Hungaroring plans improvements as new deal sought

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Improvements are planned at the Hungaroring over the next three years as the circuit owners aim to extend their current deal.

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Hungaroring reveals three-year revamp plan (Motorsport)

"We have to do some development on the grandstands, because we have some problems, and we have to improve that. And then the pit buildings."

Perez: I was scared when car rolled over (Crash)

"The impact was not that bad, but when I rolled over I was a bit scared."

Lotus able to run after making Pirelli payment (Adam Cooper's F1 Blog)

"A commercial issue, understood to involve a late payment, meant that Pirelli held onto the tyres overnight. The tyres had not even been mounted and prepared, as the rims and blankets remained at the Lotus truck."

Lotus hit by off-track uncertainty, says Grosjean (Reuters)

"It’s not due to the people or the brains in the factory, we’ve got lots of ideas in the pipeline... but at the minute we just cannot bring them to the track."

Claire Williams admits talks over Valtteri Bottas’s F1 future taking place (The Guardian)

"If Valtteri were to leave, and it’s a big if, of course there would be disappointment, because we have invested that time and resource and he is a great talent; that would be the greatest disappointment."

A prioridade do novo monolugar da Haas F1 Team e competir (Publico - Portuguese)

Haas had an F1 show car on display bearing the team's logo at the re-opening of Haas Automation's Portugal dealership which was attended by Gene Haas. According to the team the styling of the show car does not reflect their livery for 2016 and the chassis used was a 2014 Marussia bought at auction.

Interview with NASCAR and F1 team owner Gene Haas at the 2015 FIA Sport Conference (FIA via YouTube)

Chilton’s divine farewell to Bianchi (Racer)

"Max was inspired to do it for Jules. It's as simple as that."

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Comment of the day

A decade and a half since he made his F1 debut with Williams, could Jenson Button go back where he started?

I would love Button to go to Williams. He’ll have more chance of adding to his tally of wins if they can carry their impressive for in to next season. I think Williams would have him, he’s changed enormously since his early days. He’s also matured a he’ll of a lot since ‘Buttongate’. He’ll do a good job for them. But, I think it’s too early to guess.

McLaren have more than enough bodies to replace him. Arguably, they all deserve a shot. For once, Ron Dennis has a nice headache to trouble his worried brow.
@Andybantam

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On this day in F1

The race which took place on this day five years ago has remained the lowest-rated on F1 Fanatic’s Rate the Race poll ever since. Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to give up victory in the German Grand Prix to Fernando Alonso, despite team orders being forbidden at the time. The ban was rescinded at the end of the year.

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Keith Collantine
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22 comments on “Hungaroring plans improvements as new deal sought”

  1. With the Sauber re-signings so early, it appears that even if there has been a lot of talk — after analysis of all the variables — Raikkonen, Bottas and Button will all stay put for 2016. Although, Sauber could be angling for a possible transfer payment payday of their own, should the musical chairs start-up in full.

  2. Sean (@spaceman1861)
    25th July 2015, 0:31

    Giedo van der Garde – post of the year :) made me giggle.

    1. It’s his day job lately.

      1. maybe Sauber could have arranged for VDG to manage their social media accounts: they are basically paying him for spending time on Twitter already… =)

        1. he makes a mean cup of tea

    2. I agree, it was brilliant haha

  3. That’s a lovely piece by Marshall Pruett about Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi; shows he did a bit more than just win a race in some poxy feeder series. I tried to think of any other occasions when a driver took inspiration like that; the only one I came up with was Gerhard Berger at Hockenheim, after his father’s death in 1997.

    1. In eerily similar events, after Daijiro Kato crashed at Suzuka, fell into a coma, and died 2 weeks later, Sete Gibernau (his teammate) won the next round of the championship, just 1 week after Kato’s death.

  4. Look at that 2014 McLaren, heck I had forgotten how awkward those noses looked !

    1. @fer-no65 I liked their initial “long nose” solution at the start of the season, but I reckon their current 2015 nose is absolutely dreadful. It looks like a piece of Lego and they’ve lost the final piece!

  5. Is it worrying that I could identify in full name each person from that 2000 Williams photo, the moment I saw it?

  6. The Perez accident looks very scary…He is very lucky to get out unscathed.
    May be its time for some more steps towards the safety like closed cock pit….Kimi also faced the danger in collision with alonso earlier. Hope FIA thinks about it before another fatality.

    1. To be honest there was little luck involved. These cars are purposely designed to keep the driver from any harm in various crash scenarios. The car going up-side-down is one of them. Credit should go to the FIA for the safety measures already in place as well as the regulations enforcing them.

    2. Willem Cecchi (@)
      25th July 2015, 12:13

      I don’t think I would fancy a F1 with closed cockpits.

      1. You need to think about how to escape fires w a closed cockpit as well. I feel it is very safe how it currently is. There is danger I crossing a street. Let alone racing at 200

  7. The Perez accident looks very scary…He is very lucky to get out unscathed.
    May be its time for some more steps towards the safety like closed cock pit….Kimi also faced the danger in collision with alonso earlier this year. Hope FIA thinks about it before another fatality.

    1. @mohnet How was he lucky? These cars are perfectly safe to roll, as with GUT last year in Bahrein.

    2. The commentary in this video suggests the cars safety feature was the reason of Perez getting out unscathed.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGzz_pASUY

    3. The cars are designed as such that, if they land upside down, the driver’s head is below any height in which it would touch the ground.

  8. BIG NEWS – Formula Renault 3.5 is dead, the FIA have successfully killed off the series with their vindictive super-license system. Whilst the 3.5 car will continue to race, without Renault Sport’s backing the longevity and status of the series looks to have been dealt a fatal blow.

    1. Liam McShane (@)
      25th July 2015, 14:45

      Not necessarily dead it’s just Renault pulling out. Perhaps Nissan could pick it up again.

  9. Great interview with Gene Haas. I honestly wish him and his team all the best for 2016 and hope they can be competitive from the start. I think there is a lot of logic in the way they go about racing, not overestimating themselves and being humble enough to rely on 3rd party companies to supply them with necessary gear. This kind of reasoning must be applied for any new team to be sustainable, rather then getting stuck in a spending war with the other backmarkers and even midfield teams.

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