Montezemolo, had explained that the team's strategy was that of teamwork:
"Ferrari first, then everything else".
But Massa doesn't see it that way; he rejects the role of the team's second driver (even if temporary) and says it without too many problems, authorizing someone to imagine an imminent break with Ferrari:
"The day I feel like a second driver, I'll stop being a driver".
It is not excluded that the great pressure exerted by all Brazilian media from Sunday until today has weighed on the words of the boy. They elected him employee of the month and, from being the heir of Senna, they demoted him to a copy of Barrichello, the other former great Brazilian promise humiliated by many years in the service of his majesty Schumacher. The fear of progressive humiliation could indeed be one of the keys to understanding Felipe's complicated moment, who, moreover, relies on the advice of his friend Rubens to overcome the crisis. The Williams driver confesses, sending shivers down the spines of Ferrari's men:
"I talked to him. What we said remains between us. But it is certain that I wouldn't be interested in winning the World Championship by a point left by someone. If I have to become World Champion by being an unfair person, I prefer not to be. That's what I will teach my son".
To further complicate Felipe's psychological-emotional moment, there is the return to the Hungaroring. Exactly one year ago, the Brazilian fell victim to a terrifying accident: a spring detached from Barrichello's car and hit him on the helmet at over 200 km/h.
"It was the most incredible thing that has happened to me in my life. Now I'm back here to race, and it's fantastic. I'm sure I won't be afraid, not even in the first laps. After all, I don't remember anything, I don't remember the turn. I've seen everything on TV, but I don't remember anything. Tomorrow I'll get in the car, lower the visor, and it will be as if nothing happened".
Meanwhile, another controversy erupts in the circus. This time, the target is the front wing of the Red Bull Racing, also used by Ferrari in Germany (and, in part, in Hungary). The story is quite simple: at Hockenheim, prompted (so to speak) by someone who doesn't have much interest in seeing Ferrari and Red Bull racing, a French newspaper noticed that the front wings of the cars of the two teams have something in common: they bend a bit too much on the sides when the car is in motion (that is, when it matters) and become rigid when the car stops (that is, when it is controlled by the FIA stewards: flexible wings are illegal in F1). In short, the newspaper reported the irregularity of the two teams. The news was immediately picked up by the English press, which convinced the FIA to inspect the two teams after the race in Germany. The stewards gave the okay, also because the wing, when at rest, is perfectly rigid, so both Ferrari and Red Bull were able to continue using it. However, heavy criticism continues to come from various parts of the paddock, especially from McLaren, and further steps are not excluded.
"Nothing in nature is completely rigid".
Engineer Chris Dyer throws in some philosophy, then explains that the device is just a small step in the evolutions planned by the team for this year's car. A car that seems to have truly become competitive. Friday, July 30, 2010, Felipe Massa was the first driver to take to the circuit, where he was observed to take the stretch between the third and fourth turn - the scene of his injury in 2009 - quite slowly. After Ferrari's dominant display in Germany, the Italian team was noticeably off the pace in Budapest, with Fernando Alonso placing seventh and Massa finishing ninth at the end of the first session. At McLaren, Jenson Button led the way with the fourth-fastest time, while Lewis Hamilton was crippled with an undisclosed technical glitch and frustrations with the balance of his car that left him eighteenth and the last driver ahead of the new teams, who were once again led by Jarno Trulli. The circuit's notoriously dusty surface triggered several spins, with the most notable being Vitaly Petrov, who lost control in the final bend and found himself splayed across the entrance to the front straight, though he was able to return to the pits. Force India, who were running test driver Paul di Resta in place of Vitantonio Liuzzi, were fined €5.000 for another tyre mix-up when di Resta used a set of tyres that were a part of Liuzzi's Saturday allocation. The second session was once again led by Vettel and Red Bull, though the gap to the rest of the field was considerably smaller, with Alonso half a second adrift and Webber in third ahead of Massa. The most notable performance came from Petrov, who, despite his earlier spin and a time two seconds down on the leaders, placed fifth overall, just a second behind Vettel and a tenth of a second faster than teammate Kubica.
