A disappointing race for you at the Nürburgring… We were all quite down on Sunday evening, but since then a lot of work has been done to understand where we went wrong, and to avoid repeating our mistakes. It is in the past now, we have learned what we could from the weekend, and we are now fully-focused on the race ahead. We need to carry on moving forward…

Are you pleased to be back in Budapest this year? I have always enjoyed this race, I like the track and I have been competitive here in the past. I crashed out of the race last year after making a mistake, but the conditions were very difficult indeed. We are expecting much hotter temperatures this year, which will be a very different challenge!

What is the atmosphere like during the race weekend? It is always a fun race. We get a big crowd, probably because the race is held during the summer holidays. There is a relaxed atmosphere and lots of spectators in the stands.

How will you plan to approach the weekend? As at every race, our first meeting will be on Thursday to discuss the technical programme for practice. Friday is the day for race preparation, doing the basic set-up work and then comparing the two types of tyre available during the weekend. Then after the meeting, we will walk the track with our engineers, corner by corner, to see any changes and discuss driving lines. We have well-established working methods.

In terms of the technical preparations, what will you be concentrating on? Hungary is quite a selective circuit, and the very high temperatures often make things a bit more complicated, especially for the drivers and also the powertrain. To be quick here, you need an effective high downforce set-up, good grip and good traction out of the slow corners. We will be working on those areas as soon as we start running on Friday morning.

Heikki Kovalainen: "Aiming for a solid performance"

Heikki, although we don't test in Hungary, you already know the circuit from GP2. Do you enjoy it? Yes, it's a fun track to drive. I found out in GP2 how difficult it is to overtake here, and it means that like in Monaco, it is absolutely essential to qualify well for this race. If we can do that, then we will be in a position to run an aggressive race and try to score more points.

Nürburgring was a tough race, do you expect a better result in Hungary? We will certainly be aiming for that! We did three days of running in Jerez last week to prepare for the hot conditions we expect in Hungary and Turkey, and I think everybody is determined to have a strong race this weekend. There are some more new parts on the car for this race, so I am looking forward to starting our work on Friday.

The races here are often described as being quite boring, but all the drivers seem to enjoy the track. Why? It is a very demanding track physically for the drivers, because it can be very hot and there are no straights on which you can recover. The corners follow quickly one after the other, the track surface is quite bumpy and you have to maintain concentration over 70 laps. We all enjoy tackling challenges like that, feeling the car on the limit and trying to push a little bit more to go even faster… I think it's a circuit where the drivers can make a real difference, and that probably explains why we all enjoy it!

What areas of the car set-up will you focus on as you prepare for the race? There are not really any high-speed corners in Hungary. That means our main focus will be on the mechanical balance, and getting the car working on the high downforce levels to make sure we are quick in the slower corners. You also need good braking stability, and good change of direction through the sequence of corners after turn 5. Strong traction is important but this is an area in which the R27 is usually strong. We will need to work hard to get the car working well, but I think we will be able to achieve a good result this weekend. We will certainly be pushing to the maximum!

Pat Symonds: "Approaching Hungary with optimism"

Pat, the team endured a difficult race at the Nürburgring, in changing conditions that usually allow you to excel. What happened? We made mistakes early in the race, and they cost us a very strong double points finish. It was made all the more frustrating because it was the type of race in which we normally excel. We are good at thinking on our feet and making the right decisions under pressure, but our mistakes seemed to compound themselves in Germany. Since then, we have conducted our usual analysis in even greater detail than normal to ensure we learn everything we can from the experience – and to make sure our mistakes remain one-offs.

Were there positives that you could take from the weekend? Absolutely. Look at the calculated risk we took at the end of the race with Heikki. He had to stop once more for fuel on lap 49, and we knew there was rain coming in the next few minutes. We could have sent him back out on dry tyres, and then called him back in two laps later for wets. By doing that, he would definitely have finished outside the points. Instead, we sent him out on a bone dry track on wet tyres, anticipating the rainfall. In the end, it probably came a few minutes later than we would have liked, but it was a bold, brave decision that could have paid off handsomely. As it was, he still managed to score a point. Decisions like that one are certainly something to be proud of.

