FORMULA 1 - 2015

[MIKA27]

Pastor rues 'tough' stewarding

With three penalties in just one grand prix, Pastor Maldonado feels the Hungarian stewards were "very strict" with the drivers on Sunday.

The Venezuelan driver had an afternoon to forget in Budapest as he crossed the line down in 13th place.

His result, though, was not because of a lack of pace. Rather it was because of a spate of penalties.

He incurred his first, a drive-through, when he hit Sergio Perez while the second, a five second time penalty, was due to an unsafe release from the pits.

The final penalty was again his fault, this time a ten second time penalty, which was added to his race time, was for overtaking behind the Safety Car.

Maldonado, however, feels his collision with Perez was nothing more than a racing incident and that it was "tough" stewarding that led to that penalty.

"It was tough race and the stewards were certainly very strict today, very tough on driving with me and many other drivers," said the Lotus driver.

"I struggled at the start as our strategy was to run with the harder tyres, but then the strategy was working well with the softer tyres until the penalties affected our race.

"With Sergio around the outside of me it felt like a racing incident to me; there was nothing intentional in the contact."

[MIKA27]

Verstappen hails 'great result'

Max Verstappen admits he couldn't believe it when his engineer told him he was running in P4 during the closing stages of the Hungarian GP.

The Toro Rosso rookie had been solid all weekend at the Hungaroring and he started P9 on the grid, but while it was an eventful Sunday for most drivers, Verstappen found himself running just inside the points during the latter half of the race.

However, quite a few drivers were involved in accidents during the closing stages and Verstappen suddenly found himself in P4. The drama wasn't done though as the teenager was given a drive-through penalty for speeding under the Safety Car.

Yet, he managed to hang onto fourth place, his best-ever finish in Formula 1.

"Unbelievable, a P4! What a great result, I have no words!" the Dutch youngster said. "I didn’t expect that at all after a bit of a bad start.

"However I managed to stay out of trouble and during my second stint everything was going well, I felt comfortable in the car and the guys behind me were not catching me up.

"When the race restarted after the Safety Car period there was a lot going on, with cars crashing in front of me... I also damaged my front-wing a bit and was given a drive-through penalty.

"So with a few laps to go I was asking my engineer in what position we were in, and when he said P4 I just couldn’t believe it! I’m very, very happy today. I’d like to thank the team, they are a great support and they deserve this result, I couldn’t have done it without them!"

[MIKA27]

Alonso: Fifth is unbelievable

Fernando Alonso left the Hungaroring with a nice "little surprise" as he managed to finish fifth despite his McLaren not being "super competitive".

It has been a weekend of progress for the Woking-based squad as Alonso made it into Q2, but unfortunately for him his MP4-30 suffered an electrical problem and he couldn't post a time.

Although he started P15, better things were to come on Sunday as he was into the top 10 quite early on in the race and kept his head down. With drivers making contact left, right and centre, he found himself running P5 at the end to claim McLaren's best finish of a troubled campaign.

"Fifth is unbelievable. The race was chaotic in some parts and we took advantage of all the opportunities given to us to maximise the result," he said.

"Fifth is a little present to us as we are not super competitive at this moment."

It has been an emotional weekend for everyone involved in Formula 1 following the passing of Marussia driver Jules Bianchi.

Alonso worked closely with Bianchi during his time at Ferrari as the Frenchman was a member of Maranello squad's academy.

"It has not been an easy weekend especially when we had the minute of silence, it was very emotional to get into the cockpit," the two-time World Champion said. "We are 20 very, very lucky people working in our passion, our sport, like Jules did. We are privileged to race and as a respect to him and the sport I think we put on a good show.

"We love this sport and love racing and this type of race today is what kids love when they are passionate about Formula 1. Hopefully the kids today saw the race and want to become Formula 1 drivers."

[MIKA27]

Nico Hulkenberg: There was little warning

Nico Hulkenberg was unaware that he had a front wing issue until he felt a "harsh vibration" just before it broke off.

Racing for points at Sunday's Hungarian GP, Hulkenberg's race ended when his VJM08 suffered a front wing failure.

The wing was shattered as he drove over it before spearing nose first into the barriers.

"It's a shame we lost the opportunity to get a great result today," said the Force India driver.

