Räikkönen wishes Kubica good luck to get well

Kimi Räikkönen and Robert Kubica were F1-brothers who were especially connected by their love for rally. Now Räikkönen continues for the second year in WRC while the Pole is laying badly hurt in an Italian hospital after his serious rally accident.

What did Räikkönen think when he heard about Kubica's accident?

– That he had quite some bad luck there. That's how it sadly is. It's useless to speculate more on it because it isn't going to change it into anything else, Räikkönen said.

Is rally more dangerous than F1?

– Both are dangerous. Robert just had bad luck like I already said. It was bad luck but there was some good luck too. The worst could have happened if the end of the railing would have come inside through the spot where he was sitting. Those things can just happen. Every racing driver has to deal with that risk.

– Hopefully Robert will be allright, Räikkönen sighed.

Kaj Lindström doesn't remember any accident like Kubica's ever before.

– It is a serious matter and makes you stop to think when something like that happens to the dude. Fortunately his hand didn't have to be amputated. That accident had ingredients for absolutely everything when the car took off and the railing hit so that it got inside to steer over the gearbox.

– I don't know if it would have helped no matter what would have been done. When it happens, it happens. There are always dangers. And Kubica isn't any rookie because he has about 20 rallies behind him, Lindström thinks.

Turun Sanomat, Hagfors

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

'Just this once, I'll ride my luck' – Mark Webber

Ever since his points-scoring debut at the Australian Grand Prix in 2002, Mark Webber has learned the hard way that one minute you're riding high in Formula One, the next, the fates conspire and dump you on your backside. So when the chance of an unxpected win came his way at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Aussie took it with both hands.

You could argue that this win was a bit lucky because Sebastian Vettel's challenge was curtailed by a drive-through penalty, but I'll take it! I've been in F1 long enough to know that you take the rough with the smooth in this sport.

I still had to deliver the lap times when it mattered and I've now led 314 laps this season, which is more than any other driver.

My victory in Hungary was the perfect way to enter Formula One's four-week summer break.

It was my fourth win of the year and it put me back in the lead of the world championship.
With Seb coming home third, Red Bull Racing are now leading the constructors' table as well, so it was a good day for the team.

We knew very early in the weekend that the RB6 would be competitive. The Hungaroring had no long straights and lots of corners, which was a combination that played to the strengths of the car.

After first practice on Friday, we knew we had a very good chance of winning the race. First, though, there was the battle for pole. It was a straight fight between Seb and me: I had the edge in Q2, but he did a better lap in Q3 to take pole.

That left me on the dirty side of the grid, which is a huge disadvantage at this track because it's so dirty off-line. And it was no different this year.

Seb and Fernando Alonso, starting third, got away better than me, so I slipped into Fernando's slipstream and fought him in to Turn 1. But this wasn't his first grand prix; like me, he was celebrating his 150th F1 start and he knew what he was doing.

He defended well and I had to settle for third place. Thereafter, my plan was to jump the Ferrari at the pitstops but I didn't have to wait that long. Some debris at Turn 11 brought out the safety car on lap 15 and everyone dived in to the pits for new tyres. Except for me.

The team told me to stay out because they thought I had the pace to open a gap big enough to jump Fernando later in the race. Once the race had gone green, I put in one qualifying lap after another for 25 laps. I needed a minimum of 20 seconds over Fernando for it to work, so I pushed very hard.

It wasn't without its risks because we didn't know how the super-soft tyre would hold up over a 42-lap stint.

We hadn't done anything like that mileage with a single set during practice and the hotter track temperature on race day put more wear on the tyre. The left-front tyre was pretty worn by the end of the stint, but it worked out well.

The guys gave me a great pitstop on lap 43 and I emerged from the pits six seconds ahead of Fernando. Job done. I knew then that the race was in the bag and all I had to do was rattle off the remaining laps.

So I had some luck but as I said earlier, I still had to deliver the lap times when it really counted.

This is the last you'll hear of me for a while because I'm going to switch off my phone and go nowhere near an aeroplane or a hotel room during the summer break.

I'm going to chill out with Annie, the dogs and my sister, who's coming to stay with her family for a while.

Only once I've had some proper R&R will I turn my attention to the next race at Spa-Francorchamps. It's one of the classic F1 venues, which all of the drivers enjoy. It's fast and exciting to drive, and I hope the RB6 will be competitive there as well.

Happy holidays!

Mark

Source: RedBull