Formula 1: agosto 2012

Martin Whitmarsh McLaren team principal "We have tried to be a galvanising, stabilising force, trying to understand the issues of all the players," said Whitmarsh.

"Whatever happens, we'll continue to try and do those things. But I think it would be quite neat for someone else to have a go at it.

"I care about Formula 1, whatever role I'm in. McLaren, I think, has been an extraordinarily good citizen, in my opinion, of the sport."

The future of Fota was thrown into doubt by the dispute late in 2011, but Whitmarsh feels that his not seeking re-election will present a chance for someone else to continue its work.

"At the moment we've got 10 races left and I'll concentrate on that and on other things.

"We'll see what happens, but my recommendation to them will be that someone else does it. It'll be a good opportunity for them."

Fota was formed in 2008 with the aim of representing the interests of the teams when dealing with the sport's governing body the FIA, the commercial rights holders and F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone.

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VIDEO: Classic F1 - Belgian Grand Prix 1985

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Watch highlights from the 1985 Belgian Grand Prix as Ayrton Senna masters the wet conditions at Spa to claim an impressive win ahead of Nigel Mansell.

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VIDEO: Murray Walker on Alberto Ascari

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VIDEO: De Villota crash 'terrible' says witness

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VIDEO: Restart chaos after safety car at Valencia

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VIDEO: Vettel goes for spin in New Jersey

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VIDEO: Bahrain Grand Prix highlights

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Hamilton 'wants McLaren contract'

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh says Lewis Hamilton has told him he wants to sign a new contract with the team.

Hamilton, 27, has a deal that runs out at the end of this season and there has been speculation that he could seek a fresh challenge elsewhere.

But Whitmarsh, who has known Hamilton since the British driver was 11, insisted talks have progressed well.

"If Lewis wants to stay in the team, which he has told me he does, then he should do," he said.

A drive is expected to become available at Ferrari at the end of the season, with speculation also surrounding Michael Schumacher's future at Mercedes.

Made his Formula 1 debut for the team at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix Won his first F1 Grand Prix later that year in Canada Secured victory in his home Grand Prix at Silverstone on 6 July 2008. Became the youngest world champion in F1 history at the age of 23 in 2008, taking the title by a single point on the last lap of the last race in Brazil In total, Hamilton has 18 race wins and has been on the podium 46 times Hamilton, who claimed the driver's championship in 2008 and won the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, is fourth in the driver's standings and will be desperate to improve on last year's fifth place.

The 2011 campaign was doubly disappointing for Hamilton because, for the first time in his Formula 1 career, he was beaten by a team-mate. Jenson Button finished second in the championship behind Sebastian Vettel.

With nine races remaining this season, Hamilton is 47 points behind Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

Hamilton met Red Bull's team boss Christian Horner at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, fuelling rumours that he was seeking a future away from McLaren.

But Whitmarsh, who has insisted for months that Hamilton should stay, reiterated his stance on Wednesday.

"Ultimately [the contract situation] is relatively straightforward," he said.

"Lewis and I have spoken two or three times at length. I think we are closer than we have ever been... our conversations have been about how we are going to beat the other teams, and how we are going to try and win races."

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VIDEO: Canadian Grand Prix highlights

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VIDEO: British Grand Prix highlights

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VIDEO: Australian Grand Prix highlights

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viernes, 3 de agosto de 2012

The season so far - Jaime Alguersuari

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren celebrates on the podium with second placed Kimi Raikkonen and third placed Romain Grosjean of Lotus

Formula 1 is just starting its summer break before it reconvenes in Belgium next month for what will be an intense final nine grands prix of the season.

It has been an incredible campaign so far - the field has been so close, with even the teams that have usually been in the midfield, such as Williams, Sauber and Force India, challenging at the front with the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Mark Webber races for Red Bull

Different races have suited different cars and drivers, and you never know arriving at a race - or even after qualifying - who is going to win.

As the season has developed, the big teams have come to the top of the championship, as you would expect, even if they are not always at the front each race.

It is the big teams who have the most resources to improve their cars, and none of them have been more impressive in doing so than Ferrari.

They started the season at least a second-and-a-half off the pace, but they have made enormous strides both aerodynamically and mechanically, and Fernando Alonso has driven brilliantly to lead the championship by 40 points after Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Even when things were looking bleak for himself and his team, Alonso has battled away.

He has been consistently scoring points and not making mistakes. Even if he was not the fastest, he stayed cool, did the best he could. It has been very effective.

Red Bull, meanwhile, are clearly still trying to unlock some potential they believe is left in the car.

Continue reading the main story

“It makes it much more attractive to watch... because the teams and drivers all know they might have a chance to do really well on any given weekend."”

Jaime Alguersuari BBC Radio 5 live analyst I think that's why they have been having so many run-ins with the FIA over various technologies on the car, with the holes in the floor, engine mapping etc.

They are struggling more than in the last two years but that car is still very good and a major threat, while McLaren remain arguably the fastest team in qualifying with Lewis Hamilton, and Lotus are getting closer and closer to a win.

It's all so close, and it makes it much more interesting. It has been very enjoyable trying to commentate on it, never quite knowing what will happen.

A big reason for this is the fantastic job being done by the FIA to make F1 fairer for all the teams, especially the ones with smaller budgets.

It has done this by banning the areas where you can develop a car just by pouring in loads of money - like the double diffuser in 2009, the F-duct in 2010 and the exhaust-blown diffusers last year.

This year, there is still something to be gained from the exhausts, but generally it has been more about creating downforce in a more conventional way and getting the best out of the tyres. That has made it easier for the smaller teams and levelled the field.

But the big teams will always have an advantage, and I would expect them to stretch away more and more as the season goes on.

Levelling the field has made the drivers more important and that is one of the reasons why Alonso is leading the championship.

He has been helped by the amount Ferrari have developed their car.

When they were so slow at the first race, I thought the season was already over for them in terms of the championship.

At that stage I thought it was going to be a season between McLaren and Mercedes and maybe Red Bull.

But Ferrari have made so much progress. They have improved their downforce, their traction and their top speed.

They still don't have the best package, but it's in the general ballpark, and they have a really good driver.

Alonso in Hungary

I have never seen a season from Alonso like this. It has been hugely impressive. It's crazy to think that a guy whose car was so slow at the start of the season is leading the championship by 40 points - a win and a third place - with nine races to go.

The Ferrari did not look that good in Hungary, but it is a very particular track. Yet even there, where they were struggling, Alonso managed to finish fifth, when he could easily have been eighth or ninth.

That's what his season has been like - a bad result for him is a fifth place. All the other drivers would love to be able to have that.

I think he will win the championship if he continues doing his job like this, and I don't see any reason why he won't.

