Hungarian Grand Prix Review

Undoubtedly in practice the McLarens and Ferraris were evenly matched, and in such a situation, where it was hard to find a good set-up, it was of little surprise that Michael Schumacher muscled his way to pole, for there is no-one better at driving around a less-than-perfect car. David Coulthard seemed to have the better of Mika Hakkinen, but Rubens Barrichello was off the boil all weekend.

The Brazilian was eventually outdone in qualifying even by Ralf Schumacher's Williams, which was sprouting more wings than a deformed bird. With the two mini wings on the side-pods, plus the singularly outlandish 'plank' on the rear cowling, it all amounted to nothing short of 'ugh!' material. But it seemed to be working, evidenced by another good performance by Jenson Button, who qualified a superb 8th.

For the second time in succession, and the third time this year, Hakkinen propelled himself from the second row into the lead by the first corner. As much as I'd like to suggest T.C. conspiracy theories about the Finn's lightning starts, I think you've just got to hand it to the guy. But I note that Jacques Villeneuve doesn't seem to be making brilliant starts anymore ...

Schumacher was so preoccupied with Coulthard that he thought he was safe. By the time he realised where Hakkinen was, it was too dangerous, even by his standards, to put the 'one move' on the McLaren. But frankly, given the course of events (and Schumacher admitted as much in the post race interview) it would have made zilch difference to the outcome of the race.

Gainers and losers from the two rounds of pit stops determined the finishing order. Smart work from Ferrari got Barrichello ahead of Ralf, while once again the Jaguars, especially Eddie Irvine, dropped back mid-race despite looking strong early, with the Ulsterman up to 7th before the stops. Not that he got any help from Marc Gene's Minardi, the Spaniard continuing the tradition of Minardi drivers who have the occasional habit of being complete bastards while being lapped.

Here Gene claimed he couldn't see the blue flags (which admittedly did seem to be in short supply!), and his radio wasn't working, so he thought he was racing Irvine. OK, so Jaguar hasn't exactly been great this year, but since when would Gene be battling with Irvine for position? Gene then held up Coulthard for the same reason ... like duh!

So in the end, a very uneventful race, won by Hakkinen after a sterling drive. Once again, McLaren had the edge over Ferrari, and the Italians seem to be suspiciously lacking in the car development stakes. In the past few races, they've had problems with set-up, tyre wear, handling etc., which all reeks of a team that's getting a little stagnant as the season drags on. At this rate, McLaren will snatch both titles from under their grasp, and despite preferring Ferrari so much more I won't have a grudge because the Woking men will have deserved it.

However, the gap between the McLarens and Ferraris and the rest is embarrassing. McLaren have 112 points, Ferrari 111, followed by Williams 87 points behind on only 24. That's just silly. Statistically, apart from the top two teams the rest are having shocking seasons (e.g. Jordan in particular), but time-wise the rest of the field as a whole are closer to the top two. This whole season is turning out to be one great anomaly.

With the singular exception of Prost. There is no fight in this team whatsoever. Except amongst themselves. How Alain Prost must be smarting from seeing his cars be the first two to retire in a race where only six retired, and three of them in the last dozen laps or so. But then again, Alain's been smarting all season.

Just three other quick comments on side issues. For those who don't receive the ITV coverage, you won't have a clue what I'm talking about on this one, but have you ever seen anyone as turned on by pit strategies as James Allen? Either this guy is a maths genius, or he slugs around a giant abacus with him in pit lane. How he can come up with all these wild hypotheses only to see them disappear into thin air as cars stick to bland two-stop strategies is completely beyond me.

Lastly, it seemed as though the Hungarian crowds were adopting a 'near enough is good enough' approach when it comes to flags. During qualifying, in amongst the masses of Finnish and Ferrari flags, there was some guy waving an Israeli flag! Was it a Coulthard supporter, displaying the Star of David in all its glory? [Boom-tish!] He was matched by the bloke waving the Russian flag smack bang in front of the podium, beamed live around the world. Finland and Russia may be neighbours, but seriously ...

What a shame that these three points were perhaps the most interesting memories of the Hungarian GP. Now the circus heads to Spa, the track every driver loves, and one where Schumacher tends to thrive. He'll have to if he is to resurrect his championship chances. From absolutely nowhere, Mika Hakkinen is rapidly firming in favouritism to make it an historic triple crown. Everything is for the taking. Unlike last year, when it was more a case who lost the championship rather than who won it, whoever walks off with the titles this year will have earned it the hard way.