Mark’s Hungarian Grand Prix Preview

Thursday, July 28

Uncharacteristically cool and wet conditions greeted Mark at the Hungaroring today. Incessant rain and a top temperature of 20 degrees – cooler than in parts of England! – blighted the build-up to the race and the forecast is for more of the same when practice gets underway on Friday.

“The weather conditions are pretty unusual for this place,” says Mark. “After two cooler weekends at Silverstone and the Nurburgring, I think everyone in the paddock was hoping for better weather here, as is normally the case. But that doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case.”

On the evidence of last weekend’s German Grand Prix, there could be little separating the top three teams – Red Bull Racing, Ferrari and McLaren – in Hungary. Mark won this race in 2010, but he’s not taking anything for granted.

“The regulations have changed a lot since last year,” says Mark, “so it’s not a given that the teams that were competitive in 2010 will be again. We hope to be mixing it at the front, but qualifying has tightened up a lot in the last few races and it was very close last Sunday.

“Whether there will be three teams competing for the win here is difficult to say. I’d say definitely two, and possibly three. That would mean any of six drivers could win the race, which is a pretty exciting prospect for the neutrals out there.”

In the four days since the last race, Mark has visited Red Bull Racing’s factory in Milton Keynes to check on progress. But it’s on the racetrack this weekend that he and the team expect to learn the most.

“The place where we learn about ourselves is on the racetrack, in the heat of competition,” says Mark. “These back-to-back races are tough on everyone because it’s a very intense period, but the teams prepare for them and we’re helped by the cooler conditions in Germany last weekend and here.”

Mark is seeking the 75th points finish of his F1 career this weekend. Given that he’s yet to finish outside the top five in any race this season, that’s a record he’ll be hoping to realise come Sunday afternoon.

// ends