I see him really relaxed and under control. He never looks in a rush or anxious, like Sebastian Vettel was in the last two races, especially in Germany.

Alonso never struggles to understand the tyres. He has full faith in the team and the car and in himself and that is exactly what you need to win titles.

I've never done that in F1, but I know from winning in other categories that when you have this self-confidence, with everything in control, it is because you are completely sure in what you can do.

You are completely patient and it's like nothing can stop you. It's difficult to explain, it's just a driver's feeling.

Jaime Alguersuari drove for Toro Rosso from 2009-11. He is Pirelli's F1 test driver and BBC 5 live's F1 analyst. He was talking to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson.

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VIDEO: Hamilton happy after Hungary win

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Hungary quotes & stats round-up

Lewis Hamilton expects Lotus to soon have the pace to win races, but Kimi Raikkonen says they need to improve in qualifying for that to happen.

Raikkonen finished second at the Hungarian Grand Prix, behind Hamilton, with his Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean third.

7 - Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher 5 - Damon Hill, Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard 4 - Nigel Mansell "It's a bit disappointing that we cannot [win]," said Raikkonen.

"We have not been so strong in qualifying and we keep making it very hard for ourselves on Sundays."

Lotus are still searching for a first victory in 2012, but Raikkonen has come close, finishing second on three occasions.

"We still keep putting ourselves in a good position to at least have a chance to win and get good results, good points for the team," added the 2007 world champion.

2012 - Lewis Hamilton 2011 - Sebastian Vettel 2010 - Sebastian Vettel 2009 - Fernando Alonso 2008 - Lewis Hamilton 2007 - Fernando Alonso "If it comes it's great, if not, we keep trying. I've been in the business long enough that I don't really worry about things too much. We improved our position, our situation in the championship for myself and for the team."

For a while, it had looked like Raikkonen's team-mate Grosjean would be Hamilton's main challenger, but traffic on the circuit saw his fight for first place ultimately fade away.

"The worst moment for me was with Michael Schumacher who wouldn't let me pass and cost me one-and-a-half seconds," said the Frenchman. "But we have to take the positive.

"I am pleased with the way we came back from nowhere in Germany to on the podium before the [summer] break."

4 - Michael Schumacher 3 - Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton 2 - Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villeneuve Grosjean was being hunted down by Sebastian Vettel for much of the race. The German was determined to snatch a place on the podium, especially after missing out in Germany last week when he was demoted from second to fifth after being penalised for an illegal overtaking manoeuvre on Jenson Button.

"I think our overall speed was better than the actual result we got," said Vettel.

"I was stuck behind Jenson Button in the first stint; he was slower and we lost some time there, but of course you can't just pit and come out in clean air, there's traffic, so there's not much we could have done. The race pace was very good, so now it's up to us to do better in qualifying and at the start; then it's a different race."

Fernando Alonso saw in his 31st birthday by finishing fifth, a result that increases his lead over Mark Webber at the top of the championship to 40 points.

It was the 23rd consecutive race that the Spaniard has finished in the points, and he was more than happy with the result.

"It was a good race in terms of the points and 23 consecutive races in the points is impressive," said Alonso.

11 - McLaren 7 - Williams 5 - Ferrari "As was the case in qualifying and in Germany, the Red Bulls and McLarens are in front of us and we need to catch up. In Spa we need to be more competitive and quicker."

Webber had made a storming start to the race, quickly moving up from 11th to seventh before eventually crossing the line in eighth place.

"I am not doing much hunting at the moment," said the Australian.

"Fernando is still putting some good points together but let's see how the next few races go. We can talk about the championship when there are just a few races to go, but now we focus on the next race."

For Michael Schumacher , it was a race that he will want to quickly forget.

Track temperature: 45C Air temperature: 31C Ave wind speed: 2.3 metres per second Humidity: 39% Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel (lap 68): 1 min 24.136 secs Fastest Speeds: Sector 1: Lewis Hamilton 278kph (172.74mph) Sector 2 : Fernando Alonso 235kph (146.02mph) Sector 3 : Bruno Senna 254kph (157.83mph) Speed Trap: N Hulkenberg 307kph (190.76mph) The seven-time world champion has won the Hungarian Grand Prix more than any other driver, with four wins, but this year's race was a hugely disappointing one for the German as he retired early following a series of problems.

First, Schumacher caused the start of the race to be aborted when he stopped in the wrong grid slot, before switching off his engine when the lights flashed amber after becoming concerned it was overheating. He was subsequently wheeled back to the garage and started from the pit-lane.

Then, he was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits, before eventually retiring with a telemetry problem.

"The race this weekend was done before it was started," said Schumacher. "Luckily Nico [Rosberg, who finished 10th] was able to grab a point and that shows in certain races and certain conditions we are competitive, and that is something we have to work on.

"Developments have probably kicked in better for other teams than they have for us in recent weeks. There are certain circumstances that at the moment means we are not competitive yet."

Vettel

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Hamilton delivers – but 'wait for judgement day'

By Gary Anderson BBC F1 technical analyst Lewis Hamilton was always going to win the Hungarian Grand Prix as long as he did not make any mistakes.

That is the advantage that pole position buys you at the Hungaroring - and Hamilton delivered a brilliant qualifying lap on Saturday to secure it by nearly half a second.

He nearly got sucked into an error at the first corner when he locked his inside front wheel and ran wide but he managed to survive it, largely because there was a battle going on behind him and he was already a long way clear.

From then on, it was about making the right strategy calls and controlling the race.

The Hungaroring is one of those tracks where it's so hard to overtake that if you have a decently quick car and you don't make any mistakes and you're at the front at the end of the first lap, you're probably going to make it.

But the two Lotus cars had opportunities out of which they did not make the most.

Hungarian GP qualifying highlights

Both Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen were quick at the end of their second stints. The team brought Raikkonen in when they did because they felt that the edge had gone from his tyres and Hamilton's were just beginning to come on song.

But had they kept Raikkonen out for a couple more laps, they would have not lost anything and might have got that bit closer to Hamilton to make a difference.

By doing that, it would also have ensured Raikkonen had tyres that were that bit fresher for the last stint, which would have given him a slightly better chance in the closing laps.

The problem in Hungary is that the corners are so long. That means the driver behind loses too much ground because of the downforce he is losing following another car and cannot challenge down the next straight.

But the Lotuses showed very strong pace and they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the final nine races.

They are already very quick and at the next race in Belgium on 2 September following the summer break they are expected to race the straight-line speed boosting innovation they have tested at the last two races in Germany and Hungary.

This is a device that ducts in air from above the driver's head and uses it to 'stall' the rear wing, boosting straight-line speed.

