Background
Heading into the weekend, Jenson Button led the Drivers' Championship on 68 points for Brawn GP , 21 points clear of Red Bull Racing 's Sebastian Vettel . Vettel's teammate Mark Webber , who signed a new one-year contract before the race weekend, was 1.5 points behind Vettel and an equal number ahead of Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello . Brawn GP also held the lead in the Constructors' Championship, with a lead of 19.5 points from a resurgent Red Bull Racing, who were a further 48 points clear of Toyota . Toyota held an advantage of only 1.5 points over defending champions Scuderia Ferrari .
Race
"I don't really care what all the people say, I just do my work. I do what I know, to be honest. I am here because Red Bull just asked me to, as I do Formula 3 or World Series or GP2, I don't care. I just drive the cars. That's my job and that's what I enjoy doing in life. I'm here because Red Bull just sent me a message telling me that I have to drive this car so I'm here. I don't care what other people say, that's the main thing, first of all. And the second thing is that I know what my expect... Felipe Massa was third, to earn his first podium of the 2009 season to date. Championship leader Button could only muster a fifth-place finish, after being overhauled by the one-stopping Williams of Nico Rosberg , who finished fourth having started fifteenth. Much of the talk prior to the weekend was about the appointment of Jaime Alguersuari to replace Sébastien Bourdais at Scuderia Toro Rosso . Alguersuari did not have any circuit testing experience in a Formula One car, and had only undertaken straight-line aerodynamic tests the week before the Grand Prix, in Faenza . Felipe Massa felt that Alguersuari—who had 118 prior single-seater races under his belt, with 17 wins —was too young and inexperienced to be driving a contemporary Formu... Positions remained static until the start of lap five. Hamilton pressured Webber in turn one, and with the aid of the KERS button, overtook the Australian before turn two. Once clear of Webber, Hamilton started to cut into the gap that Alonso had built up at the front. Alonso's Renault was suffering from graining on its rear tyres (when the tyres shed little bits of rubber before sticking to the tread of the tyre, effectively separating the tyre from the track surface very slightly ), and... With Hamilton extending his lead to almost six seconds—including his fastest lap of 1:22.479 on lap sixteen —Räikkönen and Webber both pitted on lap nineteen. Räikkönen was at a standstill for 8.3 seconds, while a slight problem with the fuel rig cost Webber valuable seconds. He was eventually released just as the Ferrari was trundling down the pit lane. The two cars just avoided a collision, which almost caused the Red Bull to career into a number of the Williams mec... "Yeah, I was able to manage them quite well but something I want to say is that yesterday was, I think, and maybe I can speak for all of us drivers, quite a sad day to see Felipe not with us here today. Hopefully I speak on behalf of all of us when I say we miss him and wish him well and wish him a speedy recovery. But back to the car, it was just fantastic. The team asked me to look after the tyres in which through all the great experiences I have had—good or bad—I was able to apply that today,... The top three finishers appeared on the podium and in the subsequent press conference , where Hamilton was overjoyed at being back at the front of the field: "It's an incredible feeling to be back here after what feels such a long time away and with such a struggle with me and my team. But as I said on the in lap I am just so proud of the guys, as I go into the factory and I see how hard everyone is pushing. Everyone wants to win just as much as I do and they never gave up. They have never given... Räikkönen also achieved his best result of the 2009 season to date, but was unaware that the moves that he made at the start of the race were under investigation, to be looked at after the race. I don't know about the whole thing, so if you can tell me what it's about that would be nice...I haven't even noticed if I touched somebody. I was in-between, I think, Mark and somebody else but I don't know what is going on. That is the first time when you told me but I didn't feel any touching or anything, so I cannot comment on that. Webber's podium finish moved him into second place in the championship standings. He was surprised, however, at the way proceedings played out, describing his result as "a little bit of a surprise. I think we expected to be a little bit quicker after our running on Friday but to be honest we knew these guys would be around us. It was a pretty difficult venue for us and we knew that we didn't have the advantage maybe that we had in the last few events. All in all for me I am still pretty happy to... "I don't remember anything and that's why what the doctors did had to be explained to me. When I saw Rob [Smedley], he asked me if I remembered Rubens, but the last thing I remembered was when I was behind him at the end of my fast lap in Q2, and then it's blank. It's difficult to explain. I'm feeling much better now and I want to recover as soon as possible to get back behind the wheel of a Ferrari." Massa's condition continued to improve over the course of the weekend, the Brazilian having been sedated in a coma for 48 hours. After being visited by Ferrari and Fiat president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and also Rubens Barrichello, doctors from the Állami Egészségügyi Központ military hospital released a statement saying that Massa could make a full recovery. Massa could be released from hospital within a week to ten days, depending on how well he progresses. Massa's doc... Rumours began circulating that any one out of Ferrari advisor Michael Schumacher , and the team's two test drivers Luca Badoer and Marc Gené would be replacing Massa for the European Grand Prix, and the succeeding events. On 29 July, Schumacher agreed to drive the car until Massa was fit enough to return, subject to medical tests. However, Schumacher called off his return on 11 August, due to a lingering neck injury which he had suffered six months earlier, while testing a Honda CBR1000RR...
