Because on a Saturday- and on this Saturday in particular- the Red Bulls are on another planet. Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix with ease, beating teammate Mark Webber by 4 tenths of a second. Third placed Fernando Alonso was more than a second adrift of the poleman, a margin equivalent to several hours in Formula One terms. Here’s how the walkover went down.

© LAT/Autosport

Qualifying 1 – Same Old, Same Old.

Why don’t we just create a template for the first part of qualifying? It could read ‘”all six of the new teams’ cars were eliminated, along with [insert name of unlucky 18th placed qualifier here]. The Red Bulls were quick, and it looks like one of them will be on pole.”

That would have worked perfectly today, as Hispania, Virgin and Lotus all dropped out, along with one unlucky extra. No surprise that the back row tomorrow will be an all-Hispania affair, with di Grassi and Trulli starting directly ahead of them. That left Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen battling to make their respective teams quickest of the newbies, and it was the German who prevailed, putting his Virgin Racing machine 19th on the grid. A hearty well done to Timo and the team.

And the dreaded 18th spot? Despite both Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button lingering in the drop zone late on the big guns escaped, and it was Kamui Kobayashi who dropped out in Q1. A bit of a surprise, as Kamui’s been putting in some impressive performances of late, but the Japanese hotshoe had his final run spoiled by a Hispania, and found himself benched early on. Out front the Red Bulls were very quick, and the smart money remained on them the second session loomed.

Qualifying 2 – Petrov Shines, Button’s In Decline.

On to Q2, traditionally the most competitive Saturday session. This one appeared seriously promising, with a few young drivers- particularly Petrov and Hulkenberg- having looked solid all weekend, and seemingly capable of gatecrashing the top 10 shootout. So who would miss out?

Petrov more than lived up to billing, producing a stellar lap to end the session 4th quickest and comfortably through to the top-10 shootout. Hulkenberg also made it through- just- in 10th place, whilst Pedro de la Rosa gave Sauber something to smile about after Kobayashi’s elimination by progressing with the 9th quickest time. Joining these three standouts were the usual suspects: both Red Bulls, both Ferraris, Rosberg, Kubica and Hamilton.

Michael Schumacher could only manage 14th, though his recent form makes this no great surprise. The bigger story was reigning champion Jenson Button’s elimination, the Brit being pipped by Hulkenberg by just 0.017s. Also eliminated were both Force Indias, both Toro Rossos and Rubens Barichello in the Williams.

Top-Ten Shootout – Red Bull Rule (Again).

And so Q3- also knows as the top-ten shootout, or the bit where a Red Bull gets pole- was upon us. Alonso put in the first quick lap, comfortably quicker than teammate Massa with Hamilton third fastest. Then Webber’s Red Bull appeared, and the paddock stood in silent expectation. Slower than the Ferrari in the first sector, Webber then demonstrated the Red Bull’s otherworldly brilliance by going half a second quicker through the middle sector, before adding another 3 tenths before the lap was over. But Vettel was out too, and going even quicker.

And did he ever make it count. After a little sawing at the wheel through the final corner Vettel planted his foot for the pit straight. The Red Bull streaked across the line, and Seb was 4 tenths quicker than his teammate- and over a second clear of Alonso’s Ferrari. Mega stuff from the Red Bulls.

As the front runners wound up for a second attempts de la Rosa, Petrov and Kubica were attempting their sole runs. Robert locked up badly in to turn 2, ruining his lap, leaving Petrov with a chance to outqualify his teammate for the first time this season. Vitaly too made a hash of his lap, but both got a second chance. It was the Russian’s time to shine, and after 11 straight defeats to Kubica he finally bested the Pole, sealing 7th on the grid. Bobby K had to be content with 8th. Meanwhile de la Rosa secured 9th, with Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

But there were still matters to be sorted at the front. Alonso was now out, trying in vein to get near the Red Bulls. No chance, though he would not be knocked from his 3rd place. Best of the rest will have to do. Behind him Massa went 4th- could he make another stellar start and get by his teammate?

Finally, Webber attempted to usurp his teammate. But his lap was scruffy, and the session ended in anti-climax- Webber second, Vettel secure on pole. The German attempted an even better lap, but couldn’t quite do it, though his second best attempt was still better than anything his teammate could manage.

