Poor Eddie Jordan. Prior to qualifying, the more outspoken member of the BBC F1 team produced an in depth feature expressing his dismay at Mclaren's lack of performance. Come 3 o'clock yesterday however, it was a very different picture. Downcast and downbeat following Friday practice, Lewis Hamilton was filled with delight on race day as he took his 16th career win and his second of the season. In a closely fought battle with Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, Hamilton eked all he could out of his Mclaren, which still remains arguably the third fastest car. He is now up to third in the driver's standings.
For all the furore surrounding Lewis' driving recently, he drove a very mature and intelligent race. Of course, it was coupled with some superb race craft, but we have seen a different side to to him this weekend. His outstanding qualifying lap grabbed headlines, but when viewed a second time there was something different about it. The lap looked smooth, on rails if you will and Hamilton did not appear to be throwing his Mclaren around like a go-kart, as is his wont.
It was not enough for pole, but with the first corner a right hander, you got the feeling that with Lewis in attack mode nobody was going to turn right until he did. Although he was second, he would have acknowledged that pole-sitter Webber's starts have been a weak point of late. Mark was yet again the victim of another slow getaway and bogged down, making Hamilton's objective of leading by turn two almost a formality. Out-dragging the Red Bull, he closed off the apex into turn two and began to stretch his advantage.
Again it was intelligence from Hamilton, as he pulled away in the opening laps so to avoid being in the DRS zone. Webber, and indeed Alonso, were always going to be on his tail but those initial fast laps gave Lewis enough time to settle into a rhythm. By lap 12, though, the leading trio were in unison as they approached the final chicane. Distracted by his team radio, Lewis ran too deep and compromised his exit speed. Webber slithered up the inside into the final corner, but Hamilton clung on, calculating his next move.
In qualifying, both Ferrari's took a different line into the final corner to gain more speed to begin their laps. Lewis must have taken that on board and with a wider entry, not to mention KERS and the Mclaren's superior straight line speed, was much faster out of the final turn and ducked back underneath Webber. A recipient in the past of many Hamilton lunges, Mark gave him just about enough room as he dived down the inside for turn one. It was a move probably practiced time and again at karting venues such as Buckmore Park and Larkhall, where Lewis' racing instincts were nurtured. Alonso maintained a watching brief in third.
And where is Sebastian Vettel in all of this, you ask? Well, contrary to popular belief, the 2010 champion can have an off day once in a while and finished the race a distant fourth. Seb even had the audacity to look somewhat ordinary, which was a first for 2011. For much of the weekend, Vettel did not appear to be at ease with his car.
On race day, it seemed that the weight of expectation at his home Grand Prix was too much. His early battle with Fernando Alonso ended with a rather submissive defence of his position on lap eight, as the Ferrari effortlessly took third into turn one. What's more Vettel, so precise and gentle with his steering inputs, lost concentration at turn 10 and drifted across onto the astro turf, causing a rather wild spin.
He kept hold of fourth, but was the victim of severely flat-spotted tyres. His race craft was particularly questionable too; he was passed by Felipe Massa at the chicane prior to his first stop and failed to get the undercut from his fresh Pirelli tyres. Massa kept track position after his tyre change and Vettel then spent almost the rest of the afternoon staring at the back of the Brazilian's gearbox, unable to swoop by.
Vettel's performances are questionable when not cruising in P1, and here was further evidence that the German toils in traffic. It was left to a frantic last lap pit stop battle between the teams to settle things and Vettel was fortunate to get out in front. Fourth was the best he could salvage from a difficult weekend.
Unlike his team mate, Webber did get the undercut from his new tyres and by pitting earlier took the lead from Hamilton after his stop. Yet he could not shake Lewis or Fernando off and as his tyres were older, would have to rely on the undercut once more if he was to rejoin in front. The Red Bull was unable to get the tyre temperatures up quickly in much colder conditions, and Webber could not repeat the trick of his first stop.
As Hamilton came out of the pits the two were almost side by side. Lewis again closed off the apex into turn's one and two but the Australian would not give way, and boldly attempted to pass around the outside. Hamilton, an aggressive defender as well as attacker, simply kept his line forcing Webber onto the astro turf and the Red Bull had to yield. Now we waited to see where Fernando would rejoin.
In first place, was the immediate answer, but with his tyre temperatures still cold he was a sitting duck for Hamilton. Fernando was caught napping as he exited the pit lane and timidly approached turn two. Lewis, smelling blood from his greatest rival, pounced and drove clean around the outside to snatch back the lead. It was a beautiful, race-winning move and even Alonso had to concede he had been well and truly beaten.
You want more evidence of a new maturity in Lewis? Then get this. Following his overtake, he set three consecutive fastest laps of the race to pull out a gap of around three seconds to Alonso, knowing full well increasing his tyre temperatures was proving problematic. By the time Alonso had developed some warmth in his new Pirelli's, Lewis was long gone. He was in Michael-land, reeling off consistent, fast laps as he smelled victory. All of the teams aimed to spend as little time as possible on the medium tyres, so Hamilton just had to hold the gap until his final, mandatory stop. With that achieved, it was game over.
This was unquestionably one of Lewis's most inspirational drives, but it remains to be seen just how close Mclaren are to Red Bull. With the Hungarian Grand Prix just a week away, a circuit where Red Bull dominated last year, we will be able to see how close Mclaren and Ferrari are. In spite of Lewis' superb win, I feel that Alonso remains Vettel's main threat. His post race interview was very telling. As he put it, not only has he finished second, first and second in the previous three races but it has been achieved with three different engine settings. Make no mistake, in Alonso's hands that Ferrari is fast.
Yet the glory yesterday went to Hamilton, who was evidently overcome with emotion at the post-race press conference. My Dad text me after the race saying that 'a real racer' won the Grand Prix. His brief flirtations with Red Bull appear to be over and the disharmony within the Mclaren camp appears to have been repaired. For Hamilton, victory was the only solution.
German GP result
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1hr 37mins 30.334secs
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari + 3.980
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull + 9.788
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull + 47.921
5 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari + 52.252
6 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India + 1:26.208
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes +1 Lap
8 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes +1 Lap
9 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber +1 Lap
10 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault +1 Lap
11 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber +1 Lap
12 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Toro Rosso +1 Lap
13 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India +1 Lap
14 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams +1 Lap
15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Toro Rosso +1 Lap
16 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus +2 Laps
17 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin +3 Laps
18 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin +3 Laps
19 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) HRT +3 Laps
20 Karun Chandhok (Ind) Lotus +4 Laps
Not Classified
21 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) HRT 37 Laps completed
22 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 35 Laps completed
23 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 16 Laps completed
24 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault 9 Laps completed
Josh.
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