2013 German GP Thread

[steveaki13]

I forgot to open the thread earlier. :rolleyes:

So after Pirelli had one of the worst races in tyre manufacturing history we move on to Germany.

2013 German GP

Nurburgring, Germany

60 Laps

5th-7th July

Drivers Championship after 8 Rounds

Sebastian Vettel - 132 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Fernando Alonso - 111 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Kimi Raikkonen - 98 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Lewis Hamilton - 89 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Mark Webber - 87 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Nico Rosberg - 82 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Felipe Massa - 57 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Paul di Resta - 36 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Romain Grosjean - 26 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Jenson Button - 25 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Adrian Sutil - 23 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Jean Eric Vergne - 13 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Sergio Perez - 12 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Daniel Ricciardo - 11 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Nico Hulkenberg - 6 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]

Constructors Championship after 8 Rounds

Red Bull - 219 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Mercedes - 171 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Ferrari - 168 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Lotus - 124 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Force India - 59 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Mclaren - 37 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Toro Rosso - 24 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]
Sauber - 6 pts[/*:m:3lkzsfr3]


Previous Winners (Nurburgring)
2011: Lewis Hamilton
2009: Mark Webber
2007: Fernando Alons
2006: Michael Schumacher
2005: Fernando Alonso
2004: Michael Schumacher
2003: Ralf Schumacher
2002: Rubens Barrichello
2001: Michael Schumacher
2000: Michael Schumacher
1999: Johnny Herbert
1998: Mika Hakkinen
1997: Jacques Villeneuve
1996: Jacques Villeneuve
1995: Michael Schumacher

Multiple Winners ( German GP)
Rudolf Caracciola - 6 wins (Non F1)
Michael Schumacher - 4 wins
Ascari/Fangio/Stewart/Piquet/Senna/Alonso - 3 wins
Brooks/Surtees/Ickx/Mansell/Prost/Berger/Hamilton -2 wins

*A win for Alonso this year would put him on a legendary 4 wins in Germany.

Multiple Constructors Wins (German GP)
Ferrari - 22 wins
Williams - 9 wins
Mercedes - 8 wins (7 Pre F1)
Mclaren - 8 wins
Brabham/Lotus - 4 wins
Alfa Romeo/Tyrell/Benetton - 2 wins
Auto Union -2 wins (Pre F1)

So a Mercedes win here would level them with Williams in overall German GP Wins.

So there we go.
Looking forward to this race. I always enjoy Nurburgring.

Weather is usually unsettled so could be interesting.

[steveaki13]

It was hard working out previous winners and multiple winners due to the changes in venues.

So I went for previous winners at Nurburgring, but Multiple winners for the German GP at whatever venue. Including pre F1.

[steveaki13]

BBC Sport - German Grand Prix: Drivers' Association threatens to withdraw (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23190671)

Hard to see it happening but the threats there

[AndyL]

Free practice 1: the Mercs are top with a huge margin over the rest of the field. Maybe they were running light but nevertheless they are looking fast. McLaren in 7th and 10th, in amongst the Lotuses, Red Bulls and Force Indias, so they could be looking forward to a less embarassing weekend this time round. It's a tight pack though, Webber 3rd to DiResta 11th are covered by 0.7s.

No time for Alonso, unusually for an Italian car his Ferrari had persistent electrical problems.

[RedBullian1]

Vettel P1 for FP2 with a time of 1:30.416

[tjoepie]

Kimi is always so boring:
w w w . autosport.com / news / report.php/id/108568?source=mostpopular
Please delete spaces as necessary...

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Lets hope for a race as good as we had here in 2011, which was one of the best dry races I remember seeing.

[Tazio]

After looking at the wear on the optons which was high for RB and Merc, I think that Lotus will fare well in the race. I'm not sure what to make of Ferrari, as I think it could go either way. Their seems to be genuine posativity in that camp.
http://www.f1plus.com/en/news/item/4193-massa-qvery-confident-for-sundayq

[vhatever]

I just hope it's a safe race, at this juncture. Spent the majority of the last GP just hoping no one got caught with a face full of rubber shrapnel at 150 miles per hour. Kimi, alonso, and vettel all had close brushes with such an outcome. Could you imagine if any of those guys end up with a serious injury/death? Wow. anyway. let's hope it was just a one-off.

[longisland]

It's a two horse race between the Mercs & Bulls.

[donKey jote]

I'll be missing it unless I can time my trip to the beach perfectly to coincide with a pit stop for lunch... and convince the family it was entirely by chance :andrea: :p

[longisland]

Lewis seems to have handling issues in both FP2 & 3 . Hope Mercs are just sandbagging.

[longisland]

Me thinks the quickest lap in qualifying will be sub 1 min 29 secs

[Koz]

1:28.7ish for pole.

[steveaki13]

It's a two horse race between the Mercs & Bulls.

Shouldnt that be a one horse v one Bull race?

