Hamilton dominates in Hungary

29/07/2012

On his way into the Hungaroring this morning, Mat Coch was forced to drive at half his normal speed. Nor due to the vast number of fans making their way to the track but the weather, which other than very heavy rain including thunderbolts and lightning… very, very frightening.

However, an hour or so later, as the GP3 grid formed, the track was almost dry and the field was shod with slicks.

So, bearing all this in mind, and with widespread speculation that there will be further storms this afternoon, welcome to Hungary.

The overriding thing about yesterday's qualifying, indeed most of the practice sessions, was the sheer pace of the McLarens, particularly in the hands of Lewis Hamilton. This, of course, comes a couple of weeks after the Woking outfit, according to much of the media, was on the brink of implosion - such was its poor form - with Lewis Hamilton looking to join any team that might have him and Jenson Button considering retirement.

Ignoring the sensationalism from the media - including those who should, but clearly don't, know better - the tables appear to have been turned somewhat with the Woking team on the ascendant and Red Bull on the back foot.

While McLaren, particularly Hamilton, does look very strong here, for many the dark horse remains Lotus, and with Romain Grosjean starting from the front row and Kimi Raikkonen three spot behind who can blame them.

While denying that it has been affected by the FIA tightening the engine map loophole, Red Bull is clearly struggling here, witness Mark Webber's failure to make it into Q3, the third time this has happened this season. Teammate Sebastian Vettel does start from third, but all in all the Milton Keynes team is not looking comfortable.

Of course, if you want to see a team that is really hurting look no further than Mercedes, where both drivers failed to make the cut, like many, including Webber, Schumacher and Rosberg will be watching the skies eagerly this afternoon in the hope that the weather gods will make an appearance.

Though he's leading the world championship and will continue to do so this afternoon and into the summer break, yesterday's performance reminded us what Ferrari and Fernando Alonso - who celebrates his 31st birthday today - have been saying for as long as we can remember, namely, that the F2012 isn't very fast. Then again, with 2012 being all about 'points making prizes', the Spaniard, who has scored in every race this season, is likely to add further to his tally. As should teammate Felipe Massa, for whom this circuit has many different memories.

While the Saubers have disappointed here, though not as much as the Mercedes, Force India continues to tread water and Toro Rosso slowly sink into mediocrity.

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