At six foot four, Justin Wilson was not supposed to fit in a Formula One car.
In 2003, Paul Stoddard's Minardi built a car to fit him but when he changed teams towards the end of that season he had to fit in a Jaguar originally built around Antonio Pizzonia's, a much shorter man.
How the team squeezed him in there and how he managed to race at all is a testament to his tenacity.
In 2003 F1 had a weird qualifying system with single lap sessions on Friday and Saturday.
Friday session was essentially meaningless for the race because it was run on low fuel but it was the fastest of the two, an all out single lap.
That day, in that session, on his debut for the team, Wilson outpaced Schumi.
Mercedes triumphed in 2014. A German driver won four of the last five championships yet the German Grand Prix, held in the F1 era since 1950 with just two exceptions (1955 and 2007) is currently off the schedule.
Ecclestone laid it out in a letter sent to the Rhein-Zeitung newspaper: Not enough spectators to raise the money FOM is demanding for a race.
Revenge for the corruption trial? Negotiating tactic? Not unheard of from Mr. Ecclestone yet one cannot help but think this whole squeezing of promoters in key, historic areas for racing in favor in countries where questionable governments pony up whatever cash for a year or two, just has to stop.
The German GP gave us some pretty exciting racing but why is it that people are not so excited about F1 this year?
Part of it is the Mercedes domination, when Ferrari dominated, when Mclaren dominated or Williams, it was different. I guess Mercedes is not warm and fuzzy in any way, it's hard to cheer for the teutonic giant.
Turns out not even Germans are that excited and the GP at Hockenheim had fairly low spectator turnout. 50 some thousand vs the 200 some thousand who crowded the Austrian GP.
Of course the Austrian GP was subsidized by Red Bull and tickets were uniformly inexpensive, and order of magnitude less expensive than any other race... Hint, hint F1.
Like at the Red Bull Ring though, there is something about Hockenheim which makes for good racing. Both are simple layouts with not too many corners and some slow turns.
Slow turns are a feature of Tilke tracks but simple certainly is not. One could argue Tilke tracks started with good intentions but became too clever for their (and the sport's) own good.
Perhaps F1 has done the same.
Massa flipped
Full marks for having one Mercedes start from the back, At least Hamilton had a good time slicing though the field as you would expect with a car capable of finishing 20 seconds ahead of P2. Lewis was lucky to escape a penalty for barging into Raikkonen and compromising his race somewhat.
His issue with Button was more of a 50/50 thing, Button left a hole so you can't blame Hamilton for going for it. In any case, hats off to Hamilton for putting on a good show.
Ricciardo, Alonso and Bottas were the true stars of the race. Ricciardo was, as even Fernando said, amazing. His move on Button was textbook, I can't believe a world champion fell for that dummy. His fight with Alonso in the end, what we all wish F1 would be but in a fight for at least the podium.
Alonso as usual was able to get more out of, in Niki Lauda's words, "a shit car" than anyone else can. It's very interesting how F1 drivers have come to modify their lines to get the most traction out of their tires in slow corners. Reminiscent of Moto GP riders where try to lift their bikes as soon as possible, the cleverest drivers are avoiding a traditional line to minimize the time spent turning and squaring off the corners as much as possible. Alonso,Vettel, Bottas, all very adept at that trick.
Bottas was able to hold Hamilton at bay for many laps with that way. We will hear much more from the Finn in coming years.
FIFA have succeeded in the impossible: making F1 rights management seem warm and fuzzy.
Nico Rosberg had a special helmet made celebrating Germany's win in the world cup last week. He was going to wear it this week end at the German Grand Prix.
Rosberg management received a letter from FIFA warning the helmet was in violation of copyright because it depicted the World Cup trophy.
A quick search of Amazon shows you can purchase replicas for as little as $3.95 but the sticker on top of Nico's head was apparently too much for FIFA and the design had to be changed, the cup replaced by stars. Those are still copyright free apparently.
Rosberg's team should send FIFA a bill for the extra exposure the cup has gotten in the last week.
