FORMULA 1 - 2012

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Sauber gunning for Mercedes fifth place

Peter Sauber says the aim of the 2012 season for his outfit is to hunt down Mercedes in order to secure fifth position in the Constructors' standings.

The Swiss team hasn't finished in the top five as a privateer team since 2002, but a strong showing this season and a 20-point haul in Germany has put them to within 25 points of Mercedes.

Whilst they've closed the gap by ten points in a single race, Sauber isn't underestimating the might of Mercedes.

"No matter who is just ahead in the standings, we are always focused," he told Blick. "Our aim must be to attack the team ahead of us - and in this case it is now Mercedes.

"We are however realistic and know that Mercedes is a big opponent for a small private team."

Segio Perez is confident of another strong finish in Hungary: "I am sure our car can be as good at the circuit in Budapest as it was in Hockenheim," said the Mexican.

"Last year I made it into Q3 in Hungary and this year we have got a much better car."

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Sebastian Vettel's German Grand Prix penalty came after FIA warning over off-track moves

Formula 1 drivers were warned specifically about increased scrutiny on anyone gaining an advantage by leaving the track, before Sebastian Vettel's controversial move on Jenson Button at the German Grand Prix.

Vettel grabbed second place from Button on the penultimate lap at Hockenheim after using the run-off area at the exit of the hairpin to drive past his McLaren rival.

That incident was investigated by the race stewards, who deemed that Vettel was in breach of the rules for not using the track "at all times" - and he was given a 20-second time penalty in lieu of a drive-through for his actions.

The decision, which dropped Vettel to fifth in the race results, caused some controversy because in other situations - like Lewis Hamilton overtaking Nico Rosberg off track in Bahrain, a move the officials ruled was ultimately completed on track under braking - drivers have escaped punishment. But it is understood that the stewards were reacting to the latest clarification of the rules that was issued at the British GP.

Prior to the race at Silverstone, F1 race director Charlie Whiting sent a note to all teams and race stewards making it clear that while the regulations state no driver can gain an advantage by leaving the track, race stewards would be encouraged to use their discretion in determining the extent of any benefit.

In the note, a copy of which has been seen by AUTOSPORT, Whiting stated: "Any driver leaving the track, (i.e. no part of his car remains in contact with the track in accordance with the current regulations), may rejoin the track but without gaining an advantage.

"Whilst the relevant regulation stated that a driver may gain no advantage at all by leaving the track, we feel the stewards should be encouraged to use their discretion in cases where it is not entirely clear whether or not a driver has gained any direct or immediate advantage."

The clarification over drivers not gaining any advantage when they run off the track came in the same document where Whiting issued new guidelines about defensive driving – stating that drivers could use the full width of the track to hold back a rival providing that no part of their front wing was alongside the rear wheel of their car.

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Senna says his performances in F1 this year are worthy of scoring more points

Bruno Senna believes that his performances in Formula 1 this year have deserved more points than he has to his name so far.

The Williams driver only has 18 points after 10 races. While team-mate Pastor Maldonado is not far ahead on 29, the Venezuelan has run closer to the front in most races, and took victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Senna had another race to forget in Germany, where a first lap collision forced him back to the pits with a puncture. From there he had good pace for the rest of the afternoon, but there was no hope of recovering enough to score any points.

"I have been in very tough situations this year and still managed to have good races," Senna told AUTOSPORT. "I just feel that we deserve more points from those races.

"I'm happy with how the races have gone, and I've been making few mistakes. If we can continue like this I'm sure we can start scoring some very serious points, and that's the aim."

Senna admitted that his qualifying performances have let him down too many times in the first half of the campaign.

"There has been a shift from last year in terms of how qualifying and race performances went," he said. "Last year I struggled a lot in the races and this year I'm struggling in qualifying.

"It's tough, but the important thing is to make the most of it. I'm doing these qualifying sessions [on tracks in the first half of the year] for the first time [in a good car], but other people with more experience are doing them again.

"We have been doing a good job as a team to get in the right direction. We are still competitive and we have no reason to fear the rest of the year."

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Sebastian Vettel facing another blow as diffuser row hots up

Hot on the heels of the 20-second penalty that saw him drop from second place to fifth in Sunday's German Grand Prix, after an illegal pass on Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel could find out this week whether his Red Bull team will be further penalised for their controversial engine mapping.

On Sunday morning at Hockenheim, FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer told the race stewards that he believed Red Bull's torque map breached regulations, by creating a measure of hot exhaust blowing over the diffuser to boost downforce. "Blown" diffusers were banned for 2012. The stewards said that the map presented was not illegal but also did not accept all of the team's arguments. The matter was further discussed in a meeting of teams' engineers in London yesterday.

Much was made in Hockenheim on Sunday of whether design guru Adrian Newey's system contravened the spirit of the rules, but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner dismissed this idea. "The regulations are straightforward. It can't be a little bit in or a little bit out. The stewards looked at all of the evidence and deemed that the car was in full compliance."

Ferrari's team principal Stefano Domenicali said: "We rely on the regulator, the FIA, to make sure the fight is fair."

If the FIA deems that the system is illegal and makes Red Bull revert to previous engine maps, Vettel and British GP winner Mark Webber could face a loss of performance at this weekend's Hungarian GP.

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GERMAN GP SHOWS WHO'S GETTING ON TOP OF THE TYRE LOTTERY:

The top three cars separated by less than three seconds with a handful of laps to go; it’s the ideal scenario for F1 racing and this is what we had in Germany.

All three leaders had followed the same strategy of soft/medium/medium tyres, but this was a weekend which showed a lot about how far many teams have come in getting on top of the Pirelli tyres, which were described by some as a “lottery” early in the season.

The tyre selection for Hockenheim was soft and medium, the same as in Melbourne and four other events this season. In many ways the race track and its demands on the tyres were comparable with Melbourne, but it showed how much progress some of the teams have made and how others are still struggling to balance tyre temperatures and this is affecting their strategies and how much impression they can make on the race.

Earlier in the season some teams experienced a difference in temperature from front to rear tyres of as much as 20 degrees, which played havoc with balance. Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus lead the way in terms of progress made on balancing temperatures, Sauber have been pretty good all along, while McLaren have lost out recently but are now getting closer and Mercedes still seem to have significant problems.

In Germany there wasn’t much to choose between the performance of the soft and medium tyres. It came down to preference, although some teams that go well on the soft found that over a stint the soft would be around 2 seconds faster.

It was certainly faster in the opening laps of a stint than a medium and this raises the question of whether Vettel could have attacked Alonso at the first stops.

Pre-race expecatations:

The pre-race wisdom was that the soft tyre would be similar on pace to the medium in race conditions, even though it had been 0.7s slower in qualifying trim. The softs were expected to be good for up to 21 laps and the mediums 24 laps. This tended to push teams towards thinking about a soft/medium/medium strategy, which is what the podium finishers used, but it did give scope for soft/soft/medium and we saw that this was actually a little faster. With such tight battle at the front to the end, had one of them taken a gamble, we might have seen something different.

