Hungarian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - Haas

DRIVER PREVIEW QUOTES - HAAS F1 TEAM 

Romain Grosjean - “I’ve always had a good feeling in Hungary. I’ve always liked the track. I like sector two, the flowing section of the track, which is quite nice. They’ve resurfaced it this year, so we’ll see how it goes. It used to be very bumpy. It’s a low-speed circuit. How the car handles is important. I’ve been lucky to have had cars that have performed well there over the years.

It can get very hot in Budapest. It’s not an easy race, but on the other hand, there’s not many high-speed corners on the track, so it’s more about keeping your focus and concentration all through the race. Regardless, we’re always keeping fit to prepare ourselves. It’s very difficult to overtake at the Hungaroring. To be fair, I made one of the best overtakes of my life there in 2013, outside of turn four, on Felipe Massa. I got a drive-through penalty for that one for having four wheels off the track. That didn’t matter to me as it was one of my most beautiful overtaking moves ever.

It’s going to be our number one priority to get the tyre to work for us and analyse the degradation, which can be high on some compounds. If we get the grip, we’ll get the lap time. Then we can do more pit stops and have more fun.”

Esteban Gutierrez - “Budapest is a track where the temperatures are usually very hot and the main characteristic of the tyre is that they get overheated very easily. But I know the car and I am confident in driving the car, so with any kind of conditions or track characteristics you just get used to it very quickly.

The Hungaroring for me is a special track. It’s the first track I tested in Europe back at the end of 2007 when I tested Formula BMW, so it brings me great memories every time I come back there. I have achieved great results, so mainly from that point of view, I’m happy to be back. It is a slow track, but it has also quick corners and a very interesting layout. It’s quite physically demanding because of the fact you have not many chances to have a pause from the driving. You have to be focused all the time because all the corners make it very demanding - mentally and physically. But I like that challenge. It’s a nice track and I really look forward to the experience.

I would say turn one is the best (overtaking) opportunity. You come down from the long straight and you have the DRS on, so yeah, it’s approaching turn one. Also the exit of turn one approaching turn two. Those are the two main overtaking opportunities. (Being tough on tyres is) a characteristic of the Hungaroring. The tyres degrade very quickly, so it’s even more important in qualifying to be spot on the first lap and get the maximum out of the new tyres. You don’t have a second chance on this track to put a good lap time on the tyres.

I would say the last corner (is my favourite part of the Hungaroring), which I enjoy a lot, and sector two where you have the chicane and a good series of corners, which makes it very interesting. You cannot miss one apex because if you miss one apex, all of the following corners are affected and quite long. There is also a very nice, fast corner - Turn 11. I love it.”

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Article Posted By: Amy Hawk
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