24/08/2003

Hungarian Grand Prix - Race Report

The Panasonic Toyota Racing team had a troubled Hungarian Grand Prix when Cristiano da Matta stalled on the grid and Olivier Panis retired with a gearbox problem.

Panis was again running in the top 10 but said: "I didn't have a good start from the dirty side of the grid. I had some problems with the launch control and it is quite normal to have a bit of a traffic jam here which is a shame because the car felt perfect. Then at my second pit stop I just couldn't select a gear and that was the end of my race. Obviously there was some problem with the transmission but we will not know what until there has been a full examination."

Da Matta added: "It has been a tough weekend and obviously not helped by my problem at the start. I did my best after that but I still had traces of the oversteer problem that affected me earlier. I think we knew that this was going to be one of the more difficult races for us and so it proved although the level of grip was much more consistent during the race."

In fact although Da Matta only finished eleventh in the race his determination to make up the ground lost after the start-line drama resulted in him scoring the fifth fastest lap in the 70-lap race.

The race itself was dominated by Mild Seven Renault F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso who achieved a number of milestones in the process. He became both the first Spanish driver ever to win a Grand Prix as well as the youngest ever GP winner at 22 years and 26 days. He also took Renault's first victory as a constructor since Alain Prost won in Austria more than 20 years ago.

Second place fell to West McLaren Mercedes and Kimi Raikkonen who kept his championship challenge alive. The BMW Williams F1 Team drivers had to be content with third and fourth places Juan Pablo Montoya beating Ralf Schumacher as both drivers had spins. David Coulthard made it two McLarens in the top five with Webber's Jaguar Racing entry the last car to finish on the same lap as the leader.

Five times champion Michael Schumacher spent much of the afternoon battling to try to pass Jarno Trulli's Renault but never succeeded and had to accept eighth place and one point.

Team principal Ove Andersson said: "To win in Formula 1 every part of the package: driver car engine tyres and team has to be working in harmony. The last two races have shown that perfectly and that is the goal that we continue to strive towards. Today was disappointing but we will re-group and continue to aim at rediscovering our recent points-scoring form in Monza."

The race saw the 'Big Four' teams (Renault McLaren Williams and Ferrari) claiming the major point-scoring positions although Mark Webber scored a sixth place and three points for Jaguar Racing dropping Panasonic Toyota Racing one place to 7th in the constructor's standings. Just one point separates BAR-Honda Jaguar and Toyota with only three races to go in Italy the USA and then Japan.
At the top of the drivers championship the situation is now: Michael Schumacher 72 points; Juan Pablo Montoya 71; Kimi Raikkonen 70. The BMW Williams team has overhauled Ferrari in the constructors chase with 129 points to 121.