PREVIEW – HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 26-07-2010 12th of 19 Championship Rounds, 30th July – 1st August 2010, Budapest Hinwil/Hockenheim, 26th July 2010 – Formula One has to earn its short summer break by having back-to-back-races: The pack travels from Hockenheim straight away to Budapest where the Hungarian Grand Prix will be taking place as early as next Sunday. Pedro de la Rosa: “Budapest is one of my favourites because I achieved my first and – so far – only podium there. This was back in 2006 when I finished second. The city is extremely interesting and offers a lot. The architecture of the bridges, houses and castles is just beautiful. When I was a test driver I used to go running along the river on Saturdays after qualifying. You can feel the history, but at the same time the city is very much alive. In a way it reminds me of Spain. I like to describe the track as the permanent version of the Monaco street circuit. You need maximum downforce and a good car in slow corners, while efficiency is less important. It is a nice track but it is very hard on the drivers, especially when it is hot, which has quite often been the case at the race weekends. Perhaps it is not the best track for our car, but we have improved it a lot for slow corners and we have also proved if we finish races we can fight for points.” Kamui Kobayashi: “I have good memories of the Hungaroring. Despite not achieving the best results there, I like racing on this circuit a lot. I find it nice and exciting, and I certainly enjoy the city, especially the restaurants on the side of the river. Also the circuit has a good tradition and a nice atmosphere. It is very narrow and windy, which might be tough for us this year. Overtaking is very difficult on that track, and therefore our chances on the Hungaroring depend a lot on if and how much we can improve our qualifying performance.“ Technical Director James Key: “If we look at the last four races Hungary is a different type of circuit again. We’ve had Montreal with reasonably long straights and slow speed corners in Valencia, high speed corners in Silverstone, a mix in Hockenheim and mainly low and medium speed corners in Hungary. It’s a fairly winding circuit which requires a high downforce level. You can get away with a slightly less aerodynamical efficient car there as well. It also requires a good mechanical grip, while there are some kerbs and some high and medium speed chicanes where the car needs to be stable. The track is also quite bumpy. The last corner is quite tricky, as is turn one the downhill right hander where you’ve got to get that right not to lock up your inside wheel. In qualifying you also have to look after your tyres for the end of the lap, because graining can be a problem. There are two other things to consider: It’s normally very hot so you have to watch cooling levels and how that affects the tyres, secondly it’s a place where overtaking is very difficult so qualifying is very important.” Circuit Hungaroring / 4.381 km Race distance 70 laps / 306.630 km Schedule Qualifying 14:00 hrs, Race 14:00 hrs local time (12:00 hrs GMT) Pedro de la Rosa Day of birth: 24.02.1971 Barcelona (ES) Residence: Zurich (CH) Marital status: Married to Maria Reyes Children: daughters Georgina, Olivia, Luna Height / Weight: 1.78 m / 73 kg First GP: Australia 1999, finished 6th GP started: 81 Best race result: 2nd (Hungary 2006) Best qualifying: 4th (Hungary 2006) Fastest race laps: 1 (Bahrain 2005) Points in total: 29 Points in 2010: - Kamui Kobayashi Day of birth: 13.09.1986 Amagasaki (JP) Residence: Cologne (DE) Marital status: Single Children: - Height / Weight: 1.68 m / 64 kg First GP: Brazil 2009, finished 9th GP started: 13 Best race result: 6th (Abu Dhabi 2009) Best qualifying: 9th (Malaysia 2010) Fastest race laps: - Points in total: 18 Points in 2010: 15 Photo by Sutton Images 25-07-2010 +  GERMAN GP – RACE – SUNDAY, 25.07.2010 Despite suffering no technical problems and both drivers finishing the race, the team didn’t manage to score any more points at the German Grand Prix. Kamui Kobayashi finished 11th in Hockenheim, while Pedro de la Rosa came 14th. 24-07-2010 +  GERMAN GP – QUALIFYING – SATURDAY, 24.07.2010 After promising runs in the first part of qualifying as well as early in the second part of the session, in the end neither of the team’s drivers made it into the top ten qualifying. 23-07-2010 +  GERMAN GP – 1ST/2ND FREE PRACTICE – FRIDAY, 23.07.2010 The weather conditions turned out to be rather nasty on Friday, the first day of the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. Due to rain a photo call in the morning, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Sauber Motorsport, had to be postponed and in the first free practice session the track was wet for the entire session. 19-07-2010 +  PREVIEW – GERMAN GRAND PRIX After two encouraging Grands Prix with a booty of 14 World Championship points for Kamui Kobayashi, the team is looking forward to the German Grand Prix on the 25th of July in Hockenheim 11-07-2010 +  BRITISH GP – RACE – SUNDAY, 11.07.2010 By finishing sixth in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Kamui Kobayashi scored eight championship points and this is the best result for the team so far. His team mate, Pedro de la Rosa, had to give up at half distance because of damage to the rear of the car caused by an accident. 10-07-2010 +  BRITISH GP – QUALIFYING – SATURDAY, 10.07.2010 Pedro de la Rosa achieved his best qualifying result of the season so far when he finished ninth in Silverstone. It was the fourth time this year the team had made it into the top ten qualifying with one car, and for the first time it was De la Rosa.