The team was running new aerodynamic developments in Germany. How did they perform? Exactly according to our simulations. The major development was a new front wing, which reflected an enormous push from everybody at Enstone to get it ready in time for the race. It performed according to our predictions, which was very encouraging. For other reasons, we didn't take full advantage of the gains it should allow us to make, but we have worked on this point during our testing in Jerez and should be much better-equipped to exploit the wing in Budapest.

It is no consolation for the team, but the European Grand Prix was a great race at the front of the field… It was a great race for the spectators, without a doubt. The rain introduced the chaos factor that invariably leads to good racing. It jumbled the cars up, putting faster competitors behind slower ones; and it meant that the performance profiles of the cars changed during the race – Ferrari clearly had the advantage in the dry, whereas Alonso was faster than Massa in the wet. Even under the current regulations, those ingredients combine successfully to produce exciting racing.

Looking ahead to Budapest, what are your expectations? We go there feeling optimistic. The car was quick in high-downforce trim in Monaco and, since then, we have added performance to it. We experienced problems getting the tyres working properly in the cooler conditions at the Nürburgring, but this is unlikely to be a problem in the high temperatures we usually encounter in Hungary. And while the timesheets placed us 11th and 12th in terms of fastest laps in Germany, I think our pace was actually much better than that suggested: the fact that our strategy was somewhat out of synch with our competitors may have masked some of our pace. Everybody is very focused for the weekend ahead, and determined to demonstrate that although frustrating, the last race was nothing more than an extremely annoying blip in performance.

Hungarian GP Tech File

The Hungaroring offers plenty of challenges to drivers and engineers alike. The circuit features no high-speed corners, leading the teams to run the highest possible downforce levels, while the primary concern for the engine teams is ensuring good cooling in the usually hot conditions. The high summer temperatures also make life difficult for the drivers, who need to be in peak physical condition to cope with a race that gives them very little respite over its 70-lap distance.

Chassis

The twisting, 14-corner layout of the Hungaroring features just one legitimate overtaking opportunity per lap, into turn 1. Apart from this straight of just over 700m, the circuit is filled with sequences of low to medium-speed corners, with short braking distances which make overtaking nearly impossible. The result is that the teams all run with maximum downforce levels, similar if not identical to those used in Monaco, in order to optimise not just cornering speeds but also braking and traction. Maximum speeds achieved on the main straight rarely exceed 300 kph with the V8 engines.

Mechanical grip is an important factor at a slow-speed circuit such as this, and teams will generally try to run the car with softer settings all round to improve mechanical grip. The drivers want a responsive car in the slow-speed sections, with good traction on corner exit, which will usually lead the teams to a forward mechanical bias (stiffer front/softer rear) in terms of set-up. However, rear tyre wear must be monitored very carefully, particularly to avoid overloading the softer compound available this weekend.

Bridgestone will make available the Soft and Super Soft compounds from its 2007 range, as were used in Monaco and Canada. The low-grip circuit conditions, coupled with the absence of high-speed corners, make these choices possible. As has become customary, the tyre management challenge for the weekend will be to control graining on the softest compound, and this should improve as the circuit rubbers-in throughout the weekend. Data collected during practice will determine whether the super-soft is suitable for use during the majority of the race, while cooler-than-expected temperatures, or overnight rain washing the circuit clean of rubber, could further complicate the situation.

The other important chassis parameter will be ensuring good cooling of the mechanical parts. Although the car's cooling capacity is now well-known, attention must be paid to ensuring the radiators are still well-cooled in spite of the high levels of front downforce we run at this circuit. This will have been the object of particular attention in the wind tunnel, and will be fine-tuned during the weekend to ensure the cooling solution required brings the minimum performance penalty.

Engine

With the longest period spent at full throttle barely exceeding ten seconds, and with only 57% of the lap spent at full throttle (significantly lower than the average), this is not a demanding  circuit for the engine. Of the 14 corners, five are taken in second gear at around 100 kph. Unlike at Monaco, where the cars reach abnormally slow speeds in the hairpins, the minimum speed at the Hungaroring is approximately 90kph. This means the engine spends the majority of its time in a relatively narrow operating window between 100 kph and 250 kph, and the closely-spaced gear ratios we use are selected to ensure optimum performance in this range. As always on a circuit featuring a large number of slow corners, good torque is important to help launch the cars out of the turns. The characteristics of the RS27 mean the engine is strong in this area.