The battle among the front three:

Alonso’s engineer Andrea Stella has said that the only time they were worried on Sunday was after the 1st stop when the medium tyres were taking time to come in. Alonso had pitted on lap 18 and Vettel didn’t stop for another two laps.

Alonso did a 23 lap middle stint while Vettel did only 21 laps. Arguably, looking at what Raikkonen did on soft tyres in the middle stint, there might have been an opportunity here for Red Bull.

Having watched Alonso go to the medium tyre, by switching to softs Vettel might have got ahead of the Ferrari, but in all probability Alonso would have reacted by doing a soft tyre stint at the end, while Vettel would have been forced to use mediums and this probably would have evened things out. It’s a fine margin, but it would have been interesting to see Red Bull try it.

Red Bull and Ferrari did not do a lot of race preparation work on the tyres in the brief time the track was dry at Hockenheim. So they went for the medium as the preferred race tyre, also Ferrari put Massa onto it on lap one after he was forced to pit for a nose change, so they were gathering data on it as the 1st stint unfolded.

The softs degraded at 0.1s per lap on Sunday, while the mediums degraded at 0.08s per lap, so there was very little in it on degradation. It was more about relative pace.

Strategy wise the main move between the top three was an “undercut” by Button on Vettel for second place at the final stop. This was helped by the fastest pit stop carried out by an F1 team in 2.31 seconds as Button pitted a lap earlier than the German and then put in a fast out lap to be in front when Vettel emerged from his stop.

Raikkonen and Lotus on form: If only they could qualify well

It was another strong showing by the Lotus team with Kimi Raikkonen classified fourth but promoted to third after Vettel’s penalty. Once again they showed that if they could get to the front they have the race pace to win. In Hockenheim they pitted Raikkonen early on lap 11 and stayed on the soft. By doing so he jumped Webber, Hulkenberg and Maldonado. Then by using Lotus’ gentle action on the tyres he did a 27 lap middle stint, which included overtaking Michael Schumacher, that gave him the platform for his fourth place finish.

Raikkonen was the highest placed finisher to do soft/soft/medium, which Lotus are convinced was the fastest strategy last weekend. It didn’t work for everyone: Schumacher tried it but the Mercedes’ continued roughness on rear tyres meant that he ended up having to make a third stop which cost him fifth place. He was also hamstrung by having only one new set of medium tyres for the race.

Kobayashi stuns with a reverse strategy:

We have seen a number of drivers in the Pirelli era come through the field in a quick car with a reverse strategy to everyone else, but usually it is because they have saved new sets of tyres from being eliminated early in qualifying.

On Sunday Kamui Kobayashi came through from 12th to fourth (after Vettel’s penalty) on medium/medium/soft strategy – but as qualifying had been wet everyone had new tyres to use, so he didn’t have that advantage. So how did he do it?

The Sauber is extremely fast on full tanks, so he had a strong opening stint and as he had started on mediums, he was able to go to lap 22 before his first stop. At that point he was up to fourth and he came out from the pits in ninth place, but in a position to attack with two short stints of 21 and 24 laps. He passed Webber and Perez in the middle stint and Hulkenberg in the final stint and then inherited a place from Schumacher when he made his third stop.

He even looked like he might mount an attack on Raikkonen on his final stint on softs but his pace dropped off at the end. Nevertheless it was a great return to form for the Japanese driver and an illustration that if you have a quick car you can make a different strategy work. Also it was impressive how easily he was able to overtake.

However like Lotus, Sauber have to deal with the fact that they do not qualify well.

GERMAN GRAND PRIX, Tyre Choices

Alonso: SN MN (18) MN (41) 2

Vettel: SN MN (20) MU (41) 2

Button: SN MN (19) MN (40) 2

Räikkönen: SN SN (11) MN (38) 2

Kobayashi: MN MN (22) SN (43) 2

Perez: SN MN (17) MN (40) 2

Schumacher: SN SN (14) MN (36) SN (52) 3

Webber: SN MN (12) MN (40) 2

Hülkenberg: SN MN (12) SN (31) MN (46) 3

Rosberg: MN SN (12) SN (32) SN (50) 3

Di Resta: SN MN (10) MN (39) 2

Massa: SN MN (1) MU (24) SN (47) 3

Ricciardo: SN MN (19) MN (38) 2

Vergne: MN MN (6) MU (27) SN (45) 3

Maldonado: SN MN (13) MN (38) SN (57) 3

Petrov: SN MN (14) MN (32) MN (50) 3

Senna: SN MN (1) MN (25) SN (47) 3

Grosjean: SN MN (1) MU (24) SN (42) 3

Kovalainen: SN MN (13) MN (31) MN (44) SU (53) 4

Pic: MN SN (21) MN (43) 2

De La Rosa: SN SU (20) MN (45) 2

Glock: MN SN (19) MN (40) 2

Kartikeyan: SN MN (22) MN (46) 2

Hamilton: SN MN (3) MN (31) SN (47) 3 NC

RACE HISTORY

Kindly provided by the Williams F1 Team

Note Kobayahi’s strong pace in the opening stint and the way he picks up places as others pit. Also note Raikkonen’s middle stint on soft tyres and the relative pace of Vettel and Alonso before and after the 1st stops

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Nurburgring 'not annoyed' by Ecclestone snub

Nurburgring officials might be forgiven for feeling "annoyed" after being stood up at the weekend by Bernie Ecclestone.

Despite the Nurburgring entering an insolvency process, bosses Jorg Lindner and Kai Richter took the time and expense to travel to Hockenheim, specifically to meet with Ecclestone and discuss their circuit's crisis.

"They waited and waited, but Bernie did not come," revealed the Suddeutsche newspaper.

Media reports speculated that the F1 chief executive stayed away for fear German prosecutors would order his arrest as they push forward with a bribery investigation.

"We are not annoyed," a spokesman for the Nurburgring told DPA news agency.

"We are in contact in other ways (with Ecclestone) regarding formula one at the Nurburgring in 2013."

Already convicted and jailed for receiving Ecclestone's bribes is the former F1 banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, whose lawyer Daniel Amelung says 81-year-old Briton Ecclestone cannot hide forever.

"I wonder how in the future he can fulfil his duties in Germany, in Europe, indeed in the entire world if the prosecutor should apply for an international arrest warrant," he told Bild newspaper.

Ecclestone has been unavailable for comment.

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'Realistic' Sauber targets F1 giant Mercedes

Sauber has set its sights on chasing down Mercedes.

Team boss Peter Sauber, however, admitted the task will be no mean feat.

With half of the 2012 season now gone, the Hinwil based team is sixth in the constructors' standings, a healthy haul at Hockenheim bringing Sauber within 25 points of Mercedes.

"It doesn't matter who is ahead of us, we need to always focus on attacking this opponent," Sauber told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

But he acknowledged: "We are realistic and know that Mercedes is a big adversary for a small private team."

Blick said Mercedes' driver duo of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are paid a combined EUR 30 million approximately, compared to the no more than 2 million apiece earned by Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez.

