“I don't think we will see a repeat of what happened in Germany. Personally, I am calm and I know the team has been working hard to understand what happened. The tyres in Hungary are very different to what we need in Germany, and Michelin have reacted to the problems as well. People are talking about Michael closing in, but I was never over-confident when I was leading – and I am not panicking now. I am confident we can have a strong race.”
However, Alonso is not the only Renault driver with a battle on his hands as
Giancarlo Fisichella's two sixth place finishes from France and Germany have now put him behind the rampant
Felipe Massa and on the same amount of points at
Kimi Raikkonen.
It is a run of form that Fisichella is determined to stem and goes to Hungary with the determination to claim a podium finish and also help
Renault's sliding constructor title hopes.
“We were missing something in Germany, not just compared to
Ferrari but the other Michelin teams as well. The team has been working hard to understand the problems, and come up with good answers for this weekend. I am confident Michelin will bring competitive tyres, and we need to get the maximum from them this weekend. I will be pushing to the limit, just like in Germany, and aiming for the podium.”
Perhaps most crucially, Renault will be allowed to run their controversial mass dampers, a system that seemingly pushed them off balance in Germany and exposed their reliance of the system to make the aerodynamics of their car work.
McLaren – Kimi Raikkonen (#3), Pedro de la Rosa (#4):
Kimi Raikkonen will hit three figures of grand prix starts when he lines up on the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Finn celebrating the occasion with a commemorative helmet courtesy of sponsor Johnnie Walker.
It is a gift he no doubt hopes will help him to his first race win of the year following an impressive drive in Germany that saw him lead a grand prix outright for the first time this year.
