Massa allows Alonso past to win German GP
25 July, 2010
Race winner Fernando Alonso on the podium with second placed Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa
Jul.25 (YallaF1.com) Apart from the start and half of the first lap the German Grand Prix, at Hockenheim. Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel, perhaps too intent on Fernando Alonso, duffed the start allowing Felipe Massa a clear run into Turn 1 to take the lead, Alonso tucked in to second and Vettel third. And that’s how it looked like staying until…
Start of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim
Lap 47 message to Massa: “OK, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm that message?”
Lap 49 exiting the Turn 6 hairpin Massa exits slower than normal and Alonso gets past to take first place, the intentions were blatantly clear to all.
Lap 49 message to Massa: “Alright. Good one. Just stick with him now. Sorry.”
Slow down lap message to Massa: “Well done mate. Good lad. Felipe Massa is back, back in business. It was a great result and you were very, very, very magnanimous. You will have no idea what that word means, I will explain it to you later.”
Race winner Fernando Alonso with Ferrari second placed team mate Felipe Massa in parc ferme
Thus it ended with Alonso taking victory from his team mate Massa, followed by Vettel. Here was Ferrari’s heir to Michael Schumacher’s throne winning in his former nemesis’ home country – big deal, big celebrations you would think – not quite. The victory was hollow and Alonso’s body language and demeanour on the podium was a testament to this.
This one is by no means over and out, as the rules clearly state that team orders are not allowed. Watch this space…
Anyway back to the race…
Fourth and fifth were McLaren-Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button respectively, as Hamilton hit the nail on the head when observed before the race, “We are now the third best team.”
Lewis Hamilton leads McLaren Mercedes team mate Jenson Button
Button summed up the situation after the race, “Lewis and I showed today that we got the maximum out of the car – it’s just that the car isn’t quite quick enough at the moment.”
Red Bull’s Mark Webber finished sixth, the final driver on the same lap as Alonso, and perhaps his most subdued performance of the season.
Robert Kubica made the most of his Renault, which desperately lagging behind in the upgrades race, to finish seventh while his rookie team mate Vitaly Petrov took the final point in tenth. Kubica said, “I think we had a good weekend considering the car’s potential at this circuit.”
Michael Schumacher scored points at his home coming race
Sandwiched between the Renault pair were the two Silver Arrows with Nico Rosberg eighth and Michael Schumacher ninth. The seven times F1 World Champion back on home soil said of his race, “Of course I would have wished for more, especially as our race performance tends to be better than qualifying, but it did not work out. We will certainly not get nervous but we have to sit down, analyse the reasons and put the right solutions in place.”
Race Results – 25 July 2010
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Grid | Pts |
| 1 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 67 | Winner | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 67 | +4.1 secs | 3 | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 67 | +5.1 secs | 1 | 15 |
| 4 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | +26.8 secs | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | +29.4 secs | 5 | 10 |
| 6 | 6 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 67 | +43.6 secs | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 66 | +1 Lap | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 66 | +1 Lap | 9 | 4 |
| 9 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 66 | +1 Lap | 11 | 2 |
| 10 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 66 | +1 Lap | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 66 | +1 Lap | 12 | |
| 12 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 66 | +1 Lap | 8 | |
| 13 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 66 | +1 Lap | 10 | |
| 14 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 66 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
| 15 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 66 | +1 Lap | 15 | |
| 16 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 65 | +2 Laps | 21 | |
| 17 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 65 | +2 Laps | 19 | |
| 18 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 64 | +3 Laps | 23 | |
| 19 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 63 | +4 Laps | 20 | |
| Ret | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 56 | +11 Laps | 18 | |
| Ret | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 50 | +17 Laps | 24 | |
| Ret | 20 | Sakon Yamamoto | HRT-Cosworth | 19 | +48 Laps | 22 | |
| Ret | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 3 | +64 Laps | 17 | |
| Ret | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1 | +66 Laps | 16 |
Related posts:
- 11 German GP results from all sessions
- Practice 2: Alonso fastest as track dries up
- Practice 1: Sutil top in wet, Hamilton crashes
- German GP: Red Bull preview
- German GP: Ferrari preview
Ferrari charged with bringing the sport into disrepute (again), and the case will also be referred to the FIA World Motorsport Council for further consideration.
Ferrari at it again.
Proves that Ferrari should NOT be allowed to have extra cars on the grid as Montezemolo wants, as they would only use them to further manipulate the race results.
Now if McLaren had done this…
I hope to wake up after a short nights sleep here in New Zealand to the news that Ferrari have been disqualified, too silly to disguise their team orders with the apologies and the stupid move by SD (can’t be bothered getting the spelling of his name) taking Alonso and Massa back up onto the podium, said it all!