FYI, this from the Grand Prix Drivers' Association:
"The drivers of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association wish to express their deepest concerns about the events that took place at Silverstone. We trust that the changes made to the tyres will have the desired results and that similar problems will not occur during the German GP weekend. We are ready to drive our cars to the limit, as we always do, and as it is expected by our teams, sponsors and fans. However, the drivers have decided that, if similar problems should manifest themselves during the German GP, we shall immediately withdraw from the event, as this avoidable problem with the tyres endangers again the lives of drivers, marshals and fans."
You know some will race anyway. Pass the popcorn.
With the premise that this type of pass happened a lot in the past, especially out of the hairpin at Spa but that the FIA has made it so that a driver cannot make a pass by using the space outside the "circuit", let's have a look at the incident again.
After the race, during the podium interview, Vettel claimed he could not see Button and did not know where he was so he decided to go straight. Well that's his story and I'm sure he'll stick with it but I'm sure anyone reading these pages knows enough about racing to see right through that steaming pile.
But let's have a closer look.
Notice how Jenson, who's always a gentleman, leaves the Red Bull at least enough space to keep two wheels inside the line. Vettel is lucky, imagine if it had been Maldonado there?
Now pay close attention to the high overhead shot, check out the point where you see Vettel clearly get on the gas and look at where he is pointing.
He can't see Button, really? And if we all know best acceleration comes with zero turning do you think Sebastian Vettel is unaware or vehicle dynamics?
Vettel did himself a real disservice lying about this incident, especially lying about it on the podium when he claimed Jenson had not brought it up. Hey Seb, there is a thing called "television recording"....
Sabastian Vettel was given a 20 Sec. penalty for his off track pass on Jenson Button on the penultimate lap of the German GP.
He will be classified a 5th behind Alonso, Button Raikkonen and Kamui Konbayashi.
Vettel stated he could not see Button and wanted to give him room. When asked about the move in the podium interview with Niki Lauda, Vettel had also said Jenson Button had not mentioned anything about it to him. TV pictures of the drivers in the moments after the race clearly showed Jenson and Seb discussing the incident...
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
Super entertaining qualifying session in Hochenheim at least for us watching, maybe not so much fun for the guys driving.
With the weather growing worse throughout the sessions the balance of power seemed to shifted from Mclaren to Ferrari culminating in Alonso's crushing pole lap. Ferrari benefitted from a good stately call bringing in Alonso for a fresh set of extreme wet tires in the final minutes of Q3.
Tire availability may also play a role tomorrow, Red Bull were the only top team to have used a set of options to get out of Q1 and that could be a factor in the race.
David Morecambe
(Webber and Rosberg get 5 grid spot penalties for gearbox change)
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m40.621s
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m41.026s + 0.405
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m41.496s + 1.838
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m42.459s + 2.880
5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m43.501s + 3.329
6. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m43.950s + 3.492
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.113s + 3.565
8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.186s + 0.875
9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m44.889s + 4.268
10. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m45.811s + 5.190
Q2 cut-off time: 1m39.729s Gap **
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m39.789s + 2.424
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.933s + 2.568
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m39.985s + 2.620
14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.212s + 2.847
15. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m40.574s + 3.209
16. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m40.752s + 3.387
17. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m41.551s + 4.186
Q1 cut-off time: 1m16.686s Gap *
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.741s + 1.048
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m17.620s + 1.927
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m18.531s + 2.838
21. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m19.220s + 3.527
22. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m19.291s + 3.598
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m19.912s + 4.219
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m20.230s + 4.537
107% time: 1m20.991s
Just when it seemed that Lewis Hamilton had hit the skids, conditions at the Nürburgring created the perfect cocktail that gave him a winning car. Hamilton drove a great race making no mistakes and pouncing on the few his adversaries made.
It was an entertaining race, with a credible three way battle with Alonso and Webber, but of the three it's pretty clear only Alonso and Hamilton have that something extra that allows them to get more out of the car than the car is supposed to give and we as fans are all thankful for the show.
Of course, had Red Bull not messed up Webber's strategy (or given him the special "make way for #1" clutch setting at the start) things may have been different.
Ferrari, had to gamble on light fuel expecting rain maybe, and on the timing for critical last stop. The only way they could pass Hamilton was to hope there was enough left in Alonso's soft Pirellis to lap faster than Ham on the primes. Close, but the Ferrari tire heat issue reared its head and when Alonso got a bad exit out of turn one from the pits, Hamilton punished him. The low fuel situation may have compromised his ability to take the fight to Mclaren in the final stages.
