Vitaly Petrov Post-Hungarian GP Video Interview

• 31/07/2011

  A little drizzle out east

• 30/07/2011

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Shortly after the Hungarian GP, we spoke to Vitaly who told us about his race in Budapest.

With F1 now facing its mid-season break, Vitaly also told us about what he plans to do with his time off. To hear what he had to say, see below.

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Button felt win was possible after first stint

Jenson Button has revealed that he felt his victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix was possible right from the moment he took on his first set of slicks on lap 12.

Button worked his way up to second after his first pit stop and then attacked Lewis Hamilton for the lead in his final stint. After a tense battle, Hamilton then had to make two extra pit stops and serve a drive-through penalty, giving Button a clear run to the finish. But the race winner said he felt the win was possible much earlier in the race.

"It's very easy to say now, but personally I felt [a win was possible] at the end of the first stint," he said. "I felt that I was able to look after the tyres for the remainder of the first stint. I think that halfway through people began struggling and I was able to push on and the car felt really good. I think I was about three seconds behind Lewis when he pitted on the first stop, he'd pulled in about a second a lap up to that point.

"So at that point I knew that I was in good shape, the car was working well for me and I thought it was a matter of time in the dry conditions for us to get the jump on Lewis, because at the end of the stints he was struggling. Obviously it turned out a little bit differently with the rain coming down, it was difficult on the prime tyre - those aren't the conditions for those tyres - but a lot of fun all the same. It's always fun racing with Lewis, I think we're pretty fair, I don't think we touched this time and it was great to come away with a victory this time."

He said a win was the best possible way to enter the four week summer break and to mark his 200th grand prix start.

"It's good having a couple of weeks break because it might take me that long to get over tonight," Button added. "This is the first place where I won a grand prix back in 2006, in these sorts of conditions, and this is my 200th race and we've won here again. For some reason I like these conditions, don't ask me why, but it was a great call by the team to put me on the prime tyre when they did. And I think a great call by all of us when we decided not to go to the inters.

"All round, an amazing weekend and I want to say a big thank you to the whole team; the mechanics, the engineers, everyone within the team who have worked so hard to produce the car that we have now. I think we're going into the break on a nice high, but I think every day that we're on holiday we're going to be thinking about Spa already. I'm excited about coming back and hopefully doing the same again."

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'The win was in reach'

Sebastian Vettel reckons a win was possible at the Hungarian Grand Prix after finishing second behind Jenson Button, and revealed that he had to back off in the final stint because of some concerns with his brakes.

Button led Vettel across the line for victory by 3.5s, although the McLaren backed off on the last lap and had been nearly 10s clear. Vettel believes he could have pushed the McLaren harder, but had concerns about how his car would be handling at the end of the race.

"In the last stint I had to let Jenson go, because I did feel that I had more speed in the car, but I had a couple of problems with the brakes and it was difficult to know, with 20 laps to go, how the car would be at the end so I couldn't push as hard as I would have liked to," he said. "But still I think second place today is an important step, nevertheless I think the win was in reach and we didn't get it. We have to work hard because I think both of the McLarens are very strong in all sorts of conditions. So it's clear now that they have done a step forward and make sure we come back definitely."

Vettel started from pole but lost the lead on the intermediate tyres when Lewis Hamilton stormed past him into turn two and he ran wide. The Red Bull driver admitted his car did not feel as good in the wet.

"I was struggling a bit in the first stint on the intermediate tyres, Lewis was a bit faster," he said. "Down into turn two is quite tricky, he was pushing quite hard and I tried to be on the edge. But at some stage I realised it would be too late so I opened the car because I know the white line, and in particular the green paint afterwards, is very slippery so it was easy to have a spin.

"I lost the lead and after that the circuit was drying and we could maybe have come in a lap earlier. Then on the supersofts I was feeling quite good initially, but there was quite a lot of drop off. I think it was the same for all of us with obviously the track being quite green. I think both times I would have loved to come in a lap earlier but it was quite good fun to see both McLarens very close again."

