FORMULA 1 - 2010

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Rubens: Most dangerous manoeuvre against me

Rubens Barrichello is, as to be expected, rather angry with Michael Schumacher after tried to put him into the wall in Hungary.

Fighting for the final points-paying position, Barrichello closed the gap on Schumacher and used superior pace to draw alongside him down the pit straight.

But as the Brazilian tried to slide by, Schumacher checked his mirrors, saw Barrichello's position and tried to shut the door - even if it mean putting his former Ferrari team-mate into the wall.

Thankfully for Barrichello, the wall ended and he was able to powered past the German and take tenth place.

However, he is anything but happy about the situation.

"He made a mistake on the last corner and he's just a bit too close. What we want from racing is to have battles but to be fair," he told the BBC.

"Luckily the wall finished there and I was able to go a bit more to the right. Take a line and stick to a line.

"He's taking something from the past into the present and there's no need for that. It was the most dangerous manoeuvre against me I have ever known."

On a more personal note, the Williams driver added: "His view is always that I'm a big cryer. What do the public think? I'd love them to let me know on Twitter..."

As for Schumacher's response, he reckons Barrichello should have gone around the other side of him as there was "more room."

"Well, there's not much to say. He obviously had fresher tyres, my job was to get the last corner spot on, I had a line of about 5cm, and I was making it obvious to him to go on the other side.

"There was more room there, but he chose not to. Certain drivers have their views."

MIKA: Schumacher is indeed cunning!

I like Schumacher but I do think he took it a little too far and dangerously which could have resulted in a serious accident at such speeds. His penalty which I think is 10 grid spots will soon wake him up.

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Schumi penalised for impeding Barrichello

Michael Schumacher will lose ten places on the Belgian GP grid after he was penalised by the Hungarian stewards.

Fighting with Rubens Barrichello for the the final points-paying position in Budapest, Schumacher came close to causing a massive accident when he squeezed Barrichello, almost putting him into the wall.

The Williams driver was, naturally, rather angry with his former team-mate's actions.

"Take a line and stick to a line," he said in respect to the fact that Schumacher had actually moved across the track after checking his rearview mirrors to block him.

"He's taking something from the past into the present and there's no need for that. It was the most dangerous manoeuvre against me I have ever known."

The German, though, didn't really see what the big deal was, saying Barrichello could have moved to the other side of him.

"As a driver, you have the ability to change the line once. That's what I was driving to," he told BBC.

"Obviously there was space enough to go through [because he did]. We didn't touch, so I guess I just left enough space for him to come through.

"I'm known not to give presents on the track. If you want to pass me you have to fight for it, and so it was."

However, the Hungarian race stewards did not agree with Schumacher, penalising the Mercedes GP driver for "illegitimately impeded car 9 during an overtaking manoeuvre."

They handed him a ten-grid slot penalty for the next race, which is the Belgian GP on 29th August.

Schumacher later said: "It was a hard fight, and this is what we are here for, but I accept that the FIA stewards saw it as too hard."

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Renault and Merc fined $50,000

Renault have been slapped with a $50,000 fine for the unsafe release of Robert Kubica into the path of Adrian Sutil during the Hungarian GP.

With the Safety Car deployed on lap 17 of the grand prix, there was a mad dash into the pits with Kubica's tyre change finishing up as Sutil arrived.

But instead of stopping to check where the other cars were, Renault released their driver smack into the path of the pitting Sutil.

And smack it was as the two drivers collided.

Sutil immediately retired from the race as a result of the damage he sustained while Kubica called it quits eight laps later as he came in for his drive-through penalty and opted instead to park the car.

However, the drive-through was not Renault's only punishment as the team has also been handed a $50,000 fine by the Hungarian stewards.

Meanwhile, Mercedes GP were given the same fine for their release of Nico Rosberg, who did not even make it out of the pits as his rear left tyre was not properly attached and came flying off.

One rival mechanic in the Williams pits was not lucky enough to avoid Rosberg's tyre and was knocked down. He sustained minor injuries.

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Alonso: It's no surprise that Red Bull won

Fernando Alonso has called on Ferrari to up their game after soundly beaten by Mark Webber in Hungary on Sunday.

The start of the 70-lap grand prix saw Alonso fall into place behind Sebastian Vettel with the German putting in fastest lap after fastest lap to etch out a lead over the Spaniard.

However, Vettel's bid for glory was undone by a drive-through penalty but that still did not stop Red Bull from winning as Webber had taken the lead at that stage.

And like his team-mate, he put in fastest lap after fastest lap to beat Alonso by almost 18 seconds.

"We were clearly slower than both of them all weekend. It was no surprise in the race," said the double World Champion, who admits that the track layout played a vital role in him finishing ahead of Vettel.

"We felt very slow today compared to them but thanks maybe to the layout of the track and difficulties to overtake we were able to stay consistent and finish in second.

