Hamilton eyes record-breaking win – but there’s a close fight behind

23 comments on “Hamilton eyes record-breaking win – but there’s a close fight behind”

1. 

   spoutnik (@spoutnik)
   25th July 2015, 18:12

   Hope Redbull will avoid us a total borefest!
2. 

   JCost (@jcost)
   25th July 2015, 18:21

   I’m in Budapest and I’m looking forward to witness history tomorrow. Go Lewis.
   1. 

      Dean
      25th July 2015, 21:57

      Im in szentendre…. And we will both witness history tomorrow 😀 lh44
3. 

   Neil (@neilosjames)
   25th July 2015, 18:22

   Ricciardo and Vettel should be a good fight (and anyone else who can get involved).
4. 

   CountryGent (@countrygent)
   25th July 2015, 19:14

   It’s interesting that a man conventionally deemed the last of the late brakers is so fast on a circuit that places so little emphasis on braking performance. Furthermore, the heaviest braking zone on the track, turn 1, is more about ensuring a great exit than entry speed.

   In my opinion Hamilton gains time on this track through the mid-corner phase. The flamboyance of Hamilton’s driving style is perhaps overstated, when in actual fact precision is as much a feature of his matured style. The geometric finesse of Lewis’ lines around the circuit allow him to chase the throttle through the apex. For me, it is Lewis’ finesse on throttle application that is the key to his speed, and subsequently he is so adept at scoping up oversteer, he feels confident to squeeze the throttle earlier and harder than most.

   The gyros in Lewis’ body are clearly so sensitive because he is quite easily the grid’s best at managing a sliding rear without hemorrhaging time.
   1. 

      Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
      25th July 2015, 22:13

      when in actual fact precision is as much a feature of his matured style

      I’m afraid I don’t understand some of your comment, but I do agree with your comment on the precision of Hamilton’s driving style. While he had the highest average speed, he wasn’t the fastest at the speed trap, his top speed was actually the slowest of any Mercedes powered car.
      Last week I was able to watch the British GP from the perspective of the On Board Cameras mounted on various cars. It seemed to me Hamilton was very conservative in terms of how high he would let the engine “rev” compared to other drivers. I don’t recall ever seeing his RPMs go as high as 12000rpm, and he rarely went into the high part of the 11k rpm range. One possible reason (apart from excellent cornering) is Hamilton is changing up a gear at the exact moment the power of the lower gear drops below the power the next gear up will have.
      1. 

         Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
         26th July 2015, 0:01

         I can neatly tie these together @drycrust @countrygent. When you are more accurate with the racing line, you can afford to use a higher gear and let the torque of the engine do more of the work in accelerating (or act as ‘traction control’). This is because with better lines you need less corrections and they are easier to do when higher in the rev range, as the car feels more controllable with the throttle.
      2. 

         CountryGent (@countrygent)
         26th July 2015, 12:01

         I am talking about how Lewis can hit the sweet 1.8 meter train-tracks even when the car is at maximum load on a qualifying lap @drycrust: to those that know, apex precision was a key factor in Ayrton Senna’s raw speed.

         As @fastiesty eludes to, Lewis’ precision reduces the load angle of the car mid-corner, which enables him to open the throttle earlier. Be careful when looking at the RPM telemetry during the race, the drivers will be short-shifting to cut the torque to the rear axle so reduce the stress on the rear tyres. However in qualifying the drivers are looking to maximize the amount of RPM and torque they can deliver to the tarmac, so whilst I haven’t seen a side-by-side RPM figure with Rosberg, I wouldn’t be surprised to see higher figures for Lewis and with his immense throttle control allowing him to change up later too.
5. 

   Willem Cecchi (@)
   25th July 2015, 19:43

   Vettel to get the jump on the Mercedes drivers going into turn 1.
   1. 

      zekeri
      25th July 2015, 20:33

      +1
   2. 

      RL
      26th July 2015, 2:56

      I’d like to see Rosberg mugged by the Williams again.
6. 

   Strontium (@strontium)
   25th July 2015, 20:37

   I cannot help but wonder (I am not making excuses or anything as such, this is completely and utterly curiosity) what would happen if both sides of the Mercedes garage swapped mechanics and engineers just for a few races. Could we see the dominance switch, even out, or would it be no different? There is no way of telling but one does wonder.
   1. 

      peras
      25th July 2015, 21:16

      Same with Ferrari.
   2. 

      lockup (@)
      25th July 2015, 22:52

      We might get a clue when Jock Clear moves @strontium. Maybe the dominance will increase.
   3. 

      Woody (@woodyd91)
      26th July 2015, 6:38

      It would just harm both drivers, because they build up a relationship with their team, I wouldn’t say that any one side of the garage has a better team, maybe just how they work with their driver is different.

      @lockup

      Although Jock Clear is still part of the team and helping out back in Brackley he isn’t in the same position he was before and I would imagine his knowledge or certain elements are now very much limited.
7. 

   Mashiat2 (@mashiat2)
   25th July 2015, 20:49

   In today’s GP2 and GP2 races the second-placed driver on the grid struggled to get away cleanly.

   Found a mistake there @keithcollantine
8. 

   DaveW (@dmw)
   26th July 2015, 0:01

   Rosberg was only a couple tenths from starting 5th. If he loses a spot to a clean-side car or two this could get interesting at least for p2 and p3.
9. 

   JohnBt (@johnbt)
   26th July 2015, 2:47

   Close fight? with whom? Honestly.
   1. 

      Johanness
      26th July 2015, 4:16

      Which is why the huge “RECORD” means little to nothing IMO
      1. 

         Woody (@woodyd91)
         26th July 2015, 6:50

         Records mean legacies, which are important to any driver on the grid who hopes to be classed as one of the all time greats of the sport. It’s what they are judged by after they retire, without them and unless they do something really special then they are often forgotten, and what driver wants to be forgotten?

         So I would disagree that records mean little to nothing, They mean a great deal whoever is breaking them. Vettel for example was supposed to be very focused on breaking records in his Red Bull days and i doubt that has changed since his move to Ferrari.
         1. 

            peras
            26th July 2015, 11:22

            If Sebastian Vettel finishes 3rd today, he will have the record for most points scored in a driver’s F1 career.
10. 

    Baron (@baron)
    26th July 2015, 14:54

    What a boring race, Ferrari always win……
11. 

    Andy Mail (@amail)
    27th July 2015, 22:18

    But as the last race showed, Mercedes cannot take it for granted that they will have things all their own way. They were mugged by the Williams drivers at the start in Silverstone, and as the Hungaroring has one of the longest runs to turn one of the season, a repeat of their sluggish starts will almost certainly be punished.

    Way to call it!

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