Fernando Alonso dominated the 2012 German GP with a little help from...Lewis Hamilton?.
Fernando did have the measure of the field and took full advantage of starting from pole but benefitted from a lapped Lewis Hamilton's sudden point of pride when, after being told by the Mclaren wall not to hold up Jenson Button coming up behind him.
At that point Hamilton, who had just been lapped by Alonso and Vettel decided to attack the latter and un-lap himself, which he accomplished using DRS.
There will be some arguments about the use of DRS by lapped cars (after all, you are not one second down, you are one lap and one second down) but, be that as it may, Vettel, who had been gaining quickly on Alonso for the lead, seemed to be momentarily stunned is not psychologically wounded. Hamilton continued on and tried to attack Alonso but Fernando was faster, DRS or no DRS.
Mclaren, in a legal but questionable move, later retired the car with Hamilton out of the points allowing them to make penalty free changes before the Hungarian GP.
The race ended with further controversy, after the pre-race Red Bull "cheater"engine mapping affair, when Vettel passed Button for second place with two laps to go. He did have all four wheels outside of the painted lines, so it is possible he would get penalized. Stay tuned.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Alonso Ferrari 1h31:05.862
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 3.732
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 6.949
4. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 16.409
5. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 21.925
6. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 27.896
7. Schumacher Mercedes + 28.960
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 46.900
9. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 48.100
10. Rosberg Mercedes + 48.800
11. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 59.200
12. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.400
13. Massa Ferrari + 1:16.800
14. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:16.900
15. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1 lap
16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap
17. Senna Williams-Renault + 1 lap
18. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
19. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 2 laps
20. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
22. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 3 laps
23. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
Fastest lap: Schumacher, 1:18.275
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58
World Championship standings, round 10:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Alonso 154 1. Red Bull-Renault 238
2. Webber 120 2. Ferrari 177
3. Vettel 118 3. McLaren-Mercedes 157
4. Raikkonen 95 4. Lotus-Renault 156
5. Hamilton 92 5. Mercedes 105
6. Rosberg 76 6. Sauber-Ferrari 78
7. Button 65 7. Williams-Renault 47
8. Grosjean 61 8. Force India-Mercedes 46
9. Perez 47 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
10. Kobayashi 31
11. Maldonado 29
12. Schumacher 29
13. Di Resta 27
14. Massa 23
15. Hulkenberg 19
16. Senna 18
17. Vergne 4
18. Ricciardo 2
All timing unofficial
I must admit, I am what you would term a Lewis fan but I've been so impressed with Fernando this year. He get's so much out of an inferior car, especially under pressure and makes great decisions.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the name for those little black wings beside both sides of the rool hoop, but since silverstone I realized that some teams are using one of them with huge bulges. It's clear in the pictures above.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what they are for???
Not totally sure but aren't they camera pods? the top ones are in a mandatory position but the others have moved around on cars, usually they were on the nose...
Deleteyeah, noted that. But what bugs me is that some teams are using bigger than normal pieces in the Fridays. Note in the pictures the difference in size between both sides of the rool hoop in the Mclaren and RedBull car.
DeleteMy guess is that they are sensors to measure the exaust flow since they are only used in practice or tests.
'Nando el Mago...
ReplyDeleteas a Spaniard, and Tifoso: great pride in seeing such a complete integration of man, Team and machine.
one sticking point: if only Massa could do so much as to garner points.