Raikkonen Wins Hungarian Grand Prix

Kimi Riakkonen’s Michelin clad McLaren won the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend. The result opened up the driver’s championship race, putting the Finnish driver back in contention. The remaining podium positions were taken the Ferrari and Toyota of brothers Michael and Ralph Schumacher. Michael Schumacher’s second place was one of Bridgestone’s highest placings this year, alongside the well-documented US Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher credited Bridgestone for the dramatic improvement in Ferrari’s pace at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday. The seven times champion secured his and Ferrari’s first pole position of the season at the Hungaroring with a qualifying lap considerably faster than anyone else.

“It is a little bit of a surprise to us, honestly, (to be on pole) as it has been a big surprise to be as slow as we have been recently,” Schumacher told the Reuters news agency. “We have obviously changed the tyres substantially and it seems to pay off. We have a new tyre here and that is the main factor. The car is the same as last weekend.”

Meanwhile Jenson Button is reported to have suggested that his BAR Honda team made a wrong call on tyre choice for the Hungarian Grand Prix, despite finishing in fifth place.

Button and teammate Takuma Sato opted for the harder Michelin tyre, a choice shared by championship leaders Renault, but both teams subsequently discovered that the softer tyre would have done the trick and provided better performance over the race distance.

“I think we made the wrong tyre choice,” Jenson Button said. “We were on a different tyre to most people, apart from Renault. But to come home fifth is not too bad, and we had a reasonably good race.”

“It seemed that, with the higher fuel load, the tyres didn’t work that well and, when the fuel came down, the tyres worked pretty well. It’s just when the car was heavy that we struggled a little bit. Even so, we got five points out of today and, if we can consistently do that, we’ve got a good chance of moving higher in the championship. We can challenge Red Bull, Sauber and maybe even Williams if we have a few good races. It’s a pity that Williams scored today,” Button added.