"It's good for us but we know we need to improve race pace and qualifying pace. This time we were not quick enough to fight with Red Bull so we need to be realistic about what we did.

"It's a fantastic result on Sunday but overall we need to push and to keep improving the car as we saw this weekend."

Alonso also conceded that heading into Sunday's grand prix, the best he was hoping for was third place behind the two Red Bulls.

"Third place was our deserved place. We have been third mainly in free practice, Q1, Q2 and Q3 so third was what we expected from the race.

"The car did a very good start today to arrive first into the first corner so I nearly had the chance to overtake both Red Bulls, but in the end it was not possible, just enough to put myself second.

"I tried to pit and to secure second place and then Mark did a fantastic first stint, 40 laps with soft tyre and no problems at all, that maybe surprised us and we were not quick enough to make our strategy work.

"When you have the pace advantage that Red Bull had then any strategy works."

Following Hungary, Alonso remains fifth in the Championship but has once again closed the gap to those ahead of him. He now trails new Championship leader Webber by exactly 20 points.

MIKA: Was a great drive from Ferrari regardless.

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Mercedes apologise to Williams mechanic

Mercedes have offered their sincerest apologies after a tyre on Nico Rosberg's car came loose as he left his pit-box.

The tyre rolled down the pitlane at speeds between 30 and 40mph narrowly missing the Sauber mechanics who were readying themselves for Kamui Kobayashi.

As it continued its journey it hit some equipment and bounced into the air over the heads of some of the Williams mechanics before hitting and knocking down Nigel Hope, a Williams truck driver.

Nigel thankfully only suffered from some minor bruising and returned to his duties after a quick check-over.

Rosberg, who used to drive for the Williams team, joked that he was more worried about his tyre after hearing that it hit 'Big Nige'.

"After I heard that my tyre hit big Nige, one of my old Williams truckies, I was more concerned about my tyre than him!

"But seriously, it's great that he doesn't have any serious injures and I'm sorry for the incident," said the German.

Mercedes principal, Ross Brawn, says his team will launch a full investigation into how the incident occurred, also apologising to the injured mechanic.

"We will have a thorough investigation into the incident and report our conclusions to the FIA.

"We are thankful that no serious harm was caused by the stray wheel and send our best wishes to the Williams mechanic who was unfortunately injured."

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Hamilton defiant he can still win championship

Lewis Hamilton is defiant that he can still be crowned World Champion come the end of the season, despite an ever decreasing lead in the drivers' standings.

"My determination is as high as it can be and it's the same for Jenson, Martin and everyone in the team," he told the BBC. "We want to win the championship and we are doing everything in our power to win it."

Hamilton currently leads by 14 points ahead of his team-mate, Jenson Button, with the duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel a further seven points behind.

That lead has continued to shrink ever since the European GP, three rounds ago, and is likely to get smaller on Sunday after the McLaren's qualified over 1.8 seconds off the pace in fifth and eleventh.

"You don't really think about the championship until the moment that it really, really matters," he said. "That is, when you are just about to win or you are just about to lose it. It has always been my approach. I don't think about the critical result and how that affects the championship."

The 25-year-old did admit that his job is getting harder as Red Bull open up a massive speed advantage.

"Of course if we continue for the rest of the season and we are one second behind then inevitably it will be very hard for us to win the championship."

MIKA: Its early days but I really believe Webber will take this seasons WDC. Just.

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FIA to ramp up wing tests for Belgium

The FIA has moved to try to bring an end to Formula 1's flexible front wing row by telling teams it will ramp up the deflection tests from the next race in Belgium, AUTOSPORT has learned.

In the wake of complaints from a number of teams about possible flexing of the front wings of the Red Bull Racing and Ferrari cars at high speed, even though nothing has been found to be wrong with the two machines, the FIA wrote to teams after the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday telling them it was going to attempt to clear up the matter.

AUTOSPORT understands that from the next event at Spa-Francorchamps, the FIA has activated Article 3.17.8 of F1's technical regulations, which allows it to increase load deflection tests at any point to prevent teams being able to run flexible wings.

Article 3.17.8 states: "In order to ensure that the requirements of Article 3.15 are respected, the FIA reserves the right to introduce further load/deflection tests on any part of the bodywork which appears to be (or is suspected of), moving whilst the car is in motion."

At the moment the endplates on the front wing are allowed to flex by a maximum of 10mm when a load of 50 kilogrammes (500 Newtons) is applied to them.

The FIA has told teams now that it reserves the right to increase that test up to 100 kilogrammes - and it will only allow a linear increase of deflection up to 20mm.

The linear increase is designed to ensure that teams are not using clever material design to ensure that their cars pass the deflection test to stay within the regulations but then flex much more at higher loads.