[steveaki13]

Poor Old Williams

[longisland]

It's more likely a two bull fight. Will be interesting consider one is finally unleashed now

[Koz]

Epic fail for Mercedes and Rosberg...

[truefan72]

WTF?
Rosberg out of Q3?

just a useless decision by mercedes to keep him in the garage

early donkey of the weekend

[truefan72]

It's more likely a two bull fight. Will be interesting consider one is finally unleashed now

nope seems like the ferrari's and Renaults have something to say

Q3 is nicely set up

[truefan72]

Epic fail for Mercedes and Rosberg...

any fool could see with about 5 minutes to go that the times were tumbling, grosjean set the marker for rosberg to get back out there, and surely as soon as the ferrari's went back out, they needed to cover their bases again. oh well :o

[truefan72]

that sauber is slowly coming to life over the past 2 race weekends
have they finally sorted out their issues?

[steveaki13]

Great Lap by Lewis after the chaos of Q2 for the team.

[truefan72]

the boss
that's what I'm talking about!

at the end of the day, they guy just hooks it up in Qualy
crossing my fingers that this time the car holds up

[Koz]

P1 and P11. Awesome.

Ferrari strategy is worrying, I would have though they would have been as quick, if not quicker than Lotus. If they have a bad start, it might go badly.

[truefan72]

daniel ricciardo continues to shine

to me the 2nd RBR seat is now firmly between kimi, buemi and ricciardo

[Zico]

Great pole lap by Lewis but will he be able to keep the Bulls behind tomorow? Fingers crossed!

Ricciardo- Impressive stuff indeed!, he really is putting a good case forward for claiming 2nd RB seat for next season

[vhatever]

Hillarious stuff from merc. If lewy can't legitimately beat nico, I guess we will have to cheat a bit. haha.

The typical conspiracy nonsnese from the British commentators seems remarkably absent today.

[Koz]

Great pole lap by Lewis but will he be able to keep the Bulls behind tomorow? Fingers crossed!
Webbo will have his classic ****ty start, while Vettel will run away. Then Kimi will keep hounding him till his tyres start to fade away.

[Zico]

Hillarious stuff from merc. If lewy can't legitimately beat nico, I guess we will have to cheat a bit. haha.

The typical conspiracy nonsnese from the British commentators seems remarkably absent today.


Where have the window licker and tin foil hat smilies gone?

[tfp]

I missed qualifying, what happened to nico?

[vhatever]

Where have the window licker and tin foil hat smilies gone?

it's only a conspiracy when vettel is the benefactor. i know. damn my eyes.

[vhatever]

I missed qualifying, what happened to nico?


mercedes did.

[tfp]

Ricciardo! Punching above his weight again!

[Corvettian]

Multiple Winners ( German GP)
Rudolf Caracciola - 6 wins (Non F1)
Michael Schumacher - 4 wins
Ascari/Fangio/Stewart/Piquet/Senna/Alonso - 3 wins
Brooks/Surtees/Ickx/Mansell/Prost/Berger/Hamilton -2 wins

*A win for Alonso this year would put him on a legendary 4 wins in Germany. This may sound like a cliché, but the drivers who won Formula 1 (and pre-Formula 1) races on the Nürburgring Nordschleife were the true legends. Just staying alive on that circuit was an achievement in itself.

[N4D13]

Well, I'm feeling absolutely gutted for Rosberg - and for my pickems as well! :p

I'm looking forward to a good race from Ferrari tomorrow - the softs are expected to degrade in 6 or 7 laps so I think it was a good idea to let go a couple of positions up in the grid in exchange for a better shot at the race tomorrow. I don't know what the differences in lap times will be but if the leaders get into traffic after their first pitstops, Ferrari might actually have a good shot at winning the race.

[tfp]

mercedes did.

Brawn and co lost themselves more manu points?

It should be a good day for you, German manufacturer on top of the German GP!

[vhatever]

Brawn and co lost themselves more manu points?

It should be a good day for you, German manufacturer on top of the German GP!

I give a **** about Mercedes or where a race is. I know you don't come across many non-brits who don't swallow the bilge and assorted bigoted garbage the british media pumps out of their bowels every day, but try to at least retain some commonsense, eh?

[tfp]

I give a **** about Mercedes or where a race is. I know you don't come across many non-brits who don't swallow the bilge and assorted bigoted garbage the british media pumps out of their bowels every day, but try to at least retain some commonsense, eh?

Lighten up, all I said was "it should be a good day for you!"

[vhatever]

Lighten up, all I said was "it should be a good day for you!"
What's good about it? we, realF1 fans, were cheated out a legitimate q3 by the brain trust at merc.

[tfp]

What's good about it? c.


I don't know, I haven't seen it yet!

