Hungary GP2 - Event thread!

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Well summary of two races, Piquet fairly astounding and might just have unsettled Lewis substantially with those two drives.

Why? Given that Hamilton came from 26th to 10th in the first race, DESPITE a drive-through, and then from 10th to 2nd in the second, I think Hamilton's rep is made and the title is effectively meaningless.

Had it not been for the drive-thru I fancy Hamilton would have been something like 5th and 1st. From last on the grid.

Hamilton's problem is he has made repeated stupid mistakes this year (overtaking pace car, pit lane speeding, binning it sans a time &c)...without that he'd have the title won by now. I hope he's getting it out of the way now before going to F1.

[strider]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I know he's [Piquet] had a few problems this year but where's this pace suddenyl come from?!

Every now and again he does have weekends like this. I just wish he would be kind enough to let me know in advance and then I might get my predictions right!

He's always good in the wet, which explains today, and the track was low on grip yesterday, so the same applies.

Having said that, the signs were there in race 1 at Hockenheim. He was challenging Timo Glock on the last lap, despite a drive-through penalty, when something went wrong with the car. Presumable the same mysterious fault that prevented him from even starting race 2.

I agree with ensign14. If anything was going to dent Hamilton's confidence it would have his mistakes in free practice and qualifying. The weekend ended much better for him than it started.

If Piquet were now to win the title, it would be very meaningful, but to be honest I don't think it's going to happen.

[Frank_White]

Well reading the official website, it appears that Piquet's pace comes from him having rented out the Hungaroring circuit over the winter to do extra testing. Apparently he did the same with turkey as well. I guess that Piquet sports will enjoy another huge advantage at Turkey. Piquet might very well take the title.

[flexible-flyer]

Originally Posted by Frank_White

Well reading the official website, it appears that Piquet's pace comes from him having rented out the Hungaroring circuit over the winter to do extra testing. Apparently he did the same with turkey as well. I guess that Piquet sports will enjoy another huge advantage at Turkey. Piquet might very well take the title.

piquet does this just about any time a track is available. did it in f3 and is still doing it in gp2. he would take out a formula renault or a porsche and drive the tracks. its one of the perks of being super-rich!

[Alienman_69]

Funny thing how everytime Hamilton doesnt win on GP2 we got a weekend thread with 2 pages. Hamilton made many stupid mistakes in this race, and if it wasnt for Piquet´s bad luck in a few races, he would hardly have such a big lead. By the way, you read that Piquet rent both those tracks on Hamilton´s intrerview, looks like the golden boy is feeling underpressure, so its time to start the mind games in the press and if that doesnt work, hey, the other guy is rich and im not, so theres a good excuse for coming second. But its fun when drivers use the press to pressure each other, means the game is on and im looking forward for next race.

[Daisy]

So we have an 11 point difference now? Dat sounds familiar.

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Alienman_69

By the way, you read that Piquet rent both those tracks on Hamilton´s intrerview, looks like the golden boy is feeling underpressure, so its time to start the mind games in the press and if that doesnt work, hey, the other guy is rich and im not, so theres a good excuse for coming second.

I haven't read these comments, but saying he owns the track.....is this not a compliment to Piquets dominance rather than an excuse? I suspect so.

[Jackman]

Originally Posted by ensign14

Hamilton's problem is he has made repeated stupid mistakes this year (overtaking pace car, pit lane speeding, binning it sans a time &c)...without that he'd have the title won by now. I hope he's getting it out of the way now before going to F1.

If it wasn't for two pit lane speeding penalties, Piquet would have a sizeable lead in the championship.

[Jackman]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

I haven't read these comments, but saying he owns the track.....is this not a compliment to Piquets dominance rather than an excuse? I suspect so.

He didn't say Piquet owns the track, he said he rented it to test. I saw it very much as Hamilton being a bit petulant and lashing out at the Brazilian via the media.

[Suze]

I read it similarly to knowlesy....he's stating a fact, something Piquet has done that he hasn't. I wouldn't call that lashing out. I would see that as more of a compliment...

I'd much rather drivers couldn't rent out circuits and test on them in any car to make it a little more equal, but they can, and that's the way it is.

[Alienman_69]

For who didnt see it, this what Hamilton said....

"GP2 Series: And eleven points is still a handy lead with just two rounds to go…
Lewis: Absolutely, and I'm just looking forward to Istanbul. Obviously Piquet has rented out this track and done plenty of testing, he's rented out Istanbul and done plenty of testing, and I've never been there before, but I won't go out without a fight."

Just a little petulant have to agree with Jackman, but you can see Piquet answered back in his own interview, for people that didnt see it...

"GP2 Series: Obviously Lewis had a lot of trouble this weekend, but nonetheless that still puts a bit of pressure on you to perform…
Nelson: I don't think he had trouble, I think he made some stupid mistakes, like spinning in qualifying, crashing in practice, speeding in the pits in the race: he made a lot of mistakes this weekend. He could have easily started ahead of me in the race today and then held me for the whole race, but for his mistakes."

Game is on, I think this will be fun to watch.

[strider]

So nobody thinks that Lewis won't have spent some time in the McLaren simulator learning these tracks in advance?

Piquet's assessment is exactly right except for the bit about pit lane speeding. He did that himself at Hockenheim, so did Glock. The race commentators were suggesting that the rev limiters might not be working properly and that's certainly how it's beginning to look.

Renault need to sort it PDQ.

[Conrod]

Originally Posted by strider

The race commentators were suggesting that the rev limiters might not be working properly and that's certainly how it's beginning to look.

Renault need to sort it PDQ.

The teams can set the pit lane speed limiters themselves. It depends how close to the maximum limit you want to set them!

[strider]

Originally Posted by Conrod

The teams can set the pit lane speed limiters themselves. It depends how close to the maximum limit you want to set them!

Okay, that's useful information I didn't know, thanks.

But I still worry when teams like ART Grand Prix, iSport International and Piquet Sports apparently get it wrong. I mean, they're not exactly inexperienced, are they?

[Mr Jinxx]

I think speeding in the pit lane is normally at either the beginning or the end (ie where the driver chooses to engage or disengage) not consistently down the pit lane ... and that boils down to the beginning, in truth - not easy to get it just right, but as Schumacher used to demonstrate, can gain you loads of time

[Mr Jinxx]

It appears to me that as ART might have lost (or had taken from them) whatever it is that was giving them such a big advantage, they're still a great team, and Lewis should still be able to cruise to the championship, as long as he doesn't get flustered, just by driving to the car's capability, which should always see him at the front.

Lewis has indeed been on the F1 simulator, many times, and I'm sure that just about negates any advantage Piquet may have, briefly, by driving a track in a FRenault or something. The F1 simulation would also provide very useful data for ART.