Pirelli are looking to implement a permanent change from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards. A change that is immediate, though, is their ban on swapping tyres. Some teams had been found to be swapping their rear tyres from left to right and vice versa, as it increases the lifespan of the tyres. This has an effect on camber which causes the sidewalls to experience opposite load to what they had been, weakening the tyre. Good call, Pirelli.
Back to business then; Vettel is starting to push clear of the rest of the field. No one single driver had been massively dominant, with Raikkonen and Alonso staking serious claims to the title, as well as the Mercedes boys pushing up the rear, but now it looks like triple champ Seb is making his customary break for it.
Friday doesn't really matter that much, but fastest in session one was Hamilton. Vettel didn't post a particularly impressive time in the morning, but by the afternoon session he had found his feet and clinched the fastest time. He carried this pace into Saturday morning, slamming his RB9 on the top again.
QUALIFYING REPORT
Saturday afternoon came around. At this mid point, who's improvements would be making the difference? Well, there was no change at the back. Caterham, Marussia, and Williams sunk into the bottom six slots once again. In the battle of the Frenchmen-in-Young teams, Charles PICked himself up another small victory over Jules Bianchi. These two have been noticeably more impressive than their respective team mates, save for Geido's impressive 14th place qualifying in Moncao. However Pic was unfortunate to gain himself a 5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
Drivers eliminated after Q1 (With penalties applied)
17) Bottas
18) Maldonado
19) Bianchi
20) van der Garde
21) Chilton
22) Pic
The second session was extremely surprising - last week's British GP winner Nico Rosberg was knocked out. He was nearly joined by Mark Webber in midfield mediocrity. The Aussie just barely scraped into the final shootout by a tenth of a second, edging out Nico. Former Ferrari favourites Massa and Raikkonen were the top two in Q2, a distinction they also claimed in Q1.
Drivers Eliminated after Q2
11) Rosberg
12) di Resta
13) Perez
14) Sutil
15) Gutierrez
16) Vergne
Q3 was a tense as ever clusterbomb of nerve and pace. Mark Webber looked racy and set the benchmark, but was knocked off the crown by his team mate. A Red Bull 1-2 would not please Mercedes on home turf, and so with Rosberg out, Hamilton made it his mission to grab pole, which he managed by just over a tenth. Button and Hulkenberg had not expected to be in the third session, after the earlier than expected demises of Rosberg and the Force India, and so they opted not to run, and saved their tyres for the race.
The final top 10
1) Hamilton
2) Vettel
3) Webber
4) Raikkonen
5) Grosjean
6) Ricciardo
7) Massa
8) Alonso
9) Button
10) Hulkenberg
RACE DAY
Sunday afternoon was a beautiful blue haze, perfect for racing. All eyes were on the Mercedes Number two at home. The team would have expected a great getaway, but Lewis was pounced upon by both Red Bulls. It marks a drastic change of approach for Red Bull. Sebastian has never been slow to get away, but Mark is notorious for his mollusc-like launches. Both drivers did some work on their clutch bite-points during the warm up lap, and it seemed to do the trick.
After another disappointing qualifying session Sergio Perez sought to claw his way back into the top 10, a feat he came closer to by passing his teammate Jenson Button on Lap 2. On Saturday he was fastest in Q1 and Q2, and on Sunday, Felipe Massa claimed another superlative - fastest retirement of the race. At the beginning of Lap 4 he hurtled towards turn 1, locked his rear brakes, and stalled trying to get back onto the circuit. Later investigations revealed this was due to a gearbox failure.
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| Massa's decent qualifying and good start were swiftly undone |
Most drivers pitted around laps 6/7 with the Soft tyres not lasting very long at all. Grosjean and Raikkonen confirmed the nurse-maiding effects of the Lotus E21 were still prevalent, as both drivers stayed out on their Soft tyres for much longer than anyone else. Grosjean's stint was particularly impressive and saw him lead the race for a while. Fernando Alonso had started on Medium tyres, indicating a longer first stint, but the Spaniard pitted even earlier than Grosjean who was on softer tyres. Clearly the Ferrari had changed strategy, and was three-stopping.
