AFTER my planned absence from Silverstone analysis, I return with my strong opinions on last weekend’s German Grand Prix, held at a very chilly Nurburgring (a.k.a a typical November day in the UK).
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| ENJOYMENT: Hamilton liked spraying the bubbly at weekend |
Lewis Hamilton produced one of those weekends in Germany where he was unbeatable. He is always exciting to watch, does Lewis ever do dull? You can file this victory alongside the likes of Fuji 07, Silverstone 08 and Shanghai 11, as amongst his greatest. After free practice, McLaren simply didn’t look in the game. If they got their act together, Hamilton might have been fighting for the bottom step of the podium – but a victory chance looked very unlikely. However, his qualifying lap on Saturday was magical. To lap 1.1secs quicker than Jenson Button, in the same car was a mighty effort. On Sunday, he was so determined and focused and all of his attacking was this time, for the right reasons. His outstanding move around the outside of Fernando Alonso was one of the best of the season so far. This was Hamilton at his best and I’m so pleased to be able to say positive things about him again in ‘The Finishing Straight.’ I hope he put a smile on many British faces, who let’s face it – Golf and Cricket aside, have had a pretty grim sporting year.
Alongside McLaren, Ferrari has made significant upturns in its performance over the last few races. The days of being two seconds slower than Red Bull and getting embarrassingly lapped by their closest rivals in Barcelona seem like a distant memory. Fernando Alonso has been driving magnificently of late and once again, is leaving Felipe Massa trailing in his wake. Alonso might lament a low-key qualifying performance, or the moment where he failed to spot Hamilton’s attack when he grabbed the lead after the second pitstops, but he seemed rather happy with second place. I would certainly expect Ferrari, certainly in Alonso’s capable hands, to win more races between now and the season’s climax in Brazil on November 27.
The most dramatic moment of the race was a collision between Sebastian Buemi and Nick Heidfeld on lap 11. The result saw Buemi into the pits to replace a punctured tyre and Heidfeld spin spectacularly out of the race. Renault team principal Eric Bouillier has gone public with his criticisms over Heidfeld’s lack of performance and you have to agree with him. Heidfeld should be leading the team in Robert Kubica’s unfortunate and untimely absence and he isn’t doing the job required. Bruno Senna will get his chance tomorrow morning in practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix and I’d even like to see Senna or the GP2 championship leader, Romain Grosjean be given a shot in the team before the season’s end. Renault is trailing 12 points behind Mercedes GP in the constructor’s championship and Vitaly Petrov simply doesn’t have enough underneath him to fight two consistent points’ scorers from Mercedes. In regards to the Buemi/Heidfeld crash at the weekend, I cannot understand why Buemi has been given a five place grid penalty for this weekend’s action. He could have given Heidfeld a bit more room, but he was ahead approaching the braking zone for the chicane, didn’t make a dangerous move across to protect his position and with his experience, Heidfeld should have expected that the gap he aimed for was always going to close. He was unlucky in Canada, being caught out by Kamur Kobayashi’s lack of acceleration, but he was fully to blame for his departure in Germany, so no symphony for him. Plus, what is Buemi meant to do; jump out of the way! He’s not Jarno Trulli!
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| SPIN: Karun Chandok looked a bit out of depth at Nurburgring |
Speaking of Trulli, he was absent from the weekend’s activities, as Team Lotus elected to give Karun Chandok a go in the car. Karun is one of F1’s nice guys and it was pleasing to see him back behind the wheel for the first time since last year’s British Grand Prix. He was treated like dirt at Hispania and seems happy at Lotus, but he did struggle all weekend, with brake and gearbox problems. Sadly, he finished last, behind Jerome D’Ambrosio and both Hispania cars. Chandok looked a bit out of his depth at Nurburgring and Trulli, if he was present, must have been cringing at the Indian’s driver lack of performance. Jarno has a new power steering system this weekend, so he has no more pitiful excuses to save him now. Also causing a stir was Timo Glock, who made some rather barbaric comments on the radio to his race engineers after another expected Q1 exit. 24 hours later, Glock confirmed that he had resigned for Virgin Racing for another two years. I can’t work the 29-year old out; it was a strange move. I have to appreciate his hard work and graft for the team, but he deserves a car firmly capable of his talents and frustration isn’t going to get him anywhere.
I was totally convinced that Sebastian Vettel was not going to win last weekend at his home event. If he has a bogey event, it is the German Grand Prix. Vettel was chasing the ultimate set-up all weekend and looked a step behind Mark Webber throughout. He made some uncharacteristic errors in the race, such as the turn ten spin he had early on. However, fourth place, considering it was a pretty ordinary weekend by his high standards was a good result. However, Red Bull must be worried. They were outpaced by Ferrari on one of their strongest circuits, Silverstone and at Nurburgring, were behind both McLaren and Ferrari. Not every race can be perfect, but there can be no doubt that their massive pace advantage they had at the start of the season has been whittled away by its closest competition.
Mercedes GP scored some solid points on home soil, but for the second year running, both cars were lapped infront of many of their hard-working employees. Nico Rosberg has admitted that he needs to work on his race pace and that can’t be argued with. Mercedes don’t seem to have many issues on a Saturday, with both cars being regulars in the pole position shootout. However, heavy Pirelli rear tyre wear has hurt them far too often on raceday. I’d imagine Ross Brawn will be writing 2011 off very soon, if he hasn’t already and concentrate on 2012. Although it is important to beat Renault in the battle for fourth spot in the constructors championship, that is no consolation for the team. Results have simply not been good enough, in fact, they are worse than last year. It’s been a year since Rosberg got their last podium finish, so it feels like the team are going backwards, not forwards.
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| FORM: Sutil put on his best show of the season in Germany |
I was delighted to see Adrian Sutil have such a strong weekend and pick up valuable points for Force India. For only the third time this season, Sutil outqualified Paul di Resta and was on the pace all weekend. He ran seventh for most of the race, beat both Mercedes drivers fair and square and finished on the same lap as race winner Hamilton. Sutil has had a tough season, but once again, proved he can collect the points the team need, especially with Toro Rosso and Sauber having improved drastically on their 2010 performances. With Nico Hulkenberg waiting in the wings, it could also be seen as a career saving performance from Adrian, whose career has stalled in the past twelve months. Hopefully, he has managed to turn the corner this season.
Finally, it is time to nominate my Driver of the Day and Driver of the Weekend. Sutil and Alonso both deserve valuable mentions, but Lewis Hamilton has to scoop up both awards for his extemporary performance at the Nurburgring. You could see how important the win meant to him, as indicated by his team radio message after the race. Hamilton is adamant that the championship is not over yet. Well, Vettel still has a massive lead and I disagree with those who say he is cracking under the pressure but if Hamilton and Alonso can apply more pressure, we will see what happens. Budapest will answer a lot more questions before Formula One goes on a deserved summer break.
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