Last year, Sauber finished the world championship in seventh place, three places and almost 100 points behind Mercedes.

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Marko accuses FIA of passing rule 'double standard'

Dr Helmut Marko has accused the FIA of sometimes using a "double standard" when it comes to dishing out penalties.

Sebastian Vettel on Sunday was demoted from second at the flag to fifth in the classification after passing Jenson Button whilst off the circuit at Hockenheim.

Marko, Red Bull's motor racing consultant, insists his driver did nothing wrong.

"The whole situation was triggered by Button, who left Sebastian no room and pushed him out," the Austrian told Servus TV.

"Sebastian had to move out to avoid a collision."

Many pundits likened Vettel's move to Nico Rosberg's overtaking antics in Bahrain, for which the German escaped penalty.

Marko pointed out that "the defendant" is often given "the benefit of the doubt".

"That wasn't the case now (for Vettel)," he said. "There is a bad aftertaste. There is a double standard."

Unfortunately for Marko, most paddock residents do not agree with him, including Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg who said Vettel's move was "not right".

"The rules are very specific," ORF commentator Alex Wurz agreed. "You can leave the track with all four wheels as long as you have no advantage."

Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari added: "I think Vettel's overtaking was totally illegal.

"He was clearly outside the boundaries of the track."

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Millionaire Alonso 'a bargain' for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso is F1's highest paid driver, and he's worth every penny. That is the view of Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio, who said after Hockenheim that the Spaniard's estimated EUR 25 million salary is "a bargain" for Ferrari.

Another observer told the Times newspaper: "Whatever Ferrari are paying him, it is not enough."

Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari told El Mundo: "If you're a team manager, you want a driver who is fast consistently, adding many points and committing few errors.

"That is exactly what Ferrari has in Alonso."

Alonso, the only driver with three wins to his name in 2012, is now so far ahead of the field that even if he stayed at home instead of racing in Hungary this weekend, he would return even after the long August break with a healthy lead.

Niki Lauda, who interviewed the 30-year-old on the podium at Hockenheim, said he thinks Alonso's latest win was "a provisional decision" in the 2012 world championship.

"He is doing a flawless job so far and he's not going to forget how he's done it in the second half of the season," the triple world champion told Die Welt newspaper.

F1 legend Lauda insists it will be a "difficult task" for any of Alonso's pursuers - chiefly the Red Bull and McLaren drivers - to beat him now.

"We are talking about an absolutely extraordinary driver," former Ferrari driver Patrick Tambay told France's RMC Sport.

"He was opportunistic with a less efficient car at the beginning of the season, and always getting the points or even the win when he could.

"He is exceptional at motivating the team, and being consistent in always scoring points at every race, even when it's just a few points, he still collects them," he added.

Jenson Button, buoyed by McLaren's return to form in Germany, acknowledged that he needs to start stringing race wins together in order to get back in the title hunt.

He also warned Alonso that things could "easily turn around for him but he is doing a great job and he deserves to be where he is".

But Alex Wurz, a former driver and now commentator for Austrian ORF television, agrees with Lauda that Hockenheim was a "preliminary decision" for the 2012 outcome.

"Ferrari have caught up with the car, so that on the bad days they are losing far fewer points than they were, and they have Alonso who at the moment is in perfect form and putting the team in a good mood," he said.

"In this respect," added Wurz, "the points lead that Alonso has now is definitely worth a lot."

Italy's sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport insisted: "Ferrari is now in a position to dominate the world championship."

"Alonso has never been so strong," agreed Tuttosport.

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Schumacher has the talent, the speed, and the wealth

The seven time FIA Formula One world champion returned to the prestigious series in 2009 after a brief self-imposed leave of absence. When he announced in 2006, it was a blow to his fans and a surprise to many. He was the highest paid driver at the time with records of the most career wins, most wins in a single season, and the holder of the most poles, and the list continues but this article is about how he lives life to its fullest.

Since returning to Formula One, he has yet to take a grand prix win, but he finally made it onto the podium this year in the European Grand Prix after a dismal start to the 2012 season. He had five retirements and two 10th place finishes before his third place finish on the Valencia Street Circuit. Since then, the German has added two more top ten finishes. The Mercedes factory team driver is still looking for the elusive victory!

Visit of Michael Schumacher's house in Gland, Switzerland

Despite having not yet won a grand prix since his return, Schumacher knows how to relax and enjoy time with his family and close friends. He and his wife Corinna continue to work as a team when it comes to his choices as a racer and their jet-set life style. They value their children, and is one of the reasons that all kids across the globe have a better life.

They built their mansion in 2008 and while the dollar figure was very high, the family enjoys their new digs. Their house alone is 2200 square meters with over 40 rooms. There is room for 29 cars in the garage where Schumacher can have a lot of stylish and top of the line sports cars. The property sits on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

The grounds alone are remarkable as viewed by the aerial images. On the ground is a helicopter landing area and a football field. Schumacher has amassed many awards over the years and the new home has a special trophy room that is 70 meters long.

The German is known for his love of racing, and that does include riding horses on his own ranch. The CS Ranch was a gift to his lovely wife and is located in the Swiss town of Givrins. Not only does it house their own horses, but it also has an area where competitions are held.

Schumacher was an official brand ambassador of Audemars Piguet. He is a perfect fit for the company due to his own private collection of timepieces. He has another hobby which includes flying. His personal jet is used to fly him and his guests to each grand prix event.

Apparently the German was gifted a man-made island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. It is said to be a parting gift to Schumacher from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The remote island can allow the family a retreat; mainly from the media.

Wealth aside, the seven time F1 champion is very involved in charitable programs; mainly for children. He does not just give out of his own pocket. Schumacher is a volunteer and helps organize events to raise the needed money. For the UNICEF program, he has raised millions of dollars to so that all children across the globe will have an education, better health care, and emergency relief. Besides the UNICEF organization, Schumacher helps the Red Cross.

The one closest to his heart is UNESCO; he received an award by being named an UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2002.

Michael Schumacher is closely associated with UNESCO and has been named a UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2002. UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values.

The German has been very keen to help out his fellow younger countryman, Nico Rosberg. The younger of the two Mercedes teammates is also a family friend.

At this time, Schumacher is deciding on his future. While some are critical of his remaining in Formula One, there are many who would like him to stay. His fans are numerous and they realize for the sport, having Schumacher remain is a plus as he does draw an audience!

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, Corina Schumacher, Corinna, Wife of Michael Schumacher

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'Not happy until we're the fastest'

Fernando Alonso may be heading the Drivers' Championship, but Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali is well aware the F2012 is not the quickest car about - and the team won't rest until it is.

Alonso picked up his third win of the season last weekend in Germany to add to a further three podium places. The Spaniard has finished in the points in every race thus far this season and this consistency has helped him build a 34-point lead over second placed Mark Webber.

Despite this, Domenicali is remaining grounded and insists that the team will have their work cut out for them heading to Hungary.

"It's nice to see our fans are happy with that last result, but no one at Maranello is under any sort of illusion," he told Ferrari's official website.