The cold temperature helped with tire wear, up to now a Mclaren problem, but it was also amazing not to see the track, largely clear of that "five o'clock" shadow of rolled up Pirelli we usually see and made for much better racing and passing.
Speaking of racing, I'm sure there will be much discussion of Vettel's "racing" ability: can he fight or can he only run out front? It's tempting to follow that line of thinking but the jury is still out. For sure he did not deserve a 4th place today, we don't know if he had some undisclosed issue but he was off his game, not just playing defense. Certainly that unforced error was a surprise. That's the second time he's betrayed human origins this season!
Massa lost 4th place because of a bad wheel nut but also because he took so long to get around Rosberg earlier. Button too was very much outclassed by his teammate, the retirement put him out of his misery.
So what happens now, it the championship suddenly open again? Not really but then again, ask Button about having a great start of the season only to find yourself having to push in the final races. Red Bull worries about it despite the big lead, that's why Christian Horner did the rational thing in Britain.
On a final note, how did Alonso manage to communicate to Webber he needed a ride? I'm sure the Senna photo op, gone to his nemesis, must be cheesing Hamilton off terribly! (oh relax, fanboys!) Bring on Hungary, the way races have gone since Canada, even that track may produce a better race than Valencia!
No time for usual clip, my apologies, here is one for our latin american readers and one for the BBC Cheers!
That was one unenthusiastic and cold radio transmission between the RedBull pit wall and Mark Webber after he set pole. Wrong Red Bull on pole again? Hard to say. While it looks like Red Bull had been holding something in reserve in practice, it's hard to say who biased their setup for the rain that may come tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton put aside his constant whining and complaining long enough to put in a spectacular lap, pulverizing Jenson Button and setting up what will be a fantastic first lap tomorrow.
Vettel may be in cruise and conserve mode, he has everything to lose and nothing gain fighting for the lead tomorrow. on the other hand I'm sure he would like to win in GErmany....should be fun!
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1n30.079s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1n30.134s + 0.055 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1n30.216s + 0.137 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1n30.442s + 0.363 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1n30.910s + 0.831 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1n31.263s + 1.184 7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1n31.288s + 1.209 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1n32.010s + 1.931 9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1n32.187s + 2.108 10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1n32.482s + 2.403 Q2 cut-off time: 1m33.180s Gap ** 11. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m32.215s + 1.217 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m32.560s + 1.562 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m32.635s + 1.637 14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m33.043s + 2.045 15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.176s + 2.178 16. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.546s + 2.548 17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.698s + 2.700 Q1 cut-off time: 1m33.664s Gap * 18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.786s + 1.960 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m35.599s + 3.773 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.400s + 4.574 21. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m36.422s + 4.596 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.641s + 4.815 23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m37.011s + 5.185 24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m37.036s + 5.210
There was this extraordinary moment in Friday practice for the German GP at the Nürburgring... don't think for a moment it wasn't intentional, guess Grumpy grandpa Schumi wanted to make sure he would come out of Castrol and into the esses named after...well after himself, ahead of the Ferrari...
Anyway. Practice confirmed that Ferrari's pace in England was no fluke or FIA assisted progress. Alonos is right there with the Red Bulls once again despite the re-instatement of the hot blown diffusers and all. Pretty amazing the difference finally understanding where the problem with the 150 was (stalling diffuser among others) and how well Ferrari and obviously, Pat Fry, have responded. Red Bull knows it and that also explains why they made the decision they did at Silverstone: Vettel has a huge lead but he's not mathematical champion and in the end,every single point matters. Of course they still look silly for dumping on Ferrari for having come to precisely the same conclusion but, there it is.
With regards to the "Hot blowing" there is still so much confusion about how it works, perhaps this graphic will help. It's from Italy's Autosprint and I took the liberty to translate it. Hope it helps a bit.
While it is clever and very cool, it clearly is against regulations which as far as I know want the engine used only for propulsion not as a aerodynamic aid...
