Indeed,
Mark Webber looked to be on the verge of ending the team's longest ever barren spell with a fifth place finish in Germany, only for an mechanical problem to intervene with just a handful of laps remaining.
It is this agonising reliability, that has hit Webber on numerous occasions this season, that is likely to have contributed to his decision to leave. Nonetheless, the low speed Hungary is expected to suit the FW28 well, particularly as the team went well at similarly twisty Monaco earlier in the year.
“Budapest is usually a tough race for the teams because it is hard to overtake even though the track layout has changed a little bit. The races are generally based on attrition while qualifying well is also crucial. Our car might be reasonably well suited to the track, but we'll see how our tyre selection goes. Although we didn't score points at Hockenheim, the car is working better so we'll be looking to improve upon our reliability and get in the top eight this weekend.”
Rosberg meanwhile goes to Hungary with memories of being by far the fastest driver on the GP2 Series grid last year, qualifying on pole position by almost a second - a gap of some proportions in a championship that promotes equal machinery. After the disappointment of Hockenheim, where he crashed on the first lap, Rosberg is determined to get into the points.
“We expect to have a good race at the Hungaroring because it has similar characteristics to the Monaco track, where we were very strong this year. In addition to that, we showed that we have made some improvements in Hockenheim and we hope to carry on that momentum. Hungary is a track I like and I was fastest there last year in GP2, a whole second ahead of everyone else.”
Honda Racing F1 – Rubens Barrichello (#11), Jenson Button (#12):
Honda responded to their critics in the finest way possible at the German Grand Prix, with the team finally sorting their performance issues by claiming a fourth place finish at Hockenheim.