"The fact we are leading the Drivers' championship with Fernando does not lull us into thinking that everything is fine and we're cruising along with the wind in our sails; quite the contrary in fact.

"Red Bull has always been very strong in Budapest these past few years and McLaren showed in Germany that it was back in front running form, after a slight dip at its home race.

"Then there is also Mercedes, as well as Lotus and other teams, such as Williams and Sauber, who have shown they can, in some circumstances, also be in the fight for the podium. Clearly, the opposition is as numerous as it's strong."

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo paid a visit to the team's Maranello headquarters on Tuesday and delivered a stern message: there is still much work to be done.

"As usual, Montezemolo was very clear: feet on the ground and work, work, work," revealed Domenicali.

"After Budapest, we come up to two very tough races in the shape of Spa and Monza, where we must show that we are competitive on fast tracks too. The performance of the F2012 has improved since the start of the season but until we have the quickest car on track, we cannot claim to be happy.

"There is still a long road ahead of us, with plenty of obstacles along the way. The first and currently the most dangerous one is to catch this sense of euphoria that comes from the outside. But I'm calm about this because I am immune to these things!"

For his part, Alonso is determined that he will be in the best possible shape to deal with anything that comes his way at the Hungaroring. As an added incentive, the former World Champion will be looking to pull off a double celebration on Sunday as it is also his 31st birthday.

"I don't want anyone to come to Hungary better prepared than me, physically or mentally or more motivated than me and I always try and win this competition that runs alongside the one on the track," he said.

"I expect to go well in Budapest and there is no reason to be pessimistic. However, I am not forgetting that Red Bull and McLaren were quicker (at Hockenheim)."

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Red Bull preview the Hungarian GP

Red Bull are eager to put in a strong showing at the Hungaroring before enjoying a well-deserved break.

Mark Webber: "The Hungaroring is a good little venue and we've had some good races there in the past. Obviously overtaking has not been easy on that circuit, but it will be interesting to see how the cars perform there as it's a hot race. The middle sector is very, very busy and you need to have a good balance over the top of the hill. In general, it's a track that I enjoy, I like driving there and of course we're looking forward to doing well before the Summer break."

Sebastian Vettel: "The race in Budapest is very popular and the city and the Danube offer many opportunities for fans off the track. I like the city a lot and I made my debut in 2007 with Scuderia Toro Rosso at the Hungaroring. The track itself is one of the slowest on the calendar, but as a driver you shouldn't underestimate it, as there are a lot of opportunities to make mistakes. It can be very hot and that means the track can be very demanding physically. In addition, the surface has many bumps which shake you around a lot."

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Merc preview the Hungarian GP

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are looking for a good results in Hungary before the summer break.

Michael Schumacher: "The race in Hungary is the last before the summer break and also marks the beginning of the second half of the season - which means it is time for a half-time analysis. As so often in life, this is, in my opinion, a question of perspective: if we only look at the points standings, it doesn't seem so good; but if you look a bit deeper, and at certain results, then the overall picture is much better. We have taken a clear step forward and already achieved a few highlights. I'm looking forward to this weekend's race because I really enjoy the Hungarian Grand Prix. It's a circuit where the drivers are always busy around the lap, it's really demanding and there are barely any opportunities to catch your breath. Let's wait and see what we can achieve here, before the team heads off for a well-earned break."

Nico Rosberg: "The Hungaroring is a very challenging track and it's definitely one that I enjoy. It's like a street circuit but on a normal track because of the many tight and twisty turns and not so many straights. The layout should suit our car but you just can't make predictions this year and you never know how it will work out over the weekend. Tyre wear will again be critical for the race so we will work hard to manage that properly. It would be nice if we can make a step forward and have a good weekend before the summer break.

Ross Brawn - team principal: "The final race before the summer break concludes an intense period for the team, coming on the back of our two home races in Silverstone and Germany. After our performance peaks and podium achievements in China, Monaco and Valencia, the last month has been tougher and we have not achieved the results that we would have wanted. There is a limited amount of work that can be done between back-to-back races but we will work hard to find the necessary improvements. Everyone always enjoys visiting Budapest which is a great city, and the Hungaroring track is a real technical challenge for both the drivers and engineers. It would be a nice reward to have a strong weekend there before a well-deserved mid-season break for the team."

Norbert Haug - Mercedes motorsport boss: "The Hungaroring has the slowest average speed of any permanent circuit on the calendar and the cars actually spend a lower proportion of the lap at full throttle than even in Monaco. The corners are predominantly medium and low speed, which require good traction, downforce and braking stability. Hungary is also the start of the second half of the season and, following the relatively cool conditions in Silverstone and Hockenheim, we can expect really hot weather and perhaps the highest temperatures of the season so far. The verdict on the first half of our season would be: "much achieved, much still to do". We have been the pace-setters at a number of race weekends and Nico scored the first win for our new Silver Arrow works team in China, while Michael set the fastest time in a prestigious qualifying session in Monaco and Nico then finished second in the race. Two races later, in Valencia, Michael also scored a podium finish. Our team has scored over one third more points than at the same time last season, in spite of Michael suffering a run of technical retirements. The last two races have shown that we currently lack around half a second a lap to the pace-setters. This is clear to all in the team and we'll be doing our maximum to develop the car further and close the gap."

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Lotus preview the Hungarian GP

Having claimed another podium in Germany, Kimi Raikkonen is confident Lotus will again be competitive while Romain Grosjean hopes to be back in the points.

Kimi Raikkonen

Q. You're up to fourth in the Driver's Championship with only a small gap to the drivers directly in front; where can you go from here?

KR: "If you had told me in January that we would be fourth halfway through the season, I think I would have been pretty pleased. It's not a bad place to be, but I think we have a car good enough to have scored more points. I want to win and the whole team is pushing hard to make it happen, so let's see what we can do in the second half of the season..."

Q. How are you feeling heading to Hungary?

KR: "It is always nice to go to Hungary. The circuit is not the most difficult of them all, but it is still quite challenging. It is also the last race before the summer break and it's a great city to end the first half of the season. It's always nice to have a summer vacation and recharge the batteries for the last - and most important - part of the season."

Q. How do you rate your past performances at the Hungaroring?

KR: "I have won once in Hungary and finished second three times. It is very hot and very demanding race. It's only when you win that you don't suffer at the Hungaroring. I hope I don't suffer this time."

Q. Are you happy to receive a podium placing for your performance in Germany?

KR: "It's nice to get the points for third position, but obviously we would rather score it on the track. Having said that I think we did the best we could at Hockenheim from the position we started. Maybe if we had found a bit more pace in the wet of qualifying we could have started higher, avoided the traffic and pushed the leaders, but it is what it is. For sure we were hoping for a bit better, but the car worked well all through the race and we still brought home some good points for the team so there are some positives to bring to Budapest."