Lewis Hamilton recovered from his technical problems and found a setup he was happier with to take sixth. As with the first session, the second remained incident-free. Heikki Kovalainen was forced to sit out the bulk of the ninety minutes with hydraulics problems - a recurrent theme for all of the new teams - while Alonso tore a chunk out of one of the kerbs late in the session. Several drivers ran off the road, notably at turn seven, whilst Adrian Sutil struggled with an electrical fault. The blue star of Red Bull returns to shine in the Formula 1 sky. This seems to be the meaning of this ordinary Friday of free practice in Hungary. At the end of the day, Vettel emerges as the favorite, thanks to a 0.5s advantage over the resurgent Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard will go to sleep satisfied with keeping the other blue torpedo, driven by Mark Webber, behind him. However, he is also aware that it will take a miracle from the mechanics, a stroke of genius, or luck (read: a mistake by opponents) to repeat the feat of Germany and get closer to the dream of re-entering the race for the World Championship. A challenging mission for Fernando Alonso, impossible for his teammate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian finished fourth immediately behind Mark Webber and is now preparing to face his Sunday with a thousand anxieties. More than the controversies over team orders, Felipe Massa's state of mind is one of the most significant problems for Ferrari. The impression is that Massa cannot accept the role of an assistant (copyright Domenicali) that the team has entrusted him with. Every time he appears in public, he seems unsettled, giving the feeling that he is ready to cause trouble of any kind just to avoid being told - especially by the Brazilian press - that he is an employee rather than a driver, an heir to Barrichello instead of Senna, in short, a mediocre one.
"I am sure that on the track, Felipe will behave intelligently".
Domenicali assures, but he doesn't seem entirely convinced either. It hasn't happened yet, it seems, but sooner or later, if it continues like this, there will come a time when someone in Maranello will wonder what use a driver not fast enough to be competitive and not intelligent enough to understand that Alonso's victory, at a time like this, after a two-year drought, would be, in the end, but not so deep down, a victory for him too. On Saturday, July 31, 2010, Heavy rain was expected to interrupt the session, and while clouds started to materialise over the final few corners of the circuit, the hour-long session remained free of rain. Red Bull were once again the early pace-setters, with pundits and commentators expecting the fight for pole to be between Vettel and Webber and possibly Alonso, the only driver who had been in touch with them all weekend.
The fight to avoid elimination was intense, with several drivers including Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Adrian Sutil exchanging fastest laps to avoid eighteenth position and join the Virgin, Lotus and Hispania drivers in the knockout zone. In the end, Kamui Kobayashi suffered the ignominy of being eliminated in Q1; although he had been on a flying lap at the very end of the first period that, based on sector times, would have been enough to keep his qualifying session alive, he cruelly encountered traffic in the final sequence of bends. With his lap compromised, he aborted his run and returned to the pits. In his frustration he missed the scrutineering weighbridge completely, and was later given a five-place grid penalty for the transgression, shunting him back to the last row of the grid alongside Sakon Yamamoto. Elsewhere, Timo Glock was the fastest of the new teams; the last car to set a time in the first period, he upstaged Heikki Kovalainen by just a few hundredths of a second. Where Vettel claimed the fastest time of the first period, Mark Webber was the fastest in the second, with Alonso once again in third. Renault's Vitaly Petrov was the big surprise, taking fourth place and proving that his pace in the practice sessions was genuine. Although the gap between Red Bull and everyone else remained constant at a second, it was a hard-fought battle for the minor placings as several drivers struggled to promote themselves to the final qualifying period. Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were busy taking fastest times out of one another, but the real fight was once again for the final places in the next period, with Button, Nico Rosberg and the Williams drivers of Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hülkenberg and fighting to stay alive. Where Hülkenberg and Rosberg slipped through, Button could only manage eleventh and his former teammate Barrichello twelfth, with the reigning World Champion missing the cut by just two thousandths of a second. Adrian Sutil was able to take thirteenth alongside countryman Michael Schumacher, with Buemi, an anonymous Vitantonio Liuzzi and Alguersuari filling up the lower midfield places. In the third and final session, it was reported that Petrov, Pedro de la Rosa and Hülkenberg had not been expecting to advance to the final period, and were therefore out of fresh sets of the softer option tyres.
