Nico's Budapest Blog: Friday

Posted on Saturday 25 Jul 2009 and tagged with blog, nico.

To set the third fastest time of the day was encouraging because there’s a lot more to come from the car. I wasn’t happy with the handling today at all, so if we can get it more consistent, then I’m sure there’s more time to come.

You shouldn’t read too much into Friday’s times because you never really know what the other teams are doing. But Red Bull and Brawn look as though they’re still ahead of us, and I’d say we’re pretty level with McLaren. If we can get the maximum out of the car in qualifying and the race, then I think a podium finish is possible. We’ll need a bit of luck to achieve that, but we have every reason to be upbeat.

It was pretty hot work on-track today. The ambient temperature was in the early 30s, which meant the cockpit was nudging 50 degrees, and I sweated a fair bit. It meant a change of overalls between the sessions, but that’s normal for this place.

Here’s to a good day tomorrow. It’s very difficult to overtake at the Hungaroring, so a good grid position is vital. Let’s see what we can do during qualifying.