Q. How do you assess the team's potential heading to this event?

KR: "The team has been working hard in developing our car and we are confident we should be competitive in Hungary. Usually we have a hot weekend at the Hungaroring, and that's what we have been looking forward to during the whole summer. It's never nice to go to media after a race without a win. I love to win, not to explain why we were not able to win. Hopefully we can get the result we are looking for."

Q. What are the particular challenges of the circuit?

KR: "It's such a slow and twisty track that you there are two things most of all which are really important for fast lap times; these are good turn in and good traction. If you have those, you have a competitive car there."

Q. The circuit's tight and twisty: how important is qualifying?

KR: "This is one of those circuits where it's very difficult to overtake. Obviously, you need to get to the front in qualifying and you also ideally want to avoid the dirty side of the track on the grid. We haven't been the best in qualifying so far, but we have been good in the race in hot conditions and able to make different strategies work. It won't be the end of the world if we don't qualify at the front, but it won't make things easy for us either. Let's see what happens."

Q. The Hungarian Grand Prix is also sometimes known as the Grand Prix of Finland because so many of your countrymen attend. What does this mean for you?

KR: "It is always nice to see the blue and white flags waving. It's the closest we Finnish drivers get to a home race and a lot of Finns turn up every year. Hopefully I will be able to celebrate with a win for them."

Romain Grosjean

Q. What's the key to a good result this weekend in Hungary?

RG: "It's a familiar story; we need to achieve a good qualifying performance. We have a few updates coming which is good news and I'm sure we are going to be better than we were last time out. In terms of conditions, it should be hot and hopefully sunny which will suit our car better than the cold we've seen recently, and certainly better than in the cold and wet! The Hungaroring is a circuit that I quite like and one where I have had good experiences in the past. Hopefully my past history at the track will help me to have a proper race weekend. Having all sessions in the dry, so we can work properly from beginning to end, will also be very helpful!"

Q. What went wrong for you in Hockenheim?

RG: "It was a difficult weekend, especially in qualifying and in the race. We weren't able to get any pace in qualifying and we're still trying to understand why that was. My car was very difficult to drive when it was wet, and it was always raining hardest when I wanted to set a fast qualifying lap. On top of that I had a five place penalty on the grid due to my gearbox change. Then in the race, the first lap was a bit of a mess and I got hit by another car. Maybe it was bad luck, but either way I know I need to improve my first laps. I am working on that as it is a bit of a shame when you have a good car, but your race is effectively over after a couple of minutes. In Germany my front wing needed replacing and the punctured tyre damaged the floor. It was then very difficult to finish the race let alone to keep up any sort of good pace. There are races where nothing goes right and it was one of those. Let's hope the luck will turn around and everything will be much better in Budapest."

Q. Had you driven a race lap with a punctured tyre before?

RG: "No. That was the first time, so I can add that to my experience. It's difficult to know how fast you can go and you can't see how much damage is being done to the bodywork. It's not a nice experience. It's far better with a car that is healthy!"

Q. You still had to push on in case there were any opportunities for points - it must have been quite character building?

RG: "It was very difficult. The car was not handling well, but this is normal with the damage we had. I hope I don't have that situation again. The car was unbalanced, unpredictable and inefficient. Everything you don't want from a car!"

Q. How is your past experience at the Hungaroring?

RG: "I scored my first GP2 Series pole position there in 2008. Last year I won and finished third, which was a pretty good weekend. I'm heading to Hungary with a positive attitude."

Q. How does it feel to have completed half of the season?

RG: "It's not been easy so far. We've had some very good results and some very bad races. The last race was maybe one of the worst - so let's work, analyse and try to understand so I don't make mistakes any more. Stay out of trouble and qualify better, this is the key. And from that we can go forwards."

Q. What do you have planned for the August break after the Hungarian Grand Prix?

RG: "I'm going to have my honeymoon so it's going to be a good month for me. Hopefully I can head off on holiday with the very nice present of a podium finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix."Eric Boullier - team principal

Q. The team has fallen from third position in the Constructors' Championship. Can this be regained in the second half of the year?

EB: "It's obviously disappointing to lose third place, but it's very, very tight and we've built a gap over the fifth-placed team. However, we are hungry for success and we do want more. If we can keep bringing the developments and updates we have been planning and make them work on track then I think we should be able to defend our current position. I am not sure about third or fourth by the end of the year, as everything is very close, but I am pretty convinced that we will be in the fight for one of the prime places in the Constructors' Championship."

Q. How do you rate the team's performance in Germany?

EB: "We saw a great recovery from Kimi after a difficult qualifying session. He put in a very strong and experienced drive coupled with a good strategy from the team. Starting in tenth and nineteenth positions we were always going to have our work cut out, so it was good to see Kimi score big points again and display strong race pace. Going forwards, it's clear what we need to do for better results. Anyone who watches Formula 1 can tell us this. We need to do better in qualifying. It's clear that if we want to win the races we have to be top four or five on the grid."

Q. It was one of Romain's difficult weekends - he seems to be either hot or cold in terms of his race performances?

EB: "We have all seen him have very good weekends, but we have also seen weekends where the results have not been as Romain or anyone in the team would have wanted. This means we need to ensure that he has solid weekends even when circumstances are against him, such as starting from the back of the grid. He's still learning. It's only his first full year. But as we all know he can do very well and we are working with him to ensure that he always puts in a solid drive. This includes making it through the first lap which is obviously very important."

Q. Qualifying was difficult for the team with a lack of pace in wet conditions - something we've not seen before?

EB: "We have not really seen that before, and hopefully we won't see it again! We need to look in detail at what happened. The temperature was very low and the rain showers were short and intense. We are looking into it and will fix it if it happens again."

Q. The driver line-up was seen as something of a brave move by the team. How do you assess Kimi and Romain in their half term report cards?

EB: "I don't see much of a downside to Kimi to be honest. He came back to his speed level very quickly and I would not be surprised if he wins very soon. Romain is still building himself up. Even if he did seven races two years ago, he never had a real chance to blossom, so for me he is still very much in his first year. He is making mistakes - of course - because he is a youngster. But the good news is that he never repeats a mistake! He is learning, listening and getting stronger with every race."

Q. What do you want to achieve from the next ten races?

EB: "On paper I would say with the experience we have learnt from the first ten races, we should be able to score more points in the second half of the year, which will be very good for our championship battle."

Q. How much happier are you at the half way mark of the season compared to this time last year?

EB: "Significantly; if I had to take a number, let's say 1000%!"

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Sauber preview the Hungarian GP

Kamui Kobayashi is confident the C31 will do well in Hungary while Sergio Perez looking to improve his qualifying performance.

Kamui Kobayashi: "In the past our car has not been brilliant on tracks like the Hungaroring, but with this year's car it's different. The Sauber C31 has proven to be quick on such twisty tracks as well, so I believe we can be strong there. Recently we were struggling a bit in the rain, but in Hungary the weather has been excellent for the majority of the Grand Prix weekends. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a dry and hot race. The Hungarian Grand Prix is the final race before the summer break and therefore it's particularly important. If you achieve a good result you can enjoy the break a lot more and I think after our strong performance in Hockenheim we have all the chances to manage that."