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| Romain Grows-jean - The Frenchman was extremely impressive in Germany |
Mark Webber pitted from the lead on Lap 8. He was the Bridesmaid in Silverstone, and was pushing hard to test his team mate, who had pitted on Lap 7. After all, the Nurburgring was the venue of his first win 2009. The stop looked routine, but the right rear tyre failed to secure correctly. The lollypop man didn't notice the right rear mechanics frantically flapping their limbs at the tricky tyre, and let Webber go. The tyre slid off of the rim, and rolled down the pitlane. It caught an uneven piece of cement and began bouncing, and struck TV cameraman Paul Allen in the back. He suffered a broken Collarbone and two broken ribs, and Red Bull were fined £26,000.
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| Blunder from down Under - Mark was released even though the rear right was not secured |
The incident cost Red Bull more than just money, as Webber's lead was lost and he dropped to the very back of the field.
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| Allen suffered serious injuries after the odd accident |
Grosjean finally relinquished the lead on Lap 13, when he grabbed a set of Medium tyres. His team mate had already made the switch and was making light work of the Mercedes cars. First he passed Rosberg on lap 13, and 6 laps later he pipped Lewis too. The two Lotuses were right on pace with Vettel and barely lost sight of him in the early stages of the race. The brilliant tyre management of the British machine means that Lotus are able to push for longer than most other teams, which certainly gives them an advantage.
They had a great scrap in Canada, and Hamilton and Alonso were at it again in Germany. As Alonso got within DRS range at the final corner, he hounded Hamilton all the way down the pit straight to begin lap 21. The Brit covered the inside and as the former teammates made their way around the first few corners, he did not give Fernando any opportunities, but gave him enough room to survive.
Their epic battle was cut short, however. Jules Bianchi's engine cried enough in spectacular fashion, expiring just before the Veedol chicane at the end of the lap. The Cosworth engine spewed out gusts of smoke and the car set ablaze, but those were only minor perils compared to the bizarre incident that followed.
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| Sacre Bleu! We don't usually see V8s blow up like that |
Due to the uphill nature of the area, and the fact that the gearbox was probably blown to smithereens by the engine failure (thus the wheels were not in any gear) the car began coasting backwards, across the circuit. The leaders came around to discover the driverless Marussia making its bid for freedom, but by this time, it had already rolled clear of any danger.
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| They see me rollin', they brakin'... |
The Safety Car was immediately summoned, but it was quite safe really - the car was only on the track momentarily, and came to a halt on the other side of the track, where it bumped over an advertising board and was recovered safely. The Safety car was out for far longer than necessary really, which gave Webber a chance to get back onto the lead lap.
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| Reminiscent of the old V10 failures that happened every race in the 2000s |
Mark was not out of trouble just yet though, as he was stuck behind Mexican Esteban Gutierrez. The young rookie proved troublesome and Mark took 10 laps to overpower him. An early pitstop leapfrogged him past the Sauber, and his recovery continued. Meanwhile, the Lotuses were still not giving Vettel any breathing space. Raikkonen took the lead on Lap 41, after Vettel ducked into the pits for tyres, something Grosjean had done a lap before. He replaced his worn medium tyres for some scrubbed Soft tyres to try and reel in his contemporaries. Alonso made a similar move, to try and catch Grosjean by the end of the race.
Williams celebrated their 600th Grand Prix here, but they had little to celebrate really. No points so far, and now Maldonado had a tricky pitstop, with one of the wheelguns failing. This dropped him way down the order. Fellow South American Gutierrez was also in trouble. He had been in the points for a while, but he was slammed way down the order when the two Nico-bergs, Rosberg and Hulkenberg got past.
Raikkonen made light work of his teammate on lap 55, but this was due to a team order; Grosjean was told not to hold him up for the sake of the World Championship. Kimi's tyres were thought to be hugely faster than Sebastian's, and while he was catching the German, it was not quite at the vast rate of knots expected. The Iceman lingered just outside the DRS zone for a few laps, but it looked like the Red Bull had the measure.