1. F Alonso - Ferrari 164

2. M Webber - Red Bull 124

3. S Vettel - Red Bull 122

4. L Hamilton - McLaren 117

5. K Raikkonen - Lotus-Renault 116

6. N Rosberg - Mercedes 77

7. J Button - McLaren 76

8. R Grosjean - Lotus-Renault 76

9. S Perez - Sauber 47

10. K Kobayashi - Sauber 33

It is in addition to the DRS overtaking device that all teams use - it's a kind of DRS-plus - and it will be especially effective at the next two races in Spa and Monza because of the long straights on those tracks.

So the other teams had better watch out.

Hamilton's victory puts him back into fourth place in the championship ahead of Raikkonen, but you would have to say the Finn is a title contender. I think team-mate Grosjean is too inexperienced to challenge - and he is also 40 points further behind.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso's Ferrari was not competitive in Hungary. As usual, he did the best he could with fifth place, and actually extended his advantage over second-placed Mark Webber of Red Bull, but the others all closed in a little.

You don't have to win every race to do well in this championship: the Lotus is a really good car and I don't see why Raikkonen cannot close that gap down.

He has had a few shaky races, but you have to remember that he has been away in rallying for two years and F1 has changed a lot in that time.

I've got a bit of a weak spot for Raikkonen - he's the kind of driver who if you make the car 0.1 seconds quicker, he will find you 0.2secs.

Now he is back up to speed and you can see the glint in his eye a little bit.

Red Bull were the focus of a lot of attention in Hungary after the technical row over their engine mapping in Germany the previous week.

Fourth for Sebastian Vettel and eighth for Webber is not the result they will have been hoping for - or that they should have got, given the speed of the car.

They were right to start Webber, who had qualified down in 11th, on the harder tyre but they stopped him too early on lap 20.

Had he gone a bit further - which he could have done - it would have meant they had the biggest possible window if the predicted rain came and it would have meant his stint at the end of the race on the soft tyres would have been short.

But because they stopped him early at his first and second stops, it meant he had to do a third stop to fit another set of soft tyres before the end.

Vettel also did a third stop but for him it made sense, as it meant he had fresher tyres at the end and he would have been able to gain a position had Hamilton, Raikkonen or Grosjean run into tyre problems in the closing laps. It was just that they did not, as it turned out.

The big mystery about Red Bull remains why they had such outstanding pace in Valencia at the end of June, where Vettel was 1.5secs faster than anyone else before he retired - and where that has gone.

The next track, Spa, has Red Bull stamped all over it.

They will have time to clear their head over the summer break, take stock of the last three races and where they need to do better, and that is where we will find out where they are.

Spa starts the run-in to the end of the season and the teams will be able to bring one big update to that race. After that the races come so thick and fast it will be dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

The Belgian Grand prix will be judgement day for a lot of people.

Gary Anderson, the former technical director of the Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar teams, is the BBC F1 technical analyst. He was talking to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson

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Andrew Benson's Blog: Mid-season report

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer The 2012 Formula 1 season has already been an intoxicating mix of great racing and unpredictable results, but as the teams and drivers head off for their mid-season break it is clear that what it has served up so far has merely been an appetiser.

Had someone tried to set up the final nine races of the season, which are packed into three months starting from the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 September, they could not have scripted it better if they had tried.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has a 40-point lead in the championship, deservedly so after producing one of the greatest half-seasons seen from any driver in a very long time.

But the Spaniard, for all his innumerable qualities, does not have the best car and lined up behind him are four world-class drivers, all in faster cars, all but one a world champion, all aiming to haul him in.

Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of the leading teams.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has described the machinery in which Alonso started the season as "a car that was not a car".

The F2012 was a second and a half off the pace in Melbourne in March. It has improved in leaps and bounds since then, but the Hungarian Grand Prix proved it is still far from the fastest car on a fully dry weekend.

As Alonso puts it: "Lotus, McLaren and Red Bull have been ahead of us for the whole championship."

The reason Alonso is leading the championship by 40 points - a win and a third place - after 11 races is his ability to stay calm and get the most out of the car at all times.

As ever, give him a sniff of victory and he just does not let go. And sometimes, as in the case of arguably his finest win in Valencia, he creates that chance himself.

The Ferrari is arguably the fastest car in the field in the wet.

That, and a fast and well-timed pit stop put him in a position from which he wrestled victory in Malaysia, and helped him to score the pole position from which he controlled the dry German Grand Prix.

Elsewhere, he has relied on his own skill and determination to consistently notch up the results. Alonso has finished in the points for the last 23 consecutive races, which is only one shy of the all-time record, set by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari from 2001-3.

Ferrari also deserve a lot of credit, for consistently good pit stops, and solid strategy - although they have arguably let 27 points go begging through a lack of flexibility in Spain, Monaco and Canada.

Alonso has also benefited from the inconsistency of his rivals. But logic suggests that cannot go on and Ferrari's big task is to make the car significantly faster.

As Alonso puts it: "Now we must try and make a good leap forward in terms of performance to allow us to keep the lead in the championship, because in the long term, what we have now will not be enough."

To be completely accurate, it would be better to say it "might not" be enough.

Given the way he has been driving so far, Alonso might be able to hold on even if Ferrari don't improve their relative competitiveness. But it would be a whole lot easier if he had a faster car.

The serene canter to the title that was Sebastian Vettel's 2011 season is a thing of distant memory. How very different things look for the German prodigy this season.

On balance, on race performance, the Red Bull has probably been the strongest car this season, albeit showing nothing like the dominant form it has for the last two years.

But they have struggled to get a handle on the tyres and some atypical errors and problems have hindered their progress.

Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber have been very evenly matched this season, neck and neck in qualifying and it is the Australian who is Alonso's closest pursuer in the championship, albeit by only two points from Vettel.

Both men have had problems.

Vettel lost a certain fourth place - and possibly a third - when he crashed with backmarker Narain Karthikeyan in Malaysia. The Indian earned a penalty for it, but many felt it was Vettel's fault for pulling across him slightly.

Sebastian Vettel reflects on the crash with Karthikeyan in the Malaysian GP

He lost a certain win in Valencia with an alternator failure, and his impatience and what some see as an arrogance in himself and his team meant a second place in Germany became fifth after a penalty for illegally overtaking Jenson Button.

Webber, meanwhile, has been hit by what he referred to in Hungary as "friendly fire".

A probable win escaped in Spain when the team erroneously failed to send him out for a second run in second qualifying and he was left down in 12th on the grid.

And a strategy error cost him fifth place - and a finish ahead of Alonso - in Hungary.

The team have also earned themselves a bit of a reputation as 'bad boys' with a series of run-ins with the FIA for pushing the rules too far.