"I didn't have much warning that there was a problem with the front wing - there was a harsh vibration just before it broke and after that I was heading straight into the barriers.

"The final impact was not too bad because that part of the track is well protected and it absorbed the energy nicely."

Prior to that it has been a good afternoon as he was comfortably inside the top ten and racing towards another points finish.

"Up until the accident, things were looking very positive: I had made a great start and was racing with the Red Bulls, which shows the step forward we have made with the b-spec car," he added.

Despite his disappointment over losing the points, Hulkenberg says Force India can draw plenty of positives as they head into the summer break.

"The good news is that we have time over the next week to analyse what happened today and get the solutions in place before the summer break.

"Reliability has been a real strength of ours this season so it's unusual for us to have these issues and the team will do its homework before we arrive in Spa.

"I go into the summer break knowing that we are competitive and that we can have a strong second half of the season."

[MIKA27]

Rosberg 'gutted' by lost points

Nico Rosberg concedes sport can be "really tough sometimes" after losing a podium result due to a late collision in Hungary.

Following the restart after a Safety Car, Rosberg, who was on the medium tyres, was hunted down by Daniel Ricciardo on the softs.

Gaining with every lap, the Red Bull racer went in for a brash move taking too much speed into the corner.

Although he initially went ahead of Rosberg, he fought to get through the corner and the German edged ahead only for the duo to touch.

Ricciardo's front wing sliced into Rosberg's rear left tyre leaving both drivers in need of a visit to the pits.

"It was going very well until lap 64, after that... just nowhere," Rosberg, who went onto finish P8, said.

"Sport is really tough sometimes, that's the way it is, to lose all those points."

As for his collision with Ricciardo, the Mercedes driver says he felt the corner was his.

He explained: "I assumed it was my corner because I took the ideal line. But he just went straight on because he braked too late.

"His front wing was still there, and he didn't back out of it. The FIA said no one was at fault, and no action was taken."

Formula 1 will now go into a four-week summer break, however, Rosberg says he'd rather be out there racing.

"After a race like that, I want to get back out there. I'm gutted about today," he added.

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo: “No regrets” on charging drive and Mercedes collisions

Daniel Ricciardo says he has “no regrets” about the way he drove during Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix when he charged to third place and suffered collisions with both of the Mercedes drivers.

Ricciardo, who suffered another shunt when he dropped his third-placed trophy during media interviews, says he’s “looking forward to watching a replay” of the race that he called “crazy”.

He also said it was a fitting tribute to the memory of Jules Bianchi.

“It really was a good race,” said Ricciardo. “I came into it knowing the whole week has been so up and down for everyone, and once we got over the emotional side of what’s happened, I put it behind me and I think Jules and his family would wanted to have see a fascinating race – all of us drivers putting everything on the line. We all share that passion.

“I definitely did that today. I left a heavy heart out on the track, I made some moves and took risks, and put it all on the line.

“I definitely have no regrets about the outcome of today. I’m really proud of the approach to the race and how the whole weekend went. It was definitely dedicated to Jules and his family, but also a part of that is for the team. It’s been a long time coming.”

Three collisions in one Grand Prix

Ricciardo had already banged wheels with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas at the first corner, but his car was undamaged until the collision with Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. He then needed a new front wing after touching Nico Rosberg with a handful of laps remaining.

“I guess it ruined both of our chances of a win,” he said. “Again, I don’t regret going for that move. It was my only chance of victory.

"I thought the move was clean but I guess he thought he had more room on the exit, and that was it.”

[MIKA27]

Hamilton hit with penalty points for Ricciardo clash

Lewis Hamilton was awarded two penalty points for his incident with Daniel Ricciardo during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver made contact with Ricciardo at the restart, when the Australian attacked around the outside at Turn 1.

Hamilton went wide and damaged Ricciardo's car, before being handed a drive-trough penalty for the collision.

Post-race, he was awarded two penalty points, his first over the past 12 months.

Daniil Kvyat, who finished second, was also awarded two penalty points for gaining a position by going off the track. It was also his first penalty points.

Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado accumulates six penalty points after being awarded two for causing a collision with Force India's Sergio Perez.

"They were very strict on driving," said Maldonado, who was given three penalties today.

"It was different to the past, especially from the start of the season when it was more open to fighting."

