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A little later than usual but it’s time for Round 10 of the F1 Buzz Prediction Game.  The Hungarian Grand Prix is only a few days away.

Two weeks ago the German Grand Prix shook up the order and proved that the Championship is not going to be a one (or even two) horse race.

Mark Webber finally scored his first victory after eight years of trying and kept the Brawns on the back foot.  After a couple of races where the White Cars have struggled for grip will the traditionally warm Hungarian Grand Prix allow Button and Barrichello to bounce back or is the Red Bull the best car on the grid now?

The Hungaroring is the scene of Jenson Button’s first victory in 2006 so he is looking forward to the race:

Hungary is always one of my favourite races. Even more so this year as it should finally be a return to some real summer temperatures. The circuit holds some very special memories for me as the venue of my first Formula One win three years ago.

But Webber is hoping Button’s run of good luck has come to an end:

Jenson has had a flawless season, in terms of bad luck or accidents or whatever, and the law of averages says he has to have one of those sooner or later. No-one goes through a whole season like that.

To make your predictions in round 10 of the F1 Buzz prediction game (and be in with a chance to win some nice prizes), just leave a comment on this post with your driver predictions for the race in the following format:

Pole:
First:
Second:
Third:
Fastest lap:

Remember, the deadline for entries is start of qualifying on Saturday, that’s 12:00 GMT.

Good luck!

Image: Red Bull

The prediction game results are up and Andrew has managed to take back the lead from Sergio.

A few people thought Mark Webber would score a podium on Sunday but only Andrew and I predicted he would be standing on the top step (and no, I didn’t peek at your predictions first, Andrew. ;-)).

Andrew also equals Miguel’s record for the highest score ever; 23  points out of a potential 34.

While there were a couple of predictions for McLaren and Renault no-one seemed to have hopes for Ferrari, despite Massa’s strong performance at Silverstone.  Ferrari have now scored two podiums this year and are running fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Ironically, now that Ferrari is starting to look stronger, team boss Stefano Domenicali told the BBC they are getting ready to stop development on the 2009 car and concentrate on next year’s challenger:

We’ve already started work on the new project and in the next couple of weeks we will move on to that. We want to start with a different pace compared to this year.

Image: Red Bull/Getty

After a long three week break the season continues with the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.  It is the home Grand Prix for fully one quarter of the drivers on the grid but realistically there is only one German with a chance of standing on the top step on Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel comes to the Nürburgring fresh from his victory at Silverstone and he will be hoping to maintain that momentum in front of his home crowd and further narrow the gap to Championship leader Jenson Button.  It will be Vettel’s first time around the Ring in an F1 car but he has raced (and won) there before in everything from karts to F3 and Renault World Series.

Timo Glock is another German yet to experience the Nürburgring in Formula One but, like Vettel, he has won there before in other classes.  After making it through to Q3 in Britain Glock just missed out on points in the race but he is hopeful of a strong finish in Germany:

I’ve had some good races so far and it has been nice to be battling at the front quite often. This weekend is another chance to do that and I can’t wait.

Despite having a famous Finnish father, Nico Rosberg is actually a German citizen.  He set the third fastest lap at Silverstone and ended the race in fifth which boosted him to seventh in the Drivers’ Championship and Williams to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship – ahead of McLaren.

Rosberg is obviously at home on the circuit.  In this video he talks us through a lap of the Ring – blindfolded.

Nick Heidfeld will be sporting a special helmet design for his home race but it will take more than a fresh coat of paint to turn the BMW Sauber F1.09 into a race winning machine.  Two years ago Heidfeld became the first driver in 30 years to pilot an F1 car around the old Nordschleife circuit, christened The Green Hell by Jackie Stewart.

Heidfeld is in real danger of being beaten by compatriot Adrian Sutil on Sunday.  Force India have been steadily improving all season and if Sutil hadn’t gone off in a big way in qualifying he may have finished in the points in the British Grand Prix.  There is a chance of rain on Sunday and if that happens then it is quite possible Adrian Sutil could score Force India’s first points.

To make your predictions in round 9 of the F1 Buzz prediction game (and be in with a chance to win some nice prizes), just leave a comment on this post with your driver predictions for the race in the following format:

Pole:
First:
Second:
Third:
Fastest lap:

Remember, the deadline for entries is start of qualifying on Saturday, that’s 12:00 GMT.

Good luck!

Image & video: Williams

The results are up for round 8 of the f1buzz prediction game and they show that Sergio has managed to just sneak past Andrew for the lead.

Everyone thought Jenson Button was going to score his first home Grand Prix win on Sunday, despite a few people picking Vettel for pole.  Out of 20 drivers on the grid it seems people thought only the Brawn and Red Bull drivers had a chance.

We are still only half way through the season so there are plenty of points up for grabs but if you want to overtake the leaders you might have to take some risks with some unconvential predictions.

There is a rare break in the F1 calendar now until the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring in three weeks’ time.

Image: Brawn GP

In 1943 the Royal Air Force opened RAF Silverstone as a base for Vickers Wellington bombers.  After the Second World War, the Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the deserted airfield and held a couple of races on the runways with a track laid out in hay bales before switching to the perimiter track in 1949.

In 1950, Silverstone hosted the first race of the newly created Formula One World Championship.  The British Grand Prix then rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch before settling permanently at Silverstone in 1987.

If Bernie Ecclestone has his way 2009 will be the last time the British Grand Prix is run at Silverstone, at least for the next 17 years.  From 2010 the race will move to Donnington Park, a circuit not without its own history but still lacking the connection with Formula One that Silverstone has had for the last 60 years.

Last year, Lewis Hamilton proved he was a master in the rain when he won at Silverstone in one of Formula One’s greatest ever wet-weather drives.  Hamilton described it as “by far the best victory I’ve ever had”, eventually finishing over a minute ahead of Nick Heidfeld in second place.

Unfortunately for Lewis he has practically no chance of repeating that result on Sunday, even if it rains.  Silverstone is a high-speed track with more than 60% of the circuit taken at full throttle.  But it also requires high-downforce through the incredible high-speed corners like Becketts, and downforce is something the McLaren just hasn’t got right yet.

Jenson Button on the other hand is looking forward to racing in front of his home fans:

To be leading the championship going into my home grand prix is something that I’ve never experienced before and it puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.

Renault will be bringing developments to the R29’s diffuser and an upgraded front wing package and Technical Director Bob Bell thinks the high-speed nature of the circuit should suit their car:

We’ve got reasonably high expectations for Silverstone, although we’re remaining realistic because we know we’re not suddenly going to be fighting for the podium.

Toyota had quite a strong result in Turkey, with Jarno Trulli finishing fourth, and according to Toyota’s Pascal Vasselon the team are hoping to build on that at Silvertone:

So far this season, we have been extremely competitive at tracks which require high aero efficiency, so we are optimistic for Silverstone.

But the biggest threat to a Brawn GP victory on Sunday is Red Bull.  Both Red Bull drivers were on the podium in Turkey and the fast nature of Silverstone should suit the RB5.

To make your predictions in round 8 of the F1Buzz prediction game (and be in with a chance to win some nice prizes), just leave a comment on this post with your driver predictions for the race in the following format:

Pole:
First:
Second:
Third:
Fastest lap:

Remember, the deadline for entries is start of qualifying on Saturday, that’s 12:00 GMT.

Good luck!

Image: McLaren