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Lewis Hamilton saved McLaren’s day in Hungary by qualifying fifth after team mate Jenson Button was stranded down in 11th, and he now has the chance to do some good damage limitation as he seeks to defend his championship lead.

McLaren had targeted fifth after accepting on Friday that it would be impossible to beat the Red Bulls or Ferraris, but Button’s problems in Q2 caused some concern prior to the final session.

Hamilton says he’s hopeful of a good start and a solid race performance.

“It was really my target!,” said Hamilton. “The Red Bulls are impossible to beat, the are 1.7s ahead this weekend. It’s incredible. I saw Massa was just ahead of me, and it was possible to get very close to him, but I don’t think to be ahead of him.

“I am happy with that result. To get into Q3, I was relieved, it was very close. And then I feel that I pulled absolutely every inch out of the car. Obviously we’ve got to work hard, but that’s a good position for us to start tomorrow, on the clean side. So that’s a positive for the start. It’s a long haul down to Turn One, so anything’s possible.

“I think it’s important for myself and the team to keep our heads up. We need to make as good a start as we have for the last few races and stay clean, get round the first corner. As always we want to move forwards. If we can make a step forward, fourth or third will be spectacular.

“You can’t overtake here, but I can imagine it would be a very hard race if I ever had a Ferrari behind me. But we’re going to do the best job we can, and I’m ready for it.”

Hamilton admits that it’s easy distracted by the pace of the Red Bulls: “I think on the team side and on the engineers side it’s probably harder than for us as drivers. I think for us it’s not a case of a tenth or two here and then, it’s half a second in the middle sector, it’s half a second in the last sector.

“For us drivers we look at the onboard footage and we just laugh, me and Jenson, it’s just insane how fast they are going. For me the car is the best it’s ever been at this circuit. But those guys, I don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s incredible the pace they have.”

The Cypher Group has dropped its bid for the 13^th entry in the 2011 World Championship, but we are still awaiting news from the FIA as to who might actually get the slot. With the calendar ticking into August tomorrow whoever does win it will face a huge challenge to be ready in time.

The FIA seems to have failed to learn from what happened last year, and the lack of a a decision from is quite extraordinary given that the three candidates were announced on June 12 – and even then one failed to get its act together and another only just made it. And while Lotus didn’t get its entry until September, Tony Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne were given a positive response from Max Mosley as early at the British GP, and began work.

Little hard information had come from  Cypher other than confirmation of a link with Jonathan Summerton. A statement from the North Carolina-based outfit said: “We remain completely committed to developing a credible and viable Formula One team and were able to raise a considerable amount of sponsorship and interest in recent months.

“However after much deliberation, we have decided that the budget we have is not sufficient to allow us to pursue the project in a manner befitting the series. It was not an easy decision, but one made out of respect for the FIA Formula One World Championship and our loyal supporters.

 “The Cypher Group is reviewing projects and opportunities that will allow it to achieve the ultimate goal of entering Formula One in the near future. We would like to thank our fans for all their support and understanding.”

With ART already gone the news appears to leave Villeneuve/Durango, Epsilon Euskadi and Stefan GP as the only remaining candidates.

Felipe Massa says he was able to forget about the Hockenheim controversy and get on with his job when he got back behind the wheel in Hungary

“Completely, for sure,” said Massa when asked by this blog whether he could forget last week’s distractions. “When you’re back to the car, you don’t think about anybody, you think about driving the car and working yourself, working to improve, working to achieve what you want, you know.

“[There’s no point] to really go back and get crazy about that, so you need to go forward and to do your job. Everybody knows that driving an F1 car is not an easy job, that’s why you need to be concentrated on driving and thinking about doing the best.”

He also said that he had no thoughts about last year’s accident, although he admitted that yesterday’s visit to the track medical and rescue crews had been an emotional experience.

“I think it was just nice to be back on the track after what happened last year. Definitely I didn’t think about when I was in the car. I thought about how to work on the car and to drive. For sure yesterday was much nicer when I met and I saw everybody in the hospital here in the track who helped me last year, so that was much more emotional. But anyway today in the car I didn’t think about it.”

