The Formula One Insider

HUNGARORING - a track that's as imaginative as its name.	by Mitchell McCann, U.S.A.

HUNGARY FOR MORE Well, that was exciting, wasn't it? I don't know why I expected anything else from the Hungaroring but this one left me hankering for coverage of back-markers pit-stops and artsy shots of the reflections in pit-crew's visors. Things started out well as I missed the first eight minutes of qualifying (remember, I live in the U.S., which means that qualifying is at 7AM). Turns out that the extra eight minutes in bed was clearly time well spent. Things went downhill from there. Hakkinen promptly went out and set the pole time on his first run and after that the only excitement was trying to guess exactly how far down the grid Salo would end up. The race itself was no better unless you're a Coulthard fan or a Salo hater. In reviewing the race on tape I intended to confirm my suspicion that we hadn't seen a single pass on the track. Unfortunately, the tape counter on my VCR was more interesting and my focus became locked on this for eight minutes at which point I fell asleep. (I know Coulthard passed Irvine but as Irvine wasn't actually on the track at the time I'm not at all sure that this counts). I normally keep tapes of all F1 races but I haven't broken the tab off of this one yet and there is a re-run of a "VERY special" episode of Blossom on TV tonight... IRVINE FRENCH KISSES BLARNEY STONE He really has no shame, does he? Following the race, Eddie Irvine claimed in a column he writes for a British newspaper that it was probably a good thing he slid off the track because, and I'm paraphrasing here but only ever so slightly, Coulthard probably would've taken him out had he allowed him to stay behind him until the finish. Now, OK. He may well be right. DC is not exactly the smoothest passer since John Elway and I'll grant you that I myself may have been tempted to say an unkind thing or two about a race driver on the odd occasion. ("Odd" being any time there's a race). But for Irvine to turn his own error into an insult to another driver's character and ability is disingenuous at best. And I don't care if he missed the breaking point for that corner or if his set-up caused the car to handle badly, this was his mistake. Eddie, you screwed up, 'fess up or shut up. SALO CAN YOU GO It's a good job that Mika Soslow was lapped, again, immediately before the end of the race. Otherwise, he might still be going. In a performance that brought back fond memories of Lavaggi and Inoue, the Flailing Finn trundled around with the Minardis and Arrows all weekend. Let's hope he wasn't joking when he said he would sign one of the six contracts he was offered before Hungary in case he screwed up. In just one race Salo has made an impressive bid for the title previously believed to be locked up by Coulthard - world's number two-iest number two. (Finland has laid on an extra 23 skateboards to take Salo's fans to Spa next weekend). BRIDGESTONE HIRES INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU Following Hakkinen's tyre blow out in Germany, Bridgestone launched an intensive investigation into the cause of the tyre failure. After two weeks they finally announced that the problem was tyre temperature, pressure, a cut or a blister. Seems they have ruled out divine intervention, El Nino and the luck of the Irish but that's about all they've ruled out. In another startling announcement, Bridgestone also revealed that next year's tyres will be round and black. At least until David Coulthard gets a hold of them. CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON INDIANAPOLIS TRACK Immediately following the Brickyard 400,000, or whatever it is them Good Ole Boys call it, work was begun at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to prepare it for next year's F1 race. It is expected that the hospitality suites will be completed by April next year and the track within a year or two of that. By 2001 we'll know what happens when you hit a speedway wall with a F1 car at 200 mph and by 2002 we should have a good statistical base with which to extrapolate future serious injury rates. By 2003 it is expected that at least 1.5% of Americans will be aware of the race, including those that work at the Speedway and the tree-huggers protesting the running of an F1 race through a golf course, and by 2004 Tony George will restrict two-thirds of the grid to cars which compete in his Formula Racing One Group (FROG). (By this time Villeneuve will have finished a race and Coulthard will have passed somebody which is no mean feat for somebody driving an Arrows). In 2005 Tony Stewart will win the Formy 500 and will be kissed by a princess. It will all end happily ever after. IN BRIEF Apparently, Benetton now has a full-scale wind tunnel. I didn't know Flavio had returned. Jean Alesi retired due to fuel pickup problems. Being Alesi this would normally mean that he'd forgotten to stop and pickup fuel. Damon Hill failed to retire from the race or F1 this weekend bringing about his retirement from retiring. Prost announced the signing of Jean Alesi for next year. Perhaps somebody should point out to Alain that 'all things French' is probably his problem, not his solution. And finally, Jacques Villeneuve has not been fired even though he hasn't finished a race all season, so I don't see why I

Mitch McCann	© 1999 Atlas Formula One Journal.
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