It is also understood that the FIA is to clamp down on teams using clever fixings and joints on the underfloor of the car – amid suspicions that this is one area that teams could also be exploiting the regulations.

Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn, who had sought clarification from the FIA about the flexible wing regulations, confirmed on Sunday night that he expected the tests to change for Spa.

"I understand that there may be some changes in the way the tests are done, but obviously the cars involved pass the current tests," he said prior to the document from the FIA being sent out. "And the argument is that if they pass the current test, then the tests are not correct.

"You can clearly see on the track that there is quite a dramatic difference between the cars, which is part of the game – I've been there myself so what normally happens is that the FIA improve the tests and I think that is what is going to happen.

"I think the FIA recognises that the disparity between the cars on the track does not reflect the situation where there are tests intended to keep all the wings at a similar stiffness and similar performance."

Brawn added that he hoped the new tests would help clear up the matter – and prevent his team joining a number of rival outfits in being forced to develop expensive flexible wing technology.

"That is our dilemma at the moment. It is our dilemma, McLaren's dilemma. I don't know how they do it yet, but if we devoted enough resource to it then I am sure we could end up in the same situation. But we would rather not do it.

"So we want to see some clarity because it would be very relevant for next year. And if that is considered the accepted approach, then we will want to tackle it for next year."

Red Bull Racing has been unruffled by the row over its front wings, but Hungarian GP winner Mark Webber said on Sunday that he had started to get annoyed that rivals were complaining about the great job his team had done.

"Our guys have broken their balls to design a car in the spirit of the regulations, and every time we are tested by the FIA, we pass," he said.

"The car has always been passed by the FIA, so when people don't like (what they see on) the stopwatch, they have to justify their own positions in some other teams sometimes, and when there's pressure on people to perform and they're getting destroyed, that's how it is."

He added: "We're more than happy with what we have on the car and we're sleeping well at night, the guys, when they have inspections from the FIA that we're doing enough."

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De la Rosa elated with points finish

Pedro de la Rosa was elated with his performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Sauber's first double points finish of the season.

The Spanish driver, who had started the race from a season-best ninth position, went on to finish in seventh for his first points of the year.

It was also his first finish in the points since the 2006 season.

De la Rosa said Sauber deserved the result for the progress it has made in recent races.

"I am extremely happy and I am especially happy for the team who deserved a good result for all the hard work in developing the car so much further," said de la Rosa. "After the start is was difficult for me but then the safety car came out at a good time and the team did a good job calling me in.

"My pitstop went very well and afterwards it was more or less about keeping position. My car was okay during the race although I can see several things that we can learn from.

"We came here and did not expect too much on this slow circuit and now we have finished with both cars in the points for the first time this year."

Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi finished in ninth position for the first double point-scoring finish of the year for the Swiss squad, which was taking part in its 300th GP.

"This result for the team's 300th grand prix is just great and a big relief," said team boss Peter Sauber. "It was a fantastic effort from the drivers and the team who all did a fantastic job. Congratulations to everybody."

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James Allen's Hungarian GP verdict

Not for the first time in Formula 1 on Sunday at the Hungaroring a processional race was turned into something all together more thrilling by the appearance of a safety car.

In his post-race verdict, James Allen analyses how Mark Webber managed to turn his day into a memorable one and sympathises with Sebastian Vettel, as well as having his say on McLaren’s plight and Schumacher’s latest show of ruthlessness.

The Hungarian Grand Prix is often quite a dull affair, but in the spirit of the 2010 season, this year’s race was very entertaining and for a while the result hung in the balance.

Mark Webber was forced to try a different strategy when the safety car was deployed on lap 15 and he stayed out when the rest of the runners pitted.

This gave him the lead on the road, but he had his main competitors, Vettel and Alonso, right behind him and that meant that he had to build a lead of around 20 seconds before making his stop in order to emerge ahead.

With Vettel in second place on the road, Webber thought his task was to build the lead to Alonso so he would be able to ensure second place. But when Vettel was handed a drive-through penalty for not maintaining a sufficient gap to the car in front behind the safety car, it meant Webber was now pushing for the win.

It was one of those scenarios where a driver is asked to produce 20 qualifying laps in order to find 20 seconds, but he did it.

It looked quite touch-and-go at one stage, as his left-font tyre began to scream ‘enough’.

Although it was clear from practice that the soft tyre was going to be able to go longer in the first stint than we have seen at most races, no-one imagined that it would be able to last 43 laps, especially with the punishment Webber gave the tyres.

If he hadn’t managed to get the tyres to last we would tonight be contemplating Alonso’s second win in a row, despite driving a car which is over a second a lap slower than the Red Bull. Christian Horner’s team lived dangerously again today, but they got the win in the end.

Vettel was understandably annoyed by his penalty.