Massa finished Friday practice in fourth place, some 0.4s his off team mate Fernando Alonso. Although Ferrari was comfortably the second fastest car, Massa says there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“I think the car was OK, competitive. Definitely on the new tyres we need to improve a bit more. On the old tyres, we were very strong, very similar picture we saw many times during the season as well. I saw Red Bull very strong with the new tyres, easy to make a lap time straight away, and for us it was a little bit more difficult.

“For sure the most difficult thing for us is to make the lap time on the new tyres, which is where sometimes we’re struggling more compared to Red Bull. But then we go to the long run, and we’re very strong. It’s just something to work on tomorrow, to improve tomorrow for qualifying.”

Massa on the grid in Hockenheim last weekend

Felipe Massa returns to the Hungaoring today a little over a year after he left the circuit in a medical helicopter after his qualifying crash.

This week he’s also been making a point of visiting some of the medical staff who helped him last year.

“I think it’s a very special place, because of what happened with me there last year,” he explained at Hockenheim last week. “So I’m really looking forward to going back there for the race weekend. But also for good personal feelings, to go back to the hospital, to see the people that took good care of me, who did a good job. So I’m really looking forward to going there and saying hello to everybody, and making a nice conversation, a nice feeling with them.”

He admitted it would be an empotional experience: “Because it’s an important part of my life. What happened last year was a very big thing on my life, so it is very, very special. Talking about the life point of view.”

 Meanwhile after his frustration in Germany Massa has to now prove his point on the track by outpacing his team mate. He has gone well in Hungary in the past – he was quick before the crash last year – and it will be fascinating to see if he can bounce back.

“I think in the races that we have the very hard tyres I was performing much worse than I can, you know, because I was never able to make the tyres work. When we had the soft tyres I was reasonably happy.

“For sure I was trying deinitely to change my driving style, because the driving style makes the tyres hotter, or colder, it’s true. I am a driver that needs a lot the front grip on the car, I prefer a better front grip. Even if I have a bit of oversteer and the front is working, you can work to improve the rear.

“But anyway that’s the way I used to drive until now, and this year with the narrower tyres, very hard tyres, it’s very difficult for me. Many people like to talk just about me, but many, many drivers are having similar problems this year, I’m not the only one. But people always talk about me, so that’s it.”

For more on Felipe Massa and the Hockenheim controversy check the www.autosport.com features section later today.

Red McCombs is a legend in both sport and business in the USA

Wealthy Texan Red McCombs is the main investor behind the Austin F1 project.

Born in 1927, Billy Joe ‘Red’ McCombs made his fortune in car dealerships and was a founder of Clear Channel Communications. He is ranked by Forbes Magazine as one of the 400 richest Americans. He is heavily involved in sports and especially basketball, and used to own the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Vikings teams. The business school at the University of Texas in Austin is named after him thanks to a $50m donation.

He also owns real estate company Koontz-McCombs and McCoombs Energy. As already reported here, there is a push to use the new track to help develop alternative fuels, which partly explains his interest.

McCombs admitted he knew nothing about F1 before the project started. He says Bernie Ecclestone asked him this morning if the track will be ready by 2012, and he replied, “Remember, we are talking about Texas, we are not talking about anywhere else…”

McCombs said: “Competition is what drives me, whatever the sport is, even if it’s a spelling bee. I’m for man against man.” He also made it clear that “we do intend for it to be a profitable venture.” He added that henceforth he wants to call Austin “Speed City”…

“Bringing Formula 1 back to the United States represents the opportunity of a lifetime and one that any city in the world would want,” said McCombs in a statement. “The size and scope of an F1 event is comparable to hosting a Super Bowl and will bring substantial economic benefit to Austin, San Antonio and the entire State of Texas.

“We know Tavo has a clear vision for developing Formula 1 into a major event with year-round opportunities. Over the past few years, he has built a solid business foundation and has assembled a great team – one we are proud to be part of. We are ready to roll-up our sleeves and work alongside Tavo to make this project a huge success.”

