German Grand Prix Review

It all started from the outset. Webber was flying, he was aggressive (as he later showed even more) no one was going to be allowed to win that race. He was on it in true Mansell-esque form. No prisoners from the off. I think that he was spurned on by the fact that Red Bull had come out saying that they were favouring Vettel for next year with their car design. He needed to send a message that he wasn’t to be underestimated or written off… Blimey did he do that. Vettel was a solid but uninspiring throughout the weekend. An unnoticed second is probably the sort of drives he needs to churn out to win the championship however.

In qualifying there was all sorts of chaos because of the rain and it was the most interesting in recent memory. Sutil was excellent qualifying 7th and it was a shame he had a coming together with Raikkonen in the race – basically scuppering his chances of a good points finish. I have to say that I think the incident was just a racing incident and that if Sutil was a bit more experienced he would have probably not had the accident. A shame especially since Raikkonen retired anyway later on in the race.

Brawn also did well in qualifying with Ross Brawn calling the shots brilliantly to get Barrichello out on slicks at the right time. Their 2nd and 3rd on the grid was down to strategy and they just didn’t have the pace in the race to realise a good result.

On the warm up lap Alonso had an eventful spin but regained his grid slot in time. He came good at the end of the race and must be quite happy with 7th considering the ability of the Renault at the moment. Kovalainen did well to sneak 8th. He did not have all the updates that Hamilton did but was able to put in a solid performance. Hamilton on the other had using his KERS off the line had an amazing start but got a puncture from tagging Webber’s front wing. When watching replays it seemed that Hamilton moved under braking and that Webber didn’t have time to react. I don’t think it was Webber’s fault just a racing incident.

However the incident with Barrichello and Webber was something else. Webber squeezed Barrichello as we have seen many times before at a start. But instead of Barrichello reacting or moving he just stayed on his line and let him ram him. What was Barrichello thinking? The two of them could of cart wheeled into the air and had huge accidents. This is racing - expect to get squeezed like that! Has he never seen nearly everybody squeeze each other at the beginning of a race like that? Webber was being aggressive but not wrongly so. Barrichello was asleep. Then for Webber to be penalised for it is ridiculous. I’m just glad that Webber went and drove the wheels of his Red Bull and still won. He did not deserve that penalty at all.

Ferrari’s Massa was happy with third and quite rightly so. If Raikkonen hadn’t of had engine trouble then he would of finished behind Massa and Ferrari would have had a respectable 3rd and 4th. I think they are slowly getting better and realise they can nick a few podiums between now and the seasons end. Yet again Ferrari’s KERS was the only thing which enabled them to get ahead at the start and also the only thing which enabled them to stay in front. Most noticeably Massa in front of Barrichello.

It was obvious the 2 stop was the way to go and Barrichello was spitting out his dummy over the teams decisions and stuck fuel pump. But could of it been any other way? They were eating up their tyres and 3 stops was the only chance they had really. Barrichello was unfortunate but when it counted Button was good enough to jump him putting in a blinding lap that he had over Barrichello. TS Barrichello – grow up. I think the truth about him being so annoyed lies with the fact Barrichello knows his chance for the championship or maybe even any wins is gone. He is no doubt going at the end of the year, especially if he makes comments like that about his team. He needs to grow up and be professional.

Rosberg did an excellent job to come 4th and he too had trouble with his fuel pump and fuel levels like Barrichello. But he kept his head down and drove well. Williams must be happy with him and I think with the way things are going in the partnership they are likely to stay together for another season.

Jenson was interviewed afterwards and was suitably worried. He knows the championship could be lost. Brawn have updates for Hungary and he must hope they improve the car. As the problem is that McLaren and Ferrari are now getting in front of them and stealing points off the Brawn team while the Red Bulls are winning. If Button consistently finishes 5th or around there and the Red Bulls are winning then his championship advantage will be gone in three or four races and we have eight races left. I think it’s going to be close. I hope Webber really ups his game and takes it to Vettel.

It seems to be genuinely game on for the championship.