Finally, Max Verstappen was awarded three penalty points - for a total of five over the course of the season - after he failed to stay above the required time set by the FIA ECU during the deployment of the safety car.

[MIKA27]

'Something incredible' to equal Ayrton Senna's record - Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel could not put in to words how it feels to match Ayrton Senna's 41 F1 victories but said his main thoughts were with the late Jules Bianchi after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Vettel jumped the Mercedes drivers off the line and was unchallenged throughout as chaos and drama unfolded behind him. It is his second win since moving to Ferrari from Red Bull last year and moves him joint on the all-time list behind Alain Prost (51) and Michael Schumacher (91).

However, Vettel says matching Senna's landmark paled in comparison to the emotions felt for Bianchi.

"Mentioning Senna's record is something incredible; I don't know how to put this in words," Vettel said. "I think nevertheless today is for Jules and his family, I think that's bigger than anything else.

"Certainly for us, for the team, for myself, we had an amazing day. I had a great start and obviously a bit hairy with the safety car at the end where we had to push again. Unfortunately lost Kimi's comfortable second position, also due to a problem he suffered. So I don't know I think you can take the last couple of days up and down - both emotionally and in the performance, I think it's difficult to beat.

"It was a tough start, tough week, especially with Tuesday [bianchi's funeral], and then to think about Jules again on the grid. Certainly very emotional and difficult to get back in the rhythm, but then you find yourself in the car, visor down, and so many things you have to think about - there's not very much space for other things. I guess we do what we love to do, what we have to do."

Vettel thinks the way the F1 community raced on after Bianchi's death last Friday proves the passion the drivers have for the sport.

"It's incredible without a doubt. Look, at the end we have a common attachment to something we love. We are very different people, different guys, but we share a great passion as drivers. I think the love for racing is bigger than anything else."

[MIKA27]

Bottas bemoans 'poor' pace as Williams zero score

Valtteri Bottas says Williams' pace in the Hungarian Grand Prix was 'quite poor' even before his hopes for points were scuppered by a late puncture.

The Finn had started the race brightly by jumping from sixth to fourth by the end of the first lap, but began to slip back as he struggled to match the form of the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

Even so, Bottas was still on course for good points before he was clipped by the close following Max Verstappen, leaving with a puncture and forcing him outside the top ten and out of the points.

A frustrating day all round for Williams as Felipe Massa also missed out on the top ten, Bottas was perplexed as to why the car proved so slow come race day.

“The start of the race was okay but our pace was quite poor. Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes were clearly quicker than us and even Force India behind were not that much slower. We were struggling with the pace but with everything happening at the end there could have been a chance to get some points.

“After the last restart at turn five Verstappen hit me from the back and that was it. You need to drive half a lap slowly not to the gearbox and the diff so that was it, game over.

“Everyone was being quite aggressive today because it is so difficult to pass here so if you get any kind of opportunity you have to go for it. Eventful race but really unlucky. It is really disappointing to get zero points for the team but now we just need to look forward.”

Indeed, Bottas was hoping to capitalise on the drama unfolding in front of him, only to get embroiled in it himself.

“I could see it was going to come to be because they were both battling hard. Then I got side by side with Lewis and overtook him into the chicane but in the middle of the chicane when I turned to the left-hander I got a puncture which is very disappointing.”

Fortunately for Bottas, he remains fourth in the F1 standings since closest rivals Kimi Raikkonen and Massa failed to score.

[MIKA27]

NEW HIGH SPEED COCKPIT CAMERA TO HELP UNDERSTAND HEAD INJURIES IN F1 ACCIDENTS

Next season F1 will introduce a high speed camera onto the cars, able to capture the precise movements of a driver’s head in major impact to improve safety of helmets, cockpits and circuits.

Jules Bianchi’s accident was the most recent of a number of accidents where the driver’s head suffered a sudden significant shock; Mika Hakkinen in Adelaide 1995, Sergio Perez in Monaco 2011 (photo above) and Felipe Massa in Hungary 2009 are other examples. The crucial moment of impact lasts only a few milliseconds, not possible to capture on a standard frame-rate camera.

If engineers and the safety department at the FIA were able to analyse in milliseconds what happens in those moments, they could improve the safety around the driver’s head.

