F1 Hungarian GP Alonso Takes Pole - Massa Injured in Crash

Photo by Ph-Stop

There was high drama at today's qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso eventually took pole from the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in a very hard fought session.

Lewis Hamilton qualified a season's best fourth on the grid continuing his good form from Friday ahead of Nico Rosberg (Williams) and his fellow team mate Heikki Kovalainen.

Kimi Raikkonen qualified his Ferrari in seventh. Jenson Button has work to do from eighth on the grid - it does seem that the Brawn GP march has been halted. Nakajima in the second Williams took ninth spot on the grid.

Felipe Massa had an accident in turn 4 during Q2 in circumstances reminiscent of the one at Brands Hatch last weekend in which Henry Surtees tragically lost his life.

It appears that a rear suspension spring may have fallen from the back of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn and struck Massa on the head causing concussion. Massa subsequently speared into a tyre wall at high speed.

He was stabilised at the track and then flown to hospital for emergency surgery to a head wound. It is reported that the surgery went well and further news on his condition is expected to be released by Ferrari in the morning.

It is unclear at this stage which of Ferraris reserve drivers will take Massa'a tenth place on the grid in the race tomorrow.

The qualifying sessions today have been extremely tight. In Q1 the top nineteen cars were separated by around 1.1 seconds. Both BMW's dropped out continuing their abysmal form this season together with both Force Indias.

As expected, Toro Rosso new boy Alguersuari will be propping up the grid in twentieth position although to be fair he did bail out with a mechanical failure so it was not possible to judge his real pace today.

In Q2 the top fifteen cars were separated by only one second and the top ten by only 0.5 secs. Apart from Massa crashing out, the session saw both Toyotas, Buemi and Nelson Piquet drop out. The rumours continue that Piquet's F1 career with Renault is hanging on a slim thread and today's outing will not help his cause.

Normally the highlight of a Hungarian GP is the qualifying and today did not disappoint.

The action that takes place on track on the Sunday of a Hungarian GP can generally be inscribed on the back of a postage stamp (unless there is rain...).

In my opinion it vies with Valencia as one of the dullest races on the F1 calendar. Like watching paint dry.

This year, with Hamilton in P4 and able to benefit from KERS and old enemy Alonso on pole there could be some fireworks off the line.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this Hungarian GP will be the exception to the rule!

F1 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hamilton Fastest in Second Practice

The McLaren revival appears to be continuing. Green shoots of recovery or a false dawn? Only time will tell but hopefully the former.

Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest lap time in second practice today at the Hungaroring closely shading his team mate Heikki Kovalainen who had been fastest in the morning session.

Williams were also having a good day. Nico Rosberg was third fastest and Nakajima fifth. German Grand Prix winner Mark Webber was fastest of the Championship front runners in fourth with Vettel sixth.

What about the Brawns? Barrichello was seventh fastest whilst Button appears to be on the back foot so far in (unlucky?) thirteenth. The Ferraris were also having an off day with Raikkonen in eleventh and Massa languishing a lowly eighteenth fastest.

As expected, the new nineteen year old Spanish "wonder kid" Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso (STR) was slowest approximately two seconds off Hamilton's pace and about .7 seconds slower than his team mate Buemi.

According to reports in the British press today, a number of the leading drivers have expressed concerns about Alguersuari's lack of experience in an F1 car due to the current testing ban and worry that he could impede the leading runners or even cause an accident.

It is too early to judge. The step up from F3 or another junior series to F1 is enormous and many have tried and failed in the past. On the other hand there have been several occasions when rookie's have scored points in their first Grand Prix - e.g. Vettel (the real wonder kid!) or Buemi.

STR are definitely taking a risk putting him behind the wheel in favour of Sebastian Bourdais who was recently fired from the team.

Do they seriously expect that a nineteen year old rookie with no F1 testing under his belt will perform any better than a former US champ car Champion?

My gut feeling is that Alguersuari has been appointed for his marketing potential. Unfortunately for him, Bourdais has the look of a school teacher or librarian rather than a pretty boy!

Several other names have been touted round as long(er) term replacements for Bourdais including Jacques Villeneuve and Sebastian Loeb.

I think the chances of Villeneuve landing a seat with STR are minimal but Loeb behind the wheel... now that would be interesting to see!