So it’s the 11th Red Bull pole in 12 qualifying sessions, and today their quickest car was over a second clear of the quickest opposition machine. When Christian Horner takes a minute this evening he’ll once again wonder why his team isn’t romping off with both titles, and will be praying that his drivers can bring their cars home for a one-two tomorrow. On the evidence of today’s qualifying session it should be a breeze.

© LAT/Autosport

That’s not to say that a procession is likely on Sunday, the track does encourage overtaking, especially the bravest of drivers – just look back at some of the epic races in 1986 and 1990 (courtesy of the BBC) here.

To ensure you know your way around the circuit, here’s Badger’s guide to a lap of the Hungaroring.  No pointless gear numbers or corner speed stats, just plain English guide to the corners and when to get the power down.  Can you guess who kindly provided the voiceover for our Hungarian guide?

Enjoy

“Who’s feeling hungry for victory” – indeed, who do you think will do the business on Sunday?!

The early signs are that Red Bull have every intention of doing just that, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber dominating FP1. FP2 again saw Vettel on top, with Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari splitting the German and his teammate, but the consensus is that this one is already Red Bull’s to lose.

Perceived wisdom is that this is the view Red Bull's rivals will get of their cars in Hungary. © Sutton/Autosport.

But before all that, fancy some pre-practice news? Well, as you’ve probably deduced by now, Sakon Yamamoto continues in the Hispania car this weekend, meaning Karun Chandhok sits out a second consecutive race. Well done to Sakon for continuing to prove that whilst money can’t buy you love it can secure you a seat with a struggling F1 team.

Sticking with the driver juggling Spanish squad, Bernie Ecclestone has suggested this week that ‘at least two teams’ won’t last beyond 2010, and Hispania are undoubtedly one of them. Would anyone miss them?  Bernie reckons not, saying that Lotus aside the new teams have been a nuisance. Let us know your thoughts on that one.

Sakon's giving the thumbs up, but is it really all okay at Hispania? © Sutton/Autosport

And what about Red Bull’s ‘movable front wing’? Rival team bosses have been questioning the legality of the device, but having passed FIA scrutineering it would seem it’s as legal as a cleverly coded team order. Team boss Christian Horner isn’t concerned: “At the end of the day we are very happy that the car complies with the regulations and the tests that the FIA have carried out. I think the technical team should take it is a compliment when others are questioning the car’s legality.”

That same technical team should also be proud of what their car achieved on the track today. FP1 belonged solely to Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel leapfrogging teammate Mark Webber at the midway point in the session and staying at the top until the chequered flag fell. The gap between the two was just over a tenth of a second. Third quickest was Robert Kubica, the Renault once again looking potent on a twisty circuit, but the Pole ended the session a full second adrift of the Red Bull drivers. Ominous pace from the energy drink lads.

Next up were a clutch of drivers from whom this a is a happy hunting ground: 2006 Hungaroring winner Jenson Button was 4th; Rubens Barichello, who won here in 2002 was 5th; Pedro de la Rosa- whose only F1 podium to date was here in 2006- was 6th and Fernando Alonso, whose maiden F1 win was in Hungary seven years ago ended the morning 7th. This circuit may not be the most exciting on the calendar, but it’s definitely a significant one to several drivers.

Meanwhile 2009 winner Lewis Hamilton struggled in FP1, only managing 18th fastest, whilst Felipe Massa, returning to the scene of his horrific accident last year, posted the 12th fastest time.

On to FP2, where the fastest Friday times are traditionally set. Following his pace in the morning session there were no surprises when Sebastian Vettel once again topped the leaderboard, lapping the Hungaroring 1.20.087s. He’ll be dipping in to the 1.19s tomorrow, and you’d have to make him favourite for pole.

But there were also signs that the Red Bull boys won’t have it all their own way this weekend, with Ferrari once again showing some decent pace. Fernando Alonso split Vettel and Webber in FP2, though frustratingly for Fernando it’s unlikely that Sebastian will move over for him, even if he does prove faster come the race. Everybody’s favourite supporting cast member Felipe Massa ended the session 4th.

