24/07/2009
NEWS STORY
Bridgestone's super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on the tight and twisty Hungaroring circuit for the first day of the Hungarian Grand Prix. In hot weather conditions, Lewis Hamilton set the day's fastest lap time, a 1min 22.079secs, in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes during the afternoon practice session.
Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest driver in the morning practice session, using the soft compound to set a time of 1min 22.278secs. Conditions were hot all day and the track reached a maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius during the afternoon session.
What was significant about today's running?
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "Today was all about track improvement and finding set-up. As we would expect here in Hungary, the track surface developed a lot over the course of the day, as the surface was cleaned and rubber was laid. Temperatures were hot so we did see a lot of heat generated in the tyres, especially when cars were heavy and sliding on the slippery surface. Interestingly, we did not see as much graining as we would normally expect here. Lap times were close with a second covering the top 17 cars in the afternoon."
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
HH: "Some drivers told us today that they didn't have enough grip with the soft compound, however past experience shows us that the circuit improves a lot so we don't expect it to be an issue on Sunday. Both compounds worked well, so the team who can find the best set-up for qualifying and then the race will do well. This is more difficult than usual as the track develops so much here. How much track improvement we see, and the temperatures we experience on race day will help determine the race strategy. I think we are set for a very interesting weekend."