Hungary 2010

ONCE AGAIN, RED BULL CARRIED ALL BEFORE THEM IN QUALIFYING ON SATURDAY WITH YET ANOTHER FRONT-ROW LOCKOUT. ONLY THE FERRARIS COULD GET CLOSE AND EVEN THEY WERE ABOUT 1 SECOND OFF THE PACE. LEWIS HAMILTON IN 5TH WAS 1.7 SECONDS BACK. THE RACE ON SUNDAY LOOKED TO BE A FOREGONE CONCLUSION, BEARING IN MIND THE DIFFICULTY OF OVERTAKING ON THIS 'MONACO WITHOUT THE WALLS' TRACK.

DURING THE EARLY LAPS, THAT SEEMED TO BE THE CASE. SEBASTIEN VETTEL, ON POLE YET AGAIN, SEEMED DETERMINED TO IMPROVE HIS POLE-TO-WIN RATIO AND DREW AWAY FROM FERNANDO ALONSO BY 1 SECOND PER LAP. MARK WEBBER WAS AS CLOSE TO FERNANDO'S GEARBOX AS HE COULD BE. BUT THEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENED - SOME DEBRIS APPEARED ON THE TRACK. CUE THE SAFETY CAR - ALWAYS GUARANTEED TO CREATE UNCERTAINTY.

MOST CARS PITTED, EVEN IF IT MEANT QUEUING, BUT NOTABLY MARK AND RUBENS BARRICHELLO DID NOT. IGNORING ANY TACTICAL REASONS, IT TRANSPIRED THAT THIS WAS THE SAFEST WAY. MAYHEM ERUPTED AS NICO ROSBERG (MERCEDES) PITTED, SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF ROBERT KUBICA (RENAULT), BUT IN THE BOX BEHIND, AND ADRIAN SUTIL (FORCE INDIA) WHO PITTED JUST AFTER ROBERT INTO THE BOX IN FRONT OF HIM.

THE MERCEDES LEFT THE BOX WITH ONE WHEEL-NUT NOT FITTED PROPERLY AND THE WHEEL CAME OFF, AS NICO ACCELERATED, AND AFTER ROLLING AT HIGH SPEED INTO ONE OF THE WILLIAMS MECHANICS, LAUNCHED ITSELF HIGH INTO THE AIR. ALL THIS HAPPENED WHILST THE RENAULT 'LOLLIPOP' MAN WAS LOOKING THAT WAY TO DETERMINE WHEN TO RELEASE KUBICA INTO THE PIT LANE. NICO WENT PAST HIM ON THREE WHEELS WITH ADRIAN FOLLOWING AND A WHEEL WAS RUNNING AMOK AMONGST ALL THE MECHANICS. IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT HE WAS SO DISTRACTED THAT HE RELEASED ROBERT INTO THE PATH OF ADRIAN AND THEY COLLIDED. FORTUNATELY, NO ONE WAS INJURED.

BOTH RENAULT AND MERCEDES HAVE BEEN FINED $50,000 BUT, WHILST I HAVE NO ARGUMENT WITH THE MERCEDES FINE, I DO THINK IT WAS A LITTLE HARSH ON RENAULT CONSIDERING WHAT THEIR MECHANIC WAS HAVING TO COPE WITH IN THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE AND WHICH CAME ABOUT BECAUSE OF MERCEDES ERROR. HOWEVER, SAFETY MUST COME FIRST. BEAR THAT PHRASE IN MIND BECAUSE IT RECURS AGAIN SHORTLY.