Italian electronics company Magneti Marelli, which has been active in F1 for many years, has been working with the FIA to develop just such a camera and it will be fitted to every car from next season, pointing backwards at the driver at all times when the car is on track.

The previous standard was 25 frames per second. The new F1 cameras will have 400 frames per second. At that speed you can measure a lot of detail that you cannot see at 25 frames per second.

This is not a new technology, the challenge is placing a camera into a small enough package to make it feasible and able to withstand the shocks of being mounted on an F1 car.

The new camera is roughly 8cm long, 2cm wide, about half the size of an iPhone. It records images and generates significant data; 370mega sample per second, but with compression technology meaning it can be stored at ten times smaller file size. The information is stored in the accident data logger on the car and overwritten if no accident happens within a certain time frame.

This also allows the engineers to merge the data from the camera with the data from the car, so they can know precise speeds and G forces at the decisive moment of any impact.

The FIA Safety Department’s Laurent Mekies, formerly chief engineer at Toro Rosso said,

“With the accident of Felipe Massa in Budapest in 2009, for example, where he was hit on the head by a spring at full speed and crashed as a result. From that crash soon afterwards people got together to decide what you need to do to the helmets to withstand better the accident. And that led to the introduction of Zylon being integrated into the visors.

“But if you had cameras fast enough to capure the exact moment of the impact of the spring onto the helmet you would gather very important information to develop the next step.”

There have been many discussions with teams about where exactly to position the camera on the top of the chassis, so as not to impede the driver’s view of the road and a solution has been found, which designers are working with for next year’s chassis.

“When we’re discussing mounting position options there are two main issues,” said the FIA Institute’s Andy Mellor, who has worked on developing the camera. “The first is the image itself, what can we actually see and what is the value of that to our research? We feel the front view is the best overall because you can see the motion of the driver’s head and neck, particularly during side impacts where concussive head injuries frequently occur. An overhead view gives more information about the forward motion but all you can see is the helmet itself, the body is hidden from view, so on balance the front view is better.

“The next issue is the vulnerability of the mounting position. Of the three positions we considered – the roll hoop, front hoop (in front of the windscreen) and side mirror – the mirror would be most vulnerable. The roll hoop is probably best, but the front hoop is also a strong part of the car so both should provide adequate protection.”

Magneti Marelli aims to develop the technology on the F1 cars with a view to rolling it out for other racing categories and ultimately to find a way to fit it to road cars as automotive technology moves towards autonomous cars.

[MIKA27]

RAIKKONEN: WHEN YOU HAVE NO LUCK YOU HAVE NO LUCK

Kimi Raikkonen has pointed to Lady Luck, and lack of her support, which he believes cost him an almost certain second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The veteran Finn was on it all weekend, in practice faster than his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel and then in the race he was sharp off the line and tucked behind leader Vettel – the pair circulating unthreatened one-two for the first half of the race and on course for the team’s first on-two finish in five years.

But luck deserted Raikkonen as he started losing straight-line speed with less than half the race to go. A MGU-K issue struck and he quickly lost positions before pulling into the pits to score his third DNF of the season.

He told media afterwards, “I had so many disappointments and bad races that this is one more. Obviously it would have been much greater for the team to have had a one-two.”

“As a team we still won with Seb, so it’s good for the team but it would have been quite easy to be one and two because we had quite easily the speed and everything was there, we just got undone by a problem with the car.”

“It’s unfortunate but it’s part of racing. Sometimes when you have no luck you have no luck but we did the maximum that we could,” insisted Raikkonen.

Despite a return to form at Hungaroring, the weekend is unlikely to diffuse speculation of his future at Maranello.

“It’s not a question of being fair or not – it’s not my decision, it’s up to them and they will do what they want,” Raikkonen told reporters.

“Obviously it’s disappointing today but, like I said before, I’ve had disappointments last year and this year. I’m sure this year we have had pretty good speed all the time and we have just kept having issues or mistakes here and there and that’s not shown the real results.”

“But if I didn’t have the speed I would not be here. I know when to stop and if I didn’t have the speed or passion to do it I wouldn’t come here, I would stay home. It’s been far away from a disaster like last year even with all the issues, problems and mistakes.”

