Hungarian GP Executive Summary

A great comeback by Mclaren and Hamilton who were able to capitalize on Alonso's bad luck and Vettel's bad start. The Hungaroring is a good challenge for cars and drivers but not so great for spectators, not that it mattered very much, the race was not close enough to be hard fought. The racing was really in the geeky aspects of tire wear and fuel strategies.

The most notable aspect of the race was the utter lack of pace from the Brawn GP. One has to wonder about how the diffuser rulings and the lack of budget at Brawn have impacted the season.

There was some controversy, Renault has been suspended from the championship for one race for sending Alonso out with a wheel not properly secured. While I can understand the sensitivity of the FIA to parts coming off of cars, I just cannot imagine this standing. On the other hand the FIA officials were very cool with the minor contact at the start. For all the breathless rantings of Peter Windsor during the US FOX broadcast, practically demanding a drivethough penalty for Raikkonen, replays show that Hamilton once more out braked himself and risked taking out Webber who, being the clever guy that he is, was expecting it and stayed wide. This left a hole both he and Raikkonen went for, there was some minor bumping, all the cars made it through. no harm no foul. The way it should be.

Of course, most fans probably were more preoccupied with Massa's condition than with with the race. Latest news are good for Massa the man, perhaps less for Massa the racer. Though his condition is improving, it looks more and more likely he will miss the rest of the season and there are questions now about damage to his optic nerve, something that could have devastating consequences for his career.

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