Petrov and de la Rosa both opted for a one-run strategy to preserve their tyres, as did Robert Kubica in the second Renault. Hülkenberg elected to run in two stints, but as in Germany, he discovered that his tyres were too worn to set a competitive time by the end of the session. De la Rosa experienced similar difficulties, taking ninth from Hülkenberg by just two thousandths of a second. At the business end of the grid, Sebastian Vettel set his fastest time yet, which even he could not beat on his second lap even though it was still good enough for pole, whilst Mark Webber could not improve much from his Q2 time. By the end of the session, Red Bull were once again first and second, giving the team eleven pole positions from twelve attempts in 2010. Vettel himself was over a second faster than Alonso, with Webber falling just shy of the enviable mark. These times, combined with footage broadcast by Formula One Management that showed both the Red Bulls and Ferraris running with front wings that were notably closer to the road than their rivals, re-ignited the debate over flexible front wings, with McLaren and Mercedes GP in particular approaching the FIA for clarification as to the rules. Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton took advantage of Jenson Button's early Q2 exit to qualify fifth behind Felipe Massa, the 2008 World Champion looking to secure a good result and put as much space between himself and his teammate as possible in the championship standings. Nico Rosberg endured the hour-long session despite coming dangerously close to elimination on two occasions to line up alongside Hamilton in sixth, whilst Vitaly Petrov became the twelfth and final man to out-qualify his teammate in 2010. An early mistake on Kubica's first flying lap saw the pole position struggle, and while his second run was quicker, Petrov hit back on used rubber to take seventh by a tenth of a second at the end of the session. Eleventh pole out of twelve races. Another all-blue front row speaks volumes about the balance of power at this crucial moment in the season. Behind the untouchable Vettel and Webber, the two Ferraris of Alonso and Massa follow suit, confirming the excellent form of the car with a strong qualifying performance. However, unlike what happened in Hockenheim, the gap to the Anglo-Austrian cars is staggering.
One statistic perfectly describes the cosmic void separating the front pair from the rest: the gap between Vettel and Alonso, between the first and the third, is 1.2 seconds, roughly the same distance that separates the Spanish Ferrari driver from the seventh position, held by Petrov in the Renault (the Russian, for the first time this season, qualified ahead of his teammate Kubica, who is eighth). It will take a lot in terms of speed, precision, aggression, and luck to bridge this gap in the race. Fernando Alonso shakes his head with some concern:
"There is a very big gap between us and them. We did what we could, but they are way ahead. Congratulations to them; they are dominating. Now we face a difficult race, and we will do our best. The start will be crucial, 60-70 percent of the final result. It will be important to gain positions at that moment and then manage the race on a circuit where overtaking is always very difficult".
Vettel smiles:
"The circuit seems tailor-made for our car. That's why I think we are so far ahead. Of course, we'll see what happens tomorrow, as they usually say: in Formula 1, points are awarded on Sunday, not on Saturday. But, of course, we can go to sleep peacefully tonight".
Those at McLaren will have a less peaceful night. The difficulty of the English team is one of the best news that could come to Ferrari on a day like this. Button, even outside the top ten (P11), and Hamilton (struggling in fifth) seem to have plunged into a deep crisis, slow and awkward. Considering that they are the leaders of the World Championship, it implies that even if Red Bull were to win, as it seems likely given the circumstances, the final result would be to further shorten the standings. A situation that Lewis Hamilton, one of the favorites for the ultimate victory, really does not like. The former World Champion, leaving his car, looks upset and, facing questions, says he is very worried. Especially since after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Formula 1 will enter its summer break:
"A break that comes at a really wrong time for us. Because during the break, you can't work, and when we come back to Spa, Ferrari and Red Bull will still be where they are now, ahead of us, and we won't have been able to recover. Of course, nothing is certain yet, and we will do everything to win".
A definitive verdict concerns Michael Schumacher. Once again, he failed to achieve anything positive, presenting himself as the laughingstock of the circus. He will start in P14, while his teammate, Nico Rosberg, is sixth. The comparison between the two is chilling. If this continues, the old Schumacher will accomplish the most complicated feat: overshadowing a legendary career with an unworthy ending. In short, Red Bull dominates, Ferrari chases, McLaren loses its way, and Mercedes is a laughingstock. Everything as usual. Then, suddenly, the Saturday afternoon without a story in Budapest is illuminated, set on fire by the flames of yet another controversy, the true fuel (forget about gasoline) of a sport that seems to regain its profound meaning only when its protagonists end up bickering in front of a judge's desk. This time, the Ferrari is in the crosshairs, accused, along with Red Bull, of violating the regulations (contradicting its spirit) by fitting a deceptive device, a front wing with intelligent flexibility: rigid when subjected to steward checks and flexible when the car is in motion, capable - at sustained speeds - of getting closer to the ground and creating a sort of seal effect, strictly prohibited. Complaining, of course, are those who don't have that wing: namely Mercedes (more as a matter of principle since the championship for the German team is a mirage) and McLaren. The latter, leading the standings, seems to be the most aggrieved. The anger of Martin Whitmarsh, the boss of the English team, is eloquent:
"If the regulation says that the bottom of a single-seater must be 90 millimeters from the ground, and instead, theirs touches the ground, then maybe something is wrong, and it is necessary to have some clarification about what can or cannot be done".