Practice
Apart from the upturn in McLaren's performance, the usual Friday pace-setters were also competitive, with Williams drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima both setting times that were good enough for top five positions in both sessions. The Red Bull of Mark Webber was also in the top five in both sessions, as he continued his recent good form. Jarno Trulli was the top Toyota in both sessions, finishing up sixth and eighth, beating teammate Timo Glock , who was fourteenth and tenth. Renault had a mixed session, with Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr. struggling to get the ideal setup for the car. Alonso was seven tenths of a second off in both sessions, while Piquet improving to just a tenth and half behind his teammate. Massa and Räikkönen posted times good enough for P7 and P8 in the first session, but were adrift in the second sess...
Qualifying
Despite Massa's accident, some drivers improved their times towards the end of the session as they had passed the zone before the accident, meaning that Massa fell to eighth position. Button and Nakajima both progressed into the third part of qualifying, with their times set despite the yellow flag at turn four for Massa's accident. Barrichello's problem meant that he and the Brawn team missed out on the top ten shootout for the first time this season. He was joined on the sidelines by Buemi, Gl... Ferrari latterly confirmed that Massa would miss the Grand Prix due to his accident. He suffered a head cut, bone damage to his skull and a concussion, and remained under observation in intensive care, in the Állami Egészségügyi Központ military hospital in Budapest. He underwent successful surgery for the injuries he suffered in his accident. This meant that for the first time since the 2005 United States Grand Prix , a field of fewer than 20 drivers took part in a Grand Prix. It ...
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47°34′44″N 19°14′55″E / 47.57889°N 19.24861°E / 47.57889; 19.24861
Race Result
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Part 1 | Part 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:21.313 | 1:20.826 |
| 2 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:21.178 | 1:20.604 |
| 3 | 14 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:20.964 | 1:20.358 |
| 4 | 1‡ | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:20.842 | 1:20.465 |
| 5 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:20.793 | 1:20.862 |
| 6 | 2‡ | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:21.659 | 1:20.807 |
| 7 | 4‡ | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:21.500 | 1:20.647 |
| 8 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:21.471 | 1:20.707 |
| 9 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:21.407 | 1:20.570 |
| 10 | 3‡ | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:21.420 | 1:20.823 |
Championship Standings After This Race
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
The air hangs thick with the scent of burning rubber and high-octane fuel – a familiar aroma at Hungaroring, yet tonight carries a distinct tension. Hamilton's McLaren, employing the MP4-23's 2. 4-liter V8 engine, delivered a blistering 750 horsepower to the track, pushing him to a commanding lead. A curious detail: the Bridgestone Potenza tyres, specifically the soft compound, exhibited a significant drop in grip after 15 laps, forcing a tactical shift for the McLaren team. Webber, aboard his Red Bull-Renault, relentlessly shadowed Hamilton, a stark reminder of the ongoing battle for the World Championship.
The rain descended with a sudden, unsettling insistence at Hungaroring, a deluge that transformed the track into a treacherous, shimmering expanse. Hamilton's victory, his first since Shanghai, echoed a curious trend: McLaren drivers have now secured a win in seven consecutive Grands Prix, a statistical outlier considering the volatility of this era. Webber's third-place finish, while commendable, served to widen the chasm in the championship standings – a gap now exceeding 60 points. The strategic deployment of tire compounds, as always, proved a crucial, albeit frequently baffling, variable in these battles.
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
There it is! Hamilton, a fraction of a second separating him from the wall. The tension. palpable. Webber's relentless pressure, a tactic reminiscent of Stewart's aggression at Brands Hatch in '66, testing Hamilton's resolve. The championship fight, now a three-way contest, echoes the battles of '71, where Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, and Clay Regazzoni waged a furious war for the title. Hamilton secures the victory, but the larger narrative—the ebb and flow of ambition—continues to unfold.
The rain, a persistent, sullen grey, mirrored the mood in the Mercedes garage. Ron Dennis, a man sculpted from steel and years of calculated risk, stared at the telemetry, a frown etching deeper lines into his face. Hamilton's pace, though undeniably swift, lacked the brutal consistency of his rival, Sebastian Vettel. A shadow of doubt, a familiar companion, seemed to cling to the McLaren strategy – a gamble that, at this juncture, felt perilously close to unraveling. The Hungarian air, thick with humidity and anticipation, held a palpable tension. Hamilton, ever the stoic, simply adjusted his helmet, a silent acknowledgement of the battle raging beyond the confines of the pit wall. This race, like so many before it, demanded a precision that, at this moment, seemed to be slipping away.