German GP Report
July 30th 2010 03:47
Team politics were once again dominating headlines as Formula 1 swept through the Bavarian forests of Germany. This time however, it wasn’t the internal tug-of-war at Red Bull causing drama, but rather Ferrari returning to notoriety with some dubious team orders.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso (1st)
Nando was treated to the Vettel chop this week, after out-dragging the German off the line into the first corner. Vettel’s squeeze on Alonso allowed Massa, who made an even better start, to cruise around the outside into the lead. Fernando settled into second and trailed his teammate into the first round of stops. On harder rubber, the Spaniard was eons faster than Massa, and twice came close to sliding past when his teammate locked up into Hockenheim’s slower corners. Fernando couldn’t quite get it done, but his team decided they would do it for him. The call was put through to Massa, and he duly moved aside so his teammate, sitting far higher on the rankings could take advantage of the Scuderia’s sudden show of might, and take maximum points. It wasn’t popular, but Alonso and many others within the sport agreed that it was for the benefit of Ferrari the team, something the Prancing Horse, and other teams, have been doing for 60 years.
Felipe Massa (2nd)
You can’t help but feel sorry for Massa, who on pure racing merit, deserved to stand on the top step in Germany. His expression on the podium resembled that of a puppy who’d just been offered a delicious steak – and then had it snapped up by a giant vulture, who flew away with it. His millisecond-perfect start earned him the lead, and he held his place in front, despite struggling on the second set of tyres. While his teammate was faster, it was clear Alonso was not going to get past fairly. As it was, Massa’s engineer Rob Smedly sombrely delivered the poorly-coded message and the Brazilian conspicuously shuffled aside to allow the team’s guiding light through. A brilliant comeback for Ferrari was marred by their own blatant team orders. However, as sad as it was to see Massa sacrifice his own glory, it must be remembered that Formula 1 teams operate to win championships, and Ferrari’s methods have made them the most successful in that area, so why change now?
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel (3rd)
Vetts claimed his third consecutive pole at his home race, lifting hopes at Red Bull, who looked less-than-dominant in practice. To the dismay of the German fans, however, their hero was running in place off the line, and found himself behind the Ferraris after the first corner (despite trying to make Alonso soil his overalls). From there is was a solitary cruise home, never close enough to threaten Ferrari, but far enough to not be threatened by McLaren. His quiet third place elevated him to be equal on points with teammate Webber – a tantalising prospect going into Hungary.
Mark Webber (6th)
The Australian was almost invisible in Germany, thanks in part to a mistake in qualifying that left him fourth on the grid, behind his teammate and the Ferraris. He lost out into the first corner to Hamilton, but kept close to the McLaren driver for much of the first stint, but a poorly-timed pitstop put Webbs in traffic and eventually Hamilton’s mate Button leapfrogged the Red Bull driver from pitlane. An oil consumption issue then put an end to Webber’s charge at the McLarens, leaving him to dawdle home in sixth.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton (4th)
Burnout Boy and McLaren were surprised to find themselves behind Red Bull and Ferrari for once, only managing fifth on the grid. But a good start put him ahead of Webber’s Red Bull and from there it was a simple task of collecting points whil Alonso and Massa placed musical podium places.
Jenson Button (5th)
Jense made a Massa-like start, but was was caught out by Vettel and Alonso’s epic battle. The Briton swerved off line at turn one to take avoiding action, and settled back in behind Webber. But once again, the wily stubbled fox implemented a clever strategy, which enabled him to leapfrog Mark Webber’s underperforming Red Bull and challenge his teammate. By the end though, he had to settle back and cross the line a solid fifth place.
Renault
Robert Kubica (7th)
Kubica’s banana on wheels was once again the best car behind the big-three. The pace of the frontrunners, though was too formidable for the Renault driver to challenge for a higher position, but he made no mistakes and brought the team maximum achievable points – something the Pole has done often enough to be able to do it with eyes closed.
Vitaly Petrov (13th)
It was a decent showing by the Russian rookie, managing to relieve some pressure by snatching the last point on offer in Germany. Rumours that Renault were looking to replace Petrov circulated prior to the race, with high-profile names such as Nick Heidfeld believed to be attracting the interest of the French squad. But, Vitaly held his nerve in Germany and worked his way from 13th on the grid to cross the line 10th. Commendable, though still not convincing.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg (8th)
Dreamboat Rosberg put in one of his now trademark mistake-free runs to finish eighth. Again, he was never fast enough to have those in front looking over their shoulders, but he had veteran teammate Schumacher covered from start to finish,
Michael Schumacher (9th)
Old Man Schumacher’s string of underwhelming performances refuse to leave the news – this time the German was left to defend Mercedes, accused of taking their eye off the ball. His first home grand prix back was nothing special – well covered by his younger teammate, the Schu was only available in a nine, position nine that is. Two points.
Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi (11th)
Kamui ran himself ragged in Hockenheim – desperately trying to add to his run of points. He made some spots up off the start, but was unable to find a way past Schumacher and later Petrov in his Sauber. He later complained of the car being crap. Well, specifically that there was too high a tyre-wear rate… but we know what he was thinking.
Pedro de la Rosa (14th)
Pedro struggled early on the hard tyres – his Sauber handling like a stick of butter on a frypan. Once he bolted on some softer rubber, he picked up the pace, and was battling the Williams of Barrichello until Heikki decided to plant his Lotus into the Sauber’s sidepod whilst being lapped.
Williams
Rubens Barrichello (12th)
One decade ago, Woobens was bawling his eyes into a Brazilian flag on top of the podium at Hockenheim as he celebrated his first ever win. It was an emotional affair, with large amounts of blubbering and dancing. Ten years later, the Brazilian dropped from a top-ten spot on the grid to finish a lowly 12th.
Nico Hulkenberg (13th)
The Hulk didn’t achieve his pre-race dreams of scoring on his debut home grand prix, instead coming home unlucky 13th. Nico struggled for grip on both sets of tyres, and was unable to challenge his pension-eligible teammate for inter-team bragging rights.
Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari (15th)
A first lap collision between Lil’ Algy and his teammate effectively ended Toro Rosso’s race early. While Buemi limped home to the pits and retired, Jaime continued on with a new nose, but despite some competitive lap times, was too far behind to make up positions.
Sebastien Buemi (DNF)
It was a bad day at the office for the Swiss driver, who made a good start, claiming four positions in the first lap. Unfortunately, his teammate came trundling up behind him into turn six, and instead of using his brakes, he decided to simply drive over the top of Buemi. In hindsight it wasn’t ideal, and Buemi retired while Alguersuari needed repairs
Force India
Tonio Liuzzi (16th)
It was a disaster for Force India and Liuzzi in Germany. After a dreadful qualifying session left him 18th, the Italian Stereotype become entangled with his teammate on the first lap, which left him needing a new wing. The team had already arranged to bring Adrian in for new tyres as part of a pre-prepared bold strategy – and as it were the wrong tyres were put on the wrong cars, and both cars needed to pit again to put on correct rubber. An embarrassing day for the team.
Adrian Sutil (9th)
Sutil and Force India had planned to pit on the first lap for a tyre change should be not make any positions from the start. It was a daring strategy, but they didn’t account for Adrian and teammate Tonio barging into one another, nor did they account for mucking up the tyres and having to pit each car twice, just to get them on the right sets. An embarrassing day for the team.
Virgin
Timo Glock (18th)
The German was the top finisher of the new teams (Senna being the other) – handily at his home race. He was unable to match the pace of the Lotuses, but reliability won the day for Glock-dog, taking the chequered flag while his rivals were in the back of the pits glaring at their broken cars in disgust.
Lucas Di Grassi(DNF)
Lucas Who didn’t do anything in qualifying and then retired on lap 50 with broken suspension. Due to the fact nobody even knows what he looks like, he may well have skipped the race to sell bratwurst at a trackside stall while some poor soul suffered the Virgin’s stinging lack of pace and penchant for breaking.
HRT
Bruno Senna (19th)
Bruno returned to his seat and instantly began to match it with Virgin and Lotus in practise and qualifying. From a decent 20th on the grid, the Brazilian was able to take the fight to the others, but a puncture dropped him to the back, leaving him to saunter home dead last.
Sakon Yamamoto (20th)
HRT’s version of musical chairs continued in Germany, this time it was Karun Chandhok’s turn to bugger off for Yamamoto. Moneybags was a well over a second slower than his teammate, and then retired 19 laps in. His wallet-opening performance, however, was top-class, a showing that team boss Colin Kolles didn’t miss – giving the Japanese ‘driver’ another shot in Hungary.
Lotus
Jarno Trulli (DNF)
Jarno was the pace setter for the new teams around Hockenheim, getting within half-a-second of Buemi’s Toro Rosso in qualifying. The Italian wine connoisseur managed only three laps before his Lotus broke down.
Heikki Kovalainen (DNF)
The Finn was shaded by his teammate in qualifying, but he was soon back on top when all the screws on Jarno’s car came loose. His pace was promising, but an misjudgement while being lapped saw him allow Woobens past, but then shut the door right on De la Rosa’s beak – damaging the Lotus beyond repair.
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