[AndyL]

Well, I'm feeling absolutely gutted for Rosberg - and for my pickems as well! :p

I'm looking forward to a good race from Ferrari tomorrow - the softs are expected to degrade in 6 or 7 laps so I think it was a good idea to let go a couple of positions up in the grid in exchange for a better shot at the race tomorrow. I don't know what the differences in lap times will be but if the leaders get into traffic after their first pitstops, Ferrari might actually have a good shot at winning the race.

That compounds the misery for Rosberg though, he doesn't even have the silver lining of being the first guy on the grid with tyre choice. If he goes with primes he still has 3 or 4 guys ahead of him who will be on the same strategy.

[N4D13]

That compounds the misery for Rosberg though, he doesn't even have the silver lining of being the first guy on the grid with tyre choice. If he goes with primes he still has 3 or 4 guys ahead of him who will be on the same strategy.
I still wouldn't rule him out for a win if the primes are the right tyres to start the race with. I wouldn't expect him to have many difficulties overtaking Button and Hülkenberg and even if he doesn't find it easy to overtake the Ferraris, I'd expect them to have quite a very decent race pace.

[Tazio]

Ferrari's strategy is quite a gamble when they really didn't need to go that route. I’m guessing it was decided before quali started, because they seemed to have the pace to challenge for the second row. I suppose they figured that Britney the two RBs and the other Merc would be ahead of them, and Kimi was consistently ahead of them by .1 for most of the weekend. I guess we will see what happens. BTW great work by the Boss :angel:

[vhatever]

BTW great work by the Boss :angel:

Is that Ross brawn? Otherwise known as mister "nico, stop being faster than Lewis".

[steveaki13]

Is that Ross brawn? Otherwise known as mister "nico, stop being faster than Lewis".

Yer that Guy.

[Tazio]

Is that Ross brawn? Otherwise known as mister "nico, stop being faster than Lewis".

Well......No....I was referring to Hamilton's pole lap, although the irony is not lost on me. :confused: :p : :angel:

[Koz]

Is that Ross brawn? Otherwise known as mister "nico, stop being faster than Lewis".

How far was Lewis ahead of Nico at Q2?
He is very luck the same thing didn't happen to him.

This is one of the closest Q2s I can recall. 5-10 separated by a tenth? Half a second separating the top 12.

Merc should have responded, with both drivers after Grosjean's lap.
I can't recall if Webber came out, he could easily have shared Nico's fate.

[Knock-on]

Very impressive from Ricciardo. Getting that Torro into places not expected.

Awesome Lap from Lewis. In fact, one of the best we've seen from him in F1. Not that it was perfect but the way he dragged that Mercedes around was hairy stuff. It looked a real handful; Oversteering, understeering, back end breaking away, it had it all. Surely he's due some good luck this season and a clean race. :D

Pity about Nico but lets see if he can do a Lewis and fight through.

[longisland]

Ross may have found the key to unlocking Lewis' strength. The team made a blunder with Nico; the car was loose, the bulls are in front and they need a clutch performance from the driver. A perfect stage for Lewis. It's perhaps the best Saturday show in my book.

[Knock-on]

That qualifying is what marks the great drivers from everyone else. Although I am a long time fan of Jenson, he is a bit like Seb in a way. Very quick in a good car but struggles a bit when the car isn't under him whereas Lewis and Alonso seem to be able to drag the bloody thing around :D

[Tazio]

Nico starting on primes.

[pino]

Unfortunately I am not at home for this, so please keep me updated with your posts thanks 😃😎

[steveaki13]

Hamilton has an issue with his Front Right Brake overheating on the grid. Mechanics appear to be working overtime to sort the problem

[steveaki13]

Afternoon Peeps. Should be a good race if we dont see overactive DRS. I fear it might be too easy here. Dont know what you think.

[Koz]

Hai everybady!

[steveaki13]

Hi Koz

[veeten]

Ok folks... Roll off lap, up next.

[Koz]

Will Grosjean and Webber tango once more?

[pino]

Please keep me updated on Alonso thanks :p :

[veeten]

btw, Coffee & mini-donuts. :)

[pino]

Watermelon here 😎

[Robinho]

looking forward to this one

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

[veeten]

Back to the grid...

[Koz]

If you have wheelspin hold the throttle?
Hum...

[veeten]

and here we... GOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[Koz]

Kimi is going to take Hamilton.

[Corvettian]

btw, Coffee & mini-donuts. :)
Only coffee for me; I've just eaten lunch.

[veeten]

Red Bull 1-2, Vettel in the lead...

[veeten]

Alonso 8th... long climb ahead, pino.

[veeten]

Massa loses it... :s

[Corvettian]

Oh, the race has started...! Wake up, Corvettian! :dozey: :rotflmao:

[veeten]

Oh, the race has started...! Wake up, Corvettian! :dozey: :rotflmao: time for that second cup, eh... ;) :p

[pino]

No passes from Alonso yet ? :p :

[steveaki13]

Massa must have had a problem strange incident otherwise.

No pen for di Resta? After the Race? Consistancy from the stewards then.

