Nick Heidfeld missed out on Q2 on a track where he will have tough time overtaking any of the midfield cars ahead of him. Sebastien Bourdais was demoted 5 places for impeding Heidfeld in at towards the end of Q1 and will start the race from P19. Unless a sudden storm hits the track or safety car comes out in a right time these 2 guys’ Hungarian GP has been ruined already …
After watching the replay of the qualifying session later on in the evening I still did not feel Bourdais really deserved the penalty. I think the violent fist waiving from these days not-so-quick Nick made the incident look much worse than it actually was. But that is not the point. My point is, should the race stewards make decisions in these kind of situations right away ?
Heidfeld finished 16th in Q1. If Bourdais’ demotion came before Q2 has started, Heidfeld could take part in it. It happened to BMW Sauber (even Kubica) already this season that their Q1 was horrible but at the end qualified rather high up on the grid. By making their decision an hour or so after qualifying the stewards basicaly spoiled the race for both drivers. Heidfeld won’t be able to do much from P15 (unless he does Button 2006). And Bourdais from P19 … not exactly what a guy in his situation needs …
The only winner here is Jenson Button who finished at P15 in Q1 and later after great run claimed P12 in after Q2.
Photo: Red Bull / GEPA
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