Webber Dominates in Hungary to Lead Championship

Red Bull’s Mark Webber used a perfectly timed super soft-medium tyre strategy to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and take the lead of the Formula 1 drivers’ championship in Sunday’s Grand Prix. He was able to extend a lead over Fernando Alonso thanks to a 43 lap first stint on the same set of Bridgestone super soft tyres on which he qualified, continuing to set fastest laps right up until changing to the medium compound, despite searing temperatures at the Hungaroring. He led Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Fernando Alonso across the line by over 17 seconds with teammate Sebastian Vettel in third.

Lewis Hamilton, who led the Championship going into the race, failed to finish, while Michael Schumacher further damaged his reputation when he nearly forced the much faster Rubens Barrichello into the pit wall in what could kindly be described as a very late blocking manoeuvre Damon Hill would recognise. However, this time justice prevailed, as Barrichello held his nerve to pass the German and Schumi was handed a 10-place grid penalty at the next race. In a final incident of note, the usual scrum to pit under the safety car led to a collision between Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil, while Nico Rosberg lost a wheel in the same crazy 10 seconds.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport, stated: “Congratulations to Mark Webber and Red Bull for a fantastic win. He used a great strategy to use the Bridgestone super soft tyres for 43 laps, so well done to him and to the team for their good calls from the pit wall. Ferrari again performed well with second and fourth, with particular mention of Felipe Massa for scoring good points at the venue of his accident last year.

“We must mention Vitaly Petrov for his best result of fifth, and thank him for his recent visit to Bridgestone Russia. Kamui Kobayashi impressed by starting in 23rd but finishing in ninth on a good day for BMW Sauber, with both cars finishing in the top ten. Many spectators enjoyed this race, and from Bridgestone’s perspective we had many important guests and utilised this Grand Prix very well for our market activities. We were honoured to be joined by Mr Ohashi, CEO and President of Bridgestone Europe, and thank him and Bridgestone Europe for their support in our final F1 season.”

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of Motorsport Tyre Development, said: “I am very happy with the superb performance of both compounds of Bridgestone Potenza tyres here at the Hungaroring. This is a circuit where our tyres excelled in our first Formula 1 season in 1997, and now they have excelled in our final season too. This was a very tactical race where teams had to adapt their strategies because of the safety car.

“Mark drove very well, and maximised his use of the same set of super soft tyres with which he qualified. He was pulling away from his opposition right up to his pit stop on lap 43, despite hot temperatures here. I must mention Williams and Rubens Barrichello for using a different strategy to most by starting on the prime tyre. Without the safety car I think this would have also been very strong in terms of making use of the potential tyre performance and Rubens was very determined despite tough opposition at this difficult to pass circuit.”