Paul Henman formula1 German Grand Prix – Race

German Grand Prix – Race

Grid: SV, FA, FM, MW, JB, LH, RK, RB, NR, NH, MS, KK, VP, PdlR, JA, SB, JT, HK, AS, BS, VL, SY, TG, LdG

Gearbox changes for AS & LdG resulted in grid-spot penalties for them both.

SV leads everyone around on the formation lap

01/67: FM & FA storm past SV into Turn 1
LH steals P4 from MW in the hairpin
SB has lost his rear wing

02: FM, FA, SV, LH, MW, JB, RK, MS
AS pits – new nose cone – was it him who hit SB?
SB straight into the garage
VL & JA pit too

03: Fastest lap for FM 1:20.064
Replay shots it was JA who collided with his teammate SB

04: FM f/lap 1:19.501
JT pits … pushed into the garage

05/67: FM, FA, SV, LH, MW, JB, RK, MS; retirements: JT, SB
AS pits again

06: FM f/lap 1:19.500
FA f/lap 1:19.292
VL pits again – both Force Indias have made two stops

07: FA 1:19.153
JT has rejoined the circuit

08: JT pits again

09: JB runs wide in Turn 1

10/67: FM, FA, SV, LH, MW, JB, RK, MS
FA f/lap 1:18.965

11: FM f/lap 1:18.915

12: FM f/lap 1:18.823

13: SV pits from P3 – switch to harder (prime) tyre – rejoins in P6
Ferrari react – pit crew ready

14: FA pits from P2
MW pits too – not a slow stop but he’s rejoined in P9
KK attacking MW

15/67: FM pits from P1 – rejoins ahead of his teammate
LH pits from P2

16: FM struggling for grip with the new tyres
FM fighting with his Ferrari – locks up the rears

17: JB still in P1 but he’s got to pit soon

18: MS fighting with RK (who’s just pitted) – RK easily holds the position

19: Pit-car for JB tell him to keep clearing back markers – McLaren not planning on pitting him yet

20/67: JB*, FM, FA, SV, LH, NR*, MW, VP* (*=yet to pit)

21: FM & FA fighting over P2 as they catch the back markers

22: FM defends his position from his teammate
FA attacks again but FM slams the door
Pit-car from FA – whining about his teammate

23: JB pits from P1 – good clean, quick stop – rejoins in P5, behind his teammate

24: FM f/lap 1:18.711
JB closing on the rear of LH

25/67: FM f/lap 1:18.646
NR pits – rejoins just ahead of teammate MS

27: FM f/lap 1:18.560
FA just 3.0sec behind his teammate
SV is 1.5sec behind FA
Big gap (8.5sec) to LH, who has his teammate just 1.1sec behind

28: FM f/lap 1:18.399
Pit-car radio for FA tell him to concentrate and he can win

29: FM f/lap 1:18.189
FA f/lap 1:18.075

30/67: FM, FA, SV, LH, JB, MW, NH*, PdlR*; retirements: SY, JT, SB

31: FM f/lap 1:17.991

32: FA f/lap 1:17.751

33: MW now 1.0sec behind JB

(Half distance)

35/67: FM, FA, SV, LH, JB, MW, NH*, PdlR*
PdlR makes a nice move on NH and takes P7

36: NH pits
AS runs wide, across the gravel, then pits

37: FA f/lap 1:17.666

38: FA f/lap 1:17.495 – now just 2.0sec behind his teammate
Pit-car radio for LH telling him to conserve fuel

40/67: FM, FA, SV, LH, JB, MW, PdlR*, RK

41: AS f/lap 1:17.300 – seriously?
Pit-car radio for MW telling him he’s 4sec behind JB and “don’t lift on the straight”

43: SV f/lap 1:17.242
MW told to back away from JB, presumably because of an over-heating problem

44: SV f/lap 1:17.170

45/67: SV f/lap 1:17.122 – he’s 5.6sec behind FA

46: Pit-car for MW tells him the problem is oil consumption, so “hard & late braking will help”

48: FA f/lap 1:17.012 – still 1sec behind FM
Pit-car radio for FM slowly spells out “Fernando is faster than you” and asks for confirmation – very blatant message to FM telling him to let FA past

49: What a surprise – FM lifts off and lets FA take P1 🙁
Rob Smedley apologises to FM
If the FIA want people to believe there are no team orders in F1 they need to penalise Ferrari (except of course the fans know orders have always existed and always will)

