Fernando Alonso wants a very happy 30th birthday while for Felipe Massa it's an emotional return to the Hungaroring...
For all the latest F1 odds on the next race at the Hungaroring visit Sky Bet.
Fernando Alonso: "We're reaching the final stages of a frenetic month of July. I am in Maranello, where I came on Sunday night, directly from the Nurburgring and, early tomorrow morning, it will be time for me and the engineers to head for Budapest. In this very short break between the two races, I worked, as is usually the case when I am at the factory, on the simulator to prepare both for this weekend's race and for the ones after that. On top of that, I took part in several meetings with the engineers, while today I also got the chance to meet up with President Montezemolo and the members of the Ferrari Board, who were meeting in Maranello. Montezemolo was his usual cheerful self with me and wanted to know how preparations were going for the Hungaroring race. It's now a few months that our car has become more competitive and that means we have been consistently able to fight for a podium finish.
"We have made up a lot of ground compared to the very early part of the season in terms of performance, but we must take a further step forward, as I have said so often before. We still lack something, especially in qualifying: it's true that in the race we can make up for this, but it's not always possible to move up two places compared to our grid position, as happened in Monaco, Valencia, Silverstone and Nurburgring. At the Hungaroring, the weather should be more in keeping with summer, which is no bad thing as I've had enough of the cold and damp we experienced in England and Germany! That goes not just for me, but also for our car: it would definitely work better in temperatures higher than the 13° we had last Sunday.
"I know the Hungarian Grand Prix has a special significance for the Scuderia, as it has experienced some great moments, but also some dramatic ones, like when Felipe was injured in that fluke accident when he was hit by a part of Rubens' Brawn. Budapest is special for me too, as it was at this very race in 2003 that I took my first ever Formula 1 win. It was a very emotional day, the memory of which will always stay with me.
"As was the case in 2010, I will again celebrate my birthday at the track with the Scuderia. On Friday I turn thirty: who knows if I will get a nice birthday surprise..."
Felipe Massa: "Looking back at the Nurburgring, before we get on the serious business of racing, I have to say I don't think I can ever remember being that cold at a Grand Prix meeting and when you consider it was the middle of July in Europe, it was unbelievable. On the work related front, that cold weather played its part in assessing the level of improvement on the 150º Italia, because normally the low ambient and track temperatures would have been seriously against us in terms of our ability to get the tyres up to the optimal working temperature. However, at the Nurburgring, although we suffered from this problem, more obviously in qualifying, clearly it was not bad as it was a few races ago and that is a positive sign.
"In the race on Sunday, our performance was very good, we ran at a strong pace and the car was competitive. At the first corner, I found myself behind Nico Rosberg and that conditioned my race, because it took me a long time to get past, as the Mercedes has excellent straight line speed and by then, the guys in front had managed to pull away. That was really my main issue on Sunday afternoon, but once I got past him, my pace was excellent and I was able to fight with those ahead of me. I had an exciting fight with Sebastian (Vettel,) while when I was battling with Webber, it was at a point where he had new tyres and I was about to come in. The fight with Sebastian went on for much of the race, right down to that final pit stop on the last lap, where unfortunately we lost out. It was a shame, but we know we still have work to do in improving some elements of the pit stop, including the wheel nut itself.
"With a McLaren and a Ferrari finishing ahead of a Red Bull, there are suggestions that if we and McLaren maintain good form, then it might help us in the fight for the championship, by taking points from Red Bull. However, even if there are still nine races to go, it's not going to be an easy battle, specifically because Sebastian has such a big lead. But we continue to fight on a race by race basis, with the aim of winning as many as possible between now and the final in Brazil.
"On Wednesday afternoon, I travel to Budapest for the next round and, on current form, we can be optimistic of having another positive weekend. Adding to that feeling is the fact we will again have the Pirelli Soft and Supersoft tyres, which we know suits our car best and in Hungary, where we can expect more normal summer weather, the hot temperatures will also be on our side. In addition, our development programme is still on-going and we will have some minor updates again this weekend, which I hope will make the car even stronger.
"The nature of the Hungaroring track means the race here has sometimes been a bit processional: this year for sure there will be more overtaking, not by a big amount as the main straight is not so long, but all the same, the DRS will help. Combined with the possibility of tyre degradation in the high temperatures, I think the crowd can expect a good show on Sunday with some interesting strategies to watch and certainly those conditions will suit us, as the 150º Italia is kind to its tyres in terms of degradation.
"Clearly, after what happened two years ago, Budapest and the Hungarian people are an important part of my personal history and once again I plan to meet the people who helped me through that difficult time, both at the track and the hospital. Since the accident, I have a lot of fans there: I don't think they became my fans because of the accident, but rather because I spent some time in Budapest and made a full recovery, which was like a victory for me and the people here felt part of that victory."