The car, though, is easily good enough for either driver to overhaul Alonso.

The question is, will the intense intra-team battle between Vettel and Webber cost them both points?

McLaren started the season with the out-and-out fastest car and, notwithstanding a mini-slump in late June and early July, have continued to have it for the vast majority of the season.

Yet largely because of a series of operational errors, Lewis Hamilton finds himself 47 points behind Alonso in the championship.

Hamilton, by and large, has driven extremely well this season. Gone is the uncertain, haunted, error-prone figure of 2011, and in its place is a much calmer more serene driver. Only Alonso has driven better.

Be that as it may, Hamilton's biggest concerns surround whether McLaren can come to operate their car as effectively over a wide range of conditions as Ferrari do.

The McLaren has proved very sensitive to tyre temperature, a problem that has only really been apparent on Jenson Button's car in the dry, but has left both drivers struggling in the wet.

If McLaren cannot fix that, Hamilton could find himself losing more big chunks of points to Alonso and other rivals when next there is a wet race.

Bar a brilliant win in Australia and strong seconds in China and Germany, Button's season has been a disappointment for such a quality driver, and he is out of title contention.

Lotus are yet to win a race but Kimi Raikkonen is a real championship threat.

Their problem has been qualifying at the front - the car is very fast in races, but they have often left themselves too much ground to make up.

Raikkonen's team-mate Romain Grosjean has been making too many errors and is too far behind to be considered a serious contender for the title, although a win is far from out of the question.

But while the Frenchman had the edge on Raikkonen for much of the first half of the season, the Finn appears to have found his mojo again.

Raikkonen was stunning in finishing second - and nearly winning - in Hungary.

Raikkonen grabbed his fifth podium of 2012 at Hungary

And he is always brilliant at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps - Raikkonen has either won or not finished every race he has competed in there since 2004.

Lotus are expected to race their new straight-line speed boosting device there, a track where it could provide a decisive advantage.

Raikkonen is only one point further adrift of Alonso than Hamilton is. A win at Spa and it really would be game on for him in the championship.

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Title all to play for - Hamilton

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer Lewis Hamilton says his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix proves that he can still win the world title.

The McLaren driver is still 47 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth, but Hamilton says it shows he has the pace to close the gap.

"Game on - it's a long way to go. This shows it's all to play for," he said.

"Not enough points taken from Fernando, as he still got 10 points, but if we can continue this performance."

Hungary was the 11th race of the season and there are still nine remaining, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on 2 September, following Formula 1's summer break.

Hamilton took his victory, which came from pole position, following race-long pressure from the two Lotus cars of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean and he said their pace proved McLaren still had to improve their car.

"We need to improve the car still in many areas, and that, I'm sure, we will do," he said.

"Lotus are going to win at some stage. That car looks absolutely fantastic to drive; they are doing a great job.

"It's not unexpected - they've won world championships in the past, they are a fantastic team. And they're picking their pace up.

1. Lewis Hamilton 1:41:05.503

2. Kimi Raikkonen +00:01.032

3. Romain Grosjean +00:10.518

4. Sebastian Vettel +00:11.614

5. Fernando Alonso +00:26.653

6. Jenson Button +00:30.243

7. Bruno Senna +00:33.899

8. Mark Webber +00:34.458

9. Felipe Massa +00:38.350

10. Nico Rosberg +00:51.234

"They're that quick and yet they don't have the rear end [exhaust-influenced aerodynamics] Ferrari, Red Bull and us have. When they get that, the rest of us are going to be in trouble."

Despite Ferrari's lack of pace, Alonso actually extended his lead to 40 points over his closest rival in the championship, Red Bull's Mark Webber, who could only finish eighth.

And the Spaniard lost only two points to the man in third place, Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who finished one place ahead of the Ferrari in fourth.

Alonso said: "It was more or less what we could do and even better because, to be honest, finishing in front of Webber and one place behind Vettel is very good for us in terms of the championship.

"We were not competitive and we struggled a bit in the race, but thanks to the strategy and the consistency of the car we were able to finish in a good position."

Webber said: "Look, we've just got to stop the friendly fire. Yesterday was my fault in qually, but we have had some instances where we need to just keep doing better.

"That's how this team operates and I'm looking forward to the back part of the championship."

Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button said he felt the team's strategy had not worked for him - he complained that they brought him in for his second and third pit stops too early.

11 - McLaren 7 - Williams 5 - Ferrari He said: "We decided to go to for a three-stop [strategy], but every time I pitted, even though the tyres were good, I pitted into traffic.

"I don't know why we pitted when we did. I said to the guys: 'Is this traffic quicker than the guys I'm racing?' And they said: 'No.' And I said: 'So why have we pitted into this traffic?

"I don't know, there must have been be a misunderstanding where I would come out of the pits. Hopefully we'll learn from this, because it happened twice.

"I'm not happy with the strategy, but happy where we've taken the car."

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VIDEO: Vettel unhappy with fourth place

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VIDEO: Hungary podiums please Lotus drivers

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VIDEO: Hungarian Grand Prix highlights

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VIDEO: Alonso pleased with consistency

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Why Mercedes are struggling

By Gary Anderson BBC F1 technical analyst The Hungarian Grand Prix was a new low for Mercedes in a season that, over the last few races, has been a story of consistent decline.

It was, first of all, a bit of an embarrassing race for Michael Schumacher.

The aborted start was caused by him stopping in the wrong grid position. He then erroneously switched his engine off - thinking of procedures that applied in the last decade when he was at Ferrari but which have now changed because of different rules.

Starting from the pit lane, Schumacher then got a puncture and incurred a speeding penalty when he came in for new tyres.

But those are just simple mistakes. Much more concerning has been the team's general downward trend in competitiveness.

Mercedes started the season promisingly, with some good qualifying results at the first two races, and then took a dominant win with Nico Rosberg at the Chinese Grand Prix.

At that time, there was a lot of attention on their clever 'double DRS' system.

This links the rear-wing drag-reduction overtaking aid that is on all cars with the front wing to give an extra boost in straight-line speed by reducing the front wing performance as well as the rear.

Back in March, the system aroused a lot of controversy, as many of Mercedes' rivals thought it was illegal - and still do.

Michael Schumacher at the Hungarian Grand Prix

When the FIA declared they were happy with it, the expectation was that the other top teams would quickly follow suit. But that hasn't happened.

In the meantime, things have gone downhill for Mercedes. Apart from a strong showing in Monaco, they have never looked close to winning again, and in the last few races they have got slower and slower compared to the other teams.

The nadir was Hungary, where Rosberg and Schumacher qualified 13th and 17th and the car was nowhere near the pace.

Even when the car was qualifying in the top six or so, there was a general trend to Mercedes's weekends - the car was much more competitive in qualifying than in the race.

