Former CCWS Rookie-Of-The-Year Captures P2 Podium In Hamburg

Timo Glock with the "Sharkfin" cowling at The Hungaroring - Caption found at Atlas F1 Bulletin Board - toyota could of won this race /// used tyres glock qualified with otherwise front row start /// pit stop screw up 14 seconds losing 7 seconds extra /// 2nd place and only 7.1 secs behind the winner /// and timo lost 4 seconds behind massa, when he pitted and came right in front of glock. Image Credit: Toyota Motorsport

Former CCWS Rookie-Of-The-Year Captures P2 Podium In Hamburg

Timo Glock, Panasonic Toyota’s new #2 driver to Jarno Trulli for the 2008 Formula One open wheel racing season, had a race to remember at the Hamburg Grand Prix.

Weekend before last, Timo suffered a terrible accident at Hockenheim that sent him to the hospital for observation. He was released and cleared to race just this last Thursday and on Saturday, qualified in position five on the grid for the The Hungarian Grand Prix at The Hungaroring racing circuit, Hungary.

Timo Glock faces the press after his P5 qualifying position on the grid for The Hungarian Grand Prix. This represents the best qualifying effort in F1 by this former 2005 ChampCar World Series (CCWS) Rookie-Of-The-Year racing for Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports team. Image Credit: Toyota Motorsport

This excerpted from autosport.com –

Lewis Hamilton put himself in the perfect position to score a third consecutive win by claiming a commanding pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver held a comfortable 0.4-second advantage over the rest of the field after his first Q3 flying lap, and although his rivals closed in, he managed to improve to 1:20.899 to secure the 10th pole of his Formula One career.

Hamilton will lead an all-McLaren front row after his teammate Heikki Kovalainen vaulted on to the outside of the front row with his last lap, having previously languished back in ninth.

Felipe Massa salvaged Ferrari honour in third place, as Kimi Raikkonen could only manage sixth place following another low-key performance.

BMW's Robert Kubica completed the second row, but his teammate Nick Heidfeld had another disastrous qualifying session. His first Q1 flying lap was only good enough for 15th place, and he was rapidly pushed into the elimination zone and then hit traffic on his second run, leaving him 16th and gesturing in frustration at Sebastien Bourdais.

Toyota's Timo Glock was the sensation of the qualifying session - earning an F1 career-best fifth on the grid, four places clear of teammate Jarno Trulli.
Reference Here>>

This excerpted from a Panasonic Toyota press release –

Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)

Summary: Quick throughout, his best ever qualifying in F1 PROVISIONAL GRID: 5th

FP3 3rd Best Lap Time: 1m 20.623s (+0.395s) Laps: 21

Q1 5th Best Lap Time: 1m 19.980s (+0.604s) Laps: 10

Q2 2nd Best Lap Time: 1m 19.246s (+0.178s) Laps: 6

Q3 5th Best Lap Time: 1m 21.326s (+0.427s) Laps: 8

"That was a very good qualifying session for me and I'm obviously delighted. We made a good start in first practice yesterday. The team did a good job overnight and we made the right choice over set-up. It wasn't easy today because we had a very tight choice over tyres so we had to make a close decision for every lap. But in the end my engineers stayed cool and got it right. In Q2 the car felt perfect. Then on the very last lap it was a bit trickier again because the tyres didn't behave quite as well, but I'm happy with P5. We are in a great situation for tomorrow. It's good for all of us and after Hockenheim this is the perfect answer for the faith I have in the whole team."
(ht: Toyota Motorsports)

The race starts, and in the first corner, Hamilton is resigned to P2 due to a fantastic start by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa from P3 to P1 in the first corner. Timo Glock following directly behind Massa passes BMW's Robert Kubica to take P4 where he maintains position until 43 laps of the 70 scheduled laps had been run. So, with 27 laps to go the race commentary notation picks up as follows:

LAP 27 / 70
Hamilton suffers a tire failure. Timo Glock is rewarded with a chance at a podium position