Straightforward words, echoed by many. Starting with Ross Brawn, Mercedes boss - someone who knows about violations of the regulations and its spirit - ending with the current leader of the World Championship, Lewis Hamilton:
"Every time we see images of the Red Bull, we burst into laughter".
The topic, in truth, had already been ridden last week in Hockenheim and had already been dismissed by the FIA then: at the time of Federation checks and according to the usual parameters, the wings are deemed compliant, and therefore, the issue does not arise. However, after a week, especially in light of the stunning result achieved yesterday by Vettel and Webber (followed, not by chance, by Alonso and Massa), it has returned to the forefront, and Mercedes and McLaren (who, it seems, have no idea how to replicate it) have decided to seek clarification. In the language of F1, this is equivalent to a sort of complaint. Ross Brawn explains:
"We are interested in adopting such an intelligent idea; we need to know if the FIA considers it legal with no possibility of going back".
The outcome of the inspection underway since yesterday does not seem to be feared much by Red Bull or Ferrari, which, on the contrary, views the situation with some pride. In F1, having inspectors in the garage is a good sign: it means that you have ideas, and, above all, that the ideas work. Last year, the same fate befell the world champions of Brawn (for the diffusers); this year, it's the current leaders of the World Championship at McLaren (for the F-duct). Ferrari seems more concerned about how to bridge the gap that separates them from Red Bull. But that is another matter for the future: here in Budapest, besides hoping for the mistakes of opponents and for luck, there seems to be little to do. Several drivers predicted that up to seventy percent of the final race result would be settled in the first corner, owing to the tight and twisty nature of the Hungaroring circuit. Despite the pace of the Red Bulls in qualifying, the third-placed Fernando Alonso was able to muscle his way into second position ahead of Mark Webber by the first turn. The other big movers were Vitaly Petrov, who passed Lewis Hamilton for fifth at the first corner - though he conceded the place to the 2008 World Champion the next lap when he found he could not get heat into his tyres - and Kamui Kobayashi, who surged from 23rd on the grid to 16th. Jaime Alguersuari's race was over after just one lap, with the Ferrari engine in his Toro Rosso spewing coolant fluid across the first sector of the circuit without warning. Sebastian Vettel streaked away from Alonso and Webber at a rate of almost a second a lap, at least partially confirming the idea that the team would have an incredibly easy race.
But a disruption occurred on lap fifteen when Vitantonio Liuzzi made contact with an unidentified driver and lost his front wing at turn eleven. This prompted the deployment of the safety car and a string of pit stops. Vettel narrowly made the pit entry at the last moment. Problems began further down the order when Nico Rosberg left his garage with a loose right-rear tyre. The tyre came free almost straight away and bounced down the pit lane through the Williams pit box, and striking a mechanic Nigel Hope, who was bruised. Renault were able to pit Vitaly Petrov and release him to the circuit in sequence, but the Renault lollipop man released Robert Kubica into the path of Adrian Sutil, who at the time was attempting to enter his own pit box immediately following the Renault pit. The collision ended Sutil's participation. Renault themselves were fined $50.000 for an unsafe pit release, and Kubica was served with a ten-second stop-go penalty for causing an avoidable pit lane accident. While most of the leaders pitted in the three laps the safety car was on the circuit, Webber remained a notable exception. Having passed Vettel when the German was in the pits, Webber was now the first on the road. Red Bull began formulating a strategy so that the Australian could pit and rejoin the circuit ahead of Alonso. Vettel was later issued a drive-through penalty after violating Article 40.9 of the Sporting Regulations. Vettel fell more than ten car lengths behind the safety car, and he was penalised. Like the controversial penalty given to Lewis Hamilton in Valencia, the rule - designed to stop teams from manipulating the field for strategy purposes under safety car conditions - has rarely been broken in the modern era of the sport, and Vettel was visibly angry about being penalised for it, feeling that it had cost him certain victory.
