It had to be expected that there willl be lots of talk about the 2007 Hungaroring events ahead of this weekend race. So it is no surprise that this topic has been touched also during the press conference yesterday. And this is what Alonso had to say when asking about his feelings one year on:

Much happier this year for sure. Last year again it is true that I had a possibility to fight for the championship and it was okay. I knew that this year it was not possible any more. But if I was racing for McLaren now at this moment maybe I would be in the same position as I am now without the possibility to win. So at least I am happy to be with Renault with the full support of the team and knowing that everybody is working night and day to give me the best car possible. One day we will be seventh, one day we will be fifth and hopefully one day we will be on the podium and everybody on the podium will be there with some excitement.

This seems to me to be the strongest hint yet from Alonso on the “equal” treatment the McLaren drivers get. He has done a good job so far not talking about the details of his 1 year stint with McLaren but it looks like he may be ready to start leaking some bits and pieces .

I do not believe the claims that the drivers at McLaren are equal. I have no problems with any team having number one and number two, I have problems with being told all the time that it is not the case … We only need to look back to Hockenheim to see one example. And if that is not enough, then check the interview Felipe Massa gave to Autosport (Jonathan Noble) yesterday…

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F1Wolf

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My 2009 driver line up prediction is doing well. I expect not much to change and McLaren are the first to agree with me . Martin Whitmarsh to Autosport:

“We welcomed Heikki on board at the start of the year. He is under contract to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, and will continue to race for us in the 2009 season.”

After having as many as 8 different drivers racing for them since 2004 season it looks like Ron Dennis and co. are finally happy with the line up they have.

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F1Wolf

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Here comes the second Grand Prix video preview - this time 2008 Hungarian GP:

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

This video includes:

- Look back at winners of all previous Hungarian Grands Prix - from Nelson Piquet to Lewis Hamilton
- Flashback to 2007 Hungarian GP
- Race preview with Nico Rosberg and Sam Michael

This video can also be viewed at F1 Wolf Club, on Facebook and on one day perhaps also on Dailymotion

Music: music.podshow.com

F1Wolf

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I do not want to say this was the best race of the season but it sure was entertaining. We could see some serious racing with overtaking up and down the grid, we had a safety car following a crash (luckily without any serious injury), we could see a serious strategy blunder and impressive recovery from it and 2 Brazilians on podium, one of them being Piquet jr. !

McLaren dominated the weekend from Friday but the close fight between Massa and Hamilton in qualifying promised some possibility of a fight for the race win. At the end we had a fight but more thanks to McLaren getting it wrong than Ferrari getting it right. Lewis Hamilton pulled away right from the start and Massa never looked like a serious opposition. Early on even Kovalainen was a threat but after few laps Massa pulled away from him. Not sure why because Heikki was not that much more heavy than Massa. In the meantime Hamilton managed to build a decent lead in front.

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F1Wolf

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It looked way too easy when Hamilton passed his team mate after his second pit stop. The presenters at the Star TV studio were rather ironic after the race saying that there are “no team orders in F1″ , the whole bar where I was watching the race was full of boos. So were there team orders or is Hamilton that much better than Kovalainen that he simply made that look that easy ? At the end, it did not take him that long to overtake Felipe Massa …

So were there team orders or not ?

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Photo: Daimler Media

F1Wolf

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Lewis Hamilton managed to overcome apparent strategy blunder and won the 2008 German GP at Hockenheim. Nelson Piquet climbed up to the podium for the first time in his F1 career scoring also the first podium of the season for Renault. Felipe Massa finished 3rd. First time since 1991 Belgian GP (when Senna won and Piquet sr. finished 3rd) there were 2 Brazilian drivers on podium .

The race was affected by safety car following Timo Glock’s violent crash. Glock looked a bit shaken after the crash but seems to be OK.

2008 German GP result:

1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 1:31:20.847
2. Nelson Piquet - Renault + 5.586
3. Felipe Massa - Ferrari + 9.339
4. Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber + 9.825
5. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren + 12.411
6. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari + 14.483
7. Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber + 22.603
8. Sebastian Vettel - Toro Rosso + 33.282

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F1Wolf

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Lewis Hamilton will start the German GP from pole position after beating Felipe Massa by 0.02s in dry qualifying session. Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli will occupy row 2. Fernando Alonso recovered from a Q1 elimination scare and will start from P5, just ahead of disappointing Kimi Raikkonen. Robert Kubica who suffered technical problems in free practice and was also on a brink of elimination in Q1 will on P7. Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard complete the top 10.

Q1 was very even, only about half second separated 4th from 16th. Nelson Piquet missed out on Q2 fourth time this season and I wonder for much longer will the team remain patient with him … Kazuki Nakajima and Rubens Barrichello were the other 2 higher profile casualties of Q1.

Qualifying Results:

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F1Wolf

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After some Monaco drizzle we had the first proper wet to extreme wet race this year. It has provided us with all that can be expected - lots of spins, pit stop and strategy dilemas and some surprising faces on the podium.

It is not easy to review this race without missing something. A lot was happening on the track, the commercial breaks on ESPN Star came always in the wrong moment and Steve Slater did again his best to confuse us all with mixing up the driver names and talking bull while important things were happening on the track. How can someone like this guy keep the job with a TV station that broadcasts all over Asia is a mystery to me. But back to racing …

When we look back at the end of the season for the start of the year then Lewis Hamilton’s start to British GP will be high on the list of candidates. Starting from 4th but almost in the lead after few corners. Only very sharp defensive driving from his team mate kept him in second position. I am not sure McLaren pit wall enjoyed those few opening corners watching both their drivers getting way too close for comfort on the wet and slippery track. Both McLarens pulled away with Kimi Raikkonen in 3rd safely behind (safely for McLarens but safely for Kimi too). Hamilton kept pushing and Kovalainen kept defending. But then on lap 4 all of a sudden Kovalainen let Hamilton pass … TV applauded that as a great overtaking maneuvre from Hamilton, to me it looked like team orders in place …

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F1Wolf

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Lewis Hamilton has won his (eventful) home Grand Prix after taking full advantage of his great start and some very strange tyre decision by Raikkonen’s camp. Nick Heidfeld brought his BMW Sauber home in 2nd place. The Ross Brawn factor came to effect in tricky wet / extreme wet conditions. Right choice of tyres in right time and Rubens Barrichello claimed his first podium since joining Honda … They must have missed Brawn at Ferrari today …

2008 British GP Result:

1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren - 1:39:09.440
2. Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber + 1:08.500
3. Rubens Barrichello - Honda + 1:22.200
4. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari + 1 laps
5. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren + 1 laps
6. Fernando Alonso - Renault + 1 laps
7. Jarno Trulli - Toyota + 1 laps
8. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams + 1 laps

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F1Wolf

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The events of last weekend in France brought out suggestions someone is out there to get McLaren. On one hand string of penalties to Hamilton and Kovalainen on the other hand not even an investigation into Trulli’s defending 3rd position from Heikki, no action taken against unsafe Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

So are McLaren hard done ? The following photos (inside the post) may provide some answer:

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F1Wolf

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