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'The better man won'

Lewis Hamilton refused to blame his team and said that "the better man won" as he endured a difficult Hungarian Grand Prix to finished fourth.

Hamilton led early in the race and looked favourite for victory as he built up a nine second lead by the half way point. With his team-mate Jenson Button in second place McLaren looked to have the race under control, but then the decision to put on supersoft tyres during the third pit stop while Button, Vettel and Webber put on softs with 30 laps to go proved costly.

Hamilton was slower and had to make an extra pit stop, while a rain shower also caused him to spin and lose his lead, before getting a drive through for forcing Paul di Resta off the track as he recovered. Hamilton said he had struggled with his front left tyre, but was full of praise for the race winner.

"First of all congratulations to Jenson," Hamilton said to the BBC. "He was pushing me hard the whole race and the better man won today, he did a fantastic job and congratulations to the team.

"It was an intense race, we obviously got a good start, did great for the first half of the race - I was struggling a lot with the graining on my left front tyre, I don't know if it was my fault for pushing too much - then I had a big mistake. Again my left front tyre was pretty worn so I went a bit wide, came out of the chicane and spun which is very very rare, I think it's one of the first times I've spun. And then after that I have to apologise to Paul di Resta, I didn't see him, so I had absolutely no clue - I don't know where or what happened - but I got a penalty for something which is to be expected I guess sometimes, so I apologise to him."

Hamilton then pitted for intermediate tyres, a decision which dropped him out of the running for a podium, and he refused to blame his team for the error as he it was suffering with communication problems.

"We were having radio issues and I could hear my engineers but they couldn't hear me. So I was constantly asking them for information but they couldn't hear me so it was a very difficult call for them. I think perhaps at one point they got some information from me and I heard them say it was going to rain and it was already spitting so we opted to go for the wet tyres. I think they called me in and I did the lap, anyway the tyres went off, it wasn't necessarily the best call but that's motor racing."

After a frustrating afternoon, Hamilton said that the pace of the car and Button's win showed the level of McLaren's improvement.

"I think we can definitely say that the team has done a fantastic job. For us (he and Button) to both be the most competitive this weekend I think is a fantastic way to go in to the break. Of course we would have loved a one-two, I feel like I let the team down a little bit, but we'll bounce back at the next race."

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Webber rues intermediate tyre gamble

Mark Webber was left ruing his decision to switch to intermediate tyres towards the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, but felt he had to gamble at that stage of the race.

Webber pitted for intermediates at the end of lap 51 as rain started to fall but it turned out to be a passing shower and he lost two places as a result of the stop. He managed to make one back by the end of race after switching back to slicks.

"It was quite an enjoyable grand prix up until we made the wrong decision from the cockpit," Webber told BBC Sport. "You look completely stupid when you're only on the intermediates for two laps. If it rains heavier for another three or four minutes then that's the right the decision, but that's the roll of the dice you've got to make. Obviously the difference between the slicks and the inters when it was wet was a lot. It was my call and I decided to roll the dice, if it worked you win big, but if you lose, well obviously I lost a position. That's the way it was today."

Webber started sixth on the grid but was eight by the end of the first lap. He said starting on the dirty side of the grid had not helped.

"It was pretty slippery on that side of the grid, I think," he added. "We got away reasonably well, I saw the Mercedes and those guys got a very good start and a lot better than me for sure. That was the first part of the race but you knew there were going to be some more decisions later in the race, and I got some right and some wrong."

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Alonso rues early holdups

Fernando Alonso said that the first half of the race proved to be costly for him as he finished third in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Starting fifth, Alonso found himself in sixth place in the first lap as both Mercedes cars got ahead of him. Though he clearly had the pace and managed to pass both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg by the end of lap three, Alonso then made a mistake and had to pass Rosberg again, losing time behind the Mercedes for a further six laps.

Having got himself up to fifth, Alonso was then stuck behind Mark Webber and after a short stint he pitted early to gain the undercut - a move which gave him clear air and allowed him to climb up to third by the finish. Alonso said that by the time he had space to show his speed it was too late to challenge for victory.

