The hits and flops of Budapest

The tops

Mark Webber
He is undoubtedly the man of this race and, in fact, of the first part of the season. On Sunday, he took advantage of the racing circumstances and then escaped. Certainly, without the penalty imposed against Sebastian Vettel, he would certainly only have finished second. But the Australian, race after race, asserts himself as a more than credible candidate for the world crown. Four drivers have won two Grands Prix this season, he has four successes. Now leader of the World Championship, he will be difficult to break free.

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso, while driving a car slower than the Red Bull, was able to finish in second place. Placed on the right side of the grid at the start, he was able to move into second position behind Sebastian Vettel. The safety car episode allowed Mark Webber to take the lead and take off but the penalty imposed on Sebastian Vettel gave second place to the Spaniard, who was able to keep the German behind him during the second half race. A week after the Hockenheim victory, Alonso performed very well in the championship standings. He is only twenty points behind Mark Webber?s first place and can still hope to win his third world crown.

Vitaly Petrov
Put under pressure by Renault in recent weeks, the Russian has fulfilled his mission perfectly in the last two Grands Prix. Tenth at Hockenheim, fifth in Budapest, the Russian did what was expected of him. In Hungary, he was able to beat Robert Kubica in qualifying (7th) in order to start on the right side of the track on Sunday. Fifth after the first turn, he had to give in to Lewis Hamilton before taking advantage of the Briton's abandonment to regain this 5th place. At the pace of the best, Vitaly Petrov overtook his closest pursuer, Nico Rosberg. Blocked by Rubens Barrichello, he then waited during the second part of the race and secured a fine 5th place in the final. Coming from a country with strong market potential for Renault, the Russian has, with this performance, scored big points with a view to an extension in 2011.

Nico Hulkenberg
Starting tenth, the German had a very good race and finished sixth, scoring big points. This is the third time he has scored points but the first time he has finished so well placed. With tenth place for Rubens Barrichello, Williams leaves with a good result.

Clean
Kamui Kobayashi, 23rd on the starting grid, achieved a very good performance by finishing ninth. Author of an excellent start, he completed the first lap in 16th place, before taking advantage of the arrival of the safety car to grab several positions. As for Pedro de la Rosa, he scored his first points of the season, finishing seventh ahead of Jenson Button. A great performance from the Spaniard after a good qualifying session.

The flops

Sebastian Vettel
Three poles, zero victories. The German?s record of the last three races is not good. Capable of the best and the worst, the Red Bull driver has let far too many points slip away in recent weeks. In Budapest, however, he started perfectly, before taking off at the front of the race, taking almost a second per lap from his pursuers. But, by leaving too big a gap between his car and that of Mark Webber at the time of the restart, the German made a fatal error. After carrying out his pit stop penalty, he was only able to return to third position. He lets Mark Webber take the lead in the championship and may not see him again.

Michael Schumacher
The seven-time World Champion has once again divided fans of Formula 1, Sunday, by performing an incredible maneuver (see video) on Rubens Barrichello. Schumi supporters see it as a defensive gesture as part of the Formula 1 spectacle; His detractors see this as a very dangerous maneuver which could have sent the Brazilian into trouble, at nearly 300 km/h. The German was penalized for this dangerous steering action. In a single race, he made people forget his poor performances and focused attention on his "bad boy" side, which earned him a lot of criticism during his period. Ferrari.

Mercedes
By improperly tightening Nico Rosberg's right rear wheel, Mercedes made a mistake. The stewards fined Ross Brawn's team $50. The sanction could have been much heavier, when we remember that Renault, in 000, received a suspension for such an error (a sanction revised on appeal to ?2009 dollars). Last year, Renault's fault occurred a few days after the death on track of Henry Surtees, who was hit in the head by a wheel. This weekend, Nico Rosberg's wheel almost did more damage since it was abandoned in the pit line. A Williams team mechanic was hit but not seriously. To top it all off, the team didn’t score any points.

Renault
By releasing Robert Kubica too early after his pit stop, Renault ruined the Pole's race. In fact, the latter, while leaving his location, hit the car of Adrian Sutil, who was coming to change tires. If, on the spot, certain media explained that Nico Rosberg's loss of wheel caused this hasty departure, the images of the embedded camera by Robert Kubica do not confirm this version. L? “man with a lollipop” allowed the Pole to restart as a Force India arrived. Eric Boullier also recognized, after the race, the human error following this tire change. The team ofenstone was fined $50.

McLaren
The Woking team currently has the third most efficient car in the field. As at Hockenheim, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were unable to do anything against Red Bull and Ferrari. Hamilton finished with a retirement due to a gearbox problem, while Button finished eighth. McLaren loses the lead in the standings of both championships, drivers and constructors.