He rejoined the circuit behind Alonso in third, and would spend the rest of the race trying to find his way around the Ferrari. At the front of the field, Webber introduced a very simple strategy of driving as fast as he could for as long as he could, intending to dial out enough of a lead over Alonso so that he could pit without risking his position. His strategy, originally designed to secure second place for him was now offering him the very real chance of victory. Elsewhere, Renault elected to retire Kubica's car with suspected damage from the collision with Sutil so as to preserve its physical condition, whilst Lewis Hamilton retired from fourth place with a gearbox problem on the same lap. As the final retirement of the race, Hamilton's exit meant that for the first time in 2010, all three new teams would see both their cars finish the race. Lotus would once again take line honours, with Kovalainen and Trulli finishing ahead of Timo Glock, and the second Virgin of Lucas di Grassi finished between the Hispanias of Senna and Yamamoto. Vettel caught Alonso and the pair battled over second while Webber continued to extend his lead. The Australian's task was made much more difficult by the presence of backmarkers on the short, tight circuit, but when he pitted on lap 42, he emerged five seconds ahead of Alonso. The only other major position change came when Rubens Barrichello - the second front-running driver who did not pit as a response to Liuzzi's safety car - made his compulsory stop from fifth position. Williams had been attempting a similar strategy to BMW Sauber with Kamui Kobayashi in Valencia by having Barrichello pit late and charge back up through the field on super-soft tyres. Unlike Webber, Barrichello was unable to preserve his position and slipped down the order to eleventh behind Schumacher. He then attempted to glide through the field with ease, but quickly became trapped behind his former teammate. Things came to a head late in the race when Barrichello was able to get close enough to pass Schumacher on the main straight, but Schumacher attempted to pin Barrichello to the wall and force him to back off. However, Schumacher's move came too late, and Barrichello was already alongside him when the Mercedes driver moved over. Barrichello very nearly made contact with the concrete pit wall and was forced across the pit exit, but took the place from Schumacher, who was placed under investigation by the stewards for dangerous driving. He was later issued a ten-place grid penalty for his actions, to be taken at the next race in Belgium.
With Webber so far in front, he was able to coast to victory by nearly twenty seconds. Vettel could not find a way past Fernando Alonso and had to settle for third, whilst Felipe Massa was fourth for Ferrari. Petrov and Nico Hülkenberg took their career-best finishes to date with fifth and sixth places respectively, whilst Pedro de la Rosa and Kobayashi in the BMW Saubers were split by a recovering Jenson Button, all a lap down. Barrichello's late move on Schumacher netted tenth and the final points-scoring place for the Brazilian, whilst Schumacher's eleventh meant that Mercedes GP failed to score for the first time in 2010. Incredible Red Bull: with a series of record laps, they secured a stunning victory, despite the (right) penalty given to Sebastian Vettel (he had left too much space between him and Webber under Safety Car conditions to hinder Alonso) and despite the entry of the Safety Car itself. But there was nothing to be done: if at the beginning of the race Vettel had pulled away from Alonso at a pace of one second per lap, it was then up to Webber to play the star, delaying the pit stop and gaining an immense lead over Alonso, who secured his second consecutive podium, ultimately reaching the top of the world. Third was a disgruntled Vettel who entered the pits at a reduced speed, disregarding everyone: however, the German should review the regulations a bit. In any case, Webber now leads the World Championship and delivers the final blow to his teammate, who, despite three consecutive pole positions, fails to secure any victories. For Vettel, there's enough to seek psychological counseling as the prodigy, the team's favorite, cannot beat his teammate. Moreover, Vettel, despite having a car at least one second per lap faster than the Ferrari, couldn't outdo Alonso, who had an excellent race: very fast at the start, surpassing Webber and even attacking Vettel, then maintaining a high pace and not losing too much ground to the phenomenal Red Bulls. The term phenomenal is not used casually: despite the entry of the Safety Car, which nullified all gaps, in the end, Webber lapped everyone from the seventh-place onward and gave a 27-second gap to the fourth (Massa).
It may seem like a detail, but this is now the heart of the problem: from next week - by regulation - teams cannot develop their cars until the end of the month, so it's unclear who can challenge Red Bull. Can Ferrari close a one-second gap per lap? Or McLaren, which was lapped today and secured a meager eighth place with Button and a broken gearbox on Hamilton's car? Mystery.
"A great day for Red Bull. The goal was a one-two finish, we didn't achieve it, but we gained valuable points".
Mark Webber celebrates after the victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. The Australian surpasses Lewis Hamilton in the standings, becoming the new leader of the World Championship.
