Grand Prix of Hungary Preview
Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary 14th - 16th August 1998	by Ian Burley, England

From the second-fastest circuit in F1 to the second-slowest, that's the difference a fortnight makes between the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and the Hungarian race on the outskirts of Budapest. It's a difference which Ferrari's Michael Schumacher hopes will re-ignite his challenge for the drivers championship. In Germany, Schumacher frustrated his home fans with his lowest qualifying performance of the year and was rewarded in the race with a scant two points for fifth place while championship leader, Mika Hakkinen, collected a vital full ten points, leading a second McLaren 1-2 in succession. Jacques Villeneuve, free of any championship considerations, will also be aiming to capitalise on his electrifying performance which beat the best of the rest at Hockenheim. Benetton will also be hoping the tight nature of the Hungaroring will suit their car better than the straights and chicanes of Hockenheim. Jordan too will be aiming to keep their new-found momentum going. However, all eyes will be on Michael Schumacher. Privately, Schumacher was rumoured to be livid with the team's performance in Germany. He was also furious with himself for a series of mistakes during practice. That's two races in a row Schumacher Senior has clearly made unforced errors behind the wheel - could the pressure be telling? Publicly, he was more philosophical and hopeful that Hungary would show that the Hockenheim race was just an aberration: "The car was never really on form all the weekend," explained Schumacher. "In order to get enough straight line speed at a track like Hockenheim we had to reduce the downforce and that left us struggling in the infield section. Finishing fifth was the best I could do in the circumstances." After a record 1,200km of testing at Ferrari's own Fiorano test track, Schumacher is determined to bounce back. "The Hungaroring is a very different track altogether and I hope our car will be a lot more competitive for the next race," said the German. A lap of the Hungaroring The Hungaroring is an undulating and twisty circuit of just 3.9km - only Monaco is shorter and slower. It is narrow, technical and very hard to pass an opponent. The short pit straight offers one of the few opportunities to overtake, before the cars enter the first corner - a second gear hairpin. A short burst, and then it's a left hander followed by an almost flat right. The next straight is also long, but uphill and approaching a blind, flat out right hander - few drivers think it prudent to overtake in such a situation. A tight right hander slows the cars before the second gear chicane. A left then a right follow, then two almost flat-out corners before the cars negotiate the final chicane. A final left hander remains before the right-hander back onto the pit straight - it's that dull. The circuit is highly technical, placing the emphasis on aerodynamic and mechanical grip above horsepower, contrary to Hockenheim. A very different result can be expected this weekend compared with Hockenheim. Last year this was exactly the case; the Hungarian losers included Giancarlo Fisichella, who qualified a career-best second on the grid in his Jordan Peugeot at Hockenheim, but languished on the 7th row at the Hungaroring. Then there was Gerhard Berger, the hat-tricker in Germany, but only 7th in Hungary. The winners at last year's Hunagarian race included Michael Schumacher - a struggling fourth on the grid in his home race, yet a commanding pole-sitter in Hungary (though slipping back to 4th in the race with overheating tyres). Meanwhile, Jacques Villeneuve bounced back to form in Hungary as well, improving from ninth to the front row and going on to a win. However, the biggest surprise was Damon Hill lining up third on the grid, an improvement of ten places from Germany in the much maligned Yamaha-powered Arrows A18. Hill coolly passed Schumacher for the lead and bar the pit-stops period, sat on a half-minute lead for most of the race until falling foul of a highly dramatic hydraulic leak just three laps from home, handing the race to Villeneuve on the final lap. Many attributed Hill's transformed performance to Bridgestone tyres, yet the next Bridgestone runner was Ruben Barrichello's Stewart Ford back in 11th on the grid and Hill's Arrows' team mate, Pedro Diniz, was more than two seconds a lap slower than his team leader. Atlas F1 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix Review   1997 Race Results 1. Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1hr45m47.149s 2. Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha + 9.079s 3. Johhy Herbert Suaber-Petronas + 20.445s 4. Michael Schumacher Ferrari + 30.501s 5. Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot + 30.715s 6. Shinji Nakano Prost-Mugen Honda + 41.512s Pole position: Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.672s Fastest lap (67): H.H. Frentzen Williams-Renault 1:18.372s All along, Hill had said the Arrows A18 was a well-balanced chassis with good mechanical grip. The big problem was its Yamaha OX11 V10 engine which was hopelessly under-powered. In Hungary, engine power is far less important than at Hockenheim and Damon says he can get his teeth into the Hungaroring corners - it's a circuit he revels in. So what about this year? His Jordan Mugen-Honda is showing real signs of joining the ranks of the top teams at last. Team mate Ralf Schumacher, albeit with the benefit of less fuel onboard, was able to keep in touch with the all-conquering McLarens at Hockenheim, and indeed new design chief, Mike Gascoyne, later explained that the McLarens spoiled the young Schumacher's strategy by holding him up! Meanwhile, Hill