“So we will keep pushing and hopefully we will get a little bit luck. I’m sure we can do great results and great races but we have to make sure we don’t have any issues,” concluded Raikkonen who lies fifth in the world championship standings as Formula 1 heads takes a summer break.

[MIKA27]

SAINZ NOT HAPPY WITH VERSTAPPEN FAVOURITISM

Carlos Sainz admitted he was angry with his Toro Rosso team after the Hungarian grand prix.

Spanish media reports say the 20-year-old was running ahead of his high-profile teammate Max Verstappen when the Dutchman was given the preferential pitstop strategy.

“I’m angry because I was doing a very good race,” he was quoted by Marca sports newspaper.

Sainz ultimately retired with a technical problem, but he admitted to being most upset and baffled at why his team appeared to favour Verstappen who ultimately finished fourth.

Writing in the Spanish daily AS, correspondent Manuel Franco sensed favouritism, “It’s not the first time. It’s difficult to fight on equal terms with a driver that they have called the new Senna.”

Sainz said: “It has not been explained to me why they didn’t stop me first. Imagine the anger that I have. I stopped later than the others, Max did ‘the undercut’ and passed me in the pits. That’s what I cannot understand.”

[Thrassos]

SAINZ NOT HAPPY WITH VERSTAPPEN FAVOURITISM

Carlos Sainz admitted he was angry with his Toro Rosso team after the Hungarian grand prix.

Spanish media reports say the 20-year-old was running ahead of his high-profile teammate Max Verstappen when the Dutchman was given the preferential pitstop strategy.

“I’m angry because I was doing a very good race,” he was quoted by Marca sports newspaper.

Sainz ultimately retired with a technical problem, but he admitted to being most upset and baffled at why his team appeared to favour Verstappen who ultimately finished fourth.

Writing in the Spanish daily AS, correspondent Manuel Franco sensed favouritism, “It’s not the first time. It’s difficult to fight on equal terms with a driver that they have called the new Senna.”

Sainz said: “It has not been explained to me why they didn’t stop me first. Imagine the anger that I have. I stopped later than the others, Max did ‘the undercut’ and passed me in the pits. That’s what I cannot understand.”

Wouldn't surprise me if Sainz is getting a bit worried about Verstappen's performance. Finishing 4th at the age of 17 in a Torro Rosso, not bad at all!

[Orion21]

A very exciting race for sure and it's great to see Daniel Ricciardo driving a competitive car again. This race is laced with "what if's . . ." moments, but the fact is Mercedes continues to fail at the start and Red Bull is back. I would love to see Ferrari and Red Bull continue to try and drive Mercedes off the track! There was something so gritty and physical about this race. Brilliant!

[MIKA27]

RENAULT AND RED BULL STILL HEADING FOR DIVORCE

Renault appears to be heading towards a future without Red Bull, as the antagonism between the partners continues unabated suggesting the end is nigh.

With the French carmaker’s next move a hot topic in the Hungaroring paddock, boss Cyril Abiteboul fired a barb at its ever-complaining team partner.

“When we read that Red Bull loses money with Renault, that is completely unacceptable,” he told RMC Sport.

“Combining all the money they were paid directly, the amounts that Total paid to them and Infiniti paid to them, as well as prize funds, we are talking about half a billion euros,” said Abiteboul.

And suddenly, both Renault and the Enstone team Lotus are openly admitting that talks about a new works alliance are taking place. Indeed, the pieces of the puzzle seem now to be falling into place.

L’Equipe reports that Renault has decided to pull its support from the Formula Renault 3.5 category; a highly-regarded series that nonetheless does not have the profile of GP2.

“60 per cent of the current F1 drivers were trained in Formula Renault,” said Abiteboul, referring also to the 2.0 litre series, “yet nobody knows. We cannot continue to do everything in isolation.”

Reportedly, a final decision about the entire Renault programme, including F1, will be taken in September. Abiteboul admitted there will be a “clarification”.

“We have been thinking about our strategy for nearly a year,” said Abiteboul.

He admitted that buying Lotus “is one of the opportunities we are considering”, but said Renault is also determined “not to repeat past mistakes”.

[MIKA27]

LAUDA: WHOEVER SAID FORMULA 1 IS BORING LOOKS STUPID NOW

“Whoever said formula one is boring looks stupid now,” declared F1 legend Niki Lauda after a thrilling Hungarian grand prix.

