Hungary: Barrichello enjoys racing at Hungary

By Phil Huff
August 3 2006

Honda Racing F1's Rubens Barrichello is happy to arrive at the Hungaroring, putting his disappointing outing at Hockenheim behind him.

"I love to visit the city of Budapest when we go to Hungary for the Grand Prix," says Barrichello. "It's one of the most beautiful and exciting cities on the calendar and the fans always give the whole place a great atmosphere.

"The Hungaroring is just like Monaco because it is so slow and twisty and it is also very difficult to overtake," he continued. "You have to start from the front to have a good race so qualifying will be very important on Saturday.

"For the last few years, the race here has been incredibly hot so we have to be well prepared and for the drivers, we need that extra little bit of fitness."

Used infrequently, the tight, twisty and dusty circuit isn't usually considered a favourite of many drivers, but Rubens' history at the circuit gives him reason to smile. "I won at the Hungaroring back in 2002 and have been on the podium a couple more times so it's a circuit that I enjoy racing at," he explains.

Conscious that his Honda Racing F1 RA106 isn't quite performing to the level of his Ferrari F2002, the Brazilian is still confident that the tide is turning.

"Although we didn't have a good race in Germany," he says, "we can look at our overall performance from that weekend and take a lot of positives to Hungary."