High drama in Hungary

What an unpredictable race at a venue that has historically provided rather dull, procession-like races! The weather and the tyre lottery that has played a major role throughout the season provided some great racing all the way down the field from start to finish…

Brilliant Button wins in style

When the car isn’t working for him, Jenson still struggles in the McLaren, but when he gets the setup right he’s absolutely supreme. All weekend Jenson was right up there with Lewis, qualifying an excellent 3^rd on the grid for his 200^th Grand Prix. An eventful race for pretty much all of the drivers, Button dealt with the conditions which seem to suit him and the McLarens exceptionally well. While a few errors saw Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of victory quickly ebb away, Jenson drove an intelligent race, managing the tyres and conditions with some very close on-track action at times. Yes the victory really came to him through Lewis’s misjudgements but had he maintained his lead and not been penalised, I’m pretty sure Jenson would have given Lewis a run for his money anyway with the harder compound tyres staying in far better shape over a longer stint. A great win for one of the more popular personalities in the paddock, he definitely deserves some cake tonight.

3 of his worst results of the year….and the title lead is greater than ever…

Sebastian Vettel hasn’t won since Valencia, he’s been positively off form in Britain and in Germany and was one of the most tentative drivers in the early stages of today’s race and yet his lead is now 85 points over his teammate in second place. A little bit of luck, a lot of focus and it just seems like this season is destined to be Sebastian Vettel’s – even when things go badly for him, he just can’t help but end up on the podium. Over 3 race wins ahead of his teammate, the challenge for the other drivers is greater than ever, but the tide has certainly turned on Red Bull in recent races and McLaren were unquestionably faster for the majority of this weekend. Vettel is in an exceptionally privileged position in that consistency is the key…mathematically it’s possible, but realistically it’d take a miracle to overhaul Vettel’s dominant Championship lead.

Superb 7^th for di Resta

Having been outqualified by his teammate Adrian Sutil yesterday, Paul di Resta had an excellent race today scoring another solid points finish for Force India and showing that despite his unorthodox entry into Formula One, he deserves to be there with the very best of them. Beating both Toro Rossos, the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and – most importantly – both Saubers, Paul really helped Force India in the Constructors’ Championship race today as they now trail Sauber by only 9 points as his team increased its lead over Toro Rosso this weekend.

Scary scenes at the end of the pitlane…

This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Nick Heidfeld’s Renault on fire this season but it was certainly a worrying sight as he drove the length of the pitlane with the left side of the car in flames. Nick admitted it was a scary experience for him, but what followed was, in my opinion, highly dangerous and irresponsible. To have marshals on track at the pit exit where drivers are getting up to speed and, as the rules stipulate, forced to stay within the white line was extremely risky for both the marshals and the drivers leaving the pitlane. Having seen some horrific incidents over the years, I squirmed a little as I saw Vettel emerge from the pitlane as Heidfeld’s car was, quite unprofessionally, towed up the pitlane exit. A Safety Car wouldn’t have averted the problem, on the contrary it would probably have increased the danger given that the drivers would have flocked to the pits attempting to cash in on a free pit stop but really, race control should have had the sense to close the pit lane temporarily while the wreckage was towed back in a fashion that ensured both marshal and driver safety.

Lewis who?

I’ve been quick to criticise Lewis Hamilton in the past. I’ve never questioned his talent or his passion – he’s one of the top 3 drivers out there, but his attitude has been far from positive over the course of his career, but most notably this season. He’s been brash, disrespectful, and downright cocky, overstepping the line between confidence and arrogance by a country mile at times. I’ve been an F1 fan for life, not one who has jumped on the bandwagon at a bit of British success and while I’m glad he’s brought the sport more attention and interest, he’s hardly been an excellent ambassador for the sport, unlike his teammate Jenson Button. No, this isn’t an attack on Lewis – far from it. While the BBC commentators were predicting Lewis to emerge from his car spewing about a drive through penalty and a tyre choice error, the Lewis that we saw before us was composed and humble, and while he was quick to tell us he ‘never spins’, he came across as far more personable than he has done of late. Whether McLaren has invested in some excellent PR people just for Lewis or whether he’s solely responsible for his change in attitude I don’t know. I don’t particularly care either as long as it continues. 

A great German Grand Prix

Hamilton returns to the top...