That’s enough cynicism- time for a good news story. 5th place went to under-pressure Renault driver Vitaly Petrrov, who enjoyed one of his most impressive sessions of the season. Vitaly’s being cheered on by a large Russian contingent of fans, and a strong performance on Sunday would do his hopes of driving a yellow car in 2011 wonders. He was followed by Lewis Hamilton, teammate Robert Kubica and Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams, with Button and Schumacher completing the top 10.

Verdict? You don’t need a degree in Formula One analysis to work out that Red Bull look very strong (though it does help), and despite Ferrari’s good showing in FP2 it’d be something of a shock to see anyone but Webber or Vettel atop the podium come Sunday afternoon. Renault look capable of a great weekend, and we’d fancy Kubica to beat at least one McLaren in qualifying if all goes to plan for him. Nico Hulkenberg may be a good bet for a top-10 grid slot, whilst Mercedes look vulnerable to another embarassing elimination in the second round of qualifying. But, as Germany proved- to Felipe Massa in particular- you should never bank on anything, no matter how confident you are of it or how much you believe yourself deserving of it. Crazy things can often become the norm in Formula One.

© Sutton/Autosport

A thoughtful shot credit: LAT/Autosport

Robert Kubica. One of the most difficult races to pick so far this year. Alonso certainly isn’t worthy of it, Massa disqualified himself by moving over, Vettel went backwards from the start, Hamilton and Button weren’t particularly stellar and Webber carried a problem throughout much of the race.

We suppose, by default, it has to go to Kubica. Again the best of the rest, the general feeling around the paddock is that he’s getting more out of the car than there is to be given. However, it’s somewhat difficult to tell when he’s thoroughly outclassing his team mate at every turn.

He really deserves to be put in a championship winning car, just to have a shot at it. Sadly for him, the McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull drives look to be locked up for next season, if not beyond. The next option, Mercedes, appear to have their driver line up settled for next year barring another Schumacher retirement, which isn’t something Kubica was or should be willing to hang around for.

His best option, Ferrari, went for a man they knew would play second fiddle to Alonso, not something we can see Kubica doing. “Here’s a potentially championship winning car, Robert, but do us a favour and don’t actually win in it, will you? Just get out of the way when His Magnificence Sir Fernando Alonso moans a bit.” No, we can’t see it happening either.

Therefore, we at Badger think he’s done exactly the right thing in committing to Renault and we’d be very surprised if he didn’t have a clause or two in his contract authorising his release should a ‘big’ team come in for him.

Sadly, and it’s very much a reflection of the race we endured at the weekend, there’s not that much more to say.

The faces say it all (c) LAT

PITS. Felipe Massa -

Fernando Alonso got his hollow victory at Hockenheim, and Ferrari came away from the weekend $100,000 poorer, but it was Felipe Massa who was the biggest loser of the weekend. You don’t become world champion by being the ‘nice’ guy; just look at Michael Schumacher. Some say it was in fact ’sportsman-like’ of Massa to gift Alonso the win, but it’s not very like a sportsman to just give up and let someone else beat you when they didn’t deserve the win.

If Massa stays with Ferrari he will be in a fast car, but he will never win the world championship. If he moves to another team his reputation as a lap dog will do him no favours either. Man up Massa! Show those Italian prancing poncy lot what you’re capable of!

PITS. Rob Smedley -

Oh dear, Rob. POP understands that you have to tow the corporate line sometimes, but nowhere in a person’s contract does it ever state that you have to tell properly bad porky pies. It was pure cringe to watch Rob Smedley’s post-race attempt to (very badly) pull the wool over our eyes. His ramblingly rubbish excuses sounded more like a child telling his teacher “but Sir, the dog ate my homework, honest!” Yeah, right.

To help Smedders with his future delivery of team orders, POP has compiled a handy list of code words for use during the race:

“Put the car into P-K mode” = crash into a wall at 180mph to allow Alonso to cheat his way to a win (see Nelson Piquet, Singapore 2008).

“It looks as though you have a pressure problem” = Uh oh, Stefano Domenicali is on the phone to Luca di Montezemolo again, watch out!

“That’s it Felipe baby! Today is your day! Don’t let Alonso through whatever you do!” = move out of the way for Alonso NOW!