[Corvettian]

time for that second cup, eh... ;) :p That's not a bad idea. :laugh:

[steveaki13]

No passes from Alonso yet ? :p :

Hard tyres to the rests soft. He will lead soon.

[Koz]

Omg cameraman hit

[veeten]

Nicely planned, RB. Cheers. :s

[Ranger]

Omg cameraman hit

Well that was just awful in every sense.

[steveaki13]

Webber loses wheel and some poor guy smashed by the bouncing tyre. Bad situation

[dj_bytedisaster]

Nicely planned, RB. Cheers. :s

Can you cut the bullshyte? The accident is bad enough without adding such a claptrap to it.

[AndyL]

Massa must have had a problem strange incident otherwise.

Looked somewhat similar to what happened to him in Monaco.

[AndyL]

What an awful (and uncharacteristic) cock-up by the Red Bull pit crew.

[AndyL]

From Grosjean's pace, it looks like most of the option tyre runners blinked too early.

[Koz]

Good on Nico, showing some balls and racing his race.

[pino]

dj, don't tell people how and what to post thank you !

[dj_bytedisaster]

dj, don't tell people how and what to post thank you !

Then please you do it. I think that alluding that such an accident is has been planned is utterly tasteless.

[truefan72]

rosberg costing his team dearly, pathetic

[webberf1]

Webber pitting and looking like leapfrogging Vettel on a slower lap... I just knew RBR were about to balls it up for him. But then THAT?? I hope that cameraman is ok :(

[truefan72]

and then gives kimi a free pass
strupud rosberg

he cost Hamilton the spot to grosjean
nicely done nico, nicely done :(

[Koz]

I really really hope we see Grosjean win a race here today.

[steveaki13]

Romain.... Can he win? Without Crashing.

[veeten]

Webber pitting and looking like leapfrogging Vettel on a slower lap... I just knew RBR were about to balls it up for him. But then THAT?? I hope that cameraman is ok :( Watch out, webberf1. dj might misconstrue what you said and whine about it.

[steveaki13]

Lewis has been unfortunate here, held up by Rosberg and now Hulkenberg. Thats the way it bounces

[veeten]

the car just doesn't suit him today, steve. and now, Alonso all over him like a cheap suit.

[steveaki13]

Merc fallen back to tyre wearing ways apparently.

Credit to Hamilton though, he fights every battle to the death.

[Koz]

Poor Alonso :p

[Warriwa]

Webber is the unluckiest driver in F1. Makes you wonder sometimes . . . . . .

[ShiftingGears]

Ill timed ad break during the best duel in a while. Not impressed.

A great shame for Webber, but most importantly I hope the cameraman is alright. Hopefully Grosjean can win this one.

[Corvettian]

Romain.... Can he win? Without Crashing.
As the old saying goes, "To finish first, first you must finish"...

[veeten]

...and pays the price. Pitted again.

[JasonPotato]

Nice to see RB screw over Webber yet again! How many times have they done that? No wonder he's leaving. Have never seen them screw Vettel!

they should just become a one driver team, clearly they only care for one.

[longisland]

Lewis just got my vote for drive of the day

[veeten]

as Hobbs would say, "He done blowed up"...

[Ranger]

Safety car, Bianchi's car freewheeling down the hill.

What a race... :\

[veeten]

and left the car in neutral, causing it to roll back onto the track. You dummy!!! :angry:

[webberf1]

Pic's car... I really shouldn't be laughing, that could have ended badly. Bad webberf1!

[dj_bytedisaster]

Nice to see RB screw over Webber yet again! How many times have they done that? No wonder he's leaving. Have never seen them screw Vettel!

It was a mistake. This time with bad consequences, but they certainly didn't do it deliberately. Why should they throw away a podium position with Mercedes breathing down their necks in the constructors championship. Oh, and they did screw Vettel's race at Barcelona when they left him on a hopeless 3-stopper and switched to four stops when he had fallen back to fourth already, so it's not only Mark, who's on the receiving end of strategy mistakes.


they should just become a one driver team, clearly they only care for one.

Yep, that's why they told Mark how to improve his start before the race as opposed to just having him have a bad start as usual.

[steveaki13]

Wow. A while since we have seen an engine explode like that.

Now another rare sight. A car rolling backwards across the track.

What the heck is going on out there today. :p :

[dj_bytedisaster]

Lewis just got my vote for drive of the day

That fight with Alonso was brilliant stuff :)

COPY PASTE TO WATCH F1 LIVE>>>> dmmp2p.eu/tv2.html

[Koz]

35 laps on primes?

Lotus might try to go the whole way, but I'm thinking everyone has to pit again?

[webberf1]

JasonPotato, I gotta say it is a little strange how RBR forget to put wheels on a car when its Webber in a good position.

[truefan72]

now we have to wait another 2 laps for webber to overtake
jeezuz!