"We knew it would be tough at the start. Fernando (Alonso, ed.) had a good start, and also Sebastian (Vettel, ed.), at the first corner, I had to try to at least hold the third position because it's difficult to overtake here without mistakes. It wasn't a surprise to see Sebastian pull away; I just held my position, and then with the safety car, I thought it would be better to change our strategy. We knew it would be tough to build a gap of about twenty seconds; I managed it and kept the position. Then with the hard tires, I knew I would have an advantage because the others had already done several laps".
To ease Webber's task, the error of teammate Vettel, forced into a drive-through penalty for getting too far away from the Australian's car:
"I feel sorry for him, but it's a gift I accept. I haven't had many gifts this year".
From pole to third place: Sebastian Vettel certainly can't jump for joy after a Hungarian Grand Prix that was not interpreted at its best by the German Red Bull driver.
"I didn't know what was happening or why I was penalized. It was explained to me after the race. The start was good; then Alonso caught up, and I defended myself. After the safety car restart, I dozed off a bit; I lost radio contact and heard nothing. I was waiting for instructions and didn't see the light signal: I got caught, and I lost a lot, suffering a penalty that I didn't understand. I had bad luck, and I'm very disappointed. It's true that I made it to the podium, but I could have won".
Fernando Alonso doesn't want to hear about luck:
"A lucky result? We've had a lot of bad luck throughout the season. Even if we were to receive 5 or 6 gifts, they wouldn't be enough to compensate for what we lost at the beginning. I had a great start; I passed Webber and then tried to get closer to Vettel. When the Safety Car came out, I went back to the pits, being careful not to make mistakes and not incur penalties. I found myself behind Webber, who did over 40 laps on the soft tires, usually it's not possible to do such a thing. I managed to maintain the second position, also thanks to the characteristics of the track. On another track, everything would have been more difficult".
On the day the championship officially resumes thanks to an extraordinary performance and the unexpected debacle of McLaren - now the top five drivers are separated by twenty points, less than a victory, nothing - Fernando Alonso unintentionally achieves another significant result: making it clear to the entire world, from Maranello to Brazil, something that the more sensitive had already understood for some time: the pernicious uselessness of a Felipe Massa in these physical and psychological conditions.
After ruining Ferrari's finest day of the year, the triumph at Hockenheim, smearing the team's merits with the mud of controversy over team orders - a controversy triggered by him and magnified by his men with a pathetic radio melodrama - after insisting on his position with suspended declarations halfway between obstinate and ridiculous, after inflaming his Brazil (from where threats of sabotage to Fiat products and Santander bank accounts have come this week), in short, after making an infernal mess out of a normal story, the confused Felipe was awaited here in Budapest for a test of facts. To get on the track and prove he's not a second driver. Well, after staying behind his teammate throughout Friday, after staying behind on Saturday in qualifying, starting fourth (while the Spaniard started third), Felipe stayed behind even on the most important day, Sunday in the race. Alonso, exploiting like a virtuoso all the unforeseen events of a crazy race (above all a Safety Car and a crucial penalty inflicted on Sebastian Vettel), gained a decisive position over the direct opponent (Vettel himself) and ultimately secured a second place that is almost as valuable as a victory. Massa, on the other hand, started and finished as he arrived. Fourth. As if nothing had happened. But it's not so much the result (not even bad in numerical terms) that matters today. What counts is the dullness of the Brazilian's race, who did absolutely nothing, content to not lose positions (and it would have been really difficult today, considering Hamilton, Kubica, and Rosberg went out, and Button started from the back of the grid). A melancholic race, played far from everyone, even from that teammate expected to be up to the task. Thus, in the last crucial twenty laps of the race, while Alonso fought like a lion to defend himself from the blue torpedo he had in his rearview mirrors, Massa calmly ran about ten seconds behind the two, unable to help his teammate, the team, and himself. He came here to prove to everyone that he is a top driver, but he showed that he is not even a supporting player. And perhaps, today, this is one of the main problems of a Ferrari that, if it really wants to believe in its dream, cannot afford to have a less-than-stellar driver.
"It was a positive race, even though the Red Bull was in another league. I got the best result on this track after what happened; I think it was a positive race. Too bad for the start that didn't go well, as I already imagined. Today the Red Bulls were flying, we had the luck of the drive-through penalty that penalized Vettel, but they were in another league today. We hope to bring more updates to Spa than Red Bull and be strong there".
