Alonso: 'No time to breath' at Hungaroring

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McLaren's Fernando Alonso is looking forward to having some fun in Hungary this weekend, and says he will be on the lookout for opportunities where a little risk could yield big rewards.

"The Hungaroring is a great track and an enjoyable place to finish the first half of the season before the summer break," said the two-time world champion.

"I expect a lot of fun there, as it’s always a nice event," he continued. "The track itself is a good one, it’s a like a big go-kart circuit for Formula 1.

"There’s no time to breathe, especially in the second sector where there are a lot of corners."

Alonso is hoping for a better outcome this weekend than last time out in Germany, when he was forced to retire in the closing laps with a technical issue.

"At the end of the race, the team told me to retire the car, as they probably saw something on the data," he reported.

His race had already been fatally compromised by the decision to pit for intermediate tyres at the first sight or rain at Hockenheim.

When the race eased off he'd been forced to pit a second time, sending him tumbling down the order.

Untimely tyre change compromised Alonso's race

"We took a gamble with our tyre choice in the rain and it didn’t pay off," he admitted.

"But racing is about taking risks and sometimes you can get a great result out of it, and sometimes you don’t.

"We’re already looking ahead to Hungary, and although the weather is usually a little bit more predictable there, you never know.

"We’ll prepare ourselves to be ready for anything and see if we can bring home some points," he said. "It’s normally a good weekend."

As well as the race itself and the prospect of a few weeks off over August, Alonso is also excited to get back to Hungary itself.

"I’m looking forward to being in Budapest and enjoying every minute there," he said. "It’s a really cool city.

"I love the fans in Budapest because they’re very passionate about the race," he added. "They’re at the airport, the hotel, the circuit, even on the highway going to the track with their flags.

"It’s always a nice weekend to experience and enjoy."

And it would no doubt be even better if it came complete with a big haul of championship points for the team before the summer shutdown!

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.