Well we learned that the Red Bulls can be stopped, and we didn’t have to put up with “the finger” after qualifying or the race. Sebastian Vettel should start on a course of happy pills, Mark Webber should spend the next week practicing starts, and the Red Bull strategists should recognize when a car on old tyres is slower than its competitors on new ones. This amazing technology is called a stop watch.
So, are the Red Bulls now Dead Bulls? This coming weekend in Hungary will tell us more.
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) had an inspired weekend and deserved his win. Well judged pit stop strategy and a flawless drive. McLaren looks as if it has found the speed they had lost, and Hamilton was the fastest man on the straights by around 20 km/h. However, the other side of the McLaren garage was not celebrating, after a very lack-luster performance by Jenson Button, which ended up in a hydraulic failure.
Another sterling (or should that be ‘peseta’?) drive by Alonso (Ferrari). Like Hamilton, old Spanish eyebrows never gives up, and Ferrari worked out their fuel consumption to the very last drop, with Alonso running out of fuel on the slow-down lap. He was given a lift back by Webber who resisted the urge to fling him off at the first corner. Felipe Massa in the number two Ferrari showed once again that he is the second driver, complete with grid and race positions to prove it. However, his relegation to fifth on the last lap was through the slower pit work by the Ferrari crew.
Mercedes can claim a win in the German GP, as the McLaren runs the Mercedes engine, but with Rosberg 7th and Schumacher 8th, they have little to celebrate as a team. Great to see Schumacher give the young pretender to the throne some big hurry-up in the race, but a spin ended it all.
Heidfeld (Renault) was given a drive-through penalty for clobbering Di Resta (Force India) at the precise moment he was flying through the air after being launched off Buemi (Toro Rosso). The stewards were not impressed with Buemi’s excuse, however, and he gets a five grid place penalty for Hungary. Petrov in the other Renault put in a solid drive, though some of his blocking maneuvers were somewhat doubtful, but he did escape the wrath of the stewards.
If Sauber could ever get Kamikaze Kobayashi to qualify well, he could win races. He pulled up five places (from 17th) on the first lap and finished 9th. Sergio Perez in the other Sauber was never seen but did finish 11th. Yawn.
Way down in the boonies where the TV cameras never go, young Aussie Daniel Ricciardo in the Hispania finished and lapped faster than his team mate Liuzzi. However, they are a long way off being competitive.
Likewise Virgin has little to be happy about, and for Timo Glock to be shaking hands with himself after signing a long term contract with the Virgin team is the kiss of death for his F1 racing career. An also-ran forever.