Sergio Perez: "The Hungaroring is a very special track. It is a bit like the Monaco street circuit with many changes of direction, and the middle sector is especially tricky. I quite like the circuit and also the city of Budapest. We still have to improve our qualifying performance to get better grid positions as, for one reason or another, it went wrong at the recent races. I am sure our car can be as good at the circuit in Budapest as it was in Hockenheim. Last year I made it into Q3 in Hungary and this year we have got a much better car. I will give my utmost this coming weekend. I believe it will be important for the entire team to get in another good result in Hungary because we then disappear into the summer break and we should be able to do that in a positive mood."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "The Hungaroring is traditionally a high downforce circuit, and it requires almost the same level as Monaco. This is mostly because of the time the drivers spend cornering compared to the time they spend on the straights. So the main focus is on downforce. The difference to Monaco is that the corners - mainly slow and medium speed - are flowing. Therefore it's important to work on the balance for these kind of corners. Also the changes of directions are important. There are several of those at different speed levels from the slow chicane at turn six to the high speed corners two and three. Also important is the fact there is only one racing line, which makes qualifying even more important. Left and right of the line it's often dirty. It can be windy over night and blow the sand back on the track. So the way the tyres behave changes a lot from Friday to Sunday. Pirelli is allocating the soft and the medium compound tyres, which is one level higher than one year ago. With lower temperatures this would be a conservative choice, but for the race weekend hot weather is expected, so this should work out well."

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Williams preview the Hungarian GP

Williams are confident that they can adapt to the technical nature of the Hungaroring.

Pastor Maldonado: The track in Hungary is really slow speed and so we will need to adapt our set-up for this sort of circuit but we have shown so far this season that our car has good pace at different sorts of tracks. I have won here before so the track has good memories for me and the fans create a good atmosphere so I am looking forward to the weekend.

Bruno Senna: The Hungaroring is one of the most challenging tracks we visit all year. Technically it's a real test and it's quite a slow lap so reminds me in some respects of Monaco. It's also demanding physically because the temperature is often high and you have to do a lot of work behind the steering wheel so can get tired quickly. I have done well here in the past, particularly in GP2 in 2008, so I'm looking forward to this weekend.

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: Logistics of the back to back races are always a bit more difficult with less turnaround between the events and therefore less time to react to any issues. The competition is so tight at the moment that one must ensure that you extract the maximum performance from the car - there is no room for errors. Pirelli bring the same compounds as used in the previous race, namely the medium and soft tyres. The circuit layout leads to very low average speeds, with only Monaco and Singapore being lower. This low efficiency metric means that you run the maximum downforce configuration. Teams also have to deal with the potentially high ambient temperatures which necessitate larger cooling ducts.

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Caterham preview the Hungarian GP

Caterham head to Hungary admitting they have "yet to really unlock the whole potential" of their car as they bid to join the midfield battle...

Heikki Kovalainen: "I had my first Formula One win in 2008 in Hungary so it's always good to come back to the Hungaroring. It's fair to say I have some pretty good memories from here and I always have great support from the Finnish fans in Hungary. There's always a lot of Finns in the crowd as I think it's a bit easier for them to get to Hungary, and whenever there's Finnish fans around there's always a great atmosphere!

"Technically the circuit is quite tricky as it is a mix of fast and slow corners and even though the cars run with maximum downforce you have to get the setup right for the quick and the slow stuff. The first sector is mostly about straight lines and outright speed but then you get into Sector 2 where it starts to get tight and twisty. The car is generally set up for those corners and if you have a good flow through there you can usually gain some time in that sector and improve on your lap time, if you set yourself and the car up correctly. You need to have good balance over the kerbs so that you can attack them, build up a good rhythm, and maintain your speed over the whole lap.

"The track also evolves a lot throughout the weekend. It usually starts off in quite a slippery state, but by the time we reach qualifying the grip levels can be pretty decent, assuming the weather has remained hot and dry. You just have to keep the evolution in mind during the first practice session and if the balance isn't quite right you shouldn't worry too much or dramatically change the set up of the car - when the circuit starts to rubber in the car will improve. The rear of the car starts to become more stable and the track always improves as the weekend progresses."

Vitaly Petrov: "I have very good memories of Hungary and am really looking forward to getting back to Budapest. In 2010 I outqualified my teammate Robert Kubica there and I finished fifth in the race, plus it's the country where I won my first race in Formula 3000.

"It's a challenging circuit for a few reasons. First, it's pretty physical as it's usually very hot, and second it's a very technical track with tight sections so you need the right setup for each session on track. Physically, despite the heat, it isn't too bad although you need some serious concentration behind the wheel for all 70 laps of the race!

"Hungary will be the last race before our summer break in August and we all need a good break. Before we go on vacation it'll be important to stop, analyse and discuss how the season is going with the guys so we can make adjustments for the remaining races. But then it'll be time to switch off our own engines for two or three weeks, before coming back for training with recharged batteries for the next half of the season."

Mark Smith, Technical Director: "The Hungaroring is an interesting challenge for the engineers as it is a low-efficiency circuit, like Monaco or Singapore, so we run high downforce levels across the whole car and that requires a specific approach to setup to give the driver maximum grip around the whole lap.

"Hungary is what we call a lateral circuit, which means it is most demanding in cornering, but having good traction is also important as there are a lot of low speed corners where you need to get the car out as efficiently as possible. The track evolves over the weekend, generating more grip as the rubber goes down, so we must always take this into account, particularly during the earlier practice sessions, and manage our car setup and tyre strategies accordingly.

"Climate wise, Hungary is usually hot and the track temperatures are relatively high. They often go above 35°C and this adds to the high tyre degradation levels we see. With that in mind, this year in particular, the teams that can keep their cars out on track as long as possible on each set of tyres will benefit the most."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "The Hungarian Grand Prix marks the mid-point of the F1 season and it is always good to pause for a moment and collect your thoughts before we all head off for a well deserved summer break. In terms of progress on track we have definitely gained in pace and development but there is obviously more work to do. We are yet to really unlock the whole potential of this car and that will only come with more hard work and more time, but we are absolutely determined to achieve what we have set out to this year.

"On the wider growth and development of the team I could not fault where we are now. We have started moving in to our new home in Leafield and that is a huge step for the F1 team and the whole Caterham Group. Our investment in that facility is a clear sign of how determined we are to join the F1 establishment but it does not stop there. In addition to Leafield we continue to attract well respected people from much bigger teams who are excited about the vision we have for our F1 team and all our automotive operations and we will be making more announcements on the commercial front in the very near future.

"Now the team heads to Hungary and the aim there is to get back to the levels of performance we saw in Valencia. We know we can do it, we have the people to put us where we want to be and another week of hard work should be rewarded by a strong performance at the Hungaroring."

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HRT preview the Hungarian GP

HRT reckon the slow nature of the Hungaroring will suit their F112 as they seek a "good result" before the summer break...

