Germany is one of the most popular races on the Formula 1 calender. The Country has produced some of the best racing drivers. Sebastien Vettel, 2 Time F1 World Champion was yet to win a race in his homeland. Could this be the year??

 

QUALIFYING :

Qualifying was a mixed bag in terms of the weather, with a little bit of everything. It started out dry before the rain came and saturated the track.

Kimi Raikkonen topped the Q1 session Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Q2. Nico Rosberg was the first casualty as he failed to qualify into Q2. Q2 sprung some surprises as Massa, Perez, Kobayashi and Grosjean failed to make the cut.

The Ferrari and Red Bulls dominated Q3. Fernando Alonso snatched pole from Vettel and Webber completed the top 3. Schumacher, Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Button, Hamilton, Di Resta and Raikkonen completed the top 10.

However Penalties galore caused many changes in the grid. Romain Grosjean suffered Gearbox problems in Silverstone and had to opt for a new one. 5 places lost. Rosberg and Webber also suffered the same fate. Sergio Perez was handed a 5 place grid penalty for impeding Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in Q2.

 

RACE :

Red Bull was the centre of all attention over an alleged Engine Mapping Issue. However the FIA chose Not to penalise them.

As the Five lights went out, Alonso led into turn 1. Webber and Raikkonen jumped Hamilton at the start. Button got a good start and was 5th behind Hulkenberg. A lot was happening at the back though. Grosjean ran wide, Massa drove into Ricciardo's car damaging his front wing. A Lap Later the debris on the track took out another victim - Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton pitted but the handling of the car became so bad that the Brit wanted to retire.

Raikkonen soon wrestled past Di Resta into 9th, fantastic racing by both drivers as they left space for each other. Perez who had started in 17th had made a fantastic start and moved upto 10th after overtaking Ricciardo. Button made a move on Hulkenberg at the end of the DRS into the hairpin and took 4th position.

Alonso, Vettel, Schumacher, Button, Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Webber, Raikkonen. Perez & Di Resta were the top 10 after 10 laps.

Button then made the move on Schumacher and moved up into 3rd. Raikkonen jumped the duo of Maldonado and Webber after the first round of Pit-Stops. Hulkenberg overtook Schumacher for 7th on the 15th lap but the latter regained it on the next lap. Raikkonen took advantage of this and tucked in behind Schumacher to demote Hulkenberg into 9th. Alonso pitted on Lap 19, Button on 20th and Vettel on 21st. The top 3 remained unchaged after the first round of Pit-Stops. Vettel was slowly closing in on Alonso and the gap reduced to only 1 second on lap 27. Hamilton pitted for the third time on Lap 30 and emerged 18th. A lot was in store in the next few laps.

Kobayashi overtook Webber for P7 on lap 33. Hamilton was lapped by Alonso and Vettel on lap 34. The battle at the front had helped Button to close in on Alonso and Vettel.

The top 4 comprised of Alonso, Vettel, Button and Raikkonen ( The Finn ran an extra 4 laps on the soft and was doing exceptionally well ).

Hamilton was within 1 second of Vettel and unlapped himself on lap 36. A frustrated Vettel gestured foolishly as Hamilton seemed to impede him. Hamilton soon harried Alonso ( Lap 39 ) but the Spaniard was focussed on the job at hand.

Vettel lost KERS on lap 38 and Button was closing in on the German.

Button pitted on lap 41 and Raikkonen set the fastest lap. Button's Crew set a new world record in pitstops : 2.4 Seconds!

Alonso and Vettel pitted on Lap 42. Button managed to jump Vettel as the latter came out of the pits and was into 2nd!!

Vettel ran wide though turn one on Lap 43 and Button now had Alonso in his sights.

The top 10 on Lap 48 were Alonso, Button ( less than a second behind ), Vettel, Raikkonen, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Perez, Rosberg, Webber, Di Resta.

Lap 58 saw the Retirement of Lewis Hamilton. A wise decison as a points finish seemed difficult. A sad end on his 100th Grand Prix Appearance. Schumacher was setting a series of fastest laps.

Lap 60 brought more surprises. Button's tyres were suddenly losing grip and Vettel was now catching up. Alonso now had a clear run to the chequered flag.

Lap 64 had Vettel only 0.4 seconds behind Button. The fight for 2nd Position had become interesting.

Lap 66 was the lap where Vettel used DRS to great effect. Button and Vettel were side by side coming out of the hairpin but better grip pushed the latter ahead. Button however reported on the radio that Vettel had all 4 wheels off-track.

The Chequered Flag was waved and Alonso extended his lead in the championship. Vettel, Button completed the podium. Raikkonen fought through the field to finish a fine 4th. Grosjean had a race to forget as he finished a dismal 18th.

Button informed Vettel about the investigation initiated by the Marshalls concerning the overtake.

