Fernando Alonso managed his second victory of the season, albeit in a bitter fashion which involved team orders between himself and Felipe Massa, the Brazilian managing second.
Sebastian Vettel lost his race in the first corner tussling with Alonso, but duly managed third ahead of the two McLaren’s.
Race Report:
Felipe Massa came out as the leader after turn one, having overtaken Sebastian Vettel and team-mate Fernando Alonso as the two tussled for position.
Lewis Hamilton capitalised on the first corner bunching, taking his team-mate, then using his straight line speed advantage to pass Mark Webber.
As the remainder of the pack reached the hairpin, the two Toro Rosso drivers collided, resulting in Sebastian Buemi retiring and Jaime Alguersuari needing a new front-wing. Adrian Sutil also lost his front-wing in the carnage, whilst the second Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi pitted for new tyres – the two then pitted again having taken each others tyre sets which is against FI
A regulations.
Jarno Trulli became the second retiree after slowing on the second lap with a mechanical issue.
Lap 13 saw the first strategic pit stop. The Red Bull team pitted Vettel which led to the Ferrari team immediately reacting by pitting second placed man, Fernando Alonso, on lap 14, along with Mark Webber.
Race leader Felipe Massa chose to pit on lap 15 along with Lewis Hamilton – handing the lead to Jenson Button.
Robert Kubica and Michael Schumacher had a brief tussle, reminiscent of the Candian GP, which saw the Pole come out ahead of the German after his stop.
On lap 21, Alonso had his best opportunity so far to pass Massa into the hairpin, but backmarkers hindered his exit leaving the order unchanged.
Button made his first stop on lap 23, slotting in behind his team-mate but crucially ahead of Webber, whom he was behind at the start of the race.
Vitaly Petrov used a slow Schumacher to his advantage at the hairpin to pass Kamui Kobayashi to take 12th on lap 25.
Felipe Massa continued to repeatedly set the quickest lap throughout the middle part of the race despite struggling for grip on his new tyres.
Lap 48 saw the message fans never want to hear, move over Felipe, Alonso’s quicker – albeit worded a little differently (Alonso is faster than you, can you confirm you understood that message? – Rob Smedley delivered in a dull tone). One lap later the inevitable happened and Massa immediately slowed to allow his team-mate through.
Rob Smedley then apologised to Massa, saying the following: “OK mate, good lad. Stay with him now. Sorry.”
The order then remained unchanged since the switch, leading to a Ferrari 1-2, the second of the year.
Race results for the German GP:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +5.121 |
| 01 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:28:38.866 |
| 06 | M. Webber | Red Bull | +43.606 |
| 02 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +4.196 |
| 08 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +1 lap |
| 04 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +26.896 |
| 09 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1 lap |
| 12 | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1 lap |
| 07 | R. Kubica | Renault | +1 lap |
| 13 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | +1 lap |
| 11 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +1 lap |
| 24 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | Retired |
| 05 | J. Button | McLaren | +29.482 |
| 10 | V. Petrov | Renault | +1 lap |
| 14 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | +1 lap |
| 15 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1 lap |
| 16 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | +2 lap |
| 20 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | Retired |
| 23 | J. Trulli | Lotus | Retired |
| 19 | B. Senna | Hispania | +4 lap |
| 22 | S. Yamamoto | Hispania | Retired |
| 21 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | Retired |
| 18 | T. Glock | Virgin | +3 lap |
| 17 | A. Sutil | Force India | +2 lap |
(All timing unofficial)
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