WHEN THE DEBRIS WAS CLEARED FROM THE TRACK, THE SAFETY CAR WENT IN TO THE PITS AND THE RACE THEN CONTINUED AT HIGH SPEED. MARK WAS OFF LIKE A ROCKET, TO MAKE UP SUFFICIENT TIME TO BE ABLE TO PIT HIMSELF LATER. BUT WHERE WAS SEBASTIAN? BY HIS OWN LATER ADMISSION, HE WAS SLEEPING. HIS RADIO HAD BEEN PLAYING UP, HE HAD NOT HEARD THAT THE SAFETY CAR WAS GOING IN AND HE HAD NOT NOTICED THAT THE FLASHING LIGHTS ON THE SAFETY CAR HAD GONE OUT. MIND YOU, HE WAS SO FAR BACK, OVER 150 METRES INSTEAD OF THE OBLIGATORY 10 CAR LENGTHS, THAT HE PROBABLY COULD NOT SEE THEM IF HE HAD LOOKED!

MARK THEN PUT IN LAP AFTER LAP OF SCINTILLATING DRIVING, MADE ENOUGH TIME TO HAVE HIS PIT STOP AND STILL BE IN THE LEAD AND WENT ON TO WIN A STUNNING VICTORY. SEBASTIAN, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAD TO SERVE A DRIVE-THROUGH PENALTY FOR EXCEEDING THE 10 METRE GAP TO MARK. AS A RESULT OF ALL THIS, FERNANDO ALONSO WAS ABLE TO TAKE 2ND PLACE AND A DISGRUNTLED VETTEL 3RD.

AND IN THE DYING MOMENTS OF THE RACE, THERE OCCURRED A DISGRACEFUL AND BLATANT ATTEMPT BY SCHUMACHER TO PREVENT RUBENS BARRICHELLO FROM CLAIMING THE LAST POINTS PLACE. HE MADE AN ERROR ON THE LAST CORNER OF THE PENULTIMATE LAP, WHICH ENABLED RUBENS TO GET THE TOW DOWN THE STRAIGHT AND GO FOR THE INSIDE AS THEY WENT PAST THE PITS TO APPROACH THE LAST CORNER.

IN WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN SCHUMACHER'S SIGNATURE MOVE (ON HILL, VILLENEUVE AND OTHERS), HE TRIED TO FORCE RUBENS INTO THE PIT WALL AT 180 M.P.H., AS THEY WERE ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER, AND WITH NO APPARENT THOUGHT FOR THE APPALLING CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY FLOW IF THEY TOUCHED.

IN FACT, HAD THE PIT WALL NOT ENDED AT THE EXIT, RUBENS WOULD HAVE HIT THE WALL. A CAR COULD HAVE BEEN EMERGING, THERE ARE PEOPLE BEHIND THE WALL (THAT IS WHY IT IS THERE) AND THE POTENTIAL FOR DISASTER WAS IMMENSE. SCHUMACHER MADE IT WORSE BY IMPLYING AFTERWARDS THAT IT WAS RUBENS FAULT AND HE COULD HAVE BACKED OFF. RUBENS HAD NOWHERE TO GO!

'HOWEVER, SAFETY COMES FIRST' AND FORTUNATELY, THE STEWARDS SAW IT DIFFERENTLY TO SCHUMACHER AND PENALISED HIM WITH A 10-PLACE DROP ON THE GRID AT SPA (THE NEXT RACE ON 29TH AUGUST). PERSONALLY, IN THE LIGHT OF HIS HISTORY IN THESE SITUATIONS (WHICH OTHER DRIVER HAS BEEN EXCLUDED FROM AN ENTIRE CHAMPIONSHIP AS HE WAS IN 1997?) IT IS CLEAR HE HAS NOT YET LEARNT HIS LESSON AND HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUNISHED MORE SEVERELY. HE HAS NOW ADMITTED THAT HE CROSSED A LINE HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE CROSSED AND HAS APPARENTLY APOLOGISED VIA HIS WEB-SITE. WHETHER HE HAS APOLOGISED IN PERSON TO RUBENS IS NOT YET KNOWN.

OH, BY THE WAY, MARK WEBBER WENT FROM 3RD IN THE DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP TO 1ST AND RED BULL ALSO WENT FROM 2ND INTO THE LEAD IN THE CONSTRUCTORS' RACE. NOT BAD FOR A DAY'S WORK!

Race Results posted by
David Little
2nd August 2010

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