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m31.711s 34 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m31.879s + 0.168 38 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.084s + 0.373 28 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.354s + 0.643 36 5. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m32.411s + 0.700 31 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.557s + 0.846 32 7. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.724s + 1.013 28 8. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m33.098s + 1.387 17 9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m33.138s + 1.427 22 10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.211s + 1.500 34 11. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.225s + 1.514 17 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m33.299s + 1.588 34 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.113s + 2.402 34 14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m34.344s + 2.633 34 15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.487s + 2.776 37 16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.491s + 2.780 35 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m34.996s + 3.285 35 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m35.753s + 4.042 42 19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.940s + 5.229 32 20. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m37.248s + 5.537 33 21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m37.313s + 5.602 33 22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m38.145s + 6.434 31 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m40.737s + 9.026 5 24. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari No time 3
It's not just the $100000 fine, it's the inevitable blowback and "outrage" that will once again follow Ferrari, rather than what should have been triumphal headlines for having kicked everybody's ass in Germany. Ferrari was under extreme pressure to perform and deliver this week end after a string of horrible results. Stefano Domenicali had hoped for a good results and a "normal race", he got one of his wishes.
Once again I will be a contrarian, just as I defended Christian Horner's decision to rip the improved front wing from Mark Webber's car and give it to his driver with the most points, so I defend Ferrari's thinking that you need to be behind the driver with the best chance to compete for the championship win. Horner though, has a short memory...
Massa obviously signed a contract that states he's got to move over if the team asks him to. Massa is a free man, nobody forced him to stay at Ferrari under those conditions, but if he signed such a contract, he has to be man enough to stand by it and carry what he agreed to do it in such a way that it does not make his team look bad. His race engineer, Rob Smedley, needs to have a serious think about his job. His radio communications with Massa could not have been more clearly for public consumption. While he had a thankless task, the way he carried out what must have obviously been a call from very high up at Ferrari HQ, the way he carried it out was as bitchingly obvious as Massa's move out of the hairpin.
I do not expect cooler heads to prevail here, not with (insert expletive here) Alonso about one DNF away from Hamilton and Button, expect a full court press on this one even after the humongous fine.
I'll side with DC once again, the rule makes little sense in a team sport with huge economic interests in the balance and it's not in line with past history. But it's the very man for whom this rule was created who offers the most sober assessment of the situation. Wise words I thought.
Look forward to a lively discussion about this! (all videos/ BBC)
Drivers had a hell of time with the wet/dry track conditions in morning practice, Massa spun five times but he did manage to keep it off the barriers and clock the second fastest time in the morning and the third in the afternoon.
Didn't quite work out that way for Lewis Hamilton, a tankslapper tossed him in the barriers tearing a couple of corners off his Mclaren. Car was only rebuilt in time for him to take to the track in the final ten minutes or so of the afternoon session, meaning he missed a lot of setup time. He did manage a 7th place time well ahead of Jenson Button, who may or may not have been engaged in a different program.
Top of the list was Alonso, showing he and the car, possibly sporting a new diffuser, have the pace. Now if they can keep the mistakes and the bad luck away...
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Ferrari 1:16.265 35 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.294 + 0.029 26 3. Massa Ferrari 1:16.438 + 0.173 37 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.585 + 0.320 40 5. Rosberg Mercedes 1:16.827 + 0.562 32 6. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.971 + 0.706 20 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.004 + 0.739 10 8. Kubica Renault 1:17.009 + 0.744 37 9. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.056 + 0.791 37 10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:17.204 + 0.939 44 11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.336 + 1.071 44 12. Petrov Renault 1:17.547 + 1.282 35 13. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.573 + 1.308 39 14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:17.701 + 1.436 38 15. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.739 + 1.474 36 16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:17.871 + 1.606 33 17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:18.147 + 1.882 45 18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:19.327 + 3.062 48 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.553 + 3.288 30 20. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:20.008 + 3.743 34 21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:20.106 + 3.841 31 22. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:20.377 + 4.112 37 23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:21.988 + 5.723 37 24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:23.066 + 6.801 37
Can MotoGP get any cooler? Perhaps you were marvelling at the return of Valentino Rossi, only six weeks after having a bone stick out of his shin, to score a fourth place finish at the Geraman GP this past Sunday. The Doctor came vary close to scoring a podium but for Casey Stoner taking back third on the final corner, still an amazing performance.