[veeten]

... and Charlie Whiting, shaking his head in that booth, saying to himself, "I've should've been a Dentist"... :p

[steveaki13]

Webber is the unluckiest driver in F1. Makes you wonder sometimes . . . . . .

Not now. He gets to un lap himself

[ShiftingGears]

now we have to wait another 2 laps for webber to overtake
jeezuz!

This system definitely needs fixing. Safety car laps when there is no obstructions or abnormal danger present is not what anyone wants to spend time watching.

[veeten]

Not now. He gets to un lap himself baby steps, steve. Baby steps... ;)

[JasonPotato]

It's the fact I have seen them do it countless times over the years, always Webber never Vettel. Must have happened 5 times at least they haven't put his tyres on correctly. If it was an even number then fair enough but it's always Webber.

[steveaki13]

Bloody SC rule..................................

F1 = Joke?

[Koz]

This is really moronic.
We need a new system here for lapped cars.

[truefan72]

so 3 laps behind the safety car for mr webber :down:

[ShiftingGears]

This is really moronic.
We need a new system here for lapped cars.

Lucky dog pass is what I would suggest, so the lap deficit is nullified without the driver actually having to do the extra laps to catch up. Or have SC laps not count towards the total laps completed.

[veeten]

slowly heading towards how NASCAR handles such 'incidents'... a sad, sad day.

[steveaki13]

I have always hated this SC rule. I was happy enough having lapped cars in the pack, but if you must do something have all lapped cars stay lapped and drop to the tail of the bunch.

[steveaki13]

Lucky dog pass is what I would suggest, so the lap deficit is nullified without the driver actually having to do the extra laps to catch up.

Or leave him a lap down like he was. Why do drivers get to gain to a lap with no justification.

[dj_bytedisaster]

It's the fact I have seen them do it countless times over the years, always Webber never Vettel. Must have happened 5 times at least they haven't put his tyres on correctly. If it was an even number then fair enough but it's always Webber.

That may be down to the fact that in most races Webber comes in one lap after Vettel. With two pitstops in such rapid succession the chances for mistakes are by definition higher in the second one. They have like 5-10 laps to prepare the first one, but only a minute or so to get ready for the second. I doubt there's any deliberate screwing up going on. The points for the constructors championship are literally worth millions and too precious to throw away.

[veeten]

and, once again, Lotus has both their cars in the sharp end of the grid. Good guys.

[Whyzars]

I have always hated this SC rule. I was happy enough having lapped cars in the pack, but if you must do something have all lapped cars stay lapped and drop to the tail of the bunch.

They all have radio's and the order could be sorted within one lap behind the safety car.

[AndyL]

An interesting second half of the race in prospect. Can any of the leaders complete the race on their current tyres? Alonso, Hulkenberg, Button and Rosberg will need to pit for the soft tyres, and will have a chance to chase down anyone who is trying to eke out their medium tyres.

[JasonPotato]

Lotus 1-2?

[Koz]

Identical times at the front of the grid, I wonder how much Vettel is holding them back.

I wonder, will Williams score a point?

[veeten]

".. Mmmm, Soda cookies. Want one, Jensen?"... Stop it!!! :rotflmao:

[truefan72]

hamilton's merc could not get by the sauber, sad
now button is 4 sec up the track

[Knock-on]

If I was Kimi, I would leave some gap, save tyres and wait for Romain and Seb to fight it out.

[FastFoz]

That may be down to the fact that in most races Webber comes in one lap after Vettel. With two pitstops in such rapid succession the chances for mistakes are by definition higher in the second one. They have like 5-10 laps to prepare the first one, but only a minute or so to get ready for the second. I doubt there's any deliberate screwing up going on. The points for the constructors championship are literally worth millions and too precious to throw away.


Open your eyes man! They didnt want the accident to happen, just add a couple seconds to his pit stop so he was no threat to vettel.

I cant work out why they pitted him so early as it was obvious vettel/hamiltons tyres were not giving them an advantage and if webber did a few more laps he would have easy come out in the lead because vettel had lots of traffic, who's strategy call was that???.

You can always guarantee webber gets the rough end of the stick except for accidents like Malaysia where it did not go as they planned and webber come out in front, and again as usual he got the rough end of the stick. I'm surprised he has put up with it this long.

I used to think he was unlucky but now its just beyond a joke.

[dj_bytedisaster]

New update about the cameraman. He's been transferred to the army hospital at Koblenz. Concussion and broken bones with no specifics yet, which bones, but since he seemed to take the hit square between the shoulders it could be everything from ribs over collarbones to vertebrae :( But at least no fatality.

[steveaki13]

Hamilton will be just hoping for points now. Sad.

As for Lotus. A 1-2 is on.

[Knock-on]

Go Kimi!!!

[dj_bytedisaster]

Open your eyes man! They didnt want the accident to happen, just add a couple seconds to his pit stop so he was no threat to vettel.


I hope you don't really believe that. That's the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a while.

