A Sensible Day of Testing for Brawn in Hungary

Patrick AllenJul 24, 2009

After a very encouraging test in the morning, Brawn GP went into the afternoon’s session quietly confident. The big question today was tire temperature and grip on a relatively unused track.

On to the session now, and as the light went green, BMW’s Heidfeld led the two Toyotas out on track. These first three cars were quickly followed by most of the rest of the drivers.

It was Heidfeld that set the first time just four minutes in. The German set the pace with a 1:25:193. Thankfully, after a usual slow start in P1 there were 11 times on the sheets after five minutes.

Two minutes later, Jens set his first time of 1:24:918 (P10). By this stage, Nakajima was top with a 1:23:910. On his second attempt, Jens went higher still and gained P7.

Rubens’ first time was a 1:26:123, which put him P18 (of 18), 13 minutes in. However, it didn’t take long for the Brazilian to work his way up the grid to P16, then P15.

It took 17 minutes, but the king of Friday, Nico Rosberg reclaimed his crown with a 1:23:116. Long live King Rosberg!

Back to Rubens now, and the Brawn man had gained P11 with a 1:24:173. Before long, King Rosberg was overthrown by Vettel, who became the first Red Bull man to claim top spot this afternoon. Almost straight away, Webber pipped his teammate though.

Webber certainly outperformed Vettel today, which was good for me as both a Webber fan and a Brawn fanatic. As long as Webber eats into Vettel’s performances, the infighting in Red Bull should be favourable for BGP.

After 26 minutes, Jenson took Brawn's highest position earned today when he stormed past the line in 1:22:993 (P3). By this stage Kovalainen was in P1 with a 1:22:126 and he would pretty much stay there until abou,t six seconds from the end!

Jenson went one better the next time around when he put in a second place time of 1:22:811. After 30 minutes, Kovalainen was first, Jens was second, and Rubens was P16.

Rubens did manage to climb a few places, first moving to P15 and then up to P12. Meanwhile, Jenson remained second.

The Brawns then went a little quiet as they concentrated on hardcore testing and data analysis. With 43 minutes left, Rubens reappeared and struggled a bit with his rear tires but, otherwise, simply put in strong laps.

One hour in, Kovalainen was still first, Jens was now P4 and Rubens was P17. However, the determined Brazilian clearly found some speed and elevated himself right up to P3! (1:22:641).

Time passed and little changed. With 20 minutes left, the flying Finn was still first, Rubens was P4, and Jens P7.

Even the Brawn car struggled a little with grip as Jenson radioed in to explain his troubles. But Vettel was worse off and decided to change his front suspension in a attempt to improve things.

10 minutes left now, and can you guess who was first? Yep, Kovalainen! Rubens was P5 and Jens was now P10.

Unfortunately for Webber, his Red Bull suffered hydraulic, failure which finished his day testing. A shame for Mark, but perhaps good news for Brawn as a Red bull again struggles a bit with reliability?

With just six seconds left, Hamilton stole pole from his teammate and ended the day on top. Jens finished in P13 and Rubens P7.

Personally I think it was a shame that Kovalainen didn’t finish on top as I think he deserved and needed it more.

Of course well done Lewis, but you’ve got to feel sorry for the hugely underrated McLaren No. 2.

As for the Brawn team, well they never took pole, but they never needed to. Much like they did earlier in the season, Friday was simply another test day. Both drivers drove very well, both improved in the afternoon. I should think everyone at Brawn is very pleased with their day's work.

Tomorrow's practice session will be fascinating as many believe it will show each team's true qualifying pace, and qualifying itself may well prove to be the most exciting component of this weekend.

I can’t wait!

P.S. I’m very sorry about Bourdais, I certainly don’t think he was the waste of space people seem to be saying he was. However, well done Alguersuari! A great day for the young Spaniard!

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1. 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.079 36

2. 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.126 0.047 36

3. 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:22.154 0.075 47

4. 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:22.369 0.290 29

5. 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:22.426 0.347 40

6. 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:22.550 0.471 30

7. 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:22.641 0.562 38

8. 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:22.663 0.584 28

9. 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:22.690 0.611 43

10. 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:22.751 0.672 45

11. 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:22.763 0.684 38