NewsOnF1 - 12 - 15 August News

15-Aug: At the Thursday press conference for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya indicated that finishing second in the championship is a big step forward for him and said "Being my second season of course you want to do the best you can every season and you want to do it better than the previous season. Second would be a really good step forward, even third is good as well."
Montoya realizes that he had a bad race here last year but he is confident of turning it around and said "Last year was really bad. We never really got the car right and I didn't put it together at all. Hopefully this year it will change. It seems this year, the circuits where everything went really wrong (last year), this year has been really good. Hopefully it keeps going that way. I think last year I seemed to have a lot of understeer all weekend long and I think this year we can fix it. I understand the car a bit more and I'm working better with the engineers so that should be a plus. It's not a place I love to drive around but we will make the best out of it."

Ralf Schumacher hopes that Williams can close the gap to Ferrari in the remaining races of the season if they want to have a chance of challenging for the title next year and said "Our target is really to close up the gap to Ferrari. If we want to compete in the Championship, or would like to be anywhere near the Championship next year we have to close up the gap and we don't have a lot of time to do so, so it's going to be very tough and exciting for us."
As for his chances of finishing second behind his brother, Ralf said "I think for us, as a team, in the first place, is to maintain second in the Constructors for next year and then, obviously as well, to take what is left. If it possible to come second, I would appreciate it. I will just see how the end of the season goes."

Rubens Barrichello doesn't believe the problems with his car were more than coincidence and said "In a way I have to think that they are coincidence because that's what they really are. If I stopped to think 'OK, is the team doing something?' I don't think so because the team wouldn't like to see the car in the air as much as they saw it in the last three races. But these things happen. There were three different problems and problems are there to happen. Sometimes they happen to Michael, but they happen at the right time. On Friday or Saturday they have a kind of problem, but not on Sunday. But we learn from it and hopefully it's not going to happen again."
As for his chances of finishing second in the Drivers' Championship, Rubens said "I've been fourth, I've been third, so fighting for second right now, having all the support of the team to be able to do that, I would welcome second place right now."

David Coulthard doesn't believe that he has a good chance of finishing second in the championship and said "I think the three guys in front have a better chance of battling for second place than I have in terms of pace if you look at the season so far. But naturally, you do the best job you can in each race and then the results will be coming from that so we just wait and see."
David isn't discounting another win for McLaren before the end of the season and said "As McLaren, we've managed to win one this year and looked like we could have won another in Magny-Cours, so it's not outside the possibilities that we could win another one and that's exciting."

Jacques Villeneuve has indicated despite the reports indicating that he is being offered a drive in CART for next year, he has not seen and offer and said "I just read today a bit of what has been written and that apparently I have to make a decision. You only make a decision when you have choices available.
Unless there is a proposition made you cannot make a decision on an imaginary proposition. I have a good contract for next year and I have no reason to change it. The only way I could start thinking of doing anything else is if there was something very special."
When asked specifically about racing in CART he said "At the moment, apart from a golden contract, I don't see any reason to go racing in the States."
Villeneuve criticised BAR's boss David Richards for letting the issue drag on and said "There hasn't been any proposition from anywhere - from the States or from longer terms. So it is easy to put the ball in my camp when actually there is no ball to be played.
I would be open to a longer term if there was any proposition made to think about it, but I have been asked this question for the last six months so I guess the purpose of saying things like that has had an affect because then for six months there has been a lot of hassle about it with no reason. But there is no proposition anywhere so what should I think about? I am just happy to go on with my contract. It's very simple."

Mark Webber indicated that he was pleased to see BAR's test driver Anthony Davidson take over from Alex Yoong as it will be good for the team and said "He has done a lot of laps with BAR in testing so that is a positive thing. You do your Formula Threes, your Formula 3000s and all that sort of stuff, but F1 testing is a good way for you to get a feel for what goes on, especially on a Grand Prix weekend, so that is a good thing for him to have up his sleeve. It was getting quite frustrating for the team, obviously Alex having some problems in qualifying again, so it is good that he should comfortably, obviously, qualify and it will be nice to have someone to be able to compare a bit more stuff with."
As for his future, Webber said "Hopefully I will be here. It has been a good solid season for me so far and the team has done a really good job, I have had a reliable little car and it has been a great little season for me. What happens next year, we haven't decided yet."

