A Quiet but Positive Morning for Brawn GP

With higher track temperatures and a great deal of slow corners, it is the Hungarian GP that should be the race in which Brawn take the fight back to Red Bull.

Brawn have certainly made some changes to their cars too with new front suspension, a new double diffuser and also new body work.

Things are even looking better for team morale as this weekend Rubens was sporting a ‘Mr. Happy’ t-shirt!

As most of the grid left the pits to start their installation laps, the Brawns hung back (as ever) and waited a while before taking to the track.

It took about 10 minutes, but Rubens and Jens were out and evaluating the warm surface. Jenson’s car looked very different early on as he tested a ’Red Bull-esque’ nose cover.

Now a lot of people have been very critical of Alguersari’s early entry into F1, stating that without the testing, he will not have a fair chance to get to know the car.

Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but what was great was the fact that the fans got to see exactly how a rookie driver begins his F1 career.

The young Spaniard looked like a lad in new shoes as he tentatively drove his Toro Rosso around the Hungaroring. The odd slip here and there, but I think he was enjoying himself!

Sure enough it was the new boy who set the first time of 1:34:716, 13 minutes into practice. Jenson was out with one hour and nine minutes to go for another look at the new front bodywork.

The championship leader returned to the pits though and the Brawn boys removed the new piece (it turned out that neither Brawn car would test it again that session).

At this relatively early stage (although 25 minutes had passed!) there were only two times up on the board. These were the two Toro Rossos and this time Buemi was on top.

Five minutes later, things got a little more exciting when Trulli added his name to the list of drivers; He was quickly followed by Glock.

Forty minutes in and there were only 9 names on the time sheets, Trulli was first, and we had seen very little from Brawn GP.

Personally, I was a little worried, but the Brawn garage was full of confidence and smiles. It seems that although Brawn realise the importance of this weekend, they don’t seem to be overly worried about it.

Vettel was the first of the Red Bulls to make a significant appearance, and he joined the action around the same time as Jenson and Rubens.

Mr. Happy’s first time saw the Brazilian take P17 as Vettel went top. Rubens then lifted himself to P14 on his second attempt.

Meanwhile Jenson’s time of 1:25:713 only placed him in P17. Having dropped back down to P18, Rubens managed to get up to a more respectable P10, though Jenson remained P19 after a few laps.

Fear not, Jens fans, for the Brit pulled his finger out and put in a much better 1:23:681 (P8). Webber looked much faster than Vettel all morning really, and his dominance began with 39 minutes left when he topped the time sheets.

Rubens may have been 892 seconds slower than the Australian in pole, but his time of 1:23:507 took his Brawn up to P6.

With half an hour to go, Webber remained first, Rubens was P6, Vettel P8, and Jenson P10.

There was a lovely moment at this stage when the commentary failed and we were left with the great, uninterrupted sounds of the engines without the sometimes rather annoying and pointless chatter!

Don’t get me wrong I think the BBC’s practice coverage is great, and most of their commentators are interesting…..however, it was a bit of an eye opener to just sit back and take in the practice without chatter.

With all its great interactive potential, I can’t see why the Beeb don’t offer ‘commentary less’ coverage.

Yes Ledgard is annoying, but I find the Tennis coverage in particular to be excruciating! Am I just a miserable bastard or would anyone else like simply to watch sports as they are?

Anyway, I got off the point…..where was I? oh yes P1...

With 20 minutes left, not a lot had changed (but the commentary was back!). Jenson managed to get back up to P7 with a 1:23:37 but Webber was still on top.

The important thing to remember though, regardless of grid position at this stage, was the fact that both Brawn drivers were happy with their tyres. In contrast, Webber and Vettel in particular were really complaining about poor grip.

The Brawns dropped back down the field, but remerged with 10 minutes to go. Neither car improved much as the real fight was for P1. First, Hamilton snatched it from Webber, followed by Rosberg, only to be pipped right at the end by Kovalainen.

So, Jenson finished up in P10, and Rubens P13, but this wasn’t as bad as it may sound. The Brawn team were very happy with their set up and tyre wear and were simply running fuel loads.

A great morning session for Brawn, and I can’t wait to see what happens later on today…..hopefully they’ll all be wearing Mr. Happy shirts!

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.278 21

2 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:22.337 0.059 27

3 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.554 0.276 20

4 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:22.615 0.337 21

5 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:22.619 0.341 25

6 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:22.705 0.427 17

7 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:22.796 0.518 23

8 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:22.855 0.577 25

9 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:23.001 0.723 28

10 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:23.130 0.852 25

11 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:23.146 0.868 24

12 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:23.154 0.876 23

13 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:23.209 0.931 24

14 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:23.234 0.956 30

15 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:23.283 1.005 25

16 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 1:23.484 1.206 20

17 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 1:23.678 1.400 22

18 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:23.845 1.567 18

19 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:23.998 1.720 37

20 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:24.228 1.950 42