After a stunning qualifying lap that surprised even Lewis, Hamilton returned to his very best this weekend. As soon as he put his McLaren on the front row of the grid, many tipped him for victory - particularly given Mark Webber's failure to convert poles to wins in recent races. Once again, Mark made a poor start and Hamilton capitalised on this, immediately pulling out quite some gap on the rest of the field. As the cars settled into more of a rhythm it became too close to call the top 3 - separated by just 1.5 seconds at times but as the pit stops came, Hamilton came into his own. The cool temperatures undoubtedly helped Lewis and McLaren this weekend as he has often been too hard on his tyres causing them to degrade too quickly but today the undercut failed to help Webber as his tyres didn't come up to temperature quickly enough. Lewis's simple overtake on Alonso is unlikely to have been simply down to Alonso not paying attention and more likely a result of him tentatively getting to grips with the track on cold tyres as Hamilton, on warmer tyres came up behind him. No matter - from then onwards Lewis took charge and it looked unlikely that Fernando would ever really challenge him on track before the 3rd stop... quite predictably, Lewis's tyres were the first to go but unpredictably, the hard tyres didn't damage lap times. Combined with low fuel loads, the tyres performed well and while it looked like a risk to pit first, it was a risk that paid off for Hamilton as he secured a very sweet victory to regain 3rd place in the Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's attitude has been a lot more positive this weekend and it showed on track - a well deserved victory.

Chinks in Vettel's armour begin to show..

Losing out to Fernando Alonso right at the start of the race, Vettel really didn't enjoy his home Grand Prix as much as he would have liked to. Yes he finished in 4th place and when we consider that his teammate Mark Webber 'only' finished in 3rd, that might not appear so bad but in reality Vettel was miles off a podium today as he locked up on several occasions and even spun off as he ran wide. In my first blog I was quick to defend Vettel from the critics who say that he has never had to race and I stand by my assessment of Vettel as a great, intelligent and highly skilled driver. He is an exceptional driver when he is comfortable in the car, but this weekend he has been in Mark's shadow - he hasn't seemed as confident and carefree in the last few races as he was earlier in the season and I can't help but feel that as Ferrari and McLaren progress, Vettel - despite a huge lead over his teammate - is starting to feel a little less secure at Red Bull, particularly as he felt on the back foot with regards to car set-up this weekend. Fortunately for Sebastian, he has a huge lead over his nearest rival who also happens to be his teammate and while Felipe Massa - another driver who has been called into question recently - held Vettel up very well as he seemed reluctant to risk an overtake on the track, settling for 5th place or waiting for the pit stops to decide was a luxury Seb was able to afford. He maintains a commanding lead over the Drivers' Championship, but Vettel was shaky this weekend and he can't afford many more weekends like this as Alonso, Hamilton and Webber are relentless in their attack.

Not such a bad day for Alonso...

While Fernando will rue Hamilton's overtake after his second stop, he won't actually be too disappointed with second place today. The Ferraris do not enjoy the cold, damp conditions that we saw today at the Nürburgring and two weeks ago at Silverstone and yet Alonso finished first and second in such conditions... Yes he might feel that he missed out on victory today, but he didn't lose out to Vettel, and he and Ferrari will look ahead to the next few, much hotter races and feel extremely optimistic about their chances given the improvements that Ferrari has been able to make in recent weeks.

Petrov and Sutil impress...

Vitaly Petrov and Adrian Sutil impressed again this weekend with Petrov doing a great job to keep considerably faster cars behind him, positioning his car perfectly lap after lap, while Sutil's strategy and some great driving saw him grab a great 6th place for Force India this weekend. Often outqualified by teammate Paul di Resta, Sutil seems to perform far better in the race itself.

A belated British Grand Prix Blog

While Cyprus can guarantee sunshine it certainly can't guarantee a reliable wifi connection so I figured I'd wait until I was back in dreary England to write about a not-so-dreary British Grand Prix! It was a turning point in the season last year and it may well prove to be a turning point this season but it's too early to judge right now.. 

Ferrari are back... 

