Budapest, Saturday: Getting ready for qualifying

Saturday 2 August 2008, 09:49:00 | RF1 Paddock Pass

qualifying . Saturday . Budapest

Much like Monaco, Hungary is a place where your weekend can hinge on where you qualify. So today's session will be especially important for all the teams and we can expect a fascinating battle...

 

 

Already the sun is out, beating down on the paddock, and there is not doubt that we are in for a scorching qualifying session today. But that should be to the team's benefit because we ran in well in the heat yesterday and so far it looks like being a pretty positive weekend for the team. Both drivers were near the top of the times and were positive with their feedback. Nelson in particular was pleased with the team's progress and explained how much he was enjoying this track - it's a place where the driver is constantly busy: all 14 corners are important for a good lap time and they all flow into each other, which means that you have to keep good momentum for the whole lap and find a rhythm.

As I said yesterday, we should not read too much into Friday times. It's never easy to determine the true pecking order, and here the effect of carrying fuel can have a significant effect on lap time - you lose something like 4 tenths for every 10 kilos of fuel you carry. So of course, Pat and our strategists were watching the session closely, trying to work out what our rivals were doing, but it probably won't be until qualifying that the true picture emerges. With grid position being so important here, some of the teams might adopt quite aggressive tactics, so that they can start the race with track position.

Yesterday evening, Juju, the winner of our "draw RF1PP" competition arrived in Budapest for the start of what we hope will be a dream weekend. Her flight may have been delayed, but she eventually arrived in one piece. After settling into the hotel (where most of the Formula 1 paddock is in residence) she met some of the team yesterday evening as we went for a relaxed meal. This morning she had to get up pretty early as she came to the track with me (no car problems this morning) and she has just grabbed some breakfast in the motor home. She will shortly go exploring in the F1 paddock before heading to the garage to take her seat for third practice and qualifying. It should be an amazing weekend for her!

Remember you can follow the action on the blog today with updates, session reports and more photos as the day unfolds...

 

 

 

Comments

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1. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 10:36:08 by Witch

Good Luck Magic*

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2. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:04:31 by alonsogirl76

All the best to Renault and our Fernando and Nelson today!

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3. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:19:03 by Lancaster

Why are the boys so slow in early Sat practice 2? Half a minute off the pace consistently.

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4. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:26:02 by NandoFan

@Lancaster: they probably doing some long stints heavy fueled and not really pushing

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5. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:30:32 by DiStefano

Renault : Taking sandbagging to a new level!

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6. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:31:29 by dray

Hmmmmm, most odd.

So far it seems Alonso & Piquet havent completed a flying lap, but have left the pits, crawled round slowly and returned to the pits immediately: 10 times each.

Not what we normally see from any team in any of the practice sessions, wonder whats going on.

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7. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:33:39 by Kirk

Preparing soft tyres for qualy maybe? To avoid them graining later?

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8. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:38:11 by dray

Yup, something like that is about the only explanation that makes sense.

I wouldnt have expected them to need to do that on more than 1 or 2 sets each though. Most teams will do 1 or 2 of those exploratory laps at the start of the session, its the 10 each thats the odd part.

Either way theyve both come out and put in normal laptimes now.

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9. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:41:20 by Lancaster

Yes better times now. Coan't think what they were doing but they weren't alone. Red Bull were doing it too.

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10. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:46:17 by kashanRf1

till now piquet is faster than alonso

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11. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 11:50:40 by breet6

ne oldu alonsoya

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12. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:04:30 by kashanRf1

piquet -p5
alonso -p11

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13. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:08:15 by NandoFan

Its going to be very tight during quali.
Mclaren is the only team that looks clearly faster.
Ferrari will have a fight to stay in front of Renault, Toyota, RBR,..

Since Hungary is a place known for their first GP winners I tip Heikki for a win since he looked fast all weekend and it seems that it's allowed by Lewis and daddy Ron ;o)

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14. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:09:02 by ruben

times after ferrari mclaren are very close..i think it will be possible to reach q3 for renault, but in the race there is no pace..so it will be important carry on more fuel starting form p8 or p9..from the back red bull and toyota seem faster than us in the race

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15. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:09:36 by DOF-power

Make no mistake about Renault ain't gonna win or achieve a podium on merits, not now and not ever unless they'll get the money and manpower of Ferrari or McLaren.

The era when Renault could win due to Michelin tires and MM electronics is gone.

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16. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:12:00 by 987654321

alonso lucky very lucky for today 14hour!go alonso !

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17. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:27:54 by Diki

Q&A with Renault’s Nelson Piquet

Q: What do you think Ferrari will do?
NP: Well, Ferrari obviously will be quicker than us - and McLaren as well - but if we are really quick, as indicated by the times we did Friday, then we could be fighting BMW.
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/ ...

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18. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:44:49 by NandoFan

Diki, Are you surprised with Nelson's comment, or pace ?

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19. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 12:57:01 by Diki

@NandoFan-No not really that is my favorite answer and answer is i think 100% right...OK?

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20. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 13:02:54 by NandoFan

I also think that was a realistic view from Nelson.
We probably have to fight Toyota and RBR just as much though and those are our rivals for 4th place.

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21. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 13:21:30 by galico

@15

DOF-Power...that was the era of free development...remember Renault engine was the best engine on the grid...now We have chance only if We again put some more resource into engine development since it is obviously engine freeze a joke

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22. Saturday 2 August 2008 at 14:09:13 by DOF-power

I agree galico, but even more RF1 also lost Michelin tires and MM electronics.

So the costs are now on chassis and aero matching the tires (no custom Michelins) and electronic "torque control" bypassing the SECU witch means huge expenses and manpower.

But then RF1 should have never agreed to all of this "cost saving" nonsense.
It never worked just made things (remember the turbo ban ?!).

If I would have been C.G. I would have just withdrew Renault from F1.

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