F1 Update from the iSport F1 Pitstop: Renault's Vitaly Petrov drove the best race of his life in the Hungarian Grand Prix, but team-mate Robert Kubica’s pit lane accident stole the show writes iSporter Kunal Shah.
Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix the Renault team management publicly agreed that they were down on engine horse power as compared to the other teams in the pit lane. Inspite of this, the Renault team were expected to perform well in the Hungarian Grand Prix and that was largely due to the characteristics of the circuit.
Saturday’s qualifying saw Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov out qualify his Polish team-mate Robert Kubica for the first time this season. The Renault drivers successfully managed to get through to Q3 and register top 10 starting positions on the grid.
At the race start, Petrov gained a position on Lewis Hamilton only to lose it back after a few laps. However, Petrov showed some gutsy driving to hold off challenges from Nico Rosberg. Robert Kubica too held his position till the Safety Car joined the on-track action.
During the Safety Car period, the Renault drivers made successful pitstops, but Robert Kubica in particular was at the receiving end of an unsafe and probably an over ambitious release by Renault’s lollipop guy!
The pit lane was busier than the track due to the Safety Car period and Force India F1 team’s Adrian Sutil headed down the pitlane and to his pit box for his pitstop. In an attempt to not delay Robert’s release, the lollipop man gave his ‘go’ signal to Kubica a little too soon. As a result, Kubica rammed into the side of the arriving Force India F1 car of Adrian Sutil causing considerable damage.
While Kubica continued on track with the damage, he had to retire later due to a damaged suspension. However, Renault were fined on two counts: first was a drive through penalty for Robert Kubica followed by a post-race fine of $50,000 for the team.
The pit lane incidents over-shadowed Petrov’s brilliant drive to 5th place. His career best finish and can be labeled as the ‘best of the rest’ after the Red Bulls and the Ferraris.
Kunal Shah is a former racer and writes extensively on www.isport.in
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Naresh
said:
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... Ya..Petrov was superb...but a mistake by the Renault lollipop guy ruined Sutil s chances to get a point or 2...Force India will be serious top contenders for the next season...i just hope Sutil stays with the team!! |
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