"Well I think in this type of conditions the race is very long, and you need to be always focused because with so many pit stops and so many weather conditions anything can happen," Alonso said. "So I stayed focussed in the beginning but unfortunately the start didn't go as we predicted.

"Both Mercedes overtook us on the start so I had to overtake Michael [Schumacher] and then Rosberg two times, and then with the pit stops we found ourselves behind Webber for half of the race. So after that we were able to push in some free air and we were quite quick but the first 30 laps we were behind the Mercedes and behind Mark so that was a little bit too much for the prize."

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Di Resta hails 'massive' result

Paul di Resta called his seventh place at the Hungarian Grand Prix "massive" as he achieved the best result of his Formula One career so far.

Di Resta started in 11th place but a strong start in wet conditions allowed him to climb up to ninth place before Michael Schumacher retired and a better strategy than Nico Rosberg elevated him to seventh. Di Resta said that after the frustrations of the last three races he was pleased to be able to get the result that the car's potential allowed.

"It's a massive thing for me," Di Resta told the BBC." The last three races have been way out of my control, but there were definitely points up for grabs in all of them and yesterday we didn't get the best qualifying, we didn't quite hook the car up on the supersofts but we knew we had a good balance in the dry had it come.

"We lost a little bit out to strategy, probably the middle stint wasn't as good as it should have been, but at the end when the tricky conditions came I was able to fight my way back through. We were definitely quicker than the guys behind and it was just about bringing the car home and making sure there was enough fuel on board... We're only out there to win as a team and given what Adrian scored at the Nurburgring I think it was important that we finished seventh, closed the gap to Sauber and we're fighting and that's the main thing."

Di Resta was involved in a pivotal moment in the race when Lewis Hamilton spun and then forced him off the track as he recovered - earning the McLaren driver a drive-through penalty that scuppered any chances of a podium finish. Di Resta said he had been caught out by having to go on to the grass, but that the decision to penalise Hamilton was a tough one to make because it didn't affect the outcome of his race.

"Fortunately I saw him quite early, I saw before I entered the chicane [that] he had a bit of a moment and just as I came out of the chicane I was a bit surprised, but at the same time there was time to take action on it and I think Lewis was leading the race at that point so I can fully understand what he was trying to do. But there are no harsh feelings; I spoke to Lewis about it and he just said that he didn't see me, but if it had cost us a lot of points it would have been a hard one.

"It's a difficult one to say... I didn't lose too much out of it but at the same time I lost a lot of tyre temp so it is a hard one. I was fine for position with Barichello, they had just lapped us but as I said if it had cost me points I would have been a bit more disappointed."

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Renault plays down Heidfeld fire

Renault chief race engineer Alan Permane played down the fire which ended Nick Heidfeld's Hungarian Grand Prix.

As Heidfeld left his pit box following a delayed pit stop, smoke was seen coming out of the exhausts and the rear of the car. As he exited the pit lane a fire started to engulf the left hand sidepod, and he quickly stopped the car before jumping out, before there appeared to be a small explosion out of the sidepod as fire marshals attempted to extinguish the flames. Permane, however, said it wasn't as serious as it looked.

"A bad day for us," Permane said. "Nick had a very poor start and struggled in the wet conditions. In his second pit stop we had a problem with one of the wheel nuts meaning that the car was sat at high revs for a long time. This meant a build-up of heat which caused a fire. Although it looked spectacular it was only a small part of bodywork which burnt on the left-hand sidepod."

Following a similar incident during practice in Barcelona earlier this year, team principal Eric Boullier said that it wasn't an inherent problem for the team, and that the cause of each fire was different.

"The engine was still blowing under high revs, and this design is not done for this purpose so I think it went too hot and the exhaust blew up," Boullier told the BBC. "The [front-exiting exhaust] design is done for a running car not a standing car. The problem we had the other time was different, it was completely different actually, it was just an exhaust breaking up and then obviously the gas blowing in to the car inside the [sidepod] so it was completely different."