[steveaki13]

New update about the cameraman. He's been transferred to the army hospital at Koblenz. Concussion and broken bones with no specifics yet, which bones, but since he seemed to take the hit square between the shoulders it could be everything from ribs over collarbones to vertebrae :( But at least no fatality.

Thanks for the update

[Knock-on]

Hopefully he's OK.

Mind you, I bet Daniel will be on next week claiming that if it wasn't a Pirelli, the tyre would have merely brushed him and done no harm :laugh:

[AndyL]

Important pass on Hamilton by Vettel, could be a race-winner.

[Koz]

I have a sinking feeling that Lotus screwed Kimi once again.

[FastFoz]

I hope you don't really believe that. That's the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a while.

I absolutely believe that. 2 seconds on webbers pit stop still leaves there cars 1-2, so no constructor point implications at that point in the race.

[Koz]

Hopefully he's OK.

Mind you, I bet Daniel will be on next week claiming that if it wasn't a Pirelli, the tyre would have merely brushed him and done no harm :laugh:

Don't you mean a massage with a happy ending? :p

[longisland]

No puns intended. Lewis seems to defend better against Fred & Seb yet Grosjean passed him in one corner.

[veeten]

Pino, Alonso 2nd but will have to pit soon.

[Knock-on]

I just saw Donks :s hock:

Man is he a dodgy dancer :D

[dj_bytedisaster]

No puns intended. Lewis seems to defend better against Fred & Seb yet Grosjean passed him in one corner.

Because the tyres on the merc were toast. He went in immediately after RoGro passed him

[Tazio]

alonso follows kimi into the pits eek: :p :

[steveaki13]

Can Kimi and Fernando catch on soft tyres? Could be fun

[JasonPotato]

Kimi for the win!

[longisland]

Because the tyres on the merc were toast. He went in immediately after RoGro passed him
Well, Lewis was able to keep Fred at bay before he pitted

[Tazio]

Alonso for the win ;)

[AndyL]

Nicely set for a sprint to the end!

[Corvettian]

Kimi for the win!

I'm with you on that one. :up:

[steveaki13]

Nah. Seb for the win. Soft tyres are rubbish. Gone already

[Ranger]

Unless a wheel falls off or a gearbox blows up, Vettel will win now.

EDIT: But I have been wrong before... maybe once. :p

[Corvettian]

Unless a wheel falls off or a gearbox blows up, Vettel will win now.

EDIT: But I have been wrong before... maybe once. :p
...said Murray Walker, on more than one occasion. :laugh:

[dj_bytedisaster]

He somehow always just manages to keep Kimi out of DRS range by a few hundreds

[truefan72]

very dissapointing

rosberg will need to answer some questions in the garage as to why he held up hamilton
it was a poor start ( ora great start by RBR) for hamilton,
got no help from his teammate and hulkenberg slowed him down good and nice,
I don't blame hulkenberg though as it was up to Lewis to get past him
the old tire gremlins and lack of pace on heavy fuel are still there
certainly p4 ahead of alonso was theirs for the taking and but as usual the SCD did him no favors and the

off to watch tennis now
:(

[steveaki13]

very dissapointing

For Lewis it was, but hey it was a good race.

[Tazio]

The Boss gets Button for 5th :angel:

[veeten]

Not bad. Vettel for the win, and Lotus drivers a 2-3 finish. Possible 'pole vault' up the team championship points ladder for Lotus.

[longisland]

Congrats to Seb. My driver of the day goes to Grosjean. Donkey goes to RBR pit crew and Bianchi. Drive of the day goes to the Lewis on Fred. Team of the race goes to Lotus. This is definitely better than Hockenheim

[steveaki13]

The Boss gets Button for 5th :angel:

What?? Ross Brawn that **** and Lewis Lover has passed JB. What a disgrace. ;)

[Ranger]

He somehow always just manages to keep Kimi out of DRS range by a few hundreds

Not surprising... The Red Bull was still the best car today, as it was in Silverstone.

Good drive though.

[Whyzars]

Or leave him a lap down like he was. Why do drivers get to gain to a lap with no justification.

I wonder if Di Resta agrees with you seeing as he finished 11th?

Looking at how the race panned out, Webber being able to unlap himself under SC had real points implications. I don't think the rule was supposed to do that and ask the same question as you.

[dj_bytedisaster]

ARGHH!!!! Kai Ebel doing the podium interview. :arrowed:

[kfzmeister]

Drive of the day goes to the Lewis on Fred.

How so? Hopefully not talking about Ham holding him up, cause Hulk then did the same thing to Ham a little later! :rolleyes:

[steveaki13]

It was all because peope got moany and bitchy about occasional backmarkers ruining restarts under SC.

Nevermind that 20 odd years of SC had gone before with no one moaning. Now we have to have this sham.

[kfzmeister]

The Red Bull was still the best car today

I would disagree. Lotus looked better to me.

[tjoepie]

If Hamilton were my teammate I'd do everything to sabotage his race too...