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| So close but so far... |
Half a minute down the road, Button was having the race of the Season for McLaren, in a strong 5th place. However, after starting on, and falling from pole, Hamilton was not content with scoring just a single-digit amount of points at his team's home race, and relegated Jenson to 6th on the very last lap. The move was made right in front of the Mercedes grandstand, and brought the local German fans some joy.
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| Gentlemen racers - Former Teammates Lewis and Jenson give each other space |
It could not match that which Vettel brought though. Raikkonen got DRS on the final lap, but it was too late, and the distance to make up too vast. Sebastian Vettel brought his car across the line to win his home Grand Prix for the first time ever. It also marked his 30th career win, a feat only 6 others have managed. Raikkonen chased all the way, finishing just a second down, while Grosjean narrowly beat Alonso to the final podium spot, repeating the podium of Bahrain earlier this season.
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| This is the third time we've seen this podium now. Give someone else a go! |
Lap Leaders
S Vettel 1-7
M Webber 8
R Grosjean 9-13
S Vettel 14-40
K Raikkonen 41-49
K Raikkonen 41-49
S Vettel 50-60
Finishing Positions
1. S Vettel, Red Bull
2. K Raikkonen, Lotus
3. R Grosjean, Lotus
4. F Alonso, Ferrari
5. L Hamilton, Mercedes AMG
6. J Button, McLaren
7. M Webber, Red Bull
8. S Perez, McLaren
9. N Rosberg, Mercedes AMG
10. N Hulkenberg, Sauber
11. P di Resta, Force India
12. D Ricciardo, Toro Rosso
13. A Sutil, Force India
14. E Gutierrez, Sauber
15. P Maldonado, Williams
16. V Bottas, Williams
17. C Pic, Caterham
18. G van der Garde, Caterham
19. M Chilton, Marussia
Out/Unclassified
JE Vergne, Toro Rosso (Hydraulics)
J Bianchi, Marussia (Engine)
J Bianchi, Marussia (Engine)
F Massa, Ferrari (Spun Off)
PENULTIMATE
PONDERINGThere were two very odd incidents in this race, and for the middle part of the race they masked a bit of a dull proceeding. However the race was bookened by supreme performances by the Lotus drivers. Grosjean's first stint was superb he briefly led the race, and made his Soft tyres last longer than anyone else, yet he was still able to put in some of the fastest laps early on.
Webber's bizarre stop and the possessed Marussia of Bianchi provided the spectacle thereon, and the ensuing Safety Car took away the spice from the race. Hamilton and Alonso were dicing at the time and perhaps that would have climaxed, had Bianchi's engine not disintegrated. There was little action from the Safety Car coming in and about Lap 40, which was when the leaders began adapting their strategies.
The chase to the flag was very intense, much like that in Silverstone a week before. Grosjean and Vettel were running together on Medium tyres, while Raikkonen and Alonso were ahead on Soft tyres. Their pit stops subsequently dropped them behind Seb and Romain, and while Alonso was unable to make any gains, Kimi eased past his colleague, and narrowly missed out on the victory. Like in Silverstone - where Webber would have passed Rosberg if given 1 or 2 more laps; Kimi didn't quite have enough time, and the old saying once again rings true, that it's one thing to catch up, but overtaking is a whole other story.
Driver of the day: Romain Grosjean
A word on Grosjean, too. His calamitous 2012 season meant a very low opinion of him by many fans and drivers alike, so when he puts in a performance like he did here, and in Bahrain, he seems to stand out. In my opinion though, the Frenchman definitely seems to be honing his racecraft and calming down a touch. He's had two third places thus far, and even led the German Grand Prix for a handful of laps. I can't remember if he's led a race before, but it's an impressive feat none the less. He did have four crashes in Monaco, and that indicates some of his GP2 petulance is still present. But more 'respected' drivers like Perez and Massa had some questionable incidents there too. You are entitled to have a bad day at times, so for the Frenchman's sake, I hope this was his only of the season.
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