It seems a very harsh outcome for a relatively minor thing – it’s a bit like golf where they have some arcane rules which sometimes spoil the event.

I know why the safety car rules say that an even gap must be maintained, but to lose a race over it seems pretty tough. He admitted that he went to sleep behind the safety car and there is no doubt that he should have known the rules.

Alonso had a strong day today, doing the best he could with the car he had under him. He beat Webber off the start, but ultimately was beaten by him to the flag.

This is partly down to strategy, but mainly to sheer pace. The Red Bull car was in a different league to the other cars in Budapest this weekend and both Webber and Vettel could do what they liked and still be a second a lap faster than the Ferraris and the rest.

But the championship battle has now tightened up really nicely with five drivers still in with a realistic shout. I still think Alonso will have something to say about the outcome when we get to Abu Dhabi. Webber’s win takes him to four, to Vettel’s two, and the pair of them are always taking points off each other. Days like today give Alonso a chance.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will be feeling less confident about their championship chances tonight. Hamilton lost a lot of ground to his rivals with a retirement, while Button could only manage eighth place.

McLaren were 1.7s off the pace in qualifying and their fastest race lap was almost two seconds off Red Bull’s.

They have a lot of work to do to get on terms, and with the factory shutdown for the next two weeks, it’s hard to see how they are going to do it.

They are very reliant on their F-duct wing to be competitive and in Hungary it almost looked more of a hindrance than a help as it cost them downforce. They obviously don’t have the blown diffuser sorted out yet either.

They managed to hold on for a while at the top of the championship but now the car has been found out and if it doesn’t go up a gear in the next month, they will not win the title.

A quick word on the performances of Petrov and Hulkenberg, the GP2 graduates who both shone today and got their best results so far in F1.

It’s a tough season to come in as a rookie, with no testing allowed, but Petrov has stuck to his task and delivered a great weekend.

He’s shown that he is capable of it now. I do think it had a lot to do with the circuit being a favourite, but give him credit as he seems to be a lot more confident than he was and he’s got a chance of holding on to that seat.

Finally a word on the Schumacher/Barrichello incident towards the end of the race.

Many people have said that Schumacher was totally out of order to try to drive Barrichello into the wall. The TV pictures aren’t pretty, but there is a still doing the rounds virally on the internet tonight which is terrifying.

It’s head on and shows Barrichello almost in the wall with a cigarette paper width between him and Schumacher.

The stewards weren’t impressed and Schumacher was handed a 10-place grid drop for the next race in Spa.

They had to do this as to do nothing would have set a very dangerous precedent.

It’s sad to see Schumacher flailing around like that over 10th place, but it shows how he hasn’t lost his instinct for giving nothing away, even if his driving skills are somewhat blunted by the years.

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Alonso: 20 is better than 47

Having closed the gap in the title race, Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari could still win it - as long as they continue to improve.

After winning the season-opening Bahrain GP, Ferrari's form slumped as Red Bull and McLaren came to the fore. However, in recent races, the Scuderia have been on song, although Lady Luck has not always played her part.

But with a victory and a runner-up finish in the last race races, Alonso has closed the gap to new Championship leader Mark Webber to just 20 points with seven races and a total of 175 points still to play for.

"I don't know what the gap is now, if Mark is leading now. Twenty points? I don't know," said the double World Champion.

"Two races ago it was 47 before Germany, so after Germany and Hungary we have reduced half of the gap which was important for us as we enter August and four weeks' break with less than 47 points which was too big a gap to recover.

"Now, twenty is still a lot, especially because we know how competitive Red Bull is, we know how competitive McLaren is, even if they had a tough weekend, I'm sure they will come back very strongly after the break.

"We know it's going to be difficult, very difficult but with the car we have now, the improvements that we've done, we know that there will be some circuits with some opportunities as we had in Germany and there will be some other circuits like this one where we will maybe have no chance to win and we need to score as many points as possible, as we did.

"It's still open, but it remains very difficult, so we stay calm, we know how difficult it will be and we also know that we must improve.

"If we don't improve, we will not win the Championship. If we improve enough, maybe we have a chance.

"There are still very important races now, the next four or five races, so it's important, for sure, to have less than one race distance, less than 25 points going into this break."

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Brawn: It was a wheel gun issue

Ross Brawn has explained that it was a lost wheel nut that was to blame for Nico Rosberg losing a tyre during Sunday's Hungarian GP.

With almost the entire field pitting when the Safety Car was announced, the pit lane was packed as Rosberg came in for his stop. But a problem with the wheel gun meant that as he pulled away, his rear right tyre came off his car.

The tyre initially rolled towards rival mechanics before bouncing and injuring Williams' mechanic Nigel Hope while Rosberg's race came to an abrupt conclusion at the end of the pit lane.

"It appears that as the guy came off with the wheel gun, it spat the wheel nut but he didn't see it disappear," Brawn told Autosport.

