Hungarian Grand Prix Race Review
July 31, 2012
A difficult weekend in Budapest saw Nico Rosberg finish the Hungarian Grand Prix in tenth place, while Michael Schumacher retired on lap 58.
After a problematic qualifying, Rosberg started from 13th position on the grid and managed to make up three places by the end of the race. Team Principal Ross Brawn praised Rosberg’s performance saying: “Nico did a good job today, and 10th place is about where the car was, if not a little better. He drove very well to make the tyres last which is a positive sign, and a good strategy saw him pick up places.”
However, at approximately half a second per lap behind the leader, Brawn added: “We are clearly not as competitive as we want to be and, whilst we got everything out of the car today, we need to find more performance and lap time.”
Rosberg agreed with Brawn saying: “We’ve had a difficult weekend here in Budapest, and just haven’t been quick enough. We need to find out why we are off the pace at the moment. I hope that we can do better in Spa after the break and we will push hard to make the improvements necessary.”
Conditions were equally gruelling for Schumacher – experiencing very high engine temperatures and loss of telemetry during the race. After he started from the pit lane, picked up a drive-through penalty and subsequently a puncture, Schumacher was forced to retire as a precautionary measure with 11 laps to go. He concluded: “There are weekends like this which you can only accept. I am sure we will be looking much better in the next races to come.”
Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, expressed regret that for the first time this season the team did not make it into Q3. He summed up saying: “It is very clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I am convinced that we will improve our performance during the remaining nine races.”
Congratulations go to Lewis Hamilton, whose victory for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes represents their 75th win with a Mercedes engine in the last 15 years. Stay tuned for the next race of the season: the Belgian Grand Prix taking place on 31 August – 2 September.
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