Sunday marked the end to Mercedes’ impressive and – to some – tedious run of dominance, as it was the first race in the new ‘power unit’ era not featuring a set of silver overalls on the post-race podium.

Team boss Toto Wolff acknowledged it was a “great race for formula one” but joked to Bild newspaper: “Now I’m going to lock myself in the toilet and cry.”

Even Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 ‘ringmaster’, gatecrashed Wolff’s media rounds to mischievously declare: “Thanks for making it interesting but you didn’t have to go overboard!”

World champion Lewis Hamilton thinks it was his worst personal performance since Fuji 2008, even apologising on the radio long before the chequered flag.

He denied the poignancy of the pre-race focus on Jules Bianchi’s death – culminating in the late Frenchman’s family joining the minute’s silence on the grid – had got to him.

“It was nothing to do with that,” said Hamilton, although he did admit he struggled to sleep on Saturday night and had begun the race with a “strange” feeling.

Jonathan McEvoy, the Daily Mail correspondent, said Hamilton’s driving belonged in an episode of ‘Wacky Races’, while Mercedes’ Lauda agreed that the Briton had been “too aggressive”.

“Do I deserve any points? By the grace of god I got some,” Hamilton said afterwards. “When you make a fool of yourself — sometimes you just have to laugh it off and know you can do better,” he added.

Teammate Nico Rosberg also admitted he was “gutted” the events of the race conspired against him, resulting in a second win of the season for Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and the two Red Bull drivers flanking him on the podium.

[MIKA27]

ARRIVABENE: WE DESERVED ONE-TWO

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has denied he will now spend the summer break thinking about Kimi Raikkonen’s future.

“It’s called the summer break because it’s a break,” the Italian declared, after another race weekend full of speculation about Ferrari’s 2016 lineup.

Some believe Hungary was Finn Raikkonen’s last chance to prove to his Ferrari boss that he should be retained next year alongside Sebastian Vettel.

And Vettel, who won at the Hungaroing, said the race had proved Raikkonen still has the speed.

“It’s not my job [to say it] but all the bullsh*t that’s been going around recently, I think we deserved a one-two today. I think that’s a couple of answers to some questions,” the German insisted.

Indeed, Ferrari apologised to Raikkonen for the reliability trouble, while boss Arrivabene said: “Kimi drove a terrific race today.”

Pressed on the 2007 world champion’s future, however, he said: “I want to focus on the car. The driver issue has time.”

Raikkonen was also asked if his performance on Sunday proved he still has the speed necessary to drive for Ferrari, and answered: “If I didn’t have the speed and the passion then I would not be here. I would be at home.

“What will happen next year is not in my hands, but the team knows already that I want to stay.”

Finally, Arrivabene fired a barb at F1 legend, former Ferrari driver and now Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda, who had suggested recently that the Maranello marque’s flagging form meant it was better at making “spaghetti” than cars.

“Last night I had a pizza Arrabbiata as I do not like spaghetti so much,” he said. Arrabbiata, literally meaning ‘angry’ in Italian, is a hot and spicy sauce.

[MIKA27]

ECCLESTONE DENIES TV BOYCOTT OF FERRARI IN HUNGARY

Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari have denied wild claims the television broadcast of Sunday’s Hungarian grand prix amounted to a boycott of the Italian team.

The accusation was made by Gianfranco Mazzoni, a commentator for Italian television RAI, who suggested that the Ecclestone-controlled Formula One Management had arranged that images of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen’s cars be kept to a minimum during the race.

According to Mazzoni, F1 supremo Ecclestone is having a disagreement with Ferrari team management, led by Maurizio Arrivabene.

Mazzoni said the apparent boycott was “shameful” and invited viewers to “Complain to FOM” (Formula One Management) directly.

Arrivabene, however, was quoted by the Roman newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano as calling the accusation “absurd”.

“Let’s stop this nonsense,” the Italian insisted, saying the cameras will have been focusing on the wheel-to-wheel battles through the field even though Vettel was racing towards victory.

And Ecclestone added: “I did not notice a boycott of Ferrari. Certainly on my part there was nothing. I will have to calmly look at the recording again.”

