Hungaroring Photoreport. (Dial-up. forget it)

Manic Moran

As I was visiting family in Vienna, I copped that we would be just around the corner from the Hungarian GP, so we kindof abused some connections for a free invitation from the Ferrari people. This is my second GP (First being Indianapolis 2000), and Household 6’s first.

First, the sign at the entrance. Getting to the GP was pretty easy, once outside of the city limits. Budapest is a beautiful city, but not car-friendly. Bizarre language, as well.
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We got there the Friday, practice and qualifying were pretty uneventful, though I did cop the Alonso/Hamilton delay. We were able to roam around a bit. Here’s myself in front of Kimi’s car.
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Though we walked through the pit and secret-ish areas they had a rather strict ban on cameras out of cases, so no piccies of those, I’m afraid. However, there were still interesting things photographable.

The front end of the F2007
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A wheel. Note the balancing weights under the tape.
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One of the brake assemblies.
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And one without a duct.
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Various gears getting cleaned.
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The business end of the refueling rig
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Kimi is as cheerful in person as he is on TV. They’re all bloody short. Even Todt. Vettel looks like he's 15. (They all look younger in person).
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Wandering around the Paddock area. The Red Bull motorhome was far and away the biggest. I’m told they’ve taken over from the now-defunct Jordan team as Party Central. Complete with ‘Pit-babe of the Race’ competitions.
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I still haven’t figured out how the McClaren mediacentre converts into street-legal trucks.
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Ferrari’s media centre seems positively tame in comparison.
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We were invited in to their refreshment trailer. GP2 on the monitor. It was all but impossible to be out of eyesight of two flatpanel screens (one with stats, one with video feed) from almost anywhere on the pit side of the track.
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To help us keep track of what’s going on, as you can usually not see much from trackside other than what’s in front of you, we got these Kangaroo TVs. Apparently they’re already available for NASCAR and NFL. They allow you to track on what’s on the main feed, select various in-car cameras, will switch to any radio transmissions, and have various stats on them. Very useful. You may wonder why it looks like they’re showing an old re-run, with a Brabham BT49 on the screen.
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Well, one of the support races is the Historic GP. Here’s one of the older entrants, a Surtees TS9B-06 from 1971, lapping in 2’01”. (Remember today’s cars do 1’20”)
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Was extremely pleased to see (and hear, wonderful low growl from it) a 1976 P34 still running through its paces. It was lapping in 1’49”. Now, if only there were still a March 6-wheeler in running order. (Four small rear wheels).
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They weren’t just touring either. The old warhorses were being thrown around. Here a Lotus 91/10 (1982, 1’46”) fights an Osella FA1 C/D (1982, 1’54”) at the flag. At least one car was brought back to the pits on the back of a truck after spinning out and hitting a barrier.
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McClaren had an interesting display of development over the years. Top left was 1974, Emmerson Fittipaldi. Top right, Martin Brundle, 1994. Mika Hakkinen’s 1998 wheel is bottom left, and today’s wheel for Alonso is bottom right.
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Here’s the Ferrari wheel.
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Another support race was GP2. Here’s the start.
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They still run on pure slicks. This is taken in the Parc Fermée after the race.
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They really are soft to the touch.

Yet another support race: Porsche Supercup. Some good barging in this one.
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Most people won't know it, but there was an Irish tricolour on the podium over the weekend. The photo above is of Damien Faulkner fighting for second. He didn't make it.
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Their little portable pit-lane tugs have a sense of humour. All the support races have a paddock elsewhere, but use the F1 pitlane. Thus they need to tug all their pit equipment around and park right in front of the F1 garages.
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Then it’s time for the Main Event. The Main Straight down which they will travel. TV Cameras and spectators waiting.
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Pitlane Exit.
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TV Chopper lifts off. Sadly, there was no airshow, which I was a bit disappointed about.
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The GridGirls arrive.
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Speaking of flags, the Finns and Poles were out in force. The Finns are known for their enthusiasm. It is, of course, traditional at an F1 race to wave whatever national flag it is that you’re from, as opposed to the team you support (Those are the team flags!): Thus though there’s, for example, no Swedish, Russian or Greek team or driver, the flags were evident. The large Cypriot flag was notable. There were many others.
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Unfortunately, it seems Americans aren’t the flag-waving type at sporting events. I noticed this at Indianapolis as well. As a result, the only American flag I saw all weekend was mine.
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However, back to the race. The cars form up on the grid, and set off on the formation lap.
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Once all the cars had successfully started, the crews leg it to their pits.
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Jean Todt goes to his position.
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The tools are staged.
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The last cars form up.
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The lights go out, and they’re off. Kimi makes a great start.
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Massa, unfortunately, kept seeing a depressing pit-board every time he came around.
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The Ferrari pit sequence:

Car comes in, rear jack swings aroud, lollipop man runs to the front of the car. Tyre guys and fuellers go for it and the splash-guard drops his barrier. Note the second refueling rig standing ready, also the wing-adjusters.
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Old tyres comes off.
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New ones get put on.
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Tyres are on, signals clear. Refueller is pulling out. Rear jack drops, LPM indicates gear.
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LPM lifts the sign, and Massas’s off.
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Gets even more crowded if the wings need adjusting.
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Here's McClaren.

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Hamilton takes the flag. He’s going to be even more insufferable now. I’d have liked more of a fight from Kimi, but I guess he didn’t want to jeopardize the ‘free’ Ferrari points.
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Champagne celebrations.
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All in all, more or less the race-weekend of a lifetime, really.

EvilMonkey

Nice pics!

Yeah great photos and report.There must be over 20 pitmen around Massa's car there!

SouperComputer

great photos!

fabsoul

great photos and report.

Endurance Man

I hate you so much , i have to go.

Catcher86

Hey manic, great pics, thanks for posting them.
I'am not surprised to hear that you weren’t allowed in certain areas.
I heard that the teams hire professional photographers to hide on the course or near the course with their telescopic lenses.
This sport must be the sport with the highest level of paranoia