To watch Smedders’ poor post-race performance for yourselves below!

Click here to view the embedded video.

PITS. Stefano Domenicali -

Why the pits for Ferrari bos Domenicali? He’s a coward, that’s why. He should have given the team order over the radio, not ‘Reluctant Rob’ Smedley. And after the race he should have taken some more responsibility, “my President [Luca di Montezemolo], I have to report to him, you know” said Domenicali. Coward.

PODIUM. F1 controversy -

The actual racing has been nothing short of spectacular this season, excluding Bahrain and Hockenheim of course. However, POP does have a penchant for some good old-fashioned Formula 1 scandal. Which is why POP constantly pines for Flavio Briatore and his cheating ways, sigh. Nevermind, there’s one thing that this season has been lacking, and that’s controversy. Thankfully this wish came true last weekend at Hockenheim!

There’s nothing more dull than everyone getting along, hugging, slapping each other on the back, taking happy clappy barge holidays together on the Norfolk Broads, and naming their first-borns after each other. Boring! Grab POP the sick bucket will you? Thanks.

PITS. Force India -

What? There were other teams racing at Hockenheim? Unbelievable! But true. The ‘Team Orders’ furore dominated all the headlines this week, so you’d be forgiven for not noticing that anything else happened during last weekend’s grand prix. Force India have been lucky really to have avoided press attention, because during the race they made a HIL-AR-IOUS mistake!

They somehow managed to get the drivers’ tyres the wrong way round, in other words they put Liuzzi’s tyres on Sutil’s car and vice versa. This is strictly against the sporting regulations, so the cars had to re-pit to rectify the problem or face exclusion from the race! Someone at Force India needs to go to Specsavers…

PODIUM. Top Gear -

Thought the BBC program Top Gear had lost its edge? Think again. A brilliant, interesting, reverent tribute to the late great Ayrton Senna.

Click here to watch on BBC iplayer (for UK users only).

(c) Darren Heath

Many of you have been quite rightly angry about the incident.  Some disagree with the order being given at all, given that it was exactly a year since Massa’s life-threatening accident and was quite frankly a lot better than Alonso for the majority of the grand prix.

Some of you object to the crass way in which it was handled, with engineer Rob Smedley left to do the dirty work and making it very clear he wasn’t happy about doing it.  And possibly even more of you got properly narked when the Ferrari team proceeded to attempt the worst cover-up in the history of F1.  We certainly learnt one thing about Ferrari last weekend: they can’t lie for toffee.

Of course, there are some big Ferrari fans out there, and it has been interesting to gauge their reactions to the incident.  “The team comes first” has been the party line from Ferrari, but they would have had the full 43 points whether Massa or Alonso stood on the top step.  The switch only bolsters Alonso’s quest for the drivers’ championship.

For Massa fans it was a dark weekend.  What could, and should, have been a triumphant return to form a year to the day from the crash ended with Felipe’s reputation in some confusion.  Was it really “magnanimous” of him to give Alonso the lead, as Rob Smedley told him over the radio, or does it expose him to ridicule for not having the guts to go for a world championship himself?  We’re barely past the half-way mark of the season, and already Massa has ruled himself out.  Perhaps Massa should take a leaf out of Mark Webber’s book and go for the win anyway and suffer the wrath of the team later?  If he wants to call himself World Champion one day he will have to be that ruthless.

(c) Sutton

The Team Orders debate: were Ferrari out of order?

As many of you have pointed out, team orders have always happened in Formula 1, despite being ‘banned’ fully in 2002.  Here’s a selection of reader comments on the debate:

“If Fernando is as good a driver as he claims to be then he should be able to pass his teammate properly” – Spud

“There is still so much more to play for in this season’s championship, and there is no need for this to happen with 200 points still available in the season” – Richard Sobey

“Despite what has happened “in the past” the rules are quite clear that ‘team orders’ should play no part in the final position of the participants whilst the race is conducted” – Badvok

“The worst ‘crime’ here though is the inept way Ferrari executed the team orders” – Carlostastic Racing

Let’s get things back in order?

