Mark Webber after 132 race starts finally won his first race and it was a moment which he would cherish forever as not only did Webber proved that he can be as good as his phenomenally talented teammate Vettel but he also put his name down in the championship conquest for what could turn out to be a most exiting championship chase against Button. To make the day better his teammate Vettel came 2nd and Red Bull Racing for the 3rd time this year managed a 1-2 finish and closed in on the gap against Brawn GP.
Brawn though were expected to dominate on a track which would have suited them in the end had a race to forget as not only the expected rains screwed their strategy but also their pit decisions put them out of contention of podium finishes and instead gave their drivers 5th and 6th places. Though they do have a large lead, but Vettel and Webber are 2nd and 3rd in the drivers’ championship and with 8 more races to go, now it is realistic for them to hunt down Button for the title. Barrichello once again was upset with the team and has questioned its strategy and the way things are going it is unlikely that Barrichello will stay with Brawn post this season.
The German GP also sort of saw a Ferrari revival with Massa gaining an unexpected 3rd place finish and getting his first podium of the season. Massa is clearly the #1 driver for Ferrari and has proved that given a good car he is infact more reliable than Kimi in leading a championship team and with the rumours of Alonso coming to Ferrari in 2010 well Kimi should be a worried man as his performance during the last few race weekends have been very average and this could very well the end for the Finish driver.
Speaking of Alonso, he yet again managed a solid performance with a Renault which does not deserve to score points as he managed to come 7th while teammate Piquet continue to improve as he came 13th and at one stage looked like he had a chance for points. Though Alonso and Webber were the drivers of the race, German talent Rosberg managed to come in 4th after starting from 15th on the grid and was very consistent throughout the race and well this could have impressed the higher-ups in McLaren and BMW as if you do believe the German media, he is expected to land a drive in either one of them for the next season.
Lewis Hamilton came 18th while teammate Kovalainen came in 8th but the irony was that Lewis’s car had all the updates and he realistically had a chance to finish on podium but some over enthusiastic drive in the start effectively screwed his race and he had to just drive along and just let the others pass him as he was behind by well over a lap while Kovalainen managed to have a lucky start and at one stage was coming in 2nd but then due to some lacklustre driving he only could finish at 8 but any points is good for the team which is having one of its worst season ever.
Another home team the BMW though at no stage did look like it was seriously challenging for points but it was good to see the team near the top 10 rather than behind the grid and the car may not have yet found it’s sweet post but both Heidfeld and Kubica were pretty impressive while Toyota though had the package to be as fast as a Brawn or a RBR once again disappointed with Trulli coming in 17th while Glock came only 9th. It’s a pity to see Toyota with a good package struggling for points but had it had someone like Alonso driving for it, well they could be even challenging for wins by now.
There is something about Force India and Kimi as once again Kimi was involved in a racing incident which effectively ruined Sutil’s race and Force India’s dream of scoring F1 points. The team has really made improvements and it is clearly better than the other bottom placed team Toro Rosso and also the team has managed to give the likes of BMW, Renault and even McLaren at times a run for its money. We all just hope the team manages to score points by the time the season gets over.
It was a good German GP and though the crowd would have liked Vettel to win the race, but though Vettel may not be the Kaiser yet, he is one in the making and it was always good to see a prancing horse car once again on the podium. A few more races like this can give Brawn and Button some sleepless nights as Red Bull are on a accent and come the Hungarian GP Brawn may have to come up with something or else the Bulls may just run away leaving Brawn behind.
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