LAP26 / 70
Glock responds by setting fastest lap of the race (as per race announcer Bob Varsha)

LAP25 / 70
Ferrari’s Massa makes an insurance pitstop

LAP23 / 70
Toyota’s Glock makes final pitstop and is good to go to the end

LAP19 / 70
Kimi Reikonen leaps over Alonso at the final pitstop

LAP18 / 70
Radio communication to Timo Glock - “You are 50 seconds ahead of the next closest car that can go to the end on fuel” - Translation? It is all up to you to finish on the podium

LAP15 / 70
Massa, who has never finished above sixth in his previous F1 runs at Hamburg, is poised to win it all – will move into a 3 point lead over Hamilton in the driver points lead if the current running order holds

LAP12 / 70
Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren-Mercedes too far behind to challenge Massa for the lead

LAP11 / 70
Kimi M. Raikkonen is on a terror, sets fastest lap after getting by Renault’s Alonso for P4

LAP4 / 70
Hungarboring will see a great finish – Raikkonen running in fourth is setting his sights on Glock for third

LAP3 / 70
Race leader Massa has his Ferrari engine blow-up. Keiki Kovalainen in his McLaren-Mercedes inherits the lead

Final Lap / Checkered Flag
Kovalainen Wins his first F1 race, Timo Glock finishes in second after starting fifth, Kimi Raikkonen hangs on to capture third, Alonzo fourth, Hamilton fifth.

Digital camera image of Timo Glock during the post race Podium interview session from SPEED Channel cable television broadcast. Said Timo after the P2 finish, "What an incredible feeling. I couldn't believe it when I saw Felipe's engine go and I was P2. To get such a good result in my first year is fantastic so a huge thank you to all the team, including the engineers, mechanics and everyone at the factory. I knew from qualifying that we had good speed and we've looked strong all weekend. Today I made a good start and gained a place into the first corner. I had a really good car and everything went perfectly until the last stint on the soft tyres. I was struggling a lot and soon I had Kimi behind me. But I knew from last year here in GP2, when I was stuck in the midfield in a really good car, how hard it is to pass here. So when I saw him in the mirrors I knew I couldn't afford any mistakes. This result more than makes up for Hockenheim and now we must keep picking up regular points until the end of the season." Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (EDJE) 2008

This report from autosport.com -

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Hungarian Grand Prix
The Hungaroring, Hungary;
70 laps; 306.663km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1h37:27.067
2. Glock Toyota (B) + 11.061
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 16.856
4. Alonso Renault (B) + 21.614
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 23.048
6. Piquet Renault (B) + 32.298
7. Trulli Toyota (B) + 36.449
8. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 48.321
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 58.834
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1:07.709
11. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1:10.407
12. Button Honda (B) + 1 lap
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
14. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
15. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
16. Barrichello Honda (B) + 2 laps
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 3 laps
18. Massa Ferrari (B) + 3 laps

World Championship standings, round 11:

Drivers:
1. Hamilton 62
2. Raikkonen 57
3. Massa 54
4. Kubica 49
5. Heidfeld 41
6. Kovalainen 38
7. Trulli 22
8. Alonso 18
9. Webber 18
10. Glock 13
11. Piquet 13
12. Barrichello 11
13. Rosberg 8
14. Nakajima 8
15. Vettel 6
16. Coulthard 6
17. Button 3
18. Bourdais 2

Constructors:
1. Ferrari 111
2. McLaren-Mercedes 100
3. BMW Sauber 90
4. Toyota 35
5. Renault 31
6. Red Bull-Renault 24
7. Williams-Toyota 16
8. Honda 14
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
Reference Here>>

On another note, several teams experienced fuel filling and leaking problems during pitstops in the race. Some teams had fires that had to be put out and it was theorized that because the ambient temperature at the track combined with the very tight tolerances of the fueling equipment coupling itself may have led to an improper fit of the fueling mechanism to the car.

The FIA will investigate.

... notes from The EDJE