took his first points of the season with a solid fourth, not far behind the resurgent Jacques Villeneuve. For Hungary, though, Gascoyne is less optimistic: "Hungary is a maximum downforce circuit where traditionally Jordan has struggled. It is similar to Monaco, where we had our worst performance of the year, so the weekend in Budapest will be a good test to see how much progress we have made. I expect it to be more of a struggle than the last few races, and the heat and bumpy track may cause us problems so I doubt we will be as competitive as recently. We should still aim, however, to qualify both cars in the top ten and score points." That said, Damon always goes well in Hungary and Ralf reportedly likes the circuit. With the right tyres from Goodyear and a bit of inspiration, many Hill fans are hoping he can repeat last year's upset but this time around, make it stick to the chequered flag. If that is wishful thinking, betting on the McLarens is hardly risking something big. Hakkinen proved in Monaco that the McLaren Mercedes MP4-13 is great at both slow and fast circuits alike. "You need a powerful engine and a good balance and we have all of that," Hakkinen remarked. If a McLaren doesn't net pole, it will probably be down to tyres or the weather, though the latter is typically hot and dry. Bridgestone will have new wider fronts and a new compound for its teams. At Hockenheim, Goodyear was reckoned to have the edge, yet McLaren and their Bridgestones still dominated. Pardon the pun, but Ferrari have put in tireless work between races, to get it right at the Hungaroring - expect them to be back in the hunt. If they are not, Schumacher and Ferrari will have practically lost the championship fight. Schumacher was said to be happy with the Fiorano test, which was marked by unblemished reliability. The McLarens were quick at their test in Jerez last week, but worryingly they had to narrowly give best to Frentzen's Williams and no less than seven Mercedes V10s were going to need rather more than a routine service back at the Ilmor workshops in Brixsworth, England. At least the question mark of whether Coulthard is still fighting his team mate for the drivers title has been settled - David has all but said he will take a win if it is offered, but there will be no risky heroics to get past Mika now. Elsewhere, Jacques Villeneuve and Williams could be the real dark horses, or even Heinz-Harald Frentzen, for it was the out of favour German who posted the fastest test time of the week at Jerez. Frentzen, on a one-stop gamble strategy, might have won last year's race if his re-fuelling nozzle hadn't broken. The revised FW20-Mechachrome was a revelation in low downforce specification for Germany, but like the Jordan 198, it's a much changed package unproven on a high downforce circuit like the Hungaroring. "We showed at Hockenheim we can match McLaren at the low downforce circuits but it may be different in Hungary," a cautious Villeneuve commented. Nevertheless, Williams certainly know how to win in Hungary and Villeneuve will undoubtedly be trying his best to improve on the third podium step this time. He has nothing to lose and desperately wants to win before his championship expires. It will be interesting to see if Williams have finally delivered the 1997 champion a car he deserved all along. There will be plenty of support for Benetton's Alexander Wurz - the increasingly popular Austrian is not far from home in Hungary and thousands of his fellow Austrians will pour across the border hoping for something to celebrate. The problem is, Wurz hasn't been to Hungary in an F1 car before, but he has proved he can learn fast. Let's hope he gets his launch off the grid sorted out this time as well. Fisichella is also of an unknown quantity in Hungary, but if Bridgestone get their tyres right, you can expect the Benetton Playlifes to be back in the top six at some point. Elsewhere, Johnny Herbert's much-hyped 'showdown' with Jorg Muller during the Jerez test appeared to be a no-contest. Sources had said Herbert would have to be decisively quicker than Muller, Sauber's nominated test driver, to claim the second Sauber seat for 1999. If that is any close to the truth, Herbert's near two second a lap advantage over Muller must have decided the matter, though whether or not Herbert's moody teammate, Jean Alesi, was entirely convinced remains to be seen. Don't forget that Herbert was on the podium in Hungary last year. Prost and Stewart may have seven drivers world championships between them, but their namesake teams are unlikely to figure prominently this weekend. The Prost is basically a difficult car to drive and Stewart have lost their way in the development of the car, despite some power advances from Ford. Reliability of the Stewart carbon-fibre gearbox could well be tested again at the Hungaroring, which is definitely transmission-intensive. The nature of the Hungaroring should suit the under-powered Arrows and once again, should Bridgestone have an advantage, who knows? Salo or even the under-rated Diniz could once again put a smile on Tom Walkinshaw's face. The same tips apply, though less convincingly, to the Minardis. Tyrrell's Tora Takagi could fly at the Hungaroring after - once again - recording some impressive times at Silverstone last week. Hungary has a habit of throwing up an unusual result, so it's not an easy one to predict. I certainly won't be surprised to see a McLaren win, or a Ferrari, or a Williams or even a Jordan. Those have to be the realistic hopefuls for the podium at least. But somehow, I'm left with a nagging feeling that Ferrari have finally succumbed to the pressure. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Ian Burley	© 1998 Atlas Fourmula One Journal.
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