What a race!!

Drama that began even before the race did and continued even after the chequered flag! This is how one would describe the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring. This was one of the most keenly contested and unpredictable races in recent times. Only when the last 3-4 laps were remaining, could one predict the winner! How I wish all the remaining races of the season would turn out like this!

The Friday practice results threw up fastest times for the test drivers as usual. However, Saturday morning brought some shocking news. Both the title contenders, Schumacher and Alonso were penalised two seconds on each qualifying lap(!) due to some apparently dangerous overtaking maneuvers during the morning practice sessions. The race stewards have recently come up with some really strange penalties and our football referees can very well learn from them instead of just handing out yellow & red cards :-)

The stiff penalties would mean that no matter how fast Schumi and Alonso drove, they would be relegated to somewhere on the back of the grid. Qualifying on Saturday saw both the champions setting some fast times. However, inspite of a scorching qualifying lap, Schumacher qualified eleventh and Alonso fifteenth. Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa looked almost set to start from the front till Kimi Raikonnen grabbed the pole position from him in the dying seconds of the third qualifying session.

This was just the beginning of all the drama as a strong morning spell of rain made the track wet & slippery. All the pre-calculated race strategies went for a toss as the cars switched to the wet treaded tires, conditions which promised a real humdinger of a race. The start of the race saw both Schumacher and Alonso gobble up the poor, unsuspecting drivers in the middle rows and make up a good 4-5 places. The track proved really slippery and the first one to crash out was Mark Webber in his Williams Cosworth. Schumacher known as the master in wet conditions was struggling in his Ferrari and it did not take Alonso too long to overtake him. Alonso looked in sublime form as he effortlessly negotiated the treacherous conditions and built up a huge lead over Schumacher, who had problems in keeping off the second Renault of Fisichella.

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen drove superbly and one thought that the Flying Finn, as he is know might finally win this race. However, his extended bad luck continued as this time he was taken out of the race in a spectacular accident on Lap 25 by a slow moving Vitantonio Liuzzi. I think, Kimi Raikkonen must definitely be the driver with the most rotten luck in the history of Formula One. Kimi Raikkonen's retirement meant that Alonso was back in the front. Renault once again looked like the team that can do nothing wrong till the 51st lap when Alonso made a pit stop and put on dry weather tires. This looked like a master-stroke from Renault as the track had begun to dry out in a lot of areas and the dry weather tires would give Alonso some much needed speed. However, the car began slipping and sliding and it was evident that all was not right. Alonso finally crashed into the barriers, putting an end to hopes of gaining any points in the race.

One man's loss is another's gain - they say, and Schumacher proved this saying right as he put in some stonking laps to gain places and move into the second place behind race leader Jenson Button. He looked all set to gain some valuable championship points and cut down Alonso's lead to practically nothing. All seemed well till the 67th lap of the race when the Ferrari slowed down considerably and eventually returned to the pit-lane bringing the championship equation back to square one!! Jenson Button in his Honda finally won his maiden Grand Prix with Pedro De La Rosa in a McLaren coming in second and Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber coming in third. It was good to see new faces on the podium for a change and this would be a real encouragement for the younger and newer F1 drivers.

If you thought this was enough drama for a day, you are mistaken! Coz, Robert Kubica, the first Polish driver to race in a Formula One was disqualified from his seventh place finish as his BMW-Sauber was found to be two kgs(!!) lighter at the finish. Because of this, Massa who finished eighth moved up one place to earn two points and surprise surprise - Michael Schumacher, who had been classified as ninth, was awarded eighth place and a priceless point, cutting down Alonso's overall lead to just 10 points!!

With five more races to go, just ten points separating the top two drivers and new drivers tasting victory, the Driver's Championship is heading for a fighting finish! Gone are the days of Ferrari or Renault domination! The Constructor's championship is also hotting up with Ferrari just seven points behind Renault. Also, with a few driver change announcements from the top teams in the pipeline for the next season, the next couple of months are really something to watch out for!

I am donning my Ferrari cap and keeping my fingers crossed! :-)