"He went back on, fired the gun and realised the nut was no longer there so came back out to grab the other gun and the rear jack guy thought he had finished, so he dropped the car and away he went.

"I think we understand what happened and we will clearly look at how we can prevent it happening again."

He added: "When the gun went on to take the nut off, the gun hadn't engaged properly so the nut was off the axle and it spat it out. The guns are so quick and powerful now you don't see the nut travelling at the speed of light."

Mercedes GP were fined $50,000 by the Hungarian race stewards for the incident.

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Webber: There's everything to play for

Mark Webber says where his victory in Hungary was lucky or not, he'll take it - and the lead in the Drivers' Championship.

Webber claimed his fourth victory of the season in Budapest to retake the lead in the standings, which he had held earlier in the campaign after back-to-back wins in Spain and Monaco.

The Red Bull racer now has a four-point lead over Lewis Hamilton heading into the summer break but admits there is still a long way to go before the title is decided.

"Some people will say I was lucky but I'll take it," Webber told his website.

"I've been in this sport long enough to know that you have to take the rough with the smooth and none of my other victories have been gifted to me.

"It's good to be leading the points standings, but there are still a lot of chapters to come in this World Championship battle.

"The top five drivers are separated by 20 points, which is nothing. It's the equivalent of just eight points under last year's points system.

"There's everything to play for, but not until I've turned my phone off and had a couple of weeks' holiday! I'll be in touch again before Spa."

As for the Hungarian race, Webber failed to pit when his rivals did behind the Safety Car, forcing the Aussie to put in "every lap like it was a qualifying lap" to build up a lead.

"There was an element of risk because we hadn't done anything like a 42-lap stint on the option tyre during practice," he said.

"I had to drive what was effectively a three-part race because I didn't pit for tyres when the Safety Car came out early on, but the strategy paid off and I won the race pretty easily in the end."

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Brawn leaps to Schumacher's defence

Ross Brawn has defended Michael Schumacher following a manoeuvre that left Rubens Barrichello claiming he was lucky to be alive.

Barrichello slated former Ferrari team-mate Schumacher after coming within millimetres of crashing into the pit wall as he attempted to pass the seven-times champion in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Mercedes star Schumacher deliberately moved across to his right to block Barrichello, almost pushing him into the concrete, only for the Williams driver to squeeze past with a hair's breadth to spare.

Following the race Barrichello, who spent six years in Schumacher's shadow at Ferrari, was far from amused, claiming the 41-year-old has resorted to "a go-kart manoeuvre."

A fuming Barrichello added: "If he wants to go to heaven - in the event he is going to heaven - I don't want to go before him."

The stewards came down on Barrichello's side as they hit Schumacher with a 10-place grid penalty for the next race in Belgium on August 29.

Brawn, however, has claimed the punishment was "pretty tough" on Schumacher, and suggested by virtue of his comments, Barrichello perhaps had an axe to grind.

"I don't think for a moment Michael was trying to put Rubens in the wall," said Brawn.

"He was trying to discourage him from coming down the inside as he thought that was where he would be vulnerable.

"So he moved across to the inside to try and encourage Rubens to go around the outside.

"At the end of the day he gave him enough space. You can argue it was marginal, but it was tough racing.

"F1 is a tough business and these things happen in a fraction of a second."

Asked whether the history between them had a bearing, Brawn added: "Certainly not from Michael's perspective.

"Michael didn't comment on that. I know Rubens has commented on the history between them, but Michael hasn't at all.

"It is obviously something that is paramount in Rubens' mind."

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Hamilton: Title situation is now serious

Lewis Hamilton fears his World-title dreams are "hanging by a thin thread" following McLaren's horror weekend in Hungary.

McLaren went into the race leading the Constructors' Championship and with Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button first and second in the Drivers' standings.

But after their worst result of the year, with Hamilton retiring with a gearbox failure and Button finishing a lowly eighth after being lapped, McLaren are now looking up at rivals Red Bull Racing.

It is not a scenario that would have been envisaged by anyone in the team, least of all the drivers, heading into the summer break as the factory in Woking closed down for two weeks.

It will be a fortnight during which McLaren's top brass will be wondering how they can claw back the cavernous deficit to Red Bull most significantly, but also back-in-the-hunt Ferrari.

With Hamilton now four points behind Sunday's winner Mark Webber with seven races remaining, doubts have been raised within the 25-year-old as to whether he can add to his 2008 title.

"These seven races are going to be hard. We're hanging on by a thin thread at the moment," Hamilton.

"If they (Red Bull) continue with the pace they have, then we really don't have huge hope.

"At this stage of the season, to be so far off and to have a DNF like we did, whilst we are still in the hunt for the Championship, it's obviously serious.

