- News>
- Motorsports
Toyota F1 team geared to maintain position in standings
Paul Ricard, Aug 21: Toyota F1 drivers Olivier Panis and Cristiano Da Matta look ahead to Sunday`s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Paul Ricard, Aug 21: Toyota F1 drivers Olivier Panis and Cristiano Da Matta look ahead to Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Formula one returns from a three-week break this weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and Frenchman Olivier Panis and Brazilian Cristiano Da Matta, who have recently been retained as Toyota's drivers for next season, are hoping to retain the team's sixth place in the constructors' standings.
In the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on August 3, Panis finished fifth and Da Matta sixth -- a first ever two-car finish in the points for the team. Those points at Hockenheim boosted Toyota from ninth to sixth in the constructors' championship with 14 points. Da Matta is now 12th in the drivers' title race, two points and two places above his team mate Panis.
But the revamped track at the Hungaroring is the second slowest on the calendar, after Monaco, and is known as a tough circuit to overtake on in cauldron-like conditions.
"The race is very, very long, physically it is very hard because its very tight, its a very slow circuit, very slow speed circuit and it's very, very warm, " said Panis.
At 36, Panis is the oldest driver in Formula One, while Da Matta, the 2002 CART champion, is in his rookie season. Da Matta, who has never raced at the Hungaroring before, knows that careful preparation is essential if the team is to do well on Sunday.
"I hear not many drivers talking about Hungary with a lot of enthusiasm, but it's a very tight track, probably it's the one track there is on the schedule from those couple of races left in the season right now that probably is the one that is more problematic for our car - at least we believe so, we hope we are wrong - so we really have to be very methodic and very careful in the preparation for that race," said the 29-year-old Brazilian.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Williams can strike a double title blow in Hungary this weekend at a track that for the past two years has witnessed Ferrari championship celebrations.
The Colombian arrives as Michael Schumacher's main rival, the Ferrari ace now just six points ahead, with the balance of power shifting Montoya's way in the closest and least predictable title fight in years.
Montoya won the last German Grand Prix by a 65 second margin -- the biggest the sport has seen since 1994 -- and could even seize the overall lead on Sunday. So too can Williams, two points behind Ferrari in the constructors' standings.
Bureau Report
At 36, Panis is the oldest driver in Formula One, while Da Matta, the 2002 CART champion, is in his rookie season. Da Matta, who has never raced at the Hungaroring before, knows that careful preparation is essential if the team is to do well on Sunday.
"I hear not many drivers talking about Hungary with a lot of enthusiasm, but it's a very tight track, probably it's the one track there is on the schedule from those couple of races left in the season right now that probably is the one that is more problematic for our car - at least we believe so, we hope we are wrong - so we really have to be very methodic and very careful in the preparation for that race," said the 29-year-old Brazilian.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Williams can strike a double title blow in Hungary this weekend at a track that for the past two years has witnessed Ferrari championship celebrations.
The Colombian arrives as Michael Schumacher's main rival, the Ferrari ace now just six points ahead, with the balance of power shifting Montoya's way in the closest and least predictable title fight in years.
Montoya won the last German Grand Prix by a 65 second margin -- the biggest the sport has seen since 1994 -- and could even seize the overall lead on Sunday. So too can Williams, two points behind Ferrari in the constructors' standings.
Bureau Report