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Gearbox problem ends difficult day for Schumacher

A gearbox problem was to blame for Michael Schumacher's retirement from the Hungarian Grand Prix, but he does not think he could have finished higher than eighth if he'd made it to the chequered flag.

Schumacher's race came to an end on lap 27 after he parked his car following a battle with Felipe Massa for position. He said a gearbox problem cut his race short, but admitted his race had already been hindered by a late swap from intermediates to slicks.

"An unfortunate end to my race today when we suffered a gearbox problem which forced my retirement," he said. "As far as we know, this had nothing to do with the spin I had when fighting with Felipe which was mainly caused by avoiding contact. At the start, we gambled a little with low tyre pressures as we were expecting the track to dry quite quickly, but that turned out to be very slippery to drive.

"I came in for dry tyres one lap too late, but we can only handle one car at a time obviously. From then onwards, the race developed normally, but I would not have been able to make a very big step forward from the position I was in when I retired."

His team-mate Nico Rosberg secured two points for Mercedes in ninth, but was one of the drivers to switch back to intermediate tyres towards the end of the race which cost him dear.

"I had a decent start today and gained three positions which was encouraging," he said. "In the middle of the race, the prime tyres no longer had any grip in the increasingly damp conditions so we took the decision to put on intermediates. Unfortunately the rain shower proved not to be very strong and we had to switch to slicks which cost me a few positions.

"I pushed very hard to catch [Sebastien] Buemi and [Paul] Di Resta, and managed to close the gap, but it was impossible to overtake them in the last corners. So I collected just two points, but still more than last year. Now I'm looking forward to the next two races after the break. Spa and Monza are high-speed tracks where the Mercedes-Benz engine power in our car should be a benefit."

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Damage played on Massa's mind

Felipe Massa says that the damage he sustained when spinning off the track early in the Hungarian Grand Prix played on his mind for the rest of the race.

Massa was just over 10 seconds off the lead when he lost control of his car having run wide in turn two and spun backwards in to the tyre wall. The result was a damaged rear wing, and he admitted that he was worried he may not be able to continue but that he put his trust in the decision made by Rob Smedley, his race engineer.

"It was a difficult race with the rain coming and going," Massa said. "My afternoon was ruined when I went off the track on lap 8. The back end of the car hit the barriers and I was scared the car might be too damaged to continue, but my engineer told me I could keep going. I lost so much time because of that and even if I made some nice passing moves and moved up the order, I am still annoyed at not having been able to fight for a podium finish as I probably could have done."

Massa said that the tricky conditions made for a difficult race, but that he was ready to go away and come back stronger after the mid-season break.

"When it began to rain after lap 40 - but also at the start - the conditions were very difficult: you had to absolutely avoid the white lines because they were extremely slippery and it was like driving on ice. Now we have a bit of a holiday: I will head back to Brazil to be with my family and I always enjoy spending time in my country. I am sure that when I come back to Europe, it will mark the start of a second part of the championship, a better one than the first."

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Buemi rates drive through the field as one of his best

Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi rates his drive from 23rd on the grid to eighth at the chequered flag as one of his best.

After getting knocked out of qualifying in Q1 on Saturday and serving a five-place grid penalty for a an accident with Nick Heidfeld at the previous round, Buemi's chances of points looked slim starting from 23rd. However, he was 14th by the end of the first lap and ninth by the time he made his first pit stop. He then made up positions by staying out on slicks during a brief shower towards the end of the race when other cars stopped for intermediates.

"A fantastic race, one of my best," he said. "Starting right from the back row I got a super start and I passed around ten cars on the opening lap. After that, I got into a good rhythm and was able to pass more cars on the damp track. Then, as it began to dry, I felt the set-up was not perfect and I had too much understeer. I tried not to get upset about it and then the team did a very good job, working at the pit stop to change the wing angle which helped me to save the tyres better and the stop was quick enough for me to jump up a few places. When the rain returned, I again felt the car was working very well and I was able to run at a good pace again, which helped me get into the points."