That has changed a little in recent races but at the same time the car's general competitiveness has gone backwards.

That's because they have developed themselves in a direction to go slower, all because they have been trying to get more consistency from the rear tyres to help race performance. And that is linked to the 'double DRS'.

Rosberg in Hungary

Let's analyse what I believe are potential flaws in the 'double DRS', and then work out what has gone wrong as Mercedes tried to fix them.

To do that, we have to start with its benefits.

First of all, the system flatters the car in qualifying, when DRS use is free.

Firstly, because of the extra straight-line speed boost it provides by reducing drag.

And secondly because it balances the car in certain fast corners that, normally, a driver cannot take flat because the car would have too much oversteer (when it feels like it's going to spin). Reducing the effectiveness of the front wing makes the car less 'pointy', so the driver can go through those corners faster.

But in the races, drivers can use DRS only in the designated zone, and only when they are within a second of the car in front.

So because the 'double DRS' was helping Mercedes in qualifying, they will automatically lose more pace relative to the other cars in the race, when it is generally not available.

Quite apart from flattering the car in qualifying, there are also some significant compromises to the system itself.

Firstly, it creates an inherent understeer in the car - lack of front-end grip - because when the driver closes the DRS as he brakes for the corner, the rear wing immediately goes back to producing its maximum downforce, so the rear grip returns immediately, whereas the front wing has a slight delay.

That's because the front wing is connected to the rear wing by a series of pipes running the length of the car.

Before the front wing can work at its full effectiveness, the pressure under it - which includes the volume of air that is in the pipes to the rear wing - has to reduce. Only then will the underside of the front wing reach its lowest pressure, and create the most downforce and grip.

That delay does not happen in the race, because the DRS is not in use, so the car becomes 'oversteery'. So in the first part of the season Mercedes were suffering with a loose rear end in races, which created excessive rear tyre degradation.

To solve that rear tyre wear problem, since the Canadian Grand Prix in mid-June Mercedes have removed quite a lot of the downforce-producing devices on the front wing and are never running anywhere near maximum front wing angle.

That reduces the amount of front grip. They've probably lost something like 50-60kg of front downforce so they are running the centre of aerodynamic pressure much further rearward.

The benefit of that is that it will balance the car better so tyre degradation will reduce. But it comes at the cost of a slower overall pace. So the car feels better to drive, but is slower.

Michael Schumacher looks on in Hungary

In the context of all this, it is clear why Hungary was Mercedes's worst circuit so far.

Both Rosberg and Schumacher were complaining of mid-corner understeer there.

There are very few big braking zones at the Hungaroring - most of the corners are preceded by short braking episodes. So the delay in the front wing working at maximum effect has a greater impact.

The driver wants to turn in on the brakes there, but the period of reduced effectiveness of the front wing means he does not have the front grip he needs as he turns into the corner.

In the race, Rosberg was more competitive. That will be because DRS can't be used as much, so the initial understeer isn't as big because the front wing is working more effectively sooner.

Mercedes have a very conventional rear-end aerodynamic treatment and are not trying to exploit the exhaust gases for aerodynamic effect in the way McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are.

There is 0.2-0.3 seconds a lap in trying to do that - all produced from greater rear-end grip.

So if Mercedes want to improve, they would be better advised to build that kind of exhaust system. That would give them better rear-end grip, which would enable them to put the front downforce back on without suffering the rear instability they had earlier in the year.

And that would give them more overall downforce and the car would go quicker.

If I was them, I would be thinking very seriously about getting rid of the 'double DRS', unless I was absolutely on top of which circuits it will provide a benefit at and which it will create a deficit.

Hungary was probably the circuit where it will affect them most, because of those short braking zones. The next race is at Spa, where the double DRS will provide some benefits, because there are long straights and some kinks where it will be beneficial to run with the DRS open.

But you have to question, on the evidence of the season so far, whether having it is leading them up a blind alley in terms of their development direction.

Gary Anderson, the former technical director of the Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar teams, is BBC F1's technical analyst

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Andrew Benson's blog: Just what McLaren needed

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer It was exactly the race Lewis Hamilton and McLaren needed heading into Formula 1's summer break - a controlled victory, impressively taken under intense pressure from the two Lotus cars, and a season back on track.

In the end, the Hungarian Grand Prix was much closer than even Hamilton's closest rivals expected it to be.

When he qualified nearly half a second clear of the field on pole position, Lotus did not really expect to be able to beat him in the race. But they came oh so close.

It was Romain Grosjean, second on the grid, who applied the pressure for the first 40 laps of the race, but somehow one always suspected that his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen would come into the frame sooner or later.

The Finn - who, it has to be said, has had a few lacklustre races in his comeback season - has been back on form since the British Grand Prix three weeks ago, and in Hungary he was the faster Lotus driver throughout the weekend.

Raikkonen should have qualified on the front row, but he underachieved in final qualifying, admitting he simply did not get his final lap together. Not for the first time either.

That relatively poor lap in the top 10 shoot-out - slower than he had gone in second qualifying - might have been the difference been victory and second place.

A further hindrance came as a result of an under-charged Kers power-boost system at the start of the race.

That left Raikkonen with less Kers on the first lap, which was almost certainly why he lost a place to Fernando Alonso, behind whose uncompetitive Ferrari the Finn then had to spend the first 17 laps.

The delay behind Alonso meant Raikkonen was 15 seconds adrift of Hamilton at that stage, rather than the 12 he would have been had he stayed ahead of the Ferrari at the start. Which in turn would have meant he started the final stint on Hamilton's tail, rather than four seconds behind.

It was, nevertheless, an extremely impressive drive by Raikkonen, especially in his outstanding second stint.

After rejoining following his first pit stop, he initially looked after his tyres, knowing he would then be able to unleash some pace at the end of the stint to make up ground and secure the podium position his car deserved.

It was a superbly controlled series of laps, and his pace at the end of it leapfrogged him past the three cars he had started the stint behind - Grosjean, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Jenson Button. Raikkonen consolidated second place with a robust but fair 'lean' on Grosjean at the exit of the first corner as he rejoined the race.

That long second stint also ensured Raikkonen had tyres that were five laps younger than Hamilton's for the final stint, and he quickly closed on the McLaren.

Hamilton, though, was not to be denied and he drove with a maturity that has been in evidence for the vast majority of this season to secure his second victory of 2012.

There should, though, have been more - as Hamilton himself knows only too well.

"We managed to do it," he said to his team over the radio at the end of the race. "I'm so grateful for all the effort you've put in. Let's try and keep this up, all right?"