"It's not a case to look upon lightly, not that we do, and it's not a case of saying 'oh, it's all right, at the next race we'll be okay'.

"It's a case where we have to pull together everything we have, in terms of resources of the team, the knowledge we all have, and to be the most united we have ever been."

Hamilton has been down a similar road before, just last season when the cars were over two seconds off the pace at the start of the year, only for McLaren to give him a winning one again by Hungary.

Although time is running out this season, Hamilton is convinced if one team is capable rediscovering the winning formula, then it is McLaren.

"I do believe we can catch them," added Hamilton.

"I have complete faith in my team, and I still feel we can do it, that when we get back (following the holiday), everyone will be attacking, will have ideas.

"As soon as the shutdown is over, I know people will be working from the second they're back at work because if anyone can do it, we can.

"For me, I'm just going to be on the tail of all the team, all the engineers, making sure they don't miss anything.

"I feel it's just as much my job to kick them as it is for them to kick me."

After being trounced by Red Bull and Ferrari in the last two races, Hamilton feels the break has come at just the right time.

"It means everyone can take a step back, take a breather, and say 'okay, let's assess the situation,"' said Hamilton.

"Where you're in the midst of the tension, stress and pressure, there are some things you miss.

"We're all fully aware of the situation, but everyone can go away and have a long, hard think of what we can do to improve."

Reigning Champion Button shares Hamilton's concerns regarding the title aspirations, but like the 25-year-old has seen what McLaren are capable of, even if it has been from an outsider's perspective.

"I haven't seen a gap like Red Bull had in qualifying since I've been racing in Formula One, not even with (Michael) Schumacher," was Button's stark assessment of their pace.

"At this moment in time we are not as quick as the Red Bulls, and that is not a negative, it's just that we're not.

"You do have peaks and troughs in Formula One, in a career and when you are fighting at Championship level.

"At the moment we are not in a trough, but we are not as powerful and as strong as the Red Bulls.

"But I have every confidence the team will pull something out, and I'm going to try everything I can to make sure we have a car that goes quicker."

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FIA sets date for Ferrari team order hearing

The FIA will convene on September 8th to hear the case of Ferrari breaking rule 39.1 regarding the use of team orders during a Grand Prix.

The date was revealed in a press release issued by the governing body on Monday evening.

"On 25 July 2010, on the occasion of the Grand Prix of Germany counting towards the 2010 Formula One World Championship, the Stewards of the meeting, after hearing the persons concerned, noted an infringement by the Scuderia Ferrari of: - Article 39.1 of the 2010 Sporting Regulations ("Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited") - and Article 151 c) of the International Sporting Code ("Any of the following offences (…) shall be deemed to be a breach of these rules (...) any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally")," read the statement.

The Italian team was fined $100,000 (£63,000) - the maximum amount the stewards can impose for a single violation, and referred to the World Motor Sport Council for further sanctioning.

"On the basis of that decision and of the inquiry report, and following the receipt of a report sent by the Stewards to the FIA, the FIA President has decided, in conformity with the new rules of disciplinary procedure adopted at his initiative on 11 March 2010, to submit the case to the judging body of the World Motor Sport Council," the statement continued.

"The disciplinary hearing of the World Council will be chaired by the FIA Deputy President for Sport and will take place in Paris on 8 September 2010."

That date is just two days before the teams home grand prix in Italy kicks off.

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Domenicali says anything can happen

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali believes anything is possible in this year's championship battle, despite the performance advantage of Red Bull Racing.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has moved into the lead in both championships after dominating the Hungarian Grand Prix, where it was clearly faster than all of its rivals.

Red Bull is now 74 points in front of Ferrari, third, while Mark Webber has a 20-point advantage over Fernando Alonso.

Domenicali reckons however that the speed of the Red Bull does not guarantee the team will dominate the rest of the season.

"For sure if you look from the beginning they were consistently faster than anyone else," said Domenicali. "At certain grands prix, like Turkey, Spain, they were able to be faster, more than one second, and here I think was the maximum gap.

"Then we had a couple of races, like Valencia, Canada, Silverstone, where the gap was smaller, so I think that for sure this is our objective.

"In order to fight for the championship we need to do the maximum we can in terms of development, score the maximum points today and, as we saw [in Hungary], anything is possible and anything can happen to anyone."

He believes things are likely to change significantly on tracks like Spa or Monza, where downforce is not as crucial as in Budapest.

But Domenicali admitted the team is staying cautious nonetheless.

"As I said, one week ago we were there and this week we were more than one second behind so we need to be prudent, we need to understand and try to find more downforce everywhere.

"For sure the conditions of Spa and Monza at the next two grands prix will be totally different and we need to see what will be the combined effect of the different aero configuration plus the different aero configuration of the track."

The Italian also praised the performance of his drivers in Hungary, following a difficult week for the team because of the team orders controversy.