Pedro de la Rosa: "The Hungaroring is the permanent Monaco and a circuit where I have very good memories since I achieved a podium there in 2006. I'm really looking forward to going this year because it's a circuit where our car should adapt pretty well, as there are many slow corners. It's similar to Monaco, and we were pretty competitive there, so I'm full of hope. The asphalt evolves a lot throughout the weekend and the track gets quicker so it's very important to interpret this. In Germany we had a good performance and a good race so we're looking forward to Hungary because we should do better there".

Narain Karthikeyan: "I've only raced once in Hungary, in 2005, and I remember it being quite a technical and challenging track. Seven years have passed since then so I'm going to have to work hard and make the most of the practice sessions to get used to the track. The car should adapt well and we're also arriving with a good feeling after the German Grand Prix, so the ideal thing would be to finish off that good work with another positive result in Hungary so that we can go on holiday feeling good about ourselves".

Dani Clos: "I'm really excited about having another opportunity to drive the car in the first free practice session in Hungary. It will be the third consecutive Grand Prix and the fourth time this season that I get into the F112, and I hope to transform that continuity into a good rhythm and a positive result on the track with which to make my contribution to the team. To not compete is something new for me so I have to enjoy and make the most of these opportunities presented to me to continue learning".

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: "We arrive at a different kind of circuit to the one in Germany because the Hungaroring has a lot of slow turns and few straights, meaning that overtaking isn't easy. Dani will drive in the first free practice session once again and his work, just like in previous events, will definitely be of great use to the team. Both Pedro and Narain are in a good moment of form and given that in theory our car should adapt better to the characteristics of this track, I hope that we can continue with this progress to achieve a good result before heading out on holiday".

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Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 10: Fernando Alonso

Asturias in northern Spain is a rugged mountainous region that, historically, is renowned for breeding tough, fierce fighters. Fernando Alonso is a true child of his homeland.

There is no more relentless and forbidding competitor in Formula 1. His greatest qualities - among many - are the ability to pound out lap after lap in every grand prix at the absolute limit and always to get the best out of his machinery, however flawed.

These abilities have won him two world titles and 30 grand prix victories - fifth in the all-time winners' list - and have never been demonstrated more impressively than in 2012.

Ferrari started the season with, at best, the fifth quickest car. In the first eight grands prix, Alonso's average qualifying position was eighth. Yet after those races, he was leading the championship. Following his third victory of the season in Germany on Sunday, he continues to do so.

Although his colossal gift is plain for all to see, Alonso responds with modesty when asked to sum up his own ability.

In a BBC interview in 2009, he said: "Maybe I'm not the quickest driver, maybe I'm not the most talented, maybe I'm not the hardest working, but I'm very consistent. I will always be there."

It seems an odd thing to say for a racing driver who is remarkably complete - quick in all conditions, brilliant in an imperfect car, extremely adaptable, highly intelligent, a brave and clinical overtaker, and always a factor.

But on the proviso that it is understood any shortfall he may have compared to a rival in a given area is on the minutest scale, you can see what he means.

Although undoubtedly super fast, Alonso does not very often produce a "special" lap in qualifying, the sort that moves the boundaries of what seemed possible.

It happens - one thinks of his spectacular qualifying lap at Singapore in 2011, for example - but not as often as it does for his contemporaries Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, or Ayrton Senna in the past.

Paradoxically, though, when he finds himself in a car with some kind of problem, Alonso is unequalled, his ability to compensate for the performance deficit quite staggering.

The best example was the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, when he qualified fifth in a Renault missing much of its rear bodywork, before being demoted to 10th after being given a controversial penalty.

His engineers calculated how much performance the car had lost and say it should not have been possible to get that time out of that car. It was one of the most extraordinary qualifying laps of the decade.

That race was when his campaign for what turned out to be his second consecutive title was coming to a nail-biting climax.

He won his first championship for Renault in 2005, beating Kimi Raikkonen's faster but more fragile McLaren partly thanks to the consistent relentlessness that by then was already a trademark.

Already mighty impressive, Alonso had to step up another gear in 2006. After dominating the early races, Renault faced a determined fightback from Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, who employed the sort of dirty tricks they had perfected over the years to try to derail their rival.

That title came down to a duel between Schumacher and Alonso at Japan's Suzuka, which carried echoes of other great battles at that track between Senna and Alain Prost, and Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen.

After 36 flat-out laps, the race - and effectively the title - was decided when the engine in Schumacher's car failed for the first time in six years. A cruise to the podium in the final race in Brazil made Alonso the youngest double world champion in history.

He had made his race debut for Renault at the expense of Jenson Button in 2003, after a year as their test driver.

The decision was criticised in the British media. But those who felt it was a bad idea had not been paying attention in Alonso's debut season in 2001, when he frequently had his uncompetitive Minardi in places with which the team were unfamiliar.

Once at Renault, a series of superb performances in his first season culminated in his maiden win at Hungary and removed any doubts about his potential.

Through the successful Renault years, though, were the first hints of what many argue is a flaw in Alonso's make-up. On the rare occasions when a team-mate has beaten him, he has not handled it well.

That became a real problem when he joined McLaren in 2007 alongside a novice Lewis Hamilton, who immediately proved to be at least as quick.

It turned into an epic, tense battle that see-sawed backwards and forwards, with virtually nothing to choose between them throughout the year.

Alonso felt McLaren were more supportive of Hamilton - and reasoned that only one of them could win the title in the face of a tough challenge from Ferrari drivers Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

That person, he believed, should be him - partly because the team had employed him as their leader and partly because he felt Hamilton was ultimately too inexperienced.

The building pressure boiled over in Hungary, when Alonso threatened to go to the FIA with damaging information about the unfolding spy-gate scandal if they did not make Hamilton support him.

The incident ruptured the relationship between McLaren and Alonso for good, and badly damaged Alonso's reputation, to the extent that it has still not fully recovered. The whiff of potential involvement - never proven, always denied - in the 2008 Singapore race-fixing scandal has not helped on that front.

But despite being at loggerheads with McLaren, who did little to disguise the fact they wanted Hamilton to be champion, Alonso still took the title to the wire. Both he and Hamilton lost out to Raikkonen by a single point.

Alonso and McLaren agreed to separate one year into a three-year deal and despite talks with Red Bull he chose to go back to Renault and wait for a seat to open at Ferrari, which it did in 2010.

Had he gone for Red Bull, he might well now be a five-time champion - with the 2009, 2010 and 2011 titles under his belt as well.

Equally, had he better controlled his emotions in 2007 and stayed with McLaren, he might have won four titles in a row.

Alonso shrugs at this. "I have the titles I deserve," he says.

Not all would agree with that.

Having taken the route he did, Alonso should have won a third crown in his debut season with Ferrari in 2010. Despite driving a car inferior to the Red Bull, he went into the final race leading the championship and lost it only because of a catastrophic strategy error by the team.

Alonso is the very essence of the sort of dynamic natural leader on which Ferrari thrive and the team seem a natural home for this proud, determined man. He is contracted there until 2016.

As for Alonso and Hamilton, the events of their season as team-mates left an indelible impression on both.

