Planet-F1

Team-Mate Wars: Hungaroring

Thursday 7th August 2008

In F1 the first person you have to beat is your team-mate - the Ferrari drivers are the most evenly balanced on the grid, while at Toyota Timo Glock is fighting back against Jarno Trulli.

Ferrari
Season: Raikkonen 5 Massa 6
Race: Massa
Massa wasn't deflected by the McLaren's qualifying pace on Saturday and after a determined start, set about a purposeful first stint. While race pundits were telling us that the Ferrari wasn't suited to the short radius turns of Hungary, Massa edged out his lead, micron by micron. It may not have got him any points, but it's helped restore a new respect in his abilities that was battered at Silverstone and discoloured at Hockenheim. It made James Allen's rash assertions of the last race - that he wasn't up to the job - seem all the more inappropriate. At the time he was ahead of the current World Champion in the same machinery.

Poor old Stefano Domenicali - he's three laps away from a Ferrari 1-4 (almost a Ferrari 1-3) and the best riposte to all these Ferrari In Crisis headlines. The team have walloped McLaren on an afternoon when they were expected to score a 1-2. One engine combustion later and it's even more doom and gloom for the Scuderia.

BMW
Season: Heidfeld 3 Kubica 8
Race: Kubica
We don't know how true the stories are about BMW concentrating on their 2009 car with the reduced aero package - but it seems like Nick Heidfeld is already driving it. The team's fall off the pace has been spectacular, they're now having trouble competing against Toyota and Red Bull. Kubica at least gave his Polish fans something to cheer about, but Heidfeld's reversing back through the field like he's just about to make a J-turn.

Renault
Season: Alonso 9 Piquet 2
Race: Alonso

Even though he dropped (what could have been crucial) places on the opening lap, Nelson Piquet recovered to the points and should have no trouble retaining his Renault drive in 2008. Team-mate Alonso did a whole lot better and was a nadge away from getting on the podium, something he didn't think possible this year.

Williams
Season: Rosberg 6 Nakajima 5
Race: Rosberg

Williams may not have done well in the race, but McLaren's confirmation of Heikki Kovalainen in 2009 means that the Grove-based team have successfully clung on to Nico Rosberg for another season. Rosberg had a better race than Nakajima, but scrapping at the back with Honda can't be that much fun.

Toyota
Season: Trulli 9 Glock 2
Race: Glock

Glock finally got himself into a good position and didn't cock it up. He's had some good race phases this year and then spun his advantage away, but at the Hungaroring he held on. Though it was mighty close. The minute Raikkonen got ahead of Alonso in the final pit-stops he had a couple of wobbly moments, allowing Raikkonen to storm up to the back of his gearbox.

I can't quite believe that Toyota are so keen to hang onto him and sign him for 2009 - perhaps they have seen a blossoming talent. Certainly his passport helps.

Jarno Trulli was curiously quiet, though he's never one to do so well on a bumpy track.

Red Bull
Season: Webber 9 Coulthard 2
Race: Webber

Red Bull seem to have lost their early season edge - they need a bit of a kick, a surge of energy, something to give them wings. Considering everyone else has copied the aero device on their engine cover, it looks like Red Bull has given everyone else wings. Webbo was better than DC in Budapest, but not by a huge margin. Considering Coulthard ran an amazingly long first stint, it was a surprise that he should do so on the softer tyre. Perhaps, like Honda, they are beginning to gamble.

Honda
Season: Barrichello 6 Button 5
Race: Button

Button's qualifying lap was brilliant, but he could have done with being one place slower to get onto the clean side of the grid. As a result he was P12 - on the dusty side - and virtually everyone on that side of the track lost places at the start. Perhaps the FIA could use some of the $100m they got from McLaren - "in the interests of sporting fairness" - to purchase a track cleaning machine to ensure an even start for both sides of the grid. Otherwise it defeats the point of qualifying.

There's more and more talk of Rubens Barrichello retiring at the end of the season, so if Rubinho goes and they don't sign Alonso - who would take his seat...? And if Alonso leaves Renault who could they possibly turn to?

Toro Rosso
Season: Vettel 9 Bourdais 2
Race: Vettel

Vettel was good in qualifying, but had one of his opening lap nightmares. Red Bull will be quite glad that his steep learning curve is happening in the junior team, but it can't KEEP happening.

Force India
Season: Sutil 5 Fisichella 6
Fisi outqualified Sutil, though both drivers are counting off the days until they get their seamless shift gearbox. When that happens, the grid could be condensed into less than two seconds front to back.

McLaren
Season: Hamilton 8 Kovalainen 3
Race: Hamilton

Hamilton was significantly quicker than Kovalainen for most of the race and was unlucky to pick up a puncture from debris on the track. However, given Heikki's run of bad luck, it's nice to see at least one thing going his way (apart from the new contract). The fact that McLaren have been quick to retain him indicates that they're happy with a 1-2 driver relationship - in terms of ability. Kovalainen isn't a defacto No.2 driver, but McLaren know that he hasn't got the speed to challenge Hamilton. Had they really wanted, they might have hung on till the end of the season to see if they could lure Rosberg away from Williams, but that would have been more of a 1-1 relationship, and as we saw with Alonso, sometimes they don't work.

Star of the Race Hamilton 3

Massa 2
Raikkonen 2
Alonso 1
Sutil 1
Kubica 1
Glock

Overtaking Move of the Race
Hamilton 2
Kovalainen 2
Massa 2
Heidfeld 2
Raikkonen 1
Barrichello 1

Andrew Davies