[MIKA27]

MCLAREN SAY FUTURE OF THEIR DRIVERS NOT A PRIORITY

Jenson Button looks set to be retained by McLaren-Honda beyond the 2015 season, despite team bosses clearly stating that the team’s immediate priorities do not include their future driver line-up.

Recently, when team supremo Ron Dennis was asked about the 2009 world champion’s future, he answered: “Jenson Button has a two-year contract with McLaren. We are not even thinking about drivers at the moment.”

While some took that to mean he is staying put, others noticed the ambiguity of the answer given that Button’s contract is a one-year deal plus a 2016 ‘option’.

A source confirmed that McLaren’s decision must be made by a certain date, after which Button will either be retained or free to move to another team such as Williams.

McLaren has two promising juniors, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne, waiting in the wings, but it is believed the Woking team has been impressed with Button’s determination and performance this year alongside the equally highly-experienced Fernando Alonso.

When asked about the likely composition of McLaren’s 2016 lineup, team boss Eric Boullier told Speed Week in Hungary: “The driver question has no priority at the moment. Both drivers are under contract for 2016.”

[MIKA27]

FORCE INDIA BLAMES HUNGARORING KERBS FOR FAILURES

Force India fingers were being pointed at the Hungaroring’s kerbs after the team suffered a second failure of the weekend with its new B-spec car.

The Silverstone based team was buoyed by the early promise of the heavily modified machine, until Sergio Perez suffered his spectacular roll-over shunt in Friday practice.

As a precaution, teammate Hulkenberg then also sat out the second session while the apparent suspension problem was investigated.

Then on race day, it was Hulkenberg’s turn to have a terrifying crash when the front wing folded underneath his car, spearing him into the barriers at full speed.

Force India technical boss Andy Green told Auto Motor und Sport, “It was the same wing design as in Silverstone. The wing itself was brand new. But if it was ok at Silverstone then it should also have been ok here.”

Green acknowledged that it had been a structural failure, but fingers were also being pointed at the Hungaroring’s kerbs with Hulkenberg saying, “They are the most aggressive on the whole calendar.”

Officially, Force India is still investigating, but it is true that Ferrari also had a front wing failure in practice, however the FIA’s Charlie Whiting insisted: “The kerbs have not changed since last year.”

[MIKA27]

Wolff: 'Very concerned' about start issues

After being blitzed at the start in the last two races, Toto Wolff is "very concerned" about Mercedes struggles off the line.

Mercedes have failed to make their front row shut-outs at both the British Grand Prix and on Sunday in Hungary count.

At Silverstone, it was the two Williams cars driven by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas that stunned the Brackley outfit once the lights went out

If Mercedes had thought that was a one-off, they were rudely awoken when both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen blasted their way past at Hungaroring.

Raikkonen, who has started the furthest back in fifth, was briefly involved in a duel for second with Rosberg, before forcing his way past.

Wolff, the motorsport boss at German manufacturer, admits he is worried about the poor starts his team has experienced lately.

“We got jumped by two Williams' last time, and jumped by two Ferraris this time. This was what triggered the whole mess, and then the lap one incident," he said.

“We need to get on top of the situation. It is not acceptable and it needs to be analysed why it happened. It is many various reasons, it is not one particular one. If you look at it, not good.”

Mercedes might have further concerns when the teams return from their summer break. Rule changes, scheduled for the Belgian Grand Prix, mean that drivers will have less help during race starts.

Wolff concedes that there seem to be many factors contributing to their current problems.

“It is various issues," he said.

“It is very difficult to get the calibration right."

Wolff pointed out that the problem also seems to be intermittent.

“We had two very good practice starts off the line and then when it mattered, on the actual race start, we had too much wheel spin. Then you get overtaken in a way you cannot recover.”

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Williams to check Massa's seating position

With Felipe Massa's problems in finding his grid box at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Williams believe his seating position might be at fault.

Massa could not locate the exact spot where he was meant to position his FW37 after the formation lap on Sunday. The fact that he was well short meant the start was aborted and another formation lap had to take place.

The spot where Massa was meant to stop is marked in the grid box with a yellow line. Drivers then line up their front axle with that line to know they are in the correct position.

Massa, who received a five second time penalty for his misdemeanor, could not see the line however.