Hellmund added: “This project has been a tremendous undertaking. But for at least the next decade, Texas will host a global sporting event on an annual basis in a new world-class multipurpose facility. Knowing that our hard work is being rewarded and that my dream is becoming a reality is extremely gratifying. It is a great honor to have Red McCombs and McCombs Partners as our primary investor and partner. Red’s success in business and the professional sports arena is legendary. Working together as a team and under Red’s direction, we will ensure that this project will make all Texans very proud and will benefit our great State.”

Also involved are Prophet Capital Management, an Austin-based investment company, and Hellmund’s close friend, former two-wheel star Kevin Schwantz.

This map shows where the site is relative to the city centre and airport

The Austin GP track is to be built on land originally earmarked for a residential development called Wandering Creek.

It is a 900 acre site near Elroy, to the east of Highway 131. The Statesman newspaper received confirmation from Bobby Epstein, an investor in Wandering Creek.

“I’m elated and hope this all comes to fruition,” said Epstein. “I’m highly optimistic that all the moving parts will come together” in time for the inaugural Austin race in 2012.

“I’m really excited about it, more as a Texan and an Austinite than a racing fan. It would really make a statement for Austin. I think it’s really going to be a big event for us.”

The paper quotes a local residents’ association respresentative, Cathy Olive, as saying: “We all feel like it would be the lesser of two evils. Are we excited about it? No. But it’s better than 2,000 teeny-tiny tract houses.”

More news later…

Red Bull Racing had not ruled out making a protest about the Ferrari team orders situation in Germany had the FIA stewards not take action of their own.

In fact sources confirm that the team got on the radio to race control soon after the Ferrari drivers swapped places, in order to register its concern.

“It was so blatantly obvious what they’ve done,” team boss Christian Horner told this blog. “They manipulated the outcome of the race by telling one car to effectively slow down, and then apologise to him. The FIA have all the facts, they know the rules better than anyone else.

“The regulation was designed to avoid exactly what we saw, and that has been our understanding of the rules since we joined F1. What was done was very blatant and a great shame for all the fans and spectators and viewers around the world, to see a race handed from one driver to another.”

In some people’s eyes Horner has set himself up for criticism, given recent events within his team. However, the infamous Turkey collision occurred when the RBR drivers were racing each other, despite obvious concerns on the pit wall about the looming presence of the McLarens. Since then RBR has insisted that the drivers can race, and indeed Horner has been saying that all season.

“We tried to do the right thing. It’s part of the Red Bull ethics to allow our drivers to race, and that’s what we’ve done, as I believe McLaren allow their drivers to do likewise. That was a very clear team instruction today that handed the race win from one driver to another. It’s wrong that the drivers weren’t allowed to compete with each other.

“Felipe wasn’t that far behind in the points, it’s not like he was out of the championship. It guarantees that he’s not allowed to beat Fernando Alonso this year. They obviously tried to give the lead to Fernando at the first pit stop, because it made no sense to give him the first stop, other than to try and put him ahead of Massa. That obviously didn’t work for them, so they moved it on track. And that is wrong.

“It’s so disappointing for the fans more than anything that they didn’t get to see Massa, who’d driven a good race, race against Fernando. It was a great shame.

“I never heard of a strategy that says out of Turn 6 slow down and then apologise to your driver…”

Mark Webber says he will bounce back in Hungary after a low-key run to sixth place in Germany. The result left the Aussie equal on points with team mate Sebastian Vettel, but his superior win record means that he is technically ahead – which will be handy if the team has to make another call on who gets new parts!

Webber lost a place to Lewis Hamilton at the start, and later lost out at the stops to Jenson Button. In the end dropping back wasn’t such a problem, as he had to nurse the car to the flag, and he was happy to at least bag eight points for sixth place.