Was that a statement of the obvious that they need to keep winning and developing the car to catch Alonso? Or a veiled reference to the various operational errors McLaren have made which have cost Hamilton in the region of 40 points this season?

A puncture in Germany last weekend lost him a few more, and Hamilton's collision with Williams's Pastor Maldonado in the closing laps of the European Grand Prix last month was also costly.

Track temperature: 45C Air temperature: 31C Ave wind speed: 2.3 metres per second Humidity: 39% Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel (lap 68): 1 min 24.136 secs Fastest Speeds: Sector 1: Lewis Hamilton 278kph (172.74mph) Sector 2 : Fernando Alonso 235kph (146.02mph) Sector 3 : Bruno Senna 254kph (157.83mph) Speed Trap: N Hulkenberg 307kph (190.76mph) There are those in F1 - including former drivers - who believe Hamilton should have been a touch more circumspect against the notoriously erratic Maldonado in Valencia.

Be that as it may, it is the only mistake one can lay at Hamilton's door in a season in which he has been driving impeccably - of his rivals, only Alonso can claim to be performing at a consistently higher level.

Yet, largely through no fault of his own, Hamilton is 47 points behind Alonso. That is a margin that will not be easy to make up even with a faster car, with the Spaniard driving as well as he is.

For Alonso, Hungary was a race of damage limitation - and despite finishing only fifth he managed it to the extent that his lead over second-placed Mark Webber of Red Bull is now six points bigger than it was on Sunday morning.

Alonso did lose some ground to Hamilton, Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, but he will with good reason leave Hungary and head in to F1's summer break well satisfied with what he has achieved so far in 2012.

Ahead of the Hungarian race, on the back of two wins and a second place for Alonso, rival teams have been growing a little tired of the constant insistence by Alonso and Ferrari that they did not have an especially fast car.

But Hungary proved Alonso's point - in a straightforward dry qualifying session and race, they are a long way from setting the pace. Ferrari are well aware that even Alonso driving this well needs more help if he is to hold on to his lead.

That slight impatience with Ferrari was one of the more minor examples of what was a tense weekend in Budapest.

Far more serious has been the growing impatience of the other top teams with Red Bull's constant run-ins with F1's legislators.

Once you might see as an accident, twice perhaps unfortunate, but the latest row to brew up over the weekend was the fourth example of Red Bull pushing the technical rules to the limit this year.

Rivals are unhappy with both Red Bull's behaviour and the way in which the FIA are policing the rules.

The revelation in Hungary that Red Bull were asked last month to remove a device that theoretically allowed them to illegally adjust their front suspension by hand - which the team insist they never did - follows hot on the heels of the row over engine mapping in Germany a week ago.

That prompted a rule change ahead of the Hungarian race. Red Bull insisted it would have no significant effect on them, but their pace was always going to be watched closely.

They were slower in qualifying than they might have been expected to be at a track which should suit their car, but the way the race panned out it was hard to make a definitive judgement on their pace. However, their best laps and sector times suggested the Red Bull was indeed the fastest car on the track in the race.

To prove it definitively, they will have to wait, for F1 now embarks on its mid-season break, when all teams have to down tools for two weeks, before getting back hard on it for the remainder of the month-long gap before the next race.

It is a break that many in F1 feel they need after a demanding first 11 races, and the remaining nine promise to be even more intense.

When F1 reconvenes at Spa in Belgium at the very end of August, almost everyone involved has a point to prove.

Despite Alonso's handsome lead, this championship remains very much alive.

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VIDEO: Eddie Jordan's trip down memory lane

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VIDEO: Hamilton delighted with Hungary pole

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Hamilton holds on for Hungary win

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took his second victory of the season as he beat Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton led throughout but had to fend off a determined challenge from both Raikkonen and the Finn's team-mate Romain Grosjean, who was third.

1. Lewis Hamilton 1:41:05.503

2. Kimi Raikkonen +00:01.032

3. Romain Grosjean +00:10.518

4. Sebastian Vettel +00:11.614

5. Fernando Alonso +00:26.653

6. Jenson Button +00:30.243

7. Bruno Senna +00:33.899

8. Mark Webber +00:34.458

9. Felipe Massa +00:38.350

10. Nico Rosberg +00:51.234

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was fourth ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Jenson Button.

Alonso extended his title lead over Red Bull's Mark Webber to 40 points.

The Australian was ahead of the Spaniard after their second stops, but Webber suffered a failed differential and made a third stop for fresher tyres with 13 laps to go, which dropped him back down to eighth place at the flag.

Webber is two points ahead of Vettel in the championship, with Hamilton a further five points adrift and one ahead of Raikkonen as F1 heads into its mid-season four-week break before the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 September.

Jenson Button, slower and harder on his tyres than team-mate Hamilton, finished the race sixth, ahead of the Williams of Bruno Senna, Webber, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton's win came as a result of a controlled defensive drive, not dissimilar to Alonso's victory in Germany a week ago.

The McLaren driver led from pole position and measured his pace ahead of the faster Lotus cars.

The 2008 world champion said: "There is a long way to go and we have a lot of work to do, but we are going to give it everything."

4 - Michael Schumacher 3 - Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton 2 - Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villeneuve Grosjean was his main opposition for the first two-thirds of the race, as Raikkonen bided his time fighting up from sixth place on the first lap, after he dropped a place to Alonso at the start after a temporary problem with his Kers power-boost system.

But clever strategy by Lotus, founded on their car's excellent tyre usage, gave Raikkonen clear air in the middle of the race before his second and final stop and put in an impressive sequence of laps to make up enough ground to pass Button, Alonso, Vettel and Grosjean.

The two Lotus cars were side by side rounding the first corner when Raikkonen emerged from the pits but the Finn legitimately pushed the Frenchman to the outside of the track on the exit of the corner and consolidated second place, before setting off after Hamilton.

David Coulthard, Lee McKenzie and Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton happy after Hungary win

He quickly closed on to the McLaren's rear, and the question then became which driver's strategies would work out best - and would Hamilton's tyres last when he had made his final stop five laps before Raikkonen.

But the extra wear generated by following another car took the edge off Raikkonen's tyres, and he had to settle for second place as Hamilton took his first win since the Canadian Grand Prix in June and became only the third driver after Alonso and Webber to win more than one race this season.

Raikkonen said: "We came second, it's not enough. We had some problems with the Kers in the first lap which didn't help us, but we had good speed. We keep trying the next race to win, we keep saying that but at least we are up there all the time. I take the second place, but for sure we are not happy until we win."

Grosjean was left to fend off Vettel, a problem that removed itself when the German made a third stop for tyres late in the race with 10 laps of the 69 remaining.

Zsolt Baumgartner became the first Hungarian to drive in Formula 1 at the 2003 Hungary GP, where he retired in the 34th lap

Vettel used his fresher tyres to try to close a 15-second gap on the Lotus but ran out of time.

