Hungary 2007

WHERE TO BEGIN? FERRARI HAVE ACCUSED MCLAREN OF GAINING AN ADVANTAGE AS A RESULT OF THEIR CHIEF DESIGNER, MIKE MCCOUGHLAN, BEING IN POSSESSION OF A FERRARI DESIGN DOSSIER WHICH FERRARI'S NIGEL STEPNEY IS ALLEGED TO HAVE STOLEN FROM FERRARI. STEPNEY HAS BEEN SACKED AND FERRARI ARE PURSUING A COURT CASE AGAINST HIM WHILST MCCOUGHLAN IS SUSPENDED. THE F.I.A. RULED ON 26TH JULY THAT IT COULD NOT BE PROVED THAT MCLAREN HAD BENEFITED BUT PUT THEM ON PROBATION FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS IN CASE ANY OF THE FERRARI FEATURES SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND THEIR WAY INTO A MCLAREN CAR. THE ITALIAN MOTORSPORT AUTHORITY OBJECTED TO THE LACK OF PUNISHMENT AND REQUESTED AN APPEAL THAT I BELIEVE IS DUE TO BE HEARD AT THE END OF AUGUST. RON DENNIS, HEAD OF MCLAREN, THEN WROTE AN OPEN LETTER TO THE F.I.A. STATING THAT FERRARI'S WIN IN AUSTRALIA THIS YEAR WAS ACHIEVED WITH THE AID OF A 'FLEXIBLE FLOOR' AND, AS NO AERODYNAMIC FEATURE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO MOVE, THIS WAS AN ILLEGAL CAR.

THAT IS THE 'POLITICAL', OFF-TRACK SITUATION AT PRESENT BUT WHEN THE TEAMS RECONVENED ON-TRACK IN HUNGARY, FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MCLAREN TEAM MEANT MORE PROBLEMS FOR RON DENNIS. WHEN THE FINAL PERIOD OF QUALIFYING WAS ABOUT TO START, LEWIS HAMILTON WAS WAITING AT THE END OF THE PIT-LANE, WITH FERNANDO ALONSO BEHIND HIM BUT OFFSET AND KIMI RAIKKONEN WAS BEHIND ALONSO BUT DIRECTLY IN LINE WITH HAMILTON SO THAT THERE WAS A GAP OF A CAR'S LENGTH BETWEEN THE REAR OF HAMILTON'S CAR AND THE FRONT OF RAIKKONEN'S. HAMILTON WAS ORDERED TO LET ALONSO THROUGH. WHEN THE PIT-LANE LIGHT CHANGED TO GREEN, HAMILTON DID NOT LET HIM THROUGH. HIS REASONING WAS BASED ON THE FACT THAT TO DO SO COULD PUT HIM AT A DISADVANTAGE TO RAIKKONEN FOR TRACK POSITION.

ALONSO SUBSEQUENTLY MADE NO ATTEMPT TO OVERTAKE HAMILTON ON THE TRACK; INDEED HE SEEMED TO HOLD BACK. TOWARDS THE END OF THE SESSION, WHEN THE CARS COME IN TO CHANGE TYRES FOR A FINAL 'THRASH' ON A LIGHTER FUEL LOAD, ALONSO'S PIT-CREW HAD A PROBLEM REMOVING A TYRE-WARMER WHILST THE TEAM COUNTED DOWN TO AN EXIT TIME THAT WOULD GIVE HIM A CLEAR POSITION ON THE TRACK AND SO HE WAS DELAYED. AT THE NEXT TYRE CHANGE A MINUTE OF TWO LATER, HAMILTON WAS QUEUING BEHIND ALONSO AND THE SAME COUNTDOWN PROCEDURE WENT ON. HOWEVER, WHEN HE WAS GIVEN THE VISUAL SIGNAL TO GO, HE DELAYED FOR A FEW SECONDS. TIME WAS EXTREMELY CRITICAL AT THIS POINT AND HE ONLY JUST CROSSED THE START LINE FOR HIS HOT LAP A MATTER OF SECONDS BEFORE THE SESSION ENDED. BECAUSE OF ALONSO'S DELAY, HAMILTON MISSED GOING OVER THE START LINE FOR HIS HOT LAP BY A SECOND OR TWO. ALONSO'S FINAL HOT LAP PUT HIM ON POLE, ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL AT THIS TRACK, AND HAMILTON'S PREVIOUS FASTEST LAP ENABLED HIM TO TAKE SECOND.

THE RACE STEWARDS PENALISED ALONSO FOR HIS TACTIC ON THE GROUNDS THAT HE HAD BLOCKED HAMILTON, DESPITE HIS ARGUMENT THAT HE ONLY IGNORED THE VISUAL SIGNAL BECAUSE HE WAS GETTING AN AURAL COUNTDOWN OVER HIS HEADPHONES FROM HIS ENGINEER. THEY DEMOTED HIM FIVE PLACES ON THE GRID FOR BLOCKING IN THE PIT-LANE AS THEY ALSO DID WITH FISICHELLA, IN THE RENAULT, FOR ON-TRACK BLOCKING. HOWEVER, MCLAREN, BUT NOT RENAULT, WERE ALSO TO BE PENALISED. IN THE EVENT OF EITHER OR BOTH THEIR CARS ENDING THE RACE IN THE POINTS, MCLAREN WOULD NOT BE AWARDED ANY MANUFACTURER'S POINTS ALTHOUGH THE DRIVERS WOULD BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THEIR OWN POINTS. AS A LOGICAL RESULT OF THIS RULING, MCLAREN WOULD NOT BE AWARDED THE MANUFACTURER'S TROPHY IN THE EVENT OF A MCLAREN 'WIN'.

MCLAREN PROTESTED AGAINST THIS RULING AND RACED UNDER APPEAL AND THE OUTCOME OF THAT APPEAL WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS MONTH, POSSIBLY IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FERRARI APPEAL. AS AN INDICATION OF THE STRAIN THESE EVENTS ARE PLACING ON BOTH TEAMS, RON DENNIS LOOKED DRAINED AT THE END OF THE RACE AND FERRARI FORGOT, YES, FORGOT TO PUT ANY FUEL IN MASSA'S CAR FOR ONE OF HIS QUALIFYING RUNS, WHICH RESULTED IN HIS LOWLY 14TH GRID SLOT.

AS FOR THE RACING, WELL THAT SEEMS INCIDENTAL TO THE OTHER DRAMA, BUT HAMILTON'S EVENTUAL POLE POSITION ENABLED HIM TO FEND OF RAIKKONEN'S EFFORTS FOR THE WHOLE RACE AND THEY FINISHED 1ST AND 2ND WITH NICK HEIDFELD, ENJOYING HIS BEST-EVER SEASON IN F1, CLAIMING THE FINAL PODIUM SPOT AHEAD OF ALONSO. DRIVER CHANGES SAW SCOTT SPEED SACKED FROM SCUDERIA TESTA ROSSO AND REPLACED BY SEBASTIAN VETTEL AND SAKON YAMAMOTO BROUGHT A SPONSORSHIP PACKAGE TO THE SPYKER TEAM TO BE THE PERMANENT REPLACEMENT FOR CHRISTIJAN ALBERS.

Race Results posted by
David Little
6th August 2007

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