LEWIS PUTS THE BRAKES ON THE RED BULLS
(Image taken from Yahoo)
Well in terms of technical disputes things went from the insane at Silverstone to the relatively tame in Germany, it was a case of "as you were". It was the Nurburgring's turn to host the German Grand Prix. The last time the F1 show visited the classic circuit was in '09 and Webber grabbed his first Grand Prix win on that occasion. This time around, Ferarri looked to be on the rise and McLaren struggling to save their season but still neither McLaren driver was willing to write of the season. The big eyebrow raiser driver wise was at Lotus with India's Karun Chandhok, last seen racing for Hispania in the 2010 British Grand Prix, replacing Trulli. In the meantime we were on the reigning champion's home turf and surely at his mercy.
Qualifying started out same as usual. All three Brits were able to survive Q1 fairly smoothly, and everyone made it under the 107% line. Kobayashi with the biggest name to eat a bullet. Both McLaren drivers then proceded to make it through to Q2 but di Resta wasn't so lucky, the British rookie having to settle for P12. Q3 however turned out to be electric. Alonso set the benchmark but Lewis had found his qualifying form again and he was soon the man to beat. It was Webber however who had the last laugh, grabbing his second pole in a row. Lewis was more than happy to settle for P2, the third time this season he;s started from the front row. Further down, Jenson settled for P7.
In the race itself, once again Jenson ran out of luck, in the middle of a solid seeming race, McLaren ordered him to retire due to a hydraulics issue. Let's hope these DNFs do not become a habit.
For di Resta, things didn't go quite to plan, Heidfeld slammed into him on the first lap and though that wasn't enough to end the rookie's race, it did send him right to the back of the pack. That probably changed his straegy as he wound up running as long as possible on his first set of tyres but that certainly allowed him to make his way through the back end of the field. Problem is, by that point the guys he had hoped to be mixing it with were long gone up the road. The Force India driver had hoped to get out of Germany with points but instead left empty handed and in 13th. He tried to get an apology out of Heidfeld but the German wasn't in the mood.
As for Lewis, he was in no mood to hang around and surged into the lead from the start before bombing it away before the opposition knew what had hit them only for Webber to reply and eventually retake the lead...but only briefly, Lewis returning to the front on the following lap before his first pit stop dropped him into 3rd with him coming out into a four car mixer. 3rd quickly became 2nd and then Webber pitted, putting Lewis back in the lead then Lewis pitted...and held the Aussie off to retain 2nd. Alonso now led the race...but his pitstop put him right in Lewis's clutches and his old rival was more than happy to burn him pretty sharpish. After that...well the final stop went Lewis's way and the 2008 world champion picked up his 2nd win of the season, outclassing the field.
As for the championship though, well desite a poor race, Vettel's still top of the table on 216 points, Webber remains in 2nd on 139, Lewis up to 3rd on 134. Further down, Jenson remains in 5th on 109. This title race is not done yet.
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