Saturday was definitely the busiest day of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend so far, with FP3 and qualifying as well as plenty of media sessions.
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Like practice day at the Hungaroring, it all kicked off with a 6:00am alarm to get ready to leave for the circuit, giving us plenty of time to get sorted before heading to Ferrari – again – for breakfast.
With a bit of time prior to third practice, I got up a few pieces from Friday’s FIA press conference (which featured team principals) before then heading to the back of the paddock to watch GP3 practice.
The paddock is quite high up in comparison to turns two and three, situated directly behind it. This means you get a great view of the corners, as well as the penultimate turn.
It was then time for third practice, which was topped yet again by Lewis Hamilton – a clean sweep for the Brit after setting the pace in both Friday sessions. He finished just ahead of Nico Rosberg, with Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas next up.
Abhishek Takle (Midday and also a contributor to Richland F1) and I headed back to the spot from earlier in the day to take some pictures and see how the cars were handling mid-way through the session.
It became obvious pretty quickly that the Caterham and Lotus drivers were really struggling under braking, and that several different lines were being taken at turn 13 – some making a ‘V’ shape and others rounding off the corner more.
After posting my report and getting the results added, I then grabbed some lunch (the food in the media centre isn’t great to be honest, and there is no still water in the drinks machine!) and got prepared for qualifying.
I then had a wander around the paddock, trying to spot any familiar faces and taking pictures to share on social media. There weren’t too many people around, although I did spot Toto Wolff being interviewed for a TV station, with his arm in a sling after his bike accident injury.
Qualifying at the Hungaroring was a very entertaining and dramatic session. Lewis Hamilton’s fiery Q1 exit caused plenty of gasps in the media centre (well, the downstairs room anyway, I presume the reaction was similar upstairs), with the Brit looking set to start from the pit lane – although he was classified in 21st.
Kimi Raikkonen was also surprisingly eliminated from Q1 after Ferrari gambled and kept him in the garage for the final runs – a very costly mistake, especially at a circuit that is renowned for being hard to overtake on.
The second qualifying segment was a bit more straight-forward, with Daniil Kvyat’s spectacular spin late in the session being the only really notable moment. Jules Bianchi had sneaked into Q2, knocking Raikkonen into the drop-zone, and finished 16th after a good performance by the Frenchman.
Q3 kicked off in dramatic fashion with rain falling at the first corner. Several drivers – including Rosberg and Jenson Button – were caught out by the shower, as was Kevin Magnussen. The Dane was the second car to enter the turn and he went straight on and into the barriers.
The impact was a big one and his head was hit by the tyres, but fortunately he was okay – again, showing the safety of modern-day F1 cars. The red flag was shown and by the time the session had restarted, the rain had moved away.
Rosberg predictably took pole position, with Sebastian Vettel in second and Valtteri Bottas in third. The grid is mixed up and with the threat of rain for tomorrow’s race, it has all the ingredients of being a very good one. After qualifying I finished my report and got a story up on Hamilton’s difficult session, before heading to the paddock to hear from Raikkonen, the two Lotus drivers and McLaren.
I also got quotes from Luke Smith (NBCSN and my boss at Richland F1) and Abhishek to use as well, as we split the sessions so we could get as much covered as possible. For all the post-race news and reaction check out my user profile on Richland F1.
Today was my penultimate day in the F1 paddock this season and it was a very busy one. The last few months have been fantastic and I feel I have really improved as a journalist and feel so much more comfortable working at the track.
Tomorrow’s race should (hopefully) be an exciting one so I hope you all enjoy watching it. I will keep you up to date with the final day of my F1 adventure on this blog and also be sure to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for behind-the-scenes images and updates.
With a bit of time prior to third practice, I got up a few pieces from Friday’s FIA press conference (which featured team principals) before then heading to the back of the paddock to watch GP3 practice.
The paddock is quite high up in comparison to turns two and three, situated directly behind it. This means you get a great view of the corners, as well as the penultimate turn.
It was then time for third practice, which was topped yet again by Lewis Hamilton – a clean sweep for the Brit after setting the pace in both Friday sessions. He finished just ahead of Nico Rosberg, with Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas next up.
Abhishek Takle (Midday and also a contributor to Richland F1) and I headed back to the spot from earlier in the day to take some pictures and see how the cars were handling mid-way through the session.
It became obvious pretty quickly that the Caterham and Lotus drivers were really struggling under braking, and that several different lines were being taken at turn 13 – some making a ‘V’ shape and others rounding off the corner more.
After posting my report and getting the results added, I then grabbed some lunch (the food in the media centre isn’t great to be honest, and there is no still water in the drinks machine!) and got prepared for qualifying.
I then had a wander around the paddock, trying to spot any familiar faces and taking pictures to share on social media. There weren’t too many people around, although I did spot Toto Wolff being interviewed for a TV station, with his arm in a sling after his bike accident injury.
Qualifying at the Hungaroring was a very entertaining and dramatic session. Lewis Hamilton’s fiery Q1 exit caused plenty of gasps in the media centre (well, the downstairs room anyway, I presume the reaction was similar upstairs), with the Brit looking set to start from the pit lane – although he was classified in 21st.
Kimi Raikkonen was also surprisingly eliminated from Q1 after Ferrari gambled and kept him in the garage for the final runs – a very costly mistake, especially at a circuit that is renowned for being hard to overtake on.
The second qualifying segment was a bit more straight-forward, with Daniil Kvyat’s spectacular spin late in the session being the only really notable moment. Jules Bianchi had sneaked into Q2, knocking Raikkonen into the drop-zone, and finished 16th after a good performance by the Frenchman.
Q3 kicked off in dramatic fashion with rain falling at the first corner. Several drivers – including Rosberg and Jenson Button – were caught out by the shower, as was Kevin Magnussen. The Dane was the second car to enter the turn and he went straight on and into the barriers.
The impact was a big one and his head was hit by the tyres, but fortunately he was okay – again, showing the safety of modern-day F1 cars. The red flag was shown and by the time the session had restarted, the rain had moved away.
Rosberg predictably took pole position, with Sebastian Vettel in second and Valtteri Bottas in third. The grid is mixed up and with the threat of rain for tomorrow’s race, it has all the ingredients of being a very good one. After qualifying I finished my report and got a story up on Hamilton’s difficult session, before heading to the paddock to hear from Raikkonen, the two Lotus drivers and McLaren.
I also got quotes from Luke Smith (NBCSN and my boss at Richland F1) and Abhishek to use as well, as we split the sessions so we could get as much covered as possible. For all the post-race news and reaction check out my user profile on Richland F1.
Today was my penultimate day in the F1 paddock this season and it was a very busy one. The last few months have been fantastic and I feel I have really improved as a journalist and feel so much more comfortable working at the track.
Tomorrow’s race should (hopefully) be an exciting one so I hope you all enjoy watching it. I will keep you up to date with the final day of my F1 adventure on this blog and also be sure to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for behind-the-scenes images and updates.
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