The Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring is next in what is quickly becoming a classic F1 season. Exciting races, a new super star and even a case of industrial espionage have made F1 very “sexy” and interest from the casual fans are higher than for a long time.

For Panasonic Toyota Racing, the season has not produced the expected results - so far. But both Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher are now regular top-10 qualifiers - and how many teams manage to put both their drivers in the top-10 on the grid? Qualifying does not give your any points in the World Championship, of course - but it is clear the speed is there: Now it is just a question of turning the strong qualifying performance into hard race results. Perhaps at the Hungaroring this weekend?

Is it really more than 20 years since we went to Hungary and the Hungaroring for the first time? It was back in 1986 the Hungaroring hosted its first F1 Grand Prix and I remember we were more than a little nervous to go to Hungary. The world then was very different from what we know today - there was still an Iron Curtain splitting Europe in two parts and for us “Westerners”, Hungary was very much on the “wrong” side of the curtain.

Just to get a visa to Hungary took a lot of time and those poor colleagues who had decided to drive to the race, told us horror stories of long waits at the border. I flew to Budapest, and stepping into the old Ferihegy Airport was like entering a new (old!) world: It reminded me of Copenhagen Airport 25 years earlier!

To get a hire car in Hungary back in the mid-1980s was also a time consuming affair, and when I finally got a Skoda - the most modern car in the Eastern Bloc at the time but very definitely NOT like the nice Skoda cars we know today - I remember a very “loose” gearbox. At one stage the gear lever actually fell off in my hand, but I managed to put it back in the gearbox and with a little more caution, the Skoda got me to the circuit and back for the rest of the weekend.

On the way from the Ferihegy Airport to the hotel, both the traffic and the air was very heavy. Thousands of small Trabants made the roads very crowded and put a lot of smoke in the air.

Very different from what we were used to, but the Hungarian people were very friendly and helpful. And when we finished dinner after our first day in Budapest - with a full view of the Danube and a bill for a superb meal at less than one US Dollars - we decided Hungary was OK.

In the following years, Hungary became “westernised” at F1 speed but it is still a great country and Budapest is still a beautiful city.

But the days of one Dollars meals are long gone....

The first day of practice for the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix saw Fernando Alonso fastest a Heikki Kovaleinen ahead of. Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were ninth and eleventh in the final session.

Both Ralf and Jarno like the Hungaroring. “It is an interesting track to drive and I enjoy it,”” Ralf says. “It is obviously very twisty and there are a lot of corners so that makes it difficult for the drivers but I enjoy the challenge,” he went on. “The race has always been one of my favourites on the calendar; especially because there are so many fans here.”

The twisty layout makes Hungaroring one of the slowest circuits on the F1 calendar - only the street circuit in Monte Carlo has a lower average speed. “Because it is relatively slow, it will probably be quite difficult circuit for us,” Ralf said yesterday. “But we still expect to fight for points. Overtaking is difficult, so the first goal will be to qualify well tomorrow and then we can push for more points.”

“The Hungaroring is challenging because it is very narrow with lots of corners in a relatively short lap,” Jarno explains. “It is very difficult for overtaking but it is still quite a fun circuit to drive, You have to keep your concentration all the way through because the circuit is very dirty off line and you can´t afford any mistakes: if you run wide you will go backwards because it takes a long time to clean the tyres off.”

Like Ralf, Jarno hopes Panasonic Toyota Racing can score some points in the Hungarian Grand Prix. “Yes - I think we can be competitive and challenge for points. Our target for every race is to get into the final part of qualifying - Q3 - and then score points. I think we can do that here in Hungary!”

Ralf finished third for Panasonic Toyota Racing here in 2005 when Jarno was fourth. “That was my best result so far at the Hungaroring, so to be honest, my memories from races at the Hungaroring are not that great. - for various reasons I have not not really have that many great results here,” the Italian says.

One of the great attractions of the Hungarian Grand Prix is the city of Budapest. “Budapest is a beautiful city that I always like returning to for the Hungarian Grand Prix. There are plenty of things to do and see away from the track,” Ralf confirms.

I will soon be on my way back to Budapest for a nice evening in the city centre but I will be back tomorrow with more news from practice and qualifying.

Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix here at the Hungaroring produced an interesting grid with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on the front row . Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli had another impressive qualifying session and will start from sixth and ninth position respectively.