It really was a 'fantastic day' for Ferrari as Stefano Domenicali said to Alonso as he crossed the finish line first. Pointing to the prancing horse on his steering wheel, Fernando was evidently delighted to be returning to the top step of the podium for Ferrari after so long. A historic victory too, on the 60th anniversary of Ferrari's first ever win at the very same track. However, what is most important is what this victory means for the rest of the season...While some might say that Ferrari were only in a position to fight for victory as a result of the (already reversed) rule change, I actually feel that Ferrari's victory was a culmination of months of development and they have been threatening victory for quite some time. Equally some would say that Fernando was 'gifted' this victory by the Red Bull pitcrew blunder, but that's racing...in the same way it could be argued that Alonso was set for victory in Monaco had it not been for the Red flag tyre changes... That's just the way it goes sometimes. It's also true that Alonso showed he had the pace, both before and after the pitstop to challenge the Red Bull on track - eventually winning the race by over 16 seconds. What is for certain is that this was not a one-off from Ferrari - their car, in races at least, has shown potential for victory in recent races and this victory will spur the team on.  The Drivers' Championship is still looking very much out of reach for Alonso, as Ferrari's progress has come too late in the season to really see them challenge for the championship, but I do envisage the gap closing in the second half of the season. Felipe Massa also showed more promise than he has done of late, but I can't help but feel that his race was overcompromised by Ferrari using him as a buffer to Mark Webber. Undoubtedly he played a role for the team but he could have played a greater role by taking positions (and therefore points) away from the Red Bulls if he had been in a position to race his own race rather than compromising it by staying out on tyres without any grip. A shame too as Felipe is consistently outshone by Fernando in races, even if they are more equally matched in practice and qualifying and he really could have played a greater role here. 

A 'team result' for Red Bull...?

Chances are two drivers - teammates or not - have just as much chance of taking each other out at the first corner of a race as they do at the last...Vettel had a great start to take the lead, but who could have guaranteed that it happen without incident or coming together? It's hardly possible...racing is unpredictable and that's why the fans love it...fans love competition and fair fighting and while Mark Webber may have chosen to ignore his team orders to 'maintain the gap', the team's stance has strengthened the position of Webber as a definite number 2 driver. Yes, it might have only been due to a pit error that Webber found himself so close to Vettel, but again that is racing and Webber hasn't exactly had a problem-free season. Vettel maintains a commanding lead over the championship and the three points difference between 2nd and 3rd place would have hardly impacted upon this lead. Moreover, a 2-3 'team result' would have been a 'team result' whether it was Vettel or Webber who finished ahead...Indeed, as Martin Brundle later commented, if the Red Bull bosses genuinely had feared a coming together between the two drivers, could they not have adopted the 'Mark is faster than you' Ferrari-esque attitude? Of course it would have also been met with discontent, but it might also have restored some harmony within the team, rather than leaving Mark feeling left out in the cold one year on from his famous 'not bad for a number two driver' comment. A difficult decision no doubt but for team that is running away with the Constructors' Championship and for a team that supposedly supports wheel-to-wheel, raw racing, and while the message was undoubtedly a sensible one for Red Bull, it was certainly a disappointment for racing fans. 

A tough day for McLaren...

McLaren were evidently wary of the impact that the recent rule change might have upon the team performance and both Button and Hamilton were fairly despondent after a disappointing qualifying session. Lewis made a great start while Jenson struggled with grip in the early stages of the race, and for the first race in a while it was Jenson whose tyres suffered the most while Lewis was hot on the heels of Felipe Massa in the first stint. Both drivers were far more competitive after the first set of pitstops - much to the delight of the home crowd - but as the already used tyres lost grip, Ferrari - and particularly Alonso - showed that they have moved ahead of McLaren in Silverstone in terms of race pace as Alonso was far gentler on his tyres, often over a second per lap faster than Hamilton.  It was really in the last phase of the lap where the McLarens really suffered and lost time to the Red Bulls and Alonso. Ultimately it was the undercut that saw Vettel pass Hamilton but it was clear that Hamilton was lacking pace as he fell quickly behind Alonso as he held up Vettel. Things went from bad to worse for the Woking based team as a Chief Mechanic error saw Button retire at the end of the pitlane while Lewis's race was compromised as he was forced to enter fuel saving mode. A disappointing day for McLaren fans and an even more frustrating day for the drivers who had so hoped to impress at their home Grand Prix. Perhaps the only consolation was that Hamilton maintained his 4th place ahead of Massa even if it meant losing a piece of bodywork in doing so. The past few races have at times been less than pretty for McLaren with driver and team errors meaning that valuable points have been lost while Ferrari has made great progress. 

Best of the rest... 

Sergio Perez had another great Grand Prix at Silverstone and is really making a name for himself as he collects a handful of points for Sauber and both Mercedes also enjoyed a points finish as Schumacher fought his way back to ninth after another incident packed race. A good result too for Jaime Alguersuari who finished in the points for the third race in a row, as he bids to protect his seat at Toro Rosso.