[steveaki13]

Just a question. Why didnt Seb talk German much on the podium?

[dj_bytedisaster]

Just a question. Why didnt Seb talk German much on the podium?

Because he thought that other people should be able to understand him, too. That's what he said when Ebel asked him to speak German instead of English.

[N4D13]

Just a question. Why didnt Seb talk German much on the podium?
Because that's what Germans do in Germany! :p

[vhatever]

Not surprising... The Red Bull was still the best car today, as it was in Silverstone.

Good drive though.

You mean vettel was the best driver. like he is pretty much every GP. One day you will accept it and go on with the rest of your life. maybe,

[steveaki13]

Because he thought that other people should be able to understand him, too. That's what he said when Ebel asked him to speak German instead of English.

Thanks

[Ranger]

You mean vettel was the best driver. like he is pretty much every GP. One day you will accept it and go on with the rest of your life. maybe,

Says he, with the amazing life of insulting people on the internet. Grow up.

Webber was never more than 1.5 seconds away from Vettel, and was leading when the team only fixed three wheels to his car.

Ergo, the team had the best car.

[steveaki13]

Button, Whitmarsh and the whole of Mclaren RAGING at Caterham and its drivers

[JasonPotato]

After seeing a slow-motion replay of the wheel coming loose i wish that cameraman all the best and hopefully be back in the action soon. Doubt he'll want to cover the pit lane again though.

and nice to see the new pirelli tyres making an impact :D pun intended

[AndyL]

The F1 journos are now tweeting that Red Bull have been given a €30,000 fine for the unsafe release of Webber's car. They've got off lightly IMO.

Edit: and a €5000 fine for Force India.

It makes a bit more sense now that they didn't investigate it during the race - I guess some decision has been made to punish unsafe releases with fines rather than sporting penalties.

[dj_bytedisaster]

It makes a bit more sense now that they didn't investigate it during the race - I guess some decision has been made to punish unsafe releases with fines rather than sporting penalties.

It would be wrong to penalize the driver for a mistake that's done by the team. On the other hand I think a mere fine isn't really going to cause the teams to be more carefull. At least in case of repeat offenses there should be 1-race-bans or at least probation periods for the teams. If the risk can be reduced to a wad of cash, the front-running teams will surely rather risk it.

[ioan]

It would be wrong to penalize the driver for a mistake that's done by the team. On the other hand I think a mere fine isn't really going to cause the teams to be more carefull. At least in case of repeat offenses there should be 1-race-bans or at least probation periods for the teams. If the risk can be reduced to a wad of cash, the front-running teams will surely rather risk it.

That is wrong.
Rest assured none of the teams is trying hard to lose a wheel after a pit stop, not even if they can afford to pay their way out of it.
You can not give a race ban, that would penalize the drivers, as you pointed it out yourself. The only sensible outcome is a fine or docking constructors points, like for example 1 point for each unsafe release.

[dj_bytedisaster]

That is wrong.
Rest assured none of the teams is trying hard to lose a wheel after a pit stop, not even if they can afford to pay their way out of it.
You can not give a race ban, that would penalize the drivers, as you pointed it out yourself. The only sensible outcome is a fine or docking constructors points, like for example 1 point for each unsafe release.

I'm not saying that they want to lose a wheel. But, pitstops are now skirting the 2 seconds mark for the tyre change and the risk of error rises ove the acceptable the more they try to shave of a few tenths off a pit stop. I think 2 seconds for the lollipop man to register all four tyres attached and still keeping an eye out for other cars is bordering on the impossible.

[ioan]

I'm not saying that they want to lose a wheel. But, pitstops are now skirting the 2 seconds mark for the tyre change and the risk of error rises ove the acceptable the more they try to shave of a few tenths off a pit stop. I think 2 seconds for the lollipop man to register all four tyres attached and still keeping an eye out for other cars is bordering on the impossible.

There is not much one can do about it. Either mandate that all pit stops are minimum 5 seconds or get a better lollipop man.

[AndyL]

There is not much one can do about it. Either mandate that all pit stops are minimum 5 seconds or get a better lollipop man.

I guess this was one benefit of refuelling - though reintroducing it would hardly be a safety improvement.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Limiting the number of people allowed to perform the pitstops would be possible. I don't see many wheels falling off in GT racing.

[jens]

Interesting race. From beginning to the very end. Worth watching. :)

Nice race by Vettel, had to deliver under pressure all race. Strong comeback by Räikkönen, but if you lose out narrowly, you would always ask questions whether the strategy was exactly right. Reminded me how Alonso chased down Räikkönen in Abu Dhabi last year, but couldn't really catch in the end. Nice performance by Grosjean, good to see him finally having a strong race pace too. He needs to keep that one up now for the rest of the year to save his seat.