So should regulation 39.1 be repealed if it is effectively worthless?  The WMSC are yet to rule on this occasion, but with former Ferrari-boss Jean Todt at the helm of the FIA it seems extremely unlikely that Ferrari will get anything more than a slap on the wrist.  If indeed no action is taken is it even worth having the rule there at all if it does not serve purpose?

Perhaps not, but this incident has got everyone talking, and sometimes shouting, about the future of the ‘Team Orders’ rule.  If team orders are so prevalent, then should it be repealed?  Or should Ferrari just have some lessons in PR and the art of concealment?  In the words of Lotus chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne, “the bottom line is if you are going to do it then do so far more cleverly than they did.”

And here’s one more thought: had the race been, well, a bit racier would we have even cared so much about this incident?  Perhaps it all got blown way out of proportion simply because the 2010 German grand prix was such a yawn-fest?

Image credits: Sutton images and Darrren Heath

In short the race unfolded for the red cars with Alonso being squeezed off the line by Vettel, while Massa simply drove away and passed the pair or them.  The front two remained in control of the race with not even the Red Bull cars being able to keep up with them.

While going through traffic, Massa had a tough time and Alonso had an opportunity to pass but Massa drove superbly to keep his teammate at bay in 2nd.  It clearly looked like Alonso was quicker,  but Massa pulled out a gap of over 3 seconds with fastest lap after fastest lap.  Alonso caught back up again when going through traffic, but he could not find a way of getting past to take the lead.

Instead, on lap 48 Feliple Massa’s race engineer came on the team radio and said in a tone that made it clear he didn’t really want to say it…

Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand that message?

It was the most blatant attempt of team orders since it was enforced that teams can’t instruct drivers to slow down and change positions.  The fact that Ferrari did it for the lead when Massa clearly won the lead fair and square is outrageous.
Alonso should not be publicly displaying joy at winning today’s grand prix because it’s a false victory, along with his Singapore victory of 2008.

Image credit: Bokko via Flickr

So, onto the start – what’s going to happen into and after turn one? The first two sectors of Hockenheim are pretty quick so those cars with great top speed will be in good shape to make a move in the opening laps – that’s what Button and Hamilton will be wanting anyway. As for the front row, we have Vettel who has lost out a few times already this season and has question marks over his ability to hold position when challenged strongly, unfortunately for him, Alonso is alongside and he’s desperate to get Ferrari’s title challenge back on track – with his toys firmly back in the shiny red pram, he’ll be determined to come out of turn one in first place, otherwise it could be another Valencia-style effort for Vettel where with a faster car he can just scamper off into the distance.

Of course, with a firey Spaniard needing a win and a young German trying to readdress himself as number one in his team, there could well be some argy-bargy off the line and that would leave Webber and the McLaren duo looking handy, we all know all too well that although they don’t qualify great, the British champions’ car is more than quick enough in race conditions. As for Massa, he’s in a similar position to Alonso, albeit just a bit quieter.

This is just some musings, what are your musings for the start – any ideas folks? Here’s the order before turn one:

Can Webber get a grip on the championship this weekend?

Badger’s been a bit busy today, not wanting to disclose what we’re busy with just yet, but anyway later than normal, here’s the run-down from Friday over at the Hockenheimring.  If you need reminding of the track – watch our Track Guide – but today was all about the weather with practice one being extremely wet with drivers spinning off left right and center including Lewis Hamilton who was left to walk back to the pits without a brolly after damaging his McLaren – not the ideal start to the weekend for the current championship leader.

As for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso seems to have put his toys back in the pram to get down to business and put the prancing horse in first place in the second of today’s practice sessions.  Massa followed in third with the ever quick Red Bull of Vettel getting in the mix in the top 3.

Looking beyond the title challengers – it’s worth pointing at that Virgin seemed to have turned the tables on the newbies championship with convincing performances in both sessions and finishing ahead of the Lotus chaps.   The first session highlights just how much a wet race on Sunday could benefit the new teams and if it does they could be in line to receive some points – a serious achievement with this being only their 10th grand prix ever.  Good luck to Glock especially – it’s his home race too.

Times from today:

Weather was changeable so you can’t read too much into these times except maybe congratulate Force India for a superb result – Sutil was happy in front of his home crowd.