Button ran third in the early laps, but his heavier tyre wear forced him on to a three-stop strategy, one more than Hamilton's.

Button's race was further hindered by coming out from his second stop behind Senna, although the Briton managed to rejoin ahead of the Brazilian after his final stop having made up ground following Senna's second and final stop.

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Dominant Hamilton on Hungary pole

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was in a league of his own as he took pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Englishman set two laps fast enough for pole, an early benchmark that proved out of reach of his rivals and then an even faster lap to take pole by 0.413 seconds.

1. Lewis Hamilton 1:20.953

2. Romain Grosjean 1:21.366

3. Sebastian Vettel 1:21.416

4. Jenson Button 1:21.583

5. Kimi Raikkonen 1:21.730

6. Fernando Alonso 1:21.844

7. Felipe Massa 1:21.900

8. Pastor Maldonado 1:21.939

9. Bruno Senna 1:22.343

10. Nico Hulkenberg 1:22.847

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was second ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

Jenson Button was fourth, Kimi Raikkonen fifth, Fernando Alonso sixth and Mark Webber only 11th.

The top 10 was rounded out by Alonso's Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna, and Nico Hulkenberg's Force India.

Red Bull's Webber, second in the championship behind Ferrari driver Alonso, was knocked out in the second session.

The Australian could manage only 11th fastest time, despite being only 0.308 secs slower than Vettel, who was second fastest in that session behind Hamilton.

Hamilton said: "It is great to finally see the upgrades working and I have been able to put the car where I want to this weekend. We are not saying we are relaxed.

"We know we have a lot of work to do, starting this weekend."

It was a hugely impressive performance by Hamilton, who has looked the man to beat all weekend, and Grosjean lived up to the potential Lotus had appeared to have.

The Frenchman and his team-mate Raikkonen are expected to be a serious threat in the race, where their impressive tyre preservation ensures they are nearly always a factor.

2011 - Sebastian Vettel

2010 - Sebastian Vettel

2009 - Fernando Alonso

2008 - Lewis Hamilton

2007 - Fernando Alonso

Grosjean said of his second place: "It is good to be back at the front. We had a difficult race in Germany but I am glad we have been able to improve here and I think tomorrow is going to be interesting."

Alonso's performance, meanwhile, proved Ferrari's point that they do not have the fastest car in terms of outright pace in the dry, and that the Spaniard's 34-point championship lead has been caused largely by his impressive consistency.

Although Alonso has been on pole for the last two races, both those qualifying sessions were in the wet.

Red Bull's performance, on a track on which they have dominated for the last two seasons in terms of pure pace, will confirm in many minds that they have been knocked backwards by a rule change before this race restricting the manner in which they were altering engine settings for improved cornering performance and tyre wear.

But Red Bull's Vettel said: "It has been more a case of it being difficult getting everything to work properly. The speed is there but it has been a struggle to get the balance. I think with the progress we have made we should be in a good position tomorrow."

Romain Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel

Hungarian GP: Lewis Hamilton delighted with pole

It was a terrible day for Mercedes, the challenging layout of endless corners at the Hungaroring exposing the weakness in their car that has been apparent for some time.

Nico Rosberg was only 13th fastest and Michael Schumacher was down in 17th, nearly a second slower than his team-mate after aborting his second flying lap because it was not going to be fast enough to get him into the top 10.

At Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Vergne out-qualified team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for only the third time this season and the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

The Frenchman lines up 16th, with Ricciardo knocked out in the first session and 18th.

Saturday, 28 July: Third practice 09:55 BST; BBC Sport website live text and audio commentary and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra. Qualifying 12:55 BST; BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & highlights on BBC Two at 17:00 BST. Sunday, 29 July: Race 12:45 BST; BBC Sport website live text and audio commentary and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & Race highlights 19:00 BST BBC One/BBC HD/online.

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Strong result is vital - Hamilton

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has admitted that it is vital he converts pole position into a strong result at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

He is 62 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso after a series of setbacks in recent races.

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“The upgrades are working, you have to keep pushing, you always need more but for now they've done a really good job”

Lewis Hamilton Hamilton said: "I hope we can transfer this into a good result. It's very much needed.

"It has been a very long time. As long as we remain focused on getting results anything is possible this season."

Hamilton has not been fastest in qualifying since the Spanish Grand Prixin May, when he was demoted to the back of the grid for a technical infringement, and his last victory was in the Canadian Grand Prix four races ago.

Since then, he has failed to finish in the European Grand Prix in Valencia after crashing in the closing stages, taken an eighth place in the British GP and then retired again with a gearbox problem caused by a puncture in Germany last weekend.

But some upgrades that McLaren introduced in Germany, and which improved the car in the dry, have continued to perform well in Hungary.

Hamilton was on pole by nearly half a second and set two laps fast enough to start at the front of the grid.

Alongside him on the front row is Lotus's Romain Grosjean, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel third, followed by the second McLaren of Jenson Button, Grosjean's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso.

2 Both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have two Hungarian GP wins to their name

Grosjean, who is in his first full season in F1, has been in erratic form in the last few races, and Hamilton said he hoped the Frenchman would keep his head at the start.

"I hope Grosjean is in the right frame of mind as I am and we have a nice, good, safe and fair battle down to the first corner," Hamilton said, "and I hope we have a strong race together."

Of his own prospects, Hamilton said: "My feeling is the start is most important because I've had a lot of bad starts this year - a lot of clutch issues, and I'm really hoping tomorrow we don't have that and we're able to put our strategy into force and I'm able to look after my tyres the way I want to.

"Being able to get into a lead at the first corner makes it easier to win the race.

"The upgrades are working, you have to keep pushing, you always need more but for now they've done a really good job. I don't know how they're going to work in the long runs."

Hungarian GP: Lewis Hamilton delighted with pole

Jenson Button, who was a close second behind Alonso in the German Grand Prix, was disappointed with fourth place - he was 0.63 seconds slower than Hamilton.

He said he was not entirely happy with the car but felt he could have a strong race.

"Lewis did a very quick lap," said Button. "I didn't really get it together, not great, but it's all right. Qualifying is done, it's reasonable and we can race well."

Saturday, 28 July: Qualifying highlights on BBC Two and online at 17:15 BST. Sunday, 29 July: Race 12:45 BST; BBC Sport website live text and audio commentary and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & Race highlights 19:00 BST BBC One/BBC HD/online.

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VIDEO: Hungarian GP qualifying highlights

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VIDEO: Watch Hamilton's Hungarian pole lap

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Red Bull in suspension rule row

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer Red Bull have dismissed as a "non-issue" the latest in a series of controversies to engulf the team.