"After such a focus on us this week, it is great to see the performance of our drivers," he said. "It is very good.

"Fernando did a fantastic race he was able to keep a car that was faster for a long time of the race, and Felipe did a fantastic race, he was able to have a great performance and able to show how he is as a man, as a driver after such a crash and that he is really deserving to be part of our Ferrari family.

"For sure we have seen a Red Bull that was on another planet today, it was too strong for us and in the second and third sector they were flying, considering the gap in performance we have seen this weekend it was really the maximum result that we could have obtained."

[MIKA27]

Adrian Sutil angered by Renault pitlane mistake

Force India's Adrian Sutil condemned Renault over the pitlane error that put him out of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Renault released Robert Kubica too early just as Sutil was driving into his pit entry box, resulting in a collision between the pair.

"It was definitely unsafe from their part," said Sutil.

"A real shame as it's my first DNF [Did Not Finish] since Australia, and even more disappointing as it wasn't our issue," added the German.

Chaos unfolded in the pit lane on lap 15 following the emergence of the safety car while a piece of debris from the car of Sutil's team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi's was cleared from the track.

The majority of the drivers immediately dived into the pits for a change of tyres, and Kubica's lollipop man gave him the all-clear too soon.

"There wasn't anything I could do," Sutil added. "They released him into my path and I just crashed into him, and my car was damaged too badly to continue."

Kubica was initially able to return to the track, only to be handed a 10-second stop-go penalty for an unsafe release from the pits for which Renault were later fined $50,000.

The Polish driver failed to express any sympathy for Sutil, but rued his own exit from the race a few laps later.

"I saw the lollipop go up and I started to go but unfortunately we collided, forcing me to retire with damage to the front suspension," he said.

"It would have been nice to have at least finished the race because there are so many Polish fans here.

"Looking at how the race evolved, we could probably have got a good result."

[MIKA27]

Schumi: Yes, the move was too severe

Michael Schumacher has apologised to former team-mate Rubens Barrichello after almost pushing him into the wall defending his position in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Barrichello overtook Schumacher's Mercedes on the main straight on the 66th lap, with Schumacher forcing the Brazilian off the road and inches away from the pit wall before finally conceding 10th place.

Race stewards ruled that Schumacher's move was illegal, and he has been hit with a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix on August 29.

Schumacher responded on Monday by issuing an apology on his website.

"Yesterday, straight after the race, I was still in the heat of the moment, but after seeing the scene against Rubens again, I have got to say that the stewards are right with their judgment: the manoeuvre against him was too severe," he said.

"I obviously wanted to make it difficult for him to overtake me and I also showed him clearly that I did not want to let him past, but obviously I did not want to endanger him with my manoeuvre. If he feels this way, then sorry, that was not my intention."

Schumacher finished 11th in the race, the latest disappointing result in his underwhelming comeback season.

The seven-time World Champion has had two fourth-place finishes this season, in Barcelona and Istanbul, but has never been in contention for a race win, and is ninth in the drivers' standings.

[MIKA27]

Hungarian GP photo gallery

Alonso passed Webber at the start but had to tuck in behind Vettel

Kobayashi made a sensational start, gaining seven places in the first few corners

Vettel rapidly pulled away from Alonso, who kept Webber at bay

Alguersuari's Toro Rosso expired early on

The safety car period transformed the race

Rosberg trudges back after his Mercedes's right-rear wheel fell off as he left the pits

Vettel's drive-through penalty cost him a probable win

Webber reeled off a sequence of blistering laps to build the necessary gap to make his pit stop and emerge still in the lead

A frustrated Vettel tried in vain to find a ***** in Alonso's defensive armoury

Webber crosses the line for his fourth win of the season

Massa finished fourth after a lonely afternoon

Massa slipped behind Hamilton in the pits, but reclaimed fourth when the McLaren pulled off the road

Petrov receives the plaudits of his Renault crew after his best F1 drive to date netted fifth place

Fellow rookie Hulkenberg took a strong sixth for Williams

De la Rosa scored his first F1 points since 2006

Kobayashi passes Schumacher en route to a fine ninth place

Button's afternoon was made more difficult when he was crowded out at the start

Vettel: 'What? I was only four-tenths quicker?'

Webber jumps for joy on the rostrum

Vettel was thoroughly miffed to end up third, and it showed

Webber's fourth win of the season gave him the championship lead

[winelover]

Webber jumps for joy on the rostrum

Sorry to have to say this but don't you think Webber looks a bit like a crazed monkey?

Best of luck to him but is he a gracious winner? (or just trying to rub SV's nose in it?)

A very interesting season and thanks very much Mikka for all of your hard work.

[Warren]

  graham_uk said:

Webber jumps for joy on the rostrum

Sorry to have to say this but don't you think Webber looks a bit like a crazed monkey?