After the race tomorrow, F1´s annual summer holiday kicks in. There will be three weeks before the next Grand Prix in Turkey and no testing will be allowed during this time. This means the drivers (and the journalists!) can relax for a couple of weeks, and tomorrow I will tell you what some of the drivers have planned for their >summer holiday<.

But for most people in F1, the next couple of weeks will be business as (almost) usual: There may be no testing, but back at the factories, things are likely to be as bust as always.

“One of the areas where we can improve the car is aerodynamics, and I think there will be a lot of work going on in the wind tunnels in Cologne in the coming weeks,” Ralf Schumacher said yesterday. “Aerodynamics is an important area for us,” he went on.

Jarno Trulli confirmed that the development of the TF107 will continue during the summer break. “We will have some important updates coming soon, so people will be busy back at the factory,” he told me yesterday.

And when will these important updates be ready? For the Turkish Grand Prix? “I don´t know - it is too early to say,” Jarno said with a smile. But with no testing before the race in Istanbul Park, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in early September seems like a more educated guess.

And even though there are three weeks between the Hungarian and Turkish Grands Prix, the distance to Istanbul means the trucks will leave Cologne much earlier than for a “normal” European race. The Turkish Grand Prix is only on August 26, but the trucks will leave Cologne on the afternoon of Wednesday August 15. They will then drive down to Trieste in Italy, where they will meet the trucks from all other teams and board a special ferry for Istanbul´s Pendik Port. “The ferry is organised by Formula One Management - FOM - which also take car of the air freight when we fly the cars to races outside Europe,” Panasonic Toyota Racing team manager Richard Cregan says. The “F1 ferry” is scheduled to arrive in Turkey on the Monday before the race, and from the port, it will only be a short drive up to the circuit.

The motorhomes will not go to Turkey by ferry - they will drive all the way down to Istanbul. BUT - they will not depart from Cologne: After the race here in Hungary, the motorhomes will go directly to Turkey - it is a journey of some 1450 km and it will take them 17-18 hours on the road.

But all that is long-term planning - the immediate future concerns the Hungarian Grand Prix tomorrow!

The Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring outside Budapest saw Lewis Hamilton win in front of Kimi Raikkonen. Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli finished sixth and tenth.

The end of the Hungarian Grand Prix also signals the start of F1´s annual summer holiday. There is now a three week break before the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul and no testing is allowed. This means the drivers can relax for a couple of weeks - but what will they do? Ferrari´s Kimi Raikkonen says: “I don´t know - I don´t have any plans. But for sure I will do something fun, so we will see.” Kimi´s ideas of fun is usually a little different from most other drivers´ - rumours from Finland last week suggested he was seen wearing a gorilla suit. Kimi just laughed when he was confronted with the rumours: “But was it really me? You don´t know,” he said with a smile. When we meet in Turkey, it will be interesting to hear what funny things he has been up to in the summer break...

BMW´s Robert Kubica can´t wait to get back into the car. “I have already had a holiday,” he said; referring to the time after his spectacular crash in the Canadian Grand Prix. “So I will do nothing special,” he went on.

New Spyker-Ferrari driver Sakon Yamamoto says: “I will go back to Japan for five days”, while new Toro Rosso-Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel thinks he will be busy: “There is a lot for me to catch up, so I will try to do some work-outs - a bit more than in the past, maybe. I will just try to get fit for the next race.”

Panasonic Toyota Racing´s Jarno Trulli will also be training during the summer break. “I plan to do some cycling close to my home in Italy but I will also relax and spend a lot of time with my family and friends. But I will not have a real holiday - I will save that for the end of the season. In November, I will go back to Fuji Speedway for the Toyota Motorsport Day, and after that I will spend some time in Tokyo with my wife and some friends. So far, I have only been to Japan for work, but now I will try to make some holiday there - just chill out in Tokyo. It seems to be an interesting city!”


“I can only see one problem with my holiday in Tokyo: I am not so fond of Japanese food. I am a pasta and pizza man but I do know there is at least one great pizzeria in Tokyo and I will make sure we go there,” Jarno says.

And what will the diary editor do in the summer break? I am as boring as Kubica and Vettel - nothing special; a little training. Like Jarno, I will save my holiday to November, but I will also try to have a little fun before I go to Turkey. But i promise: No gorilla suit!