German Grand Prix

After the British Grand Prix weekend where the race was probably compromised by some last minute car setup rule changes, the Grand Prix in Germany at Nurburgring was a success. The rules were changed back to what they were before the British Grand Prix and the weather cooperated by the rain conveniently stopping as the race was starting.

Going into Qualifying this weekend, all the talk has been about who can beat Vettel. So far, this season has been dominated by Vettel who has won 6 out of the first 9 races and his lowest finish of the year up to the German Grand Prix was 2nd. Qualifying ended with Weber taking poll position, Hamilton finishing 2nd, and Vettel in 3rd.

The race started with Hamilton taking the lead from Weber after the first turn. Vettel slotted himself into 4th place after the first few turns. He would capitalize on a small mistake by Alonso and move into 3rd place on the 2nd lap.

Weber would pass Hamilton to take the lead a dozen laps into the race. I’m sure that felt really good for Weber as that was the first lap he has led this season.

Vettel ended up ruining his chances of a 10th straight podium finish this year with a spin out, putting him back into 5th place, well off the lead. He would end up passing Massa to take 4th place on the last lap when both of them pitted. The Red Bull crew simply had a much faster pit stop than Ferrari.

The only accident of the day came on the 10th lap when Heidfeld was moving into position to pass Buemi but Buemi moved over to block the pass and ended up making contact with Heidfeld’s car. Heidfeld’s front wing shattered and he went sliding off the track. The most useless ruling of the day came from the Stewards when they gave Heidfeld a drive through penalty even though he was already “walking” away from his car.

It was an interesting race with numerous lead changes which is a nice change from the previous races. Throughout the entire race the top 3 racers were within 10 seconds of each other. The McLaren team made the best race decisions as to when to pit and Hamilton would end up winning the race with Alonso not that far behind in 2nd. Weber would finish in 3rd , and for the 2nd time in three years wasn’t able to win the race after taking the coveted poll position.

It looks like the other top teams have closed the gap on the Red Bull team which should make the rest of the season fun to watch. Next weekend’s race in Hungary should be a good one.