14-Aug: "Can McLaren do it again ?" is the title of the 24th issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2002 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix - Issue 24

13-Aug: The Orange Arrows team issued a statement today announcing that they will not take part in the Hungarian Grand Prix as they continue negotiations with existing and potential investors. The statement read "Arrows Grand Prix International today confirms that it remains in detailed discussions with potential investors. In the light of this, Arrows has been advised to do nothing that could interfere with these discussions and that the OrangeArrows team should not compete in the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.
Arrows hopes to be in a position to make a further statement within the near future."

It is worth noting that Craig Pollock who founded the British American Racing team has confirmed that he is interested and had made an offer to Arrows and said "The purchase of Arrows is not something that I want so much so as to lose sleep over it. If it doesn't happen, then at least I'll know I tried. But I would say there's an 80% chance of the deal happening.
Arrows is a good team, but they still need good sponsors and stability. This year their car is among the best, but they do not have the best engine and perhaps not the best drivers."

13-Aug: The Quali-flyer's predictions for the 'Real Race' at the Hungarian GP ... Report

13-Aug: British American Racing test driver Anthony Davidson will race in Hungary for the Minardi team replacing the struggling Alex Yoong. It is expected that Davidson will drive for Minardi for two races with Yoong returning in time for the Italian Grand Prix as he has track experience of the final 3 races of the season.
Alex Yoong who made his debut in Formula 1 at the Italian Grand Prix last season failed to qualify for 3 races this season (San Marino, Britain and Germany).
23 year-old Davidson who finished 2nd in the British Formula 3 Championship last season can make a name for himself in Formula 1 if he can get close to Minardi's driver Mark Webber.

Anthony Davidson said "This is a fantastic opportunity, as Formula One is something I've been dreaming about since I was a child. I want to do a professional job for Paul Stoddart and the KL Minardi Asiatech team in Hungary, and my primary target is to qualify for the race.
If I can do that in my first Grand Prix, I will be more than happy. I've not been to the Hungaroring before, so this will be a new experience for me. I love learning new circuits, though, as it's all part of the challenge of motor racing."

Alex Yoong said "I accepted Paul's decision, which resulted from a frank discussion with him. It was a mutual decision, as both he and I felt a rest would be beneficial for me in the medium term. The breather will allow me to regroup and recharge in order to take on these challenges again."

Paul Stoddart said "It has obviously been a difficult decision to rest Alex for two races but it's clear he is struggling with his qualifying pace at the moment. Ours is not a team to abandon its drivers and it seemed most constructive to let Alex have a short break from the pressure.
During the intervening time between now and the Italian Grand Prix he will take part in a testing programme tailored specifically to addressing any loss of confidence he may have suffered. We obviously welcome Anthony to the team and look forward to working with him in Hungary and Belgium."

David Richards said "We are happy to release Anthony to Minardi for the next two races. It is a great opportunity for a talented young British driver to race in Formula One and we wish him every success. I’m sure he will do as good a job in the Minardi race car as he has in testing for us over the last couple of years.”

12-Aug: "Can Ferrari clinch the Constructors Title ?" - The Hungarian Grand Prix Preview is now available ... Race Preview

Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix Schedule:

Session	Time (Local / GMT) - Current local time
Friday Practice Session 1 Friday Practice Session 2 Saturday Practice Session 1 Saturday Practice Session 2 Qualifying Session Warm-up Session Race	11 AM Budapest Time / 9 AM GMT 1 PM Budapest Time / 11 AM GMT 9:00 AM Budapest Time / 7:00 AM GMT 10:15 AM Budapest Time / 8:15 AM GMT 1:00 PM Budapest Time / 11:00 AM GMT 9:30 AM Budapest Time / 7:30 AM GMT 2:00 PM Budapest Time / 12 PM GMT
Go to the Hungarian GP Page