50/67: FA, FM, SV, LH, JB, MW, PdlR*, RK

52: SV f/lap 1:16.669
PdlR finally pits
LdG spins but recovers

53: FM almost 1sec/lap off the pace – SV closing slowly – now 2.6s behind

54: Close call as PdlR passes NH for P14 but no contact
LdG pits and is pushed into the garage

55/67: FA, FM, SV, LH, JB, MW, RK, NR; retirements: LdG, SY, JT, SB

56: FA f/lap 1:16.625
PdlR closing on RB

57: SV f/lap 1:16.536

58: Virtual wrist-slap for SV telling him to shift early for 7th gear “or we’ll have to turn your revs down”

59: HK turns in on PdlR and breaks the Sauber’s front wing

60/67: PdlR pits for a new nose cone

61: HK pits from P20/last

62: FM f/lap 1:16.545
SV f/lap 1:16.525 – closed the gap to FM to 1.0sec
HK is out of the car

63: FA f/lap 1:16.471
Pit-car for LH telling him there’s no need to save fuel any more … but he’s 20sec behind SV so there’s nothing he can do

64: VL pits

65/67: FA, FM, SV, LH, JB, MW, RK, NR, MS, VP
FA f/lap 1:16.103

66: FA posting fast laps in the hopes of convincing the stewards, in the unlikely event they investigate the blatant team orders
JB runs wide but he’s got a big enough lead over MW so he keeps P5

67 [final lap]: FA f/lap 1:15.880
SV f/lap 1:15.824

FA takes the chequered flag – I hope he doesn’t believe he actually won this race – it was given to him by the team
FM over the line for P2
P3=SV, 4=LH, 5=JB, 6=MW, 7=RK (+1 lap), 8=NR (+1), 9=MS (+1), 10=VP (+1)
P11=KK (+1 lap), 12=RB (+1), 13=NH (+1), 14=PdlR (+1), 15=JA (+1), 16=VL (+2 laps), 17=AS (+2), 18=TG (+3 laps), 19=BS (+4 laps)
DNF: HK, LdG, SY, JT, SB

Pit-car for FM: “very magnanimous”
FA in parc ferme – quite subdued
FA & FM barely acknowledge each other
Barely two words between FA & FM as they get ready for the podium
SV happy to get 3rd
FA sprays champagne at FM who turns and walks away

Yet again Ferrari damage the reputation of Formula One 🙁

Post-race interview should be interesting…
FA: “good weekend overall”; “we’ve been competitive”; asked about the easy pass of FM – “I don’t know”; avoids using Massa’s name, just refers to “the other car”; doesn’t answer the question asking if he asked the team to tell FM to let him pass; “good performance from the team”
FM: year to the day since his accident in Hungary; “very good race for us”; “I don’t think I need to say anything” about FA passing him; “we’re working for the team”; “did a good job for the team”; “as a team, we achieved the maximum”
SV: “not sure what happened” at the start; “difficult for us to keep up the pace”; “so many lapped cars”

Next race: Hungary next weekend.

2 thoughts on “German Grand Prix – Race”

  1. “Following their controversial one-two result at the German Grand Prix, Ferrari have been fined US$100,000 by the FIA after race stewards deemed they had breached sporting regulations. The case has also been referred to the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC).” [FIA]

    The reality is that F1 is a team sport but the rules say team orders are not permitted; Ron Smedley’s “coded” instruction to Massa was clearly the order to let Alonso pass him. It’s obvious Ferrari used team orders to effect the results of the race in breach of Article 39.1 and therefore should be penalised.

    If they had any decency (which has previously been proved not to be the case) Ferrari would admit what they did, take a tiny slap on the wrist from the FIA and move on. Unfortunately I foresee Smedley being made the scapegoat and maybe fired by Ferrari.

    Ultimately the FIA should acknowledge that F1 is a team sport and that team orders are inevitable, then changes the rules accordingly: remove the drivers’ championship. They should be clear that this is a team sport; the drivers (same as the pit crew, engineers, etc.) work for the team and are directed by the team. Fans can still cheer for their favourite driver but there should be a single championship so there’s no conflict in the team’s/drivers’ objectives or in the fans’ minds.

  2. Good to hear Rubens Barrichello say he disagrees with team orders and Ferrari giving Massa’s victory to Alonso.

    “You win the championship by one point because someone let you win – what’s the point?”

    “I will teach my boys the same way my father teach me” (to compete fairly).

    I really like Rubens – it’s not often you see integrity like that in F1.

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