Magic Moments: 30 Years of Renault in F1

The Hungarian Grand Prix has only been in existence for just over 20 years, but this race was the first signal of the drive to non-traditional markets that has seen Formula 1 expand east from its European base since that time. The tight, twisty Hungaroring circuit has never been considered a classic, but has nevertheless produced some enthralling battles – as well as some tedious races devoid of passing. For Renault, though, it will always have a special place in the company's F1 history, as the place where Nigel Mansell won its first world championship in 1992.

Renault at the Hungarian Grand Prix

The Hungaroring saw just one race in Renault's turbo era, the very first race in 1986. Ayrton Senna's Lotus took pole position, and then engage in a race-long battle with Nelson Piquet's Williams. Piquet ultimately emerged victorious as Senna settled for second, while two more Renault-powered cars (Dumfries/Lotus and Brundle/Tyrrell) finished in fifth and sixth positions, the final points-scoring places.

On Renault's return in the V10 era, the company began a series of strong performances at the Hungaroring that would see Renault-powered cars on the podium every year until 1997. Patrese took pole in 1989, the year of Renault's return, while team-mate Boutsen took the final podium position. The Belgian followed up the feat the following year by winning from pole position, while in 1991 Mansell and Patrese took a double podium finish behind Senna's victorious McLaren. 1992, though, was the year which engraved the Hungaroring in Renault's sporting history. The Williams-Renaults annexed the front row and while Mansell only finished in P2, it was enough to bring him his only, and Renault's first, world championship.

The run of success continued in 1993: an all Williams-Renault front row, with Damon Hill taking his first Grand Prix win. In 1994, the Englishman started and finished second, while twelve months later the Williams-Renault duo of Hill and Coulthard took the front row – and a 1-2 finish. Things improved one step further in 1996, with a one-two-three finish for Hill, Alesi and Villeneuve in three of the four Renault-powered cars, while in 1997, Villeneuve made the most of Hill's misfortune aboard his ailing Arrows to make it three wins in a row for Renault power in Hungary.

In the era of the Renault F1 Team, the Hungaroring has also come to be regarded as something of a milestone. After an inauspicious race in 2002, the following year saw the team take its first victory since Renault's return to Formula 1, after Fernando Alonso dominated from pole position. The Spaniard followed this up with a podium in 2004, but since then, Renault has not scored a single point in Hungary – although Alonso spun out of a dominant lead last year after a wheel came loose. In total, Renault power has competed in 16 Hungarian Grands Prix, taking 7 pole positions, 6 wins and 16 podiums. Following a disappointing outing at the Nürburgring, the team will be striving to add to that record in 2007.

Over at Red Bull Racing with Fabrice Lom

Fabrice, the Renault-powered Red Bull Racing team had a strong race at the Nürburgring… Yes, it was a fantastic result for the team. At Magny-Cours and Silverstone, we endured two difficult races, but we knew the potential was in the car. Everybody worked very hard and, at the last race, we got the first rewards for that: not just a podium, but both cars in the points at the chequered flag. We scored ten points, the same number as McLaren and more than Ferrari or BMW. More importantly, though, we scored ten more than Toyota and five more than Williams. In terms of the championship, that made it a very successful weekend.

Looking ahead to this weekend in Budapest, are there any major challenges for the engine? No, not really. This is a demanding circuit or the car, with lots of bumps, high kerbs and a lot of gearchanges. From the engine's point of view, though, the time spent at full throttle is below average, and there are no particularly severe challenges. The only thing we will have to pay special attention to is the cooling, as we are expecting extremely hot temperatures. We worked on a range of different cooling options and bodywork configurations during our test in Jerez last week. While we are confident about the car's cooling, we will nevertheless be particular special attention to this area.

After your good result at the Nürburgring, do you think you can achieve the same this weekend? That would be nice! I think we should have a competitive package in Hungary. It is a twisty circuit, but one with few very slow corners; it is more about series of medium-speed corners, and our car seems pretty strong in this area, both in terms of braking and downforce levels at these speeds. If everything goes smoothly then we should be capable of a competitive showing, but as always, we need to wait for the opening sessions on Friday to get a better idea. Certainly, we will be working hard to secure a strong result.