Anyway, there's a smile at Ferrari. Cautiously, but there's a smile. Because finally, after so much confusion, after so many mistakes, the path seems to be found again, and the result of the work is starting to show. In the standings and on the faces. Keeping the Red Bull of Vettel behind, that kind of blue missile they insist on calling a car, was a possibility that no one took seriously the day before, yet, with a bit of luck and a lot of tenacity, Fernando Alonso did it. And now he looks at the standings and enjoys:
"After the British Grand Prix, we were behind by 47 points; it seemed like an abyss, but we believed in it. Now it's only 20: the end of this championship will be very, very interesting".
However, there's another factor that must be kept in mind, and Alonso knows it well. It's the average gap that Red Bull has put between itself and Ferrari: 1.2 seconds, something to lose sleep over.
"It's clear that we have to improve; McLaren will soon be very competitive again too. In Belgium, we will bring improvements that we hope will give us results".
According to some rumors from last week, these updates should indeed produce a significant leap forward in performance, perhaps not as decisive as the one achieved with the introduction of the flexible front wing but still important. Speaking of flexible wings, McLaren's - whose programs have been devastated by the device introduced by Red Bull and Ferrari - still complain, finding responses from Ferrari's team principal, Stefano Domenicali:
"From Silverstone until now, they've practically checked them every day: they are regular".
And above all, from the Australian Mark Webber:
"Our guys have been fed up for a year following the car's designs to try to make it regular, and every time the FIA comes, they say it's regular. But there's nothing to be done: when someone doesn't like what they see on the stopwatch, they go to the FIA..."
Beyond the car and controversies, there's another aspect that Ferrari will have to carefully manage in this final stretch of the season, and that is the balance between the two drivers. Unlike Red Bull and McLaren, which can rely on two pairs of title contenders (Webber-Vettel, Hamilton-Button), the Maranello team has only one driver still in the race, Fernando Alonso. The other has fallen behind, has 97 points, and, above all, struggles too much to find the spark, the standout performance. Now, it's not necessarily a disadvantage. Two drivers vying for the same goal could end up taking points away from each other and could even cause significant material problems for the team (see Vettel and Webber in Turkey). However, it's not necessarily an advantage either, especially if the driver in question refuses, explicitly or implicitly, to play the role of a supporting player, in other words, to lend a hand, spontaneously and wholeheartedly, to his teammate. Stefano Domenicali explains:
"It's evident that this is an important factor, a psychological aspect that needs to be managed in the best possible way. And that's what we at Ferrari have to do. Then, in the end, we'll do the math".
At the midway point between kindergarten and the senior center, there's the paddock. And inside the paddock, there are two children who are too old to resign themselves to retirement: Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Two seasoned racers, dominated by an unhealthy relationship with competition and rivalry (one has won too much, the other too little). After a thousand laps in the wheel of Jean Todt's Ferrari, a slot machine of triumphs and cups, they ended up in teams that provided them with inadequate cars. Machines with which to fight at most for the tenth position. That's exactly what was happening when the two old enemies melancholically staged another replay of the worst in their repertoire. The on-track brawl. Around the last lap, Barrichello, with new tires and a casual pace, sees Schumacher's car ahead, with worn-out tires and a sluggish pace. It's his chance. He can finally overtake the one who always beat him and called him a crybaby. He aims. One, two, three attacks, actually, antics, a dance in anticipation of the final blow, to be delivered on the straight to the finish line, in the heart of the track, in front of everyone. For that sort of symmetry that governs certain human events, however, it happens that Schumacher is animated by an opposite and equally powerful feeling. Anything but letting him pass. So he resists, both the antics and the final attack. But it goes on for too long and ends up flirting with tragedy. Because Schumacher, perhaps having something more to lose than his colleague, does what no driver should ever do. When he realizes that Rubens has made it, that he has found the right line inside, that he is about to pass, he loses his temper and tries to crush his former teammate against the wall of the pit lane. A crazy maneuver that the stewards will penalize after the race (ten positions less for Schumacher on the starting grid of the Belgian Grand Prix) and that fails only because, fortunately, the wall ends where Schumacher applied the maximum pressure. The script at this point calls for the post-race controversy, somewhat pathetic. Barrichello attacks:
"A go-kart maneuver. The most dangerous I've seen in seventeen years and 300 career Grand Prix races. Anything could have happened, wheels could have touched, cars could have flown, I could have ended up against the wall, he could have ended up there. But if he wants to go to heaven, he can. I'm not ready for that yet".
Schumacher's reply is the usual:
"It's known that Rubens is like that. As far as I'm concerned, it's logical that I didn't want to make it easy for him, but he had plenty of space, indeed".