It has emerged that at June's Canadian GP, governing body the FIA asked Red Bull to modify its front suspension.

The FIA found it could be changed by hand when rules say it must be done with tools. Changes are banned between qualifying and race.

Boss Christian Horner said: "We never changed the ride height in parc ferme. It is a non-issue."

Asked why the suspension could be changed by hand when the rules state specifically that must not be possible, Horner, Red Bull's team principal, said: "There are a lot of parts that are changed manually on the car, but a tool was used. The suspension has never been changed once it's in parc ferme. Never.

"Honestly, it's completely trivial.

"Basically what was on the car in Canada has been on [the car] at a lot of other races as well, and at no point has it been adjusted in parc ferme.

"It is a question of whether you do it with a tool or manually, and it is done with a tool."

Article 34.5 of the Sporting Regulations states: "In order that the scrutineers may be completely satisfied that no alterations have been made to the suspension systems or aerodynamic configuration of the car (with the exception of the front wing) whilst in post qualifying parc ferme, it must be clear from physical inspection that changes cannot be made without the use of tools."

If a team could find a way to change the suspension settings between qualifying and race without being discovered, it would give them a significant advantage.

Gary Anderson BBC F1's technical analyst on the latest row involving Red Bull

"I haven't seen the device Red Bull are said to have had that could have allowed them to manually adjust the ride-height, but what is being talked about is a very unusual thing.

"The front suspension is very complicated, with rockers, torsion bars, upright adjusters, side dampers, anti-roll bar and a third spring that stops the car touching the ground.

"Because of that, to adjust the ride-height teams usually just adjust the push-rod, as it allows you to leave the geometry alone. So inboard on the chassis is a very strange place to put a ride-height adjuster.

"What it might have been is an adjuster for the bump rubbers, which define when the car will hit the ground.

"It's important because aerodynamic performance is defined by the front ride-height, but you have to run it higher in qualifying than is ideal for ultimate qualifying performance because of the 150kg of fuel you need for the race. If you could adjust the ride-height between qualifying and race, it could give you an advantage in the region of 0.3 seconds a lap in qualifying."

Cars have to be run higher than is ideal in qualifying, because a race fuel load weighs them down and they would otherwise break rules dictating that an underbody wooden 'plank' - which is there to prevent cars running too low - must not wear down by more than 1mm in the course of the race.

Running cars lower improves their aerodynamics and makes them faster around corners.

So being able to adjust the ride-height would make them faster in qualifying while still allowing a team to raise them for the race to ensure the 'plank' is legal by the end of the race.

The suspension controversy follows the FIA's decision to change the rules on engine mapping ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix to prevent Red Bull modifying theirs to give an advantage on cornering and tyre wear.

Red Bull were reported to the stewards by the FIA at the German Grand Prix last weekend but were allowed to race because they were found not to have broken the letter of the rules.

But as their actions were against the intention of the rules, the FIA made a change on Wednesday.

There have been two earlier technical controversies surrounding Red Bull this year.

They were forced to modify holes in their floor which they ran in the Bahrain, Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix - two of which they won - after the FIA said they contravened regulations.

Also in Canada, the FIA made Red Bull close off holes that ran through their wheels on the grounds that they were a moveable aerodynamic device, which are banned.

Horner played down the string of problems surrounding his team.

"I think it is the consequence of being competitive," he said, "when others are complaining [about] the reason the car is quick, and that is the case here."

Sunday, 29 July: Race 12:45 BST; BBC Sport website live text and audio commentary and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & Race highlights 19:00 BST BBC One/BBC HD/online.

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Ferrari in quandary over Alonso’s team-mate

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer Ferrari are aiming to finalise their 2013 driver line-up by the end of September as they search for a replacement for Felipe Massa.

The team have not decided whether he will be dropped, but it is likely.

Ferrari have had talks with Jenson Button, but he is likely to stay at McLaren, while sources close to Ferrari dismiss reports that Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen could return.

Continue reading the main story

“We're not in any rush to make any decision or to announce anything because we want to pick the right time”

Stefano Domenicali Ferrari team principal The favourites to partner Fernando Alonso are Force India's Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg or Sauber's Sergio Perez.

Ferrari are interested in Button, but any attempt to do a deal is complicated by the fact that the 2009 world champion is under contract to McLaren.

Button is in the first year of a 'two-plus-one' contract, with the two fixed years taking him to the end of 2013, after which McLaren have the option to retain him.

A further complication to Button joining Ferrari is that the Englishman wanted to sign a two-year contract.

The Italian team only want to sign a one-year deal with their second driver for 2013 with an eye on the possible arrival of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in 2014.

Ferrari have an arrangement with Vettel for the season after next, but it is not clear whether it is a firm contract or the equivalent of a letter of intent for him to join them.

Sources close to McLaren and Button dismiss talk of him moving to Ferrari as "complete rubbish".

Rumours of Raikkonen returning to Ferrari in 2013 emerged at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend - he last drove for the team in 2009, after which Ferrari terminated his contract and paid him not to drive in 2010 to make way for Alonso.

Sources close to Ferrari say the Finn's representatives did approach them to inquire whether they were interested in taking Raikkonen back, but were told the team were not interested.

Ferrari have been left in a quandary as the other drivers on the list are all to a certain degree unproven, and the team are unsure whether any would be an improvement on Massa.

But the Brazilian's inconsistent form this year means they are leaning towards replacing him.

Force India's Paul di Resta is one of the favourites to replace Massa at Ferrari

Massa started the season a long way off the pace of Alonso at a time when the Ferrari was very difficult to drive.

His qualifying pace has improved in recent months but he continues to struggle to score points in races and has tended to get involve in incidents.

Ferrari are seeking a second driver who can back Alonso up and also score enough points to help them win the constructors' championship.

Perez is a member of Ferrari's driver academy, but the company's president Luca di Montezemolo has already said this year that he feels the Mexican is not experienced enough to drive for Ferrari.

Hulkenberg and Di Resta have very similar levels of experience to Perez, both having raced in F1 for a season and a half.

Ferrari have long been keen on Robert Kubica, but the Pole has still not sufficiently recovered from the horrendous injuries suffered in a rallying crash in February 2011.

Kubica, 27, can drive a road car and a rally car without problem but the nerves in his right arm, which was partially severed are still not healed suffiently to allow him to move his fingers quickly or accurately enough to operate the controls on an F1 car.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend: "We're not in any rush to make any decision or to announce anything because we want to pick the right time.

"We are totally in line with Felipe and for us Felipe has to be protected because it's important for this championship and this is the situation.

"So at the moment there is nothing new on that subject."

Driver Team Age Races Wins Poles Career points

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