Best of luck to him but is he a gracious winner? (or just trying to rub SV's nose in it?)

A very interesting season and thanks very much Mikka for all of your hard work.

Yes he does look a bit like a crazed monkey in this photo but it has to be said that in spite of the way he has been treated by his own team I think he has handled himself with far more maturity and class than Vettel.

[MIKA27]

  Warren said:

Yes he does look a bit like a crazed monkey in this photo but it has to be said that in spite of the way he has been treated by his own team I think he has handled himself with far more maturity and class than Vettel.

I agree with Warren.

Normally if anyone else acted this way on the podium, I'd say, "relax, yes its a win, but maybe behave with a bit more self control".

However, with the way Mark has been treated, or feels he's been treated, perhaps this is his way of rubbing it into Christian Horners nose moreso than Vettels.

I think the way the RBR team management have handled this situation has caused friction to and against both drivers and unfortunately it seems Vettel does not like Webber all that much because of it. IMO.

[OZCUBAN]

  MIKA27 said:

I agree with Warren.

Normally if anyone else acted this way on the podium, I'd say, "relax, yes its a win, but maybe behave with a bit more self control".

However, with the way Mark has been treated, or feels he's been treated, perhaps this is his way of rubbing it into Christian Horners nose moreso than Vettels.

I think the way the RBR team management have handled this situation has caused friction to and against both drivers and unfortunately it seems Vettel does not like Webber all that much because of it. IMO.

My personal opinion is he did this because of Vettel who is just out of camera shot in this photo ,you've got to love it

[MIKA27]

Webber not dreaming of title triumph

Championship leader Mark Webber refuses to be drawn into thoughts of title glory, with the Australian well aware that the season is far from done and dusted.

The Red Bull man heads off to enjoy the three week break between races, a top of the Drivers' standings following his victory in Hungary, but despite claiming his fourth win of the season Webber is trying to remain grounded.

'"We are way too far out for that,'' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We've got a lot of people that can win races at this level and we have already seen that. The most important thing for me is the next race [in Belgium on August 29]. That's a bit boring, it's an old cliche, but that's what it is. It's unrealistic to think I'm going to win the next seven.''

While the victory itself was sweet, the Australian enjoyed another moment to savour in Budapest as he lapped seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, a man who did the same to him on many occasions early in the Australian's career.

''I'm sure Michael wasn't having one of his strongest days but he did a lot of that to me back in his day and it was nice to be able to do it [back to him]. With someone of his caliber, it doesn't often happen.''

As for his reportedly strained relationship with team-mate Sebastian Vettel, Webber said the relationship was "not too bad", but that the relationship is complex.

''Team-mate is a word which is used but it's not exactly what it means ... It's often the case your team-mate is a pretty big rival of yours and that's how it's always been from the 1950s through to now," he added.

[MIKA27]

Button: We will get better

Jenson Button has vowed to help McLaren turn his car into a race winner again after watching Red Bull blow away their rivals in Hungary over the weekend.

McLaren, along with drivers Button and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, started their enforced two-week holiday on Monday.

Upon their return on August 16 it will be all hands to the pumps in an effort to get the cars back to the front of the grid after two weekends of struggle in Germany and Budapest.

Hamilton was a staggering 1.7seconds behind Sebastian Vettel on pole in qualifying on Saturday, a gap Button claims he has never seen before during his time in Formula One.

Then in the race, after Hamilton retired with a gearbox failure, Button finished a lowly eighth, albeit a lap down to winner Mark Webber.

Former team principal Ron Dennis, who last week chastised Hamilton and Button for criticising the lack of pace in the car, would not be amused by the latter's latest remarks.

But a worried Button said: "I think we can say, at this moment in time, we are not as quick as the Red Bulls.

"We're not. You can see that on the circuit. It's not a negative thing. It's a positive criticism.

"The position we're in is not about pointing the finger. When I say our car isn't as quick as another car, I mean it is not as quick.

"But it's a team effort. We win together and we lose together.

"It's as much about me giving as much input as I can to improve the car as it is about the guys back at the factory making the car go quicker in their way.

"It's like me saying I made a mistake out on the circuit. That's my fault.

"So me saying the car's not quick enough. it's not quick enough, but I'm going to try everything I can to ensure it gets quicker."

Button can see no reason either why, with McLaren's resources, they will not resolve the issues once everybody returns from holiday.

Previously as an outsider looking in, Button has watched the team get to grips with problems swiftly and efficiently, which is one of the reasons why he signed for the team.

"You do have peaks and troughs in Formula One, in a career and when you are fighting at championship level," added Button, who will be competing in this weekend's London triathlon.

"At the moment we are not in a trough, but we are not as powerful and as strong as the Red Bulls.

"But I'd be surprised if this team didn't pull something out. I have every confidence they will."