The result puts him two points clear of team-mate Jaime Alguersuari in the drivers' championship.

"It's nice to go on holiday now with another 4 points in the bag, especially starting with that five place grid penalty," he added. "There were plenty of exciting moments, especially my passing move on Kobayashi. I was too slow to catch up with him on the straight so I had to pass him under braking which was right on the limit. It's great to have this result, which owes something to such a good strategy."

Alguersuari reckons there was a chance he could have finished ahead of Buemi but said his final stop unfortunately coincided with a brief shower.

"Congratulations to the team for getting both cars into the points," he said. "Today, it was clear in my mind that I could have finished seventh. I made one of my pit stops just as it began raining slightly again. With the tyres not yet up to temperature, at that point it was hard to stay on the track and I went off. But I carried on fighting and towards the end, it was unfortunate that I lost another place after the collision with Kobayashi, but as a team performance we can consider we did a good job today, so it is a nice way to go into the short break, although I can't wait to start again in Spa."

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Alan Permane

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News | 31/07/2011

• 30/07/2011

  Vitaly - "I encountered quite a lot...

• 29/07/2011

  Nick - "We made some good progress"

• 29/07/2011

  Hungarian GP - Practice 2 - Lotus...

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How was the performance yesterday?
AP: It was a difficult day for us. Both drivers reported that the car felt better in FP3 after we had made changes on Friday night following on from what we learnt on the first two practice runs. Although we had made improvements, we simply did not have the pace yesterday to challenge for the top ten, which is not good enough.

What are the tyre considerations here at the Hungaroring?
AP: The soft tyre was between 1-1.5 seconds slower, so tyre strategy in qualifying was not difficult today. For the race, I expect it will be reasonably straightforward in terms of tyre choice, with probably a three pit stop race. Vitaly's final run in Q2 was compromised; he was on his out lap and was slowed down by another car. This prevented him from warming his tyres, which is critical for a qualifying lap on the super soft tyres.

What were the issues with Nick's car in FP3?
AP: We did have an issue with fuel delivery on Nick's car yesterday morning, so we changed the relevant parts in the fuel system and did not suffer a repeat of the issues in qualifying.

HUNGARIAN GP - QUALIFYING

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Vitaly Petrov, R31-05
Qualifying: P12, 1:22.284, 14 laps

Nick Heidfeld, R31-04
Qualifying: P14, 1:22.470, 14 laps

Vitaly Petrov was the fastest LRGP driver in a difficult qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix where both cars narrowly missed out on a Q3 qualifying run.

Vitaly will line up on the grid for tomorrow's race in 12^th position with Nick Heidfeld directly behind him in 14^th with under two tenths of a second separating both drivers' best times, set using Pirelli's super soft compound P-Zero.

Variable weather conditions with relatively brisk winds did not assist finding a good set-up for the R31 in a session where Sebastian Vettel took pole position with a time of 1min 19.815secs.

Vitaly

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Press Releases | 30/07/2011

• 31/07/2011

  Alan Permane - "it will probably be a...

• 29/07/2011

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How did you find the conditions out there today?
VP: The difficulty we had was warming up the tyres because the weather was so changeable. It was quite windy and cooler than it usually is here, but that was the same for everyone out there.

Was it a challenging qualifying out there?
VP: I encountered quite a lot of understeer, especially in turn nine, which cost me two-tenths and practically put an end to my chance of getting in Q3. It is this, combined with traction issues that have been our main challenges so far this weekend.

And looking ahead to tomorrow?
VP: We are ambitious so qualifying where we did is not satisfactory for us. The focus will now turn to how we make the best out of the situation tomorrow.

Bruno Senna video diary

• 30/07/2011

  The Sun in the Sky

• 28/07/2011

  Vitaly Petrov video diary - Hungarian...

• 28/07/2011

  Back to back they face each other.

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After driving in his first LRGP practice session yesterday, Bruno had plenty to talk about.

To hear his thoughts on this, today's activity and his predictions for the race, see below.

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