Yeah but MotoGP was not done, Dorna Sports, the Spanish marketing company behind the sport, deputed a fantastic new gyroscopically mounted camera on Rossi's bike. In case MotoGP had not sufficiently blown your mind, this new prospective will.
MotoGP, is way ahead of Formula1 not just, because of the nature of the machinery, with on track action, but also in its content delivery systems available: Dorna offers various levels of online access, season to daily passes, in high and low definition, at around $10 per race week end. You can find details HERE
We wonder when Formula1 will wake up. (thanks to Rick Lopez!)
After today's German GP, Rubens Barrichello went into one of his usual hissy fits claiming he would have won the race if it hadn't been for the team screwing up his strategy and pit stops.
"To be honest, I wish I could just get on a plane and go home now. I don't want to talk to anyone in the team, because it would be a lot of bla, bla, bla, bla... And I don't want to hear that. I'm just terribly upset,"
Ross Brawn actually was honest and replied to the assembled journalists:
"Rubens had the 11th fastest time in the race today....You cannot win a race, whatever strategy you have, if your best lap is only 11th quickest. It is just not possible. Those are the facts."
To be honest Barrichello, who famously called Schumacher gay, should make an effort to enjoy his last seven races in F1 rather than spend his time crying. On the other hand he has more material for that famous tell-all book he threatenend to write.
Sadly, in the US, we will be forced to wait until the afternoon for the tape delayed Fox broadcast, a shame because the German GP has the potential to be one of the season's most interesting. Of course there is the threat of rain and Saturday's qualifying session was all about guessing the right tire at the right time. Some were caught out badly, especially Alonso but they certainly all earned their paychecks.
The relative weight of the cars is very interesting with the BrawnGP's running considerably lighter than the Red Bulls. Hamilton too is lighter but Kovalainen and the two Ferraris are considerably heavier than Webber. The heaviest car in the top ten is Adrian Sutil's Force India, a full 18.5kg over Webber's RedBull.
Why are the Brawns so light? they need to be or is it a strategy call? The resurgent Mclaren, is it the real thing or a fluke due to the circumstances on Saturday? Hamilton had all the new aero bits and the lighter car yet Kovalainen was only one spot behind. Ferrari look like they are praying for rain and for everyone else to crash, it's not like that hasn't happened before at the Nürburgring. Keep those cranes handy!
if you can't wait you might want to check THIS out. Your milage may vary but it's working well for me!
There were some fantastic Hyper Slow Motion shots on today's Friday practice broadcast. At 1500 frames per second you can really see all the forces on the cars as they slam over curbs.
Lewis Hamilton topped practice today with Vettel nipping at his heels. Vettel was consistently faster in sectors 1 and 2 but he could not touch Hamilton in sector 3. This revealing superimposed shot shows precisely where Vettel lost time. In the final chicane at the end of the lap, Hamilton brakes earlier than Vettel and sets up the exit to the chicane much better.
Braking earlier might not pay during a race when you have someone at your heels trying to pass but in a qualifying or Time Trial situation, where placing the car on the perfect line is the key, it can pay off quite handsomely!
After all the Mosley-Ecclestone stupidity of the past few weeks, it's nice to get a little historical prospective. Here is a more complete version of a clip that has been floating around YouTube for a while. In 1969 the race was won by Jackie Ickx over 14 laps of the Nordschleife. It was certainly not a small grid by modern standards but of the 21 F1 cars that took the green flag, 11 retired, mostly because of mechanical failures.
Failures have essentially been eradicated from modern F1, they still happen but nothing like back then when engines failures were only slightly more common than suspension failures. A suspension failure during qualifying killed Gerhard Mitter, the European Hillclimb champion who was driving a BMW F2. BMW retired all their cars from the race. John Surtees flat out refused to start the race saying his BRM P139 was unsafe.
Many crashed during the race, Andretti in the four wheel drive Lotus 63, Vic Elford, Piers Courage. Jo Siffert had his suspension collapse during the race and ended up crashing after the Karussel.
In the clip you see Jo Siffert and Johnny Savoz-Gavin hanging out next to their busted cars at the Karrusel, typical of the times, after getting out of their F1 cars the driver's first instinct was to find someone to give them a smoke!
