18/08/2002

Hungarian Grand Prix - Race Round-Up

As expected after a tough qualifying session on Saturday the Hungarian Grand Prix proved to be a race without reward in terms of points for Panasonic Toyota Racing. But on a positive note both Toyota TF102s made it to the end demonstrating strong reliability on a hot afternoon in Budapest. Mika Salo finished the race in 13th place on the road with Allan McNish 15th just 1.3s behind his team mate. Race stewards however ruled that Salo had not exited the pits safely at his second stop as he fought with the Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa and added 25 seconds to his race time demoting the Finn to 15th and moving his team mate up to 14th.

Both Toyotas made up places at the start and Salo also passed De la Rosa. The battle raged between the two for the full race distance with McNish right behind. The Scot then lost around 5 seconds at his second pit stop and had to set about closing the gap again which he managed by the chequered flag.

The race was not without drama for Salo either. Around 20 laps from the end the Finn had the car's fire extinguisher go off in the cockpit covering himself with foam and making it very difficult to see. "I think I did the last 20 laps from memory!" he said.

"The car was pretty well balanced in the race. I drove a good race today and coped with some pressure towards the end so I am not happy about losing 25 seconds for what I think was normal."

For McNish the race at least brought the satisfaction of seeing the chequered flag after a run of bad luck.

"It is notoriously difficult to overtake here and all we could do was sit in line " he said. "At my second stop I had a problem selecting gear which lost a bit of time but I was making up ground at the end. Overall there were no major technical problems other than some slight understeer and I am pleased to finish the race."

The race saw a 1-2 finish for Ferrari as Rubens Barrichello headed world champion Michael Schumacher across the line and moved himself into second place in the world championship in the process. The result clinched a fourth consecutive constructors championship title for Scuderia Marlboro Ferrari.

Third place fell to the BMW Williams F1 team and Ralf Schumacher while Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fourth and fifth for West McLaren Mercedes. Giancarlo Fisichella took one point for bringing his DHL Jordan Honda home in 6th.

The championship now moves to the majestic Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the penultimate European round in Belgium in two weeks' time.