The Official 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[Jasandjules]

I thought he (Nico) came across quite well in the press conference.

They are asked silly questions and have to reply.

[VladD]

Jasandjules said:

I thought he (Nico) came across quite well in the press conference.

They are asked silly questions and have to reply.

Indeed. Maybe Nico should try the Kimi approach for a bit.

[cgt2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAiBffhT2Ro

[Alicatt1]

VladD said:

Indeed. Maybe Nico should try the Kimi approach for a bit.

Dishing out the ice cream at the end of the race?

[carinaman]

Channel 4 calling the Hungaroring 'iconic'?

It's tight, kart like track that makes for difficult overtaking? I find 'iconic' over used and hackneyed.

[VolvoT5]

carinaman said:

Channel 4 calling the Hungaroring 'iconic'?

It's tight, kart like track that makes for difficult overtaking? I find 'iconic' over used and hackneyed.

Anything old appears to be iconic to some eyes. I quite like some of the newer tracks like China and Bahrain..... you know, where actual racing is possible.

This track is sometimes up there with Monaco in terms of 'follow the leader' races it can produce.

[patmahe]

VolvoT5 said:

carinaman said:

Channel 4 calling the Hungaroring 'iconic'?

It's tight, kart like track that makes for difficult overtaking? I find 'iconic' over used and hackneyed.

Anything old appears to be iconic to some eyes. I quite like some of the newer tracks like China and Bahrain..... you know, where actual racing is possible.

This track is sometimes up there with Monaco in terms of 'follow the leader' races it can produce.

Iconic might be an overstatement but its a fantastic track to drive by all accounts, lots of lateral load stuff going on, its just that overtaking is difficult so it doesn't make for great TV for fans.

[patmahe]

Vaud said:

Nico has re-signed for 2 years.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125387/rosberg-signs-new-mercedes-f1-deal

I think this is a good move for Mercedes, I think Rosberg is more gifted than people give him credit for and if he went elsewhere he could cause trouble for Mercedes. He also pushes Hamilton to perform and vice-versa meaning Mercedes benefit no matter what (unless they tangle on track).

They have two very talented drivers both capable of delivering a World Championship if the other one fails. No reason to change that.

[anonymous-user]

patmahe said:

Iconic might be an overstatement but its a fantastic track to drive by all accounts, lots of lateral load stuff going on, its just that overtaking is difficult so it doesn't make for great TV for fans.

Everyone says 'no overtaking', but then I seem to remember loads of action,including overtaking, at almost every GP here in recent times. I think it's a great GP and a great track.

[cgt2]

Mansell pulled a great pass on Senna to win Hungary in 1989.

It is possible to pass but requires ba**s of steel as it's such a tight track. Step up young Max

[em177]

The gap is looking pretty ominous at the front...

[TheOversteerLever]

P1 Times...

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:21.347

2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:21.584

3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:22.991

4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:23.082

5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:23.174

6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:23.457

7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:23.935

8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:23.961

9. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:24.013

10. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:24.073

11. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:24.120

12. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:24.154

13. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:24.370

14. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:24.579

15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:24.981

16. Charles Leclerc, Haas, 1:25.181

17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:25.256

18. Esteban Ocon, Renault, 1:25.260

19. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:25.324

20. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:27.012

21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:27.249

22. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:28.560

So, only 1.6 seconds between Hamilton and Vettel so far! Nice to see JB & FA up there, early days though.

[Dr Z]

Verstappen has taken his 3rd allocation of some components (ICE, TC, MGU-H, MGU-K and ES) for this weekend. Have highlighted who got new parts for the weekend:

Car	Driver	ICE	TC	MGU-H	MGU-K	ES	CE
Mercedes	Lewis Hamilton	3	5	5	3	3	3
Mercedes	Nico Rosberg	3	3	3	2	2	2
Ferrari	Sebastian Vettel	4	3	3	3	3	3
Ferrari	Kimi Räikkönen	3	3	3	4	3	3
Williams Mercedes	Felipe Massa	2	2	2	2	2	2
Williams Mercedes	Valtteri Bottas	2	2	2	2	2	2
RBR TAG Heuer	Daniel Ricciardo	3	3	3	3	2	3
RBR TAG Heuer	Max Verstappen	3	3	3	3	3	5
Force India Mercedes	Nico Hülkenberg	2	2	2	2	2	2
Force India Mercedes	Sergio Perez	2	2	2	2	2	2
Renault	Kevin Magnussen	3	3	3	3	2	3
Renault	Jolyon Palmer	3	3	3	3	3	3
Toro Rosso Ferrari	Daniil Kvyat	3	3	3	3	3	3
Toro Rosso Ferrari	Carlos Sainz	4	4	4	3	3	3
Sauber Ferrari	Marcus Ericsson	4	4	3	2	2	3
Sauber Ferrari	Felipe Nasr	4	3	4	3	2	3
McLaren Honda	Fernando Alonso	4	4	4	4	4	4
McLaren Honda	Jenson Button	4	4	4	4	3	3
MRT Mercedes	Pascal Wehrlein	2	2	2	2	2	2
MRT Mercedes	Rio Haryanto	3	3	3	3	2	2
Haas Ferrari	Romain Grosjean	3	3	3	3	2	2
Haas Ferrari	Esteban Gutierrez	3	3	3	3	2	3

In the FP1 timesheet above, Ricciardo set his time on 10 lap old Softs vs the Mercs setting their times on brand new Super Softs...the delta looks about right. The McLarens also set their times on Softs...possible 4th best car for the race? Also, Vettel set his time on 6 lap old Super Softs and he'd been doing a couple of charge lap/hot lap sequence before setting his time.

I'll wait till FP2 before making any grand pronouncements for the weekend. The track is still green and evolving pretty quickly...ambient temp was in the low-mid 20s and track temp was already in the low 40s. Very Malaysia 2015-like track temps tomorrow and if it stays dry/clear on race day.

Edited by Dr Z on Friday 22 July 12:11

[gibbon]

suffolk009 said:

I had an interesting chat last week with a friend, who has a friend who works for Merc F1. Apparently NR is well liked at the factory amongst the staff.

I have a friend who works for AMG engines, he has said the same in he past, Nico is more often at the factory and spends more time engaged with the engineers etc, is far more likely to come to an event and is generally very well liked and respected.

[JNW1]

Vaud said:

Nico has re-signed for 2 years.

The person most delighted to hear that must surely be Lewis Hamilton? He now knows he'll continue to have a team-mate who isn't as quick and is only able to beat him if he (Hamilton) has a problem....

[deadslow]

gibbon said:

suffolk009 said:

I had an interesting chat last week with a friend, who has a friend who works for Merc F1. Apparently NR is well liked at the factory amongst the staff.

I have a friend who works for AMG engines, he has said the same in he past, Nico is more often at the factory and spends more time engaged with the engineers etc, is far more likely to come to an event and is generally very well liked and respected.

I always find Rosberg is respectful and diplomatic. I am not surprised to hear he is a good team participant. He is made out to be the tabloid baddie by the (rather poor) Sky/UK press, which is understandable in the circumstannces, but ultimately a load of tosh

[suffolk009]

JNW1 said:

The person most delighted to hear that must surely be Lewis Hamilton? He now knows he'll continue to have a team-mate who isn't as quick and is only able to beat him if he (Hamilton) has a problem....

That's harsh. But fair.

[VladD]

Oops.

[MiniMan64]

janesmith1950 said:

patmahe said:

Iconic might be an overstatement but its a fantastic track to drive by all accounts, lots of lateral load stuff going on, its just that overtaking is difficult so it doesn't make for great TV for fans.

Everyone says 'no overtaking', but then I seem to remember loads of action,including overtaking, at almost every GP here in recent times. I think it's a great GP and a great track.

Agreed.

The track certainly isn't the best and yet we've had some fantastic races here over the last decade.

[StevieBee]

gibbon said:

suffolk009 said:

I had an interesting chat last week with a friend, who has a friend who works for Merc F1. Apparently NR is well liked at the factory amongst the staff.

I have a friend who works for AMG engines, he has said the same in he past, Nico is more often at the factory and spends more time engaged with the engineers etc, is far more likely to come to an event and is generally very well liked and respected.

A family friend used to drive trucks for Stobart who had (I assume still do) the European truck contract for Mercedes F1 and was assigned to them for three years and says exactly the same that Nico was a really nice guy and always took the trouble to speak to everyone on the team....etc.

Lovely. If there were world championships for niceness then Nico, along with the likes of Herbet, Patrese, Brundle and many others would all be multiple champs.