Post Race the FIA summoned both Vettel and Button in regards to the incident. Vettel was subsequently punished. 20 Seconds were added to his time and he was demoted form 2nd to 5th.

The Revised top 4 now were Alonso, Button, Raikkonen and Kobayashi!!

A Fine Reward for Raikkonen for all the efforts he put to move up from 3rd.

 

Alonso had now extended his lead in the championship to 34 points. Webber's 8th position didn't do his Championship aspirations any good.

 

Lets analyze the 2 incidents...

The HAMILTON - VETTEL Incident :

Vettel was in hot pursuit of Fernando Alonso and the duo had just lapped Hamilton. ( Lap 34 ) However on Lap 36 the DRS got activated on Hamilton's car ( less than a second behind ) and Hamilton unlapped himself hindering Vettel in the process.

Was the action Justifiable?

There is No Rule which says that a Driver Cannot Unlap himself. If there was one, then such a Rule would rarely come into effect. Backmarkers normally would not have the pace to catch up on the Lead Drivers and try a manouevre to unlap themselves. Safety Car Periods however authorize drivers at the back to unlap themselves.

This simply was a very rare incident. However there are a few things that one should take a note of. Hamilton unlapped himself against Vettel but did not do so with Alonso. He stuck himself behind the Ferrari and Vettel's pace dropped significantly.

At the same time, Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button was third behind Alonso and Vettel. Hamilton's "impeding" of Vettel helped Button to bring down the gap.

McLaren Mercedes played smart too. Hamilton was running 18th when lapped by Alonso and Vettel on lap 34. Hamilton positioned himself behind Alonso ( he tried to unlap himself against the Spaniard too ) after the Vettel incident. Hamilton was matching the pace of the leader and they quickly came up to other backmarkers. Blue Flags ensured that both Alonso and Hamilton went through, the latter making up positions quickly, thus saving him the trouble of fighting for the same.

Hamilton eventually retired after it was clear that a points finish was a remote possibility.

 

Was Hamilton's Move Illegal? - NO.

Could Hamilton be Penalised? - NO.

Hamilton escaped punished thanks to the absence of such a rule. However Considering the Circumstances & the Experience of Lewis Hamilton, I would have expected a more Sportsman-like attitude from him. He should have opted to stay away from the LEAD BATTLE.

This incident could have serious consequences in the Championship Battle.

 

 

The VETTEL - BUTTON Incident :

Vettel lost 2nd position to Jenson Button after the final round of pitstops. However the German persevered and closed in on him. Button was having trouble finding grip into the final stage of the race. Vettel was on his tail in the DRS zone and both were battling wheel-to-wheel going into the hairpin. Vettel jumped Button after getting a better exit out of the hairpin. Button however reported that Vettel had all 4 wheels off-track while completing the overtake. Vettel was later Penalised. The 20 second penalty demoted him from 2nd to 5th.

Analysis :

Button's tyres had "gone off the cliff". Vettel with his Fresher set of tyres was all over him. Lets analyze the overtake. The McLaren Mercedes has better Horsepower than the Renault Powered Red Bull. Button took a defensive line going into the hairpin ( the inside ). As a defensive measure a driver always tries to brake later than usual. I suspect Button did that. Button was also aware of the straight just after the hairpin, so if he could get a good exit, Vettel would find it difficult to overtake him. However the lack of grip pushed Button slightly wide on the exit. Vettel who was on the outside was left with little room out of the hairpin. Button also suffered a slight twitch on the exit. Simply put, There wasn't enough racing space for both drivers. So Vettel used the run-off area for his overtake.

Button was always going to stick to the racing line ( lack of grip on worn out tryes ) and the line was a wide exit from the hairpin. Vettel on the outside should have known this. If we study the Throttle Usage out of the hairpin, we see Vettel floor the throttle earlier out of the turn ( at that moment only two wheels were off-track ). This pushed the German's Car further away from the track. The Better Grip and Traction obviously propelled Vettel of Button.

Was the overtake legal? - The Rulebook says NO.

Was the Penalty Justified? - Its harsh but YES

The Driver can't overtake another car by having all 4 wheels off-track. Vettel could have escaped Penalty had he conceded the position back to Button and attacked him again into the next turn. The Urgency or rather Impatience of the German got the better of him. Button was going to make it diffcult for Vettel. Vettel should have backed off. However you can't blame the German in the heat of the moment.

Red Bull would feel hard done by the Decisions taken by the FIA. Rules are Rules.. However Harsh they may seem. Hamilton's actions in the earlier incident were those of an amateur driver. I am sure he would have been penalised if there was a rule in place.

 

So another Race done and dusted. Vettel went away from his Home Race as an unhappy man. He would have to do it all over again next year. Red Bull was in the news for all the wrong reasons. They simply had to pick themselves up and girder their loins for Hungary in a week's time.

 

ADVANTAGE ALONSO.