Rubens retorts:
"It's incredible. His point of view is always the same: I'm a crybaby. So let's do this, I want to submit this to the public vote. Please let me know what you think on my Twitter page".
Finally, Michael Schumacher is forced to apologize to Barrichello:
"The maneuver was too tough, but I didn't want to endanger Rubens. I owe him my apologies".
Returning to the discussion of the fight for the top of the World Championship, if 47 points were too many, 20 are not few. The Ferrari team repeats it like a mantra, careful - by order of team principal Stefano Domenicali - to keep concentration at the highest level in this last frenetic week of work before the summer break. Just as they shouldn't have gotten depressed after the disaster at Silverstone when the gap to Red Bull was enormous, they shouldn't get carried away now just because that gap has halved, and those cars seem within reach. Also because they are not within reach. It's no coincidence that the data on which to base the rest of the season (seven races to go and five drivers within twenty points) remains the time difference from Red Bull. Huge. Almost 1.5s. According to some rumors before the Hungarian Grand Prix, the developments expected for the F10 at Spa are very important and, although not revolutionary, could significantly change the balance of power in the World Championship. How much can really be recovered, no one says, also because it will depend a lot on Red Bull's countermeasures. And McLaren, which is also called to react. Usually, however, it's difficult for a development to produce advantages greater than 0.3s per lap. It must also be said, though, that the advantage of 1.5s was likely closely related to the characteristics of the circuit, which seemed tailor-made for Red Bull. Much will also depend on what the outsider teams, Mercedes and Renault, will do. Organized teams with very fast drivers who could - by consistently entering the top of the standings - take away important points. But much will also depend on human (psychological, Domenicali would say) aspects. Yes, because if Ferrari can manage the situation well, they will have a significant advantage (paradoxically). Having only one driver in the running for the world title, the Maranello team doesn't risk that three-quarters of the way through the season, the pair starts cannibalizing each other, with the two drivers stealing points from each other. Massa could therefore turn out to be a decisive pawn capable of benefiting both his teammate and the team, taking away points from the competition: practically what he did in Hockenheim. Maybe without further dramatic radio performances. Speaking of which, there is also one last variable to consider. The Todt variable. In his hands, a good chunk of the Ferrari season could end up: the FIA World Council still has to decide on the team orders issued from the pit wall at Hockenheim, and it will do so in conjunction with the Italian Grand Prix. And any decision that could affect the points could be very painful.
"The continuity will be the key to winning the title. Whoever achieves six or seven podiums will be the champion. There are five of us fighting for the World Championship, and from here to the end, seven finals await us".
Fernando Alonso goes on vacation - before the final rush of the World Championship - with 141 points, 20 less than the leader, Mark Webber. Also in the title race are Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Jenson Button, but not Felipe Massa, sixth in the standings with 97 points. For Alonso, coming off the second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix, it's time to take stock:
"I believe we should be satisfied with what we have done so far. We are still in the championship fight, and that is the most important thing. We have considerably reduced the gap to the top of the championship in these last two races. There are five of us within just twenty points, and it's like starting all over again: from here to the end of the championship, seven finals await us".
The Spanish driver explains the strategy to win:
"Continuity will be the key to the title. It was surprising to see how in just one week, the balance of power between us and Red Bull has changed! In reality, I believe our performance has been quite similar, especially compared to McLaren, Mercedes, and Renault: it's Red Bull that perhaps wasn't very competitive in Germany but performed at the highest levels in Hungary on a track perfect for their car's characteristics. The most important thing from now until the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is to always try to get on the podium: it won't be essential to win at all costs, but whoever achieves six or seven podiums will be the champion".
Now the circus stops until August 29, 2010, when the Belgian Grand Prix is scheduled.
"The break comes at the right time. July was very intense with three races in four weeks: drivers, mechanics, and the entire team need a rest after this mini-sprint. We had the goal of reducing the gap, and we achieved it. Now is the time to focus on facing the last seven races in the best possible way".
The World Championship will resume from Spa.
"The most fun circuit for a driver. It's a very long track, with all kinds of curves, ascents, and descents: in terms of emotions, it's beautiful. I also really like Sepang, and Monaco has a special atmosphere, but it's clear that the Ardennes track is unique".
In Belgium, the Spaniard will arrive with his energy at its peak.
"In these weeks, I won't do anything special. After these days in Maranello, I'll be with my family between Switzerland and Spain: no trips, no airports, just relaxation".