Neither troubles to disguise that he regards the other as his toughest rival.

Alonso praises Hamilton publicly. And it has recently come to light that while Alonso is happy for Vettel to join him at Ferrari in the future, he has vetoed Hamilton doing so.

Hamilton shares a similar high opinion of Alonso. "I love racing with Fernando, he's, like, the best driver here," he said after winning in Canada this year.

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Hulkenberg not satisfied

But Di Resta pleased with how 2012 is going

Nico Hulkenberg admits he would like to be higher up in the Drivers' standings at the halfway point of the season, given the performance the Force India car has had in 2012.

The German is currently 15th in the Championship, 135 points behind leader Fernando Alonso and eight points behind team-mate Paul di Resta.

The 24-year-old, who is only in his second full season in Formula 1, feels he has been unlucky during the first 10 races, but is confident of stronger results in the second half of 2012.

"To be honest, I would have hoped for a few more points than I actually have," Hulkenberg said.

"There were some races where I had some bad luck, which cost me points, especially in Australia where I had a collision on lap one and in Bahrain with a clutch issue at the start. But on the other hand, I am happy with the improvement in performance from both the car and myself.

"We are regular top ten runners and I hope that we will move a little further up the grid in the second half of the season."

Hulkenberg's fifth in Valencia is the team's best result of the season, whilst Di Resta's sixth in Bahrain was his biggest points haul of 2012.

Despite failing to break into the top five, Di Resta is pleased with how the season is going, and is sure that the VJM-05 is a much better car than the 2011 challenger.

"As a team we have to be pleased with the start we've had to the year," the Scottish driver said.

"We've had some strong races and scored more points compared to the same time last year. We seem to have one of the more consistent cars in terms of performance and I think traditionally we've been a team that gets stronger as the year progresses.

"With ten races still to go there are a lot of points on offer and a long way to go in the championship."

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Michael 'interested' in off-track ruling

Sam Michael says it will be "interesting" to see how the Hungarian stewards police drivers running off the track during Saturday's qualifying.

Last time out in Germany, off-track excursions created headlines when Sebastian Vettel was penalised for passing Jenson Button with all four wheels off the track.

However, whether the FIA will take such a hardline approach should a driver gain an advantage in qualifying at the Hungaroring remains to be seen.

"Maybe people are focusing on it more considering what happened at the last race, but there are at least four places here where you can (run) off," the McLaren sporting director told Autosport.

"So it will be interesting to see how strict that will be applied, especially during qualifying.

"In days gone by there was gravel, and then we went through a process of 'grasscrete' that was very slippery, and now it is just concrete - which does actually have grip.

He added: "They have to police it, because you have the track defined. You have to stick to the track.

"But the issue is, should the surface off the track have so much grip? That is the bigger issue, because you want to have a surface that allows you to survive and get back on track, but definitely you don't want a surface that allows you to take advantage."

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Grosjean: Not the best, not the worst

Romain Grosjean admits he was responsible for the Practice Two shunt that cost him his front wing in Hungary.

Pushing hard before the forecast rain arrived, the 26-year-old ran wide at the exit of the chicane, putting his Lotus E20 into a spin.

The momentum took him across the track and into the inside barrier, which he hit front of his car.

Grosjean, though, was able to make his way back to the pits and rejoined the action shortly after.

"Not the best day we've had but not the worst either," said the Frenchman.

"The car didn't feel quite as I like it, similar to how it felt in Hockenheim, which made things a bit tricky.

"I made a mistake running wide on the exit of Turn Seven in the second session which meant I touched the wall, so a big apology to the guys for that.

"On a more positive note we now understand a few things which need improving in terms of setup, so hopefully tomorrow these will make a difference and I'll have the confidence to push a bit harder and show the true pace of the car."

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Button expects 'fierce battle'

Jenson Button believes McLaren won't have it all their own way this weekend despite dominating Friday's sessions in Hungary.

The McLaren driver's team-mate set the pace in both practice sessions on Friday while Button was second in FP1 and then sixth quickest later in the afternoon.

The Brit revealed that a few "different things" attempted on in Practice Two did not go according to plan, prompting a return to the settings used earlier in the day.

"The first session was reasonably good - it's good to see that we're competitive straight out of the box," Button said.

"This afternoon's session we tried some different things to help the balance; I don't think it was the right thing to do so we've gone back on most of them."

"But I'm pretty happy with the car and I think we're reasonably competitive around here."

Button, though, concedes McLaren face a tough challenge this weekend as their rivals were not too far behind.

"The second session proved that a lot of people are quite competitive around here so it's going to be a fierce battle this weekend and from what we've heard it should be dry most of the weekend."

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Schumi: I just ran out of road

Michael Schumacher insists he's not "too worried" after yet another practice crash in the wet, this time in Hungary.

Last time out in Germany, Schumacher gave his Mercedes mechanics a lot of additional work when he crashed late in Friday's second practice.

Exactly one week later it was dejavu as the German again hit the barriers in the wet.

However, unlike in Germany, this time Schumacher only damaged to the front of his car when he slid off the track after hitting standing water at the bottom of a slight dip.

"I just ran out of road, locked up and couldn't stop the car anymore," said the seven-time World Champion.

"I don't think it was aquaplaning. It was just one of these unusual things... A bit strange but nevertheless we have to put a cross on it and forget about it."

Asked by F1 journalist Adam Cooper whether the track was 'unusually slippery', Schumacher said: "Honestly it's not normal rain conditions, because it was just completely dry, suddenly some rain, so that was not the normal condition that you would have to face.

"So I'm not too worried about that."

Schumacher, though, isn't worried about making more mistakes in the rain later in the weekend, saying if pours again it may just benefit him.

"I think the rain might be an opportunity as we have seen at Silverstone and Hockenheim, so let's see what happens."

[MIKA27]

Alonso: Pecking order is unclear

Fernando Alonso says it's difficult to judge who is on top in Hungary after the rain curtailed running on Friday afternoon.

Although McLaren's Lewis Hamilton set the pace in both practice sessions, the Brit's rivals didn't all take to the softer option Pirelli tyres nor were they all on track when the sweltering temperature dropped just before the rain.

As such the Spaniard, who was fifth quickest in the afternoon's session, says he has no idea what to expect come Saturday's qualifying hour.

"What's to say, the usual Friday, at the end of which it is always difficult to hypothesise on how things will go in qualifying or the race," Alonso said.

"Because of this afternoon's rain in fact, we did not manage to try the dry tyres over a long run but, at least in the morning we managed to complete the work relating to the aerodynamic updates which we brought here in Hungary.

"Now it's up to our engineers to do all the analyses to put together the best possible package for the rest of the weekend.

"Qualifying is definitely more important than elsewhere: it will therefore be vital to go into every little detail to be as well prepared as possible for Saturday.

"The unknown relating to tyres? It's the same for everyone as was the case in Silverstone and Hockenheim!"

Alonso, the only driver to have won three races already this season, arrived in Hungary leading the Drivers' Championship by 34 points over Mark Webber.