Rob Smedley, Williams performance chief, says the problems seems to be unique to Massa. He described how the Williams team had help him out on the grid.

"Valtteri [bottas] said he has absolutely no problems seeing," said Smedley.

"So we'll have to look into it and see if we need to raise Felipe slightly or have a slightly different process and that's what we'll do."

"Even when he came back round when we told him what the problem was, he knew that he couldn't see it so he said 'I'd better stop short rather than stop long and then get a penalty for that'."

Massa had never suffered a similar problem at any of the other races so far this season.

"I don't know if the yellow line is in a different place from this track to other tracks," he said.

"It's something we need to improve to be consistent every race. I couldn't see it.

"Normally I don't have a problem to stop at other tracks."

Smedley says that Williams will have to look into why the problem suddenly appeared, starting with Massa's position in the car.

"I don't think he is actually lower [than Bottas], he's not any lower in the legality diagonal, but his physiological head size, where it sits in his eyes compared to the top of his head will be slightly different.

"The track is not cambered on uphill or downhill in any way - he just said he couldn't see it," said Smedley.

MIKA: In other words, Massa made a mistake and typical Massa style, out come the excuses.

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Another tick in the box for Kvyat

Daniil Kvyat continued his "upward trajectory" at the Hungarian GP, much to the delight of Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Following a sluggish start to the 2015 season where he was well beaten by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, many wondered if his promotion from a Toro Rosso seat to the Red Bull team came too early in his Formula 1 career.

However, he has turned things around and has outscored Ricciardo in the last five races, picking up 40 points to the Australian's 26, with his best display coming in Budapest on Sunday with a career-best second place.

"I think really since Monaco he's just making more and more progress," Horner said. "I think he did a really good job and he deserves his first podium. I think that's another tick in the box for him and he'll draw confidence from that. It's part of an upward trajectory for him, he's developing very nicely."

Ricciardo has a six-point advantage over Kvyat heading into the summer break and Horner admits the Australian deserves an "A " while the Russian also has a "very positive report".

"I think Ricciardo's half term report is A to be honest with you and Daniil Kyvat needs to pay more attention to the rule book but he's getting there! After a slow-ish start which wasn't really all his fault; he missed the first grand prix, lots of reliability issues and failures.

"It could have got into his head a lot more than it did and testimony to him that he bounced back from it and got himself going. I'd say a very positive report for him going into the first break."

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Vettel not ruling out title challenge as gap shrinks

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel remains realistic about his chances of winning the World Championship, but admitted he and his team will do everything they can to make the "impossible possible".

The German's second win of the season means he is just one win off matching Nico Rosberg and just 21 points shy of taking over second place in the standings'.

Meanwhile he also closed the gap to championship leader Lewis Hamilton on Sunday to come within 42 points - less than two race wins - of the lead.

The four-time champion admitted they are still behind in terms of pace, but he hasn't ruled out catching the Silver Arrows before the end of the season.

"There is still a lot of work to do to catch up but you never know," said Vettel.

"I am sure we will try absolutely everything and try to make the impossible possible.

"The best way to do that is remain calm and try to do your best and then we see where the journey takes us," he added.

Meanwhile team principal Maurizio Arrivabene expects Ferrari's season to be full of ups and downs as it matches or even beats Mercedes at some circuits, but falls back at others.

"They [Mercedes] are the strongest team. I recognise that. The Mercedes car is good everywhere and we are expecting to have good and bad races through the course of the season but the direction we are going is good.

"At the beginning of the season the gap was quite big, then we were able to nearly catch up, then they flew away again. The story of this season is going to be that one."

[MIKA27]

Infographic: Get to know the Belgian GP in detail

Formula 1 fans hate this time of year. Why? Because the sport heads into a four week 'summer' break, making it feel like a lifetime until the next race.

However fans are duly rewarded for waiting patiently, because the first race of the second half of the season is my personal and fan favourite, one that always tops the 'Best Circuit' polls...Spa-Francorchamps.

The Belgian Grand Prix almost always offers up an action packed race. The long straights, multiple elevation changes, hairpin corners, changeable weather conditions and the holy grail of corners that is Eau Rouge. Not only is it a fan favourite, but ask any of the drivers on the grid and they're sure to agree.

Get in gear and learn everything you need to know about the circuit in the below infographic :