Alonso wasn't far behind in the end, so Ferrari is there or thereabouts, but as usual - always missing a tiny bit to truly challenge (for the championship). Pity about Massa. For two consecutive races he has been ahead of Alonso before "issues", so we haven't really seen, what could he do in a competitive position by the end of the race. A pity about Webber too. One of his strongest circuits, where he got his maiden F1 win. Was a real contender for a win this time too.

Fortunately for Vettel he does not have a consistent rival, so even despite the British GP DNF he is still in a strong position in the championship. Sometimes he battles with Lotus, sometimes with Ferrari, sometimes with Mercedes. However, all of them take points away from each other like Alonso was left fourth today, which enables Vettel to pull away.

[airshifter]

Great race. Though the safety car did change things some, I think it would have panned out very similar except for Webber being allowed to gain his lap back... that ended up with points implications and is wrong IMO.

Great drive by Seb and RB, but they were feeling the pressure. Shame Mark was out so early, same with Felipe. Both could have had major impacts on the race and constructor standings.

[Big Ben]

The thing I loved about the race was that SC. They decided to send it in when it was already pretty much useless... so I guess it was more for the show than for safety reasons. And hadn´t they tried this thing with the lapped cars before and decided it was dumb... why did they change their minds? what changed?

As for RBR... next time they should tell the lollipop guy too about their little show. they put a man´s life in danger today.

[steveaki13]

[quote="Big Ben"]And hadn´t they tried this thing with the lapped cars before and decided it was dumb... why did they change their minds? what changed?
QUOTE]

Yes. They had this rule from what I remember for a season a few years back and the same happened. Races held up while backmarkers plod round. So they got rid of the rule and again a few races were affected by Lapped Cars in the middle of the que. So low and behold we have it all over again.

[steveaki13]

The only ways of slowing pitstops down is to either, bring back refueling. Or have less mechanic's as Dj said. Or have a rule of a 5 second pitstop for all.

All these idea's have problems. For me a compulsary 5 second stop would be annoying. I wouldnt be adverse to tyre and fuel strategy being key and in the proccess slowing stops down.

[zako85]

All in all, this was a good race. I enjoyed the fight between Vettel and Lotus cars in the second half. I think the race might have been different without the safety car. Right before safety car, I thought a good battle was brewing between Vettel and Grosjean. Granted, Grosjean still managed to catch up with Vettel later on. It's nice to see Grosjean on the podium again.

[longisland]

The RBR pit error is no worse than any other unsafe releases that ended up with pit lane collisions. Refueling poses more hazards IMHO. Someone may have been hit by the dangling refueling hose when the team released Massa few years ago; then someone would have argued the need to ban refueling. The cameraman shouldn't be near the pit during pitstop anyway.

[call_me_andrew]

The F1 journos are now tweeting that Red Bull have been given a €30,000 fine for the unsafe release of Webber's car. They've got off lightly IMO.

How much of that €30,000 do you think the cameraman will get?

[Koz]

How much of that €30,000 do you think the cameraman will get?

Probably nothing.

I don't understand why he was in the middle of the pit lane either. If Mercedes has to pit wouldn't he have been hit by a car anyway?
I never paid attention, are they usually standing there?

[zako85]

Here is one thing I don't get about Webber's tire accident. I was watching the F1 show on NBC. The camera was positioned above the pit crew. As the screw was changing the tires, I hear in the voice of Will Buxton: "But a delay on a rear right!". After rewinding this moment and watching it like 10 times, I still don't get it how Will Buxton was able to tell what's going on at that instant. The moment he said that, the right hand rear crew was actually ahead of the left crew in putting the wheel on the car. It's almost like Buxton's voice was able to foretell the incident by 2-3 seconds. What's up? Was the pit stop not translated live, so that Buxton knew in advance what was going to happen?

[zako85]

Here is a the video I was talking about:


Cameraman Hit By Runaway Tire At German Grand Prix (http://deadspin.com/cameraman-hit-by-runaway-tire-at-german-grand-prix-692310384)

[Corvettian]

Here is one thing I don't get about Webber's tire accident. I was watching the F1 show on NBC. The camera was positioned above the pit crew. As the screw was changing the tires, I hear in the voice of Will Buxton: "But a delay on a rear right!". After rewinding this moment and watching it like 10 times, I still don't get it how Will Buxton was able to tell what's going on at that instant. The moment he said that, the right hand rear crew was actually ahead of the left crew in putting the wheel on the car. It's almost like Buxton's voice was able to foretell the incident by 2-3 seconds. What's up? Was the pit stop not translated live, so that Buxton knew in advance what was going to happen?
Where was Will Buxton standing? Maybe he could see the something the TV viewers couldn't.

[AndyL]

Was it live or highlights? It's not unknown for the commentary track to be laid on slightly out of sync. I remember Eurosport having that problem sometimes.

[Franky]

Was it live or highlights? It's not unknown for the commentary track to be laid on slightly out of sync. I remember Eurosport having that problem sometimes.

Even the live feed is a bit delayed so that the commentators would have a reaction time.