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!

Henry Surtees Killed in Tragic Accident at Brands Hatch

I had been planning to write a post about the enjoyable time I'd had with the family at Brands Hatch this weekend until I heard the news this morning that Henry Surtees had died from the head injuries he sustained in an accident on Sunday afternoon (19th July) at only eighteen years of age.

Surtees was struck on the head and immediately rendered unconscious by a wheel which had broken loose from Jack Clarke's car a few seconds earlier between Westfield and Sheene corners causing him to plough into a crash barrier at around 120 mph.

Although the emergency services were very quickly on the scene and Surtees was evacuated by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital it was tragically to no avail and he did not survive his injuries.

Jonathan Palmer head of Motor Sports Vision who own the Brands Hatch Circuit and also run the Formula Two series issued a statement earlier today.

According to the statement a full investigation will be carried out into the circumstances of the accident to see if any lessons can be learned for the future.

The cars which are designed and built to FIA standards by Williams have similar safety features to F1 cars such as wheel tethers, raised cockpit sides etc.

It seems that Surtees sadly just had the complete misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He had been having one of his best in the series weekends having gained his first Formula Two podium, finishing in P3 on Saturday.

I would like to take this opportunity to profer my sincere condolences to his father John and family.