“I was actually enjoying the first part of the race, a good little scrap with Lewis,” said Webber. “He didn’t look so comfortable on the option, and I was getting held up. I thought we’d take the race to the pit stops. I thought he might come in with me, but he stayed out a lap longer. The guys did a good job in the pit stop but we came out in traffic, which was a little bit of a gamble to try and jump Lewis. So we lost obviously a bit of track to him, and obviously Jenson tried a different strategy and went longer so he jumped me as well.

“Then after the race turned in a different way because we had an oil consumption problem, so we had to get the car to the end. I was watching the race on the big screens and seeing what was happening further down the road. Unfortunately I wasn’t in it today, but I’ll be back.

“Sixth in the old days was a disaster, but these days you still get a few points. It’s competitive at the front, but that’s how it should be.”

Fortunately the team expects to be able to use the Hockenheim engine again, despite the problem.

“He had an oil issue that he managed very, very well,” Christian Horner told this blog. “It was important points for him. Renault managed the problem throughout the race and did a good job, because that engine has further to go. It was its second race, so it still has a bit of mileage to do on it.

“But there was no damage, it was just a question of ensuring that it didn’t put any unnecessary heat or friction into the engine. It was always going to be very difficult for him to pass Jenson with their straightline speed advantage, we took a prudent approach to say let’s get the points, finish the race, and make sure it’s still in the allocation.”

Meanwhile Sebastian Vettel never quite had the pace with which to challenge the Ferraris, although he improved his championship position relative to the McLaren drivers.

“Sebastian was quicker as the fuel came out of the car. But it looked like he might have picked up a little bit of damage passing a backmarker at the hairpin when they all got a bit mixed up. It was close, and if he had made the start, I think he would have been fine.

“He’s closer to the McLarens and we took another point out of them in the constructors’. The race was dictated at the start today. He had a fantastic pit stop, a really quick stop, but the first 500m dictated the outcome of our race. But unfortunately not Felipe Massa’s!”

Tavo Hellmund will reveal Austin track details today

Austin promoter Tavo Hellmund is set to reveal details of the venue for the 2012 US GP later today.

There has been much speculation in the Texan media as to the intended site of the Tilke-built track, and the lack of hard information until now has led to some scepticism about the strength of Hellmund’s plans. As previously reported here the circuit will be on a hilly site to the east of the city, not far from the airport, and will have an overview of downtown.

Hellmund recently led a delegation on a visit to the British GP, where it was clear that he has the full support of Bernie Ecclestone, despite suggestions in the paddock that the project might not happen.

“I think part of the problem is that because we are being very careful of releasing details, from the business perspective not from any other reason, is the fact that people are left asking,” Hellmund told me at Silverstone. “When you actually have the deal done, it doesn’t bother you. I could care less what people say, we’re getting the deal done.

“I think probably we’re going to release the land site, so everyone knows where it is. To stop the speculation, we’re going to need to do that. We’ll also introduce some of our key players from the communications side, from an investors’ side, so that the public – who seem to be so curious – understand this is really a world class group that’s been put together, with experience form the NFL and NBA.”

He said he had a good reason to withhold track details until now: “It’s not because we don’t want to, but because the FIA and FOM need to know the layout as well.”

Ferrari boss Luca di Montezeimolo has made it clear that he has no problem with what the team did in Hockenheim, and says that Felipe Massa has to understand that the interests of the team come first.

“I am very happy for all our fans who finally, yesterday, saw two Ferraris lead from start to finish as they dominated the race,” said di Montezemolo on Ferrari’s website. “The result is down to the efforts of all our people, who never give up. Now we have to continue working like this, to improve the car so that is competitive at all the circuits we will encounter.

“Alonso and Massa also did very well, giving their all throughout the weekend. The polemics are of no interest to me. I simply reaffirm what I have always maintained, which is that our drivers are very well aware, and it is something they have to stick to, that if one races for Ferrari, then the interests of the team come before those of the individual.

“In any case, these things have happened since the days of Nuvolari and I experienced it myself when I was Sporting Director, in the days of Niki Lauda and not just then… Therefore enough of this hypocrisy, even if I can well believe that some people might well have liked to see our two drivers eliminate one another, but that is definitely not the case for me or indeed for our fans.”