DI RESTA MAKES FOR A FINE STAND-IN
▶ Impressive effort from Briton in Hungary as he replaces unwell Massa at short notice, writes Graham Caygill
Ahead of today’s Hungarian Grand Prix, which will see championship leader Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari start on pole position, here are some of the other talking points ahead of the race and from yesterday’s qualifying session.
Di Resta’s fine return
Given he has not driven competitively in a Formula 1 car since November 2013, and he found out with less than two hours before qualifying that he would be standing in for the unwell Felipe Massa at Williams, for Paul Di Resta to qualify 19th, and only 0.7 seconds off his teammate Lance Stroll, was a terrific effort.
The Briton has been unable to force his way back into F1 since being dropped by Force India, but he will not have done his stock any harm, given he had been at the Hungaroring expecting to be a TV pundit, rather than racing.
But Massa’s illness meant as reserve driver he had to step in.
Today’s race will be about staying out of trouble and trying simply to finish.
The track does not suit Williams so barring incidents and unreliability ahead points will be a tall order, but Di Resta has already won, in some ways, by reminding everyone of how capable he is, especially in less than ideal circumstances.
There is four weeks until the next race in Belgium so Williams will expect to have Massa back by then, so if this is just a one-race appearance then it has been quite the cameo for Di Resta.
Reality check for Ricciardo
Practice on Friday had hinted that Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull Racing were on for an upset in Hungary as they topped the times in both sessions.
But, come yesterday it was the familiar story of Ferrari and Mercedes-GP finding more speed and the Austrian team having no response and having to be best rest of the rest by filling out the third row in fifth and sixth places.
Ricciardo had technical problems that limited his time on track in final practice yesterday, and not only did he fall behind the Ferrari and Mercedes cars in qualifying he was also beaten by teammate Max Verstappen, who starts one place ahead of him in fifth spot, after edging out the Australian by 0.021 seconds.
Barring a strong getaway when the race begins at 4pm UAE time today, the chances of Australian, who won the race in 2014, achieving a fourth podium in as many years at the track is looking like a tall order that will require a lot of luck.
Better for McLaren
Whisper it, but the McLaren team are improving.
Yes, the Honda engine continues to be a burden for the team, but the Hungaroring, which has just the start-finish straight to contend with, has highlighted that on pure mechanical grip, the MCL32 car is actually fairly competitive.
Starting eventh and eighth for Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorneg is not really anything to be getting too excited about for a team with 182 race wins to their name and a long history of success in the sport.
But it is a step in the right direction considering some of the wretched times they have suffered in the past three seasons.
The team already have two points to their name from Azerbaijan when Alonso was ninth, but that was a race of high attrition that the Spaniard benefitted from.
But today they have a real chance to score some good points on merit, which could be vital to them persuading Alonso, the double world champion, that they can challenge for wins again in the future, if and when they sort out their engine issues.
Palmer’s missed chance
Renault have been quick in Hungary.
The lack of long straights hiding the limited horsepower from their engine.
Given he is under pressure with no points to his name, and a number of drivers ranging from Carlos Sainz Jr at Toro Rosso and Robert Kubica linked with his race seat, what Jolyon Palmer needed was a strong weekend.
Instead he crashed in practice on Friday, and in qualifying underlined again that he is not on the level of teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
He starts 10th today, two places ahead of his teammate, but that is only because Hulkenberg has a grid penalty for a gearbox change.
The German had been 0.8 seconds faster than Palmer in qualifying to again highlight just how much quicker he is than the Briton.
Palmer needs points today and a strong race, especially with Kubica testing for the team next week.
Practice on Friday had hinted that Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull Racing were on for an upset in Hungary as they topped the times in both sessions