Lewis Hamilton started in second place on the grid but made a great start and immediately passed Mark Webber. The race was an exciting one as Hamilton lost and regained the lead twice before winning his 16th F1 Grand Prix.

German Grand Prix
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:37:30.334 25
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari  1:37:34.314 18
3. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault  1:37:40.122 15

It was Lewis Hamilton’s first victory since the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai and was made all the sweeter as Sebastian Vettel failed to collect any points.  But with nine races to go in the F1 2011 season, even with the McLarens and Ferraris driving faster than the Red Bulls, it is difficult to see how anyone but Sebastian Vettel is going to be crowned champion come November.

FIA Formula 1 drivers’ world championship
1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 216
2   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 139
3   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 134
4   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 130
5   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 109
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 62
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 46
8   Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 32
10 Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 32

There’s an interesting article on the BBC website where Mark Hughes suggests McLaren’s return to winning ways is not just down to the individual brilliance of Lewis Hamilton but also has to do with the teams’ choice of tyres.

Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 2010

Fernando Alonso crossed the line to take the chequered flag at the F1 German Grand Prix yesterday after Felipe Massa was forced to follow orders from his team, and moved across to let him pass.

The Ferrari team have been fined $100,000 due to a breach in regulations with the case now being referred to the FIA World Motorsport Council for further consideration.

Massa shot past Sebastian Vettel at the outside of turn one while his team-mate took the inside line and was forced wide by the Red Bull as the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton slotted into fourth place.

At the end of the first lap Sebastian Buemi was back in the pits for a new rear wing while Adrian Sutil was also in for a new nose cone.  Jarno Trulli was forced to retire from the race after suffering a gearbox problem on the Lotus as the Force India cars were seen re-entering after it was discovered that the drivers had both been given each others tyres.

Lewis Hamilton had managed to get ahead of Mark Webber after passing him on the inside of the hairpin on the opening lap with Jenson Button sitting in sixth place.

As the race settled down and the front runners had made their first stops it was clear that Massa was struggling on his new harder compound tyres as he was put under pressure from Alonso who attempted a pass on lap 20.  Massa then put in a number of quick laps, creating a 3 second gap before the second Ferrari driver responded and was back on his tail.

It looked that Massa was going to take his first win since his horrific accident 12-months before until he was radioed by his race engineer Rob Smedley informing the Brazilian that “Fernando is faster than you, confirm that you understand”.

On lap 49, Massa was seen to slow down, allowing Alonso to pass him before his engineer once again came on the radio to apologise, making it obvious to all that this had been team orders.

Alonso crossed the line to take the flag, 4 seconds ahead of his unhappy team-mate followed by the Red Bull of Vettel in third.

The two McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished in fourth and fifth places respectively ahead of Webber who had suffered with an oil problem the entire race.

Robert Kubica was in seventh position followed by the two Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished in eighth and ninth place while Renault driver Vitaly Petrov completed the top ten drivers of the day.

Here are the results;

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 67laps 1hr 27m 38.864s
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 04.1s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 05.1s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 26.8s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 29.4s
6. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 43.6s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +1 lap
8. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +1 lap

all results unofficial

Both drivers look forward to this weekend’s German Grand Prix where they expect to be in contention for further points to boost their respective positions at the top of the Drivers Championship.

They also talk about the healthy competition for the ultimate prize of becoming World Champion in 2010 and how they hope new parts on the McLaren will help them keep ahead of the pack.

Karun Chandhok - HRT F1 2010

The 2010 HRT F1 driver Karun Chandhok is to be replaced at the German Grand Prix by Sakon Yamamoto following his impressive performance at the Silverstone Grand Prix when he drove in place of  Bruno Senna.

The 28-year-old driver ended the British Grand Prix in 20th position for the Hispania Racing team and has been given a second opportunity to drive this time alongside Senna.

Chandhok is expected to race again later in the season with team test driver Christian Klein stating that from now onwards any of the four drivers may get a chance at the race seats.

The Japanese driver has completed 15 Grand Prix starts, initially with the Spyker team now Force India and then the Super Aguri team before joining the HRT F1 team as a test driver in April of this year.

Yamamoto said in an interview;

“The last race weekend was very exciting for me. Now, the team has given me another chance to race on Sunday and I will do my best to prove that it was the right decision.

“I have a lot of good memories of the circuit in Hockenheim. I like the track layout with the passing point at the end of the long straight and also the Stadium sector, which is very challenging. There is always a nice atmosphere with the spectators at the grandstands and I am always looking forward to come back to Hockenheim. Compared to Silverstone, I think we are more competitive and we can achieve a good result again.”

Australia has now been chosen as the second round, allowing the race to begin at 5pm to fit in with the television broadcasters who favour racing in ‘twilight’ rather than the dark.  However, the Singapore round will still be under full floodlights when it takes place in late September.

Although as yet no contract has been signed, the Canadian Grand Prix has been pencilled in for the 13 June, if the contract fails again this year the Turkey Grand Prix will be held later to compensate.

South Korea is a new circuit on the calendar, set to take place in mid-October with the final round being held in Brazil as usual but it will be held in November.

Here is the calendar;

Australia          March 28
Malaysia           April 4
China              April 18
Spain              May 9
Monaco             May 23
Turkey             May 30
Canada*            June 13
Europe (Valencia)  June 27
Great Britain      July 11
Germany            July 25
Hungary            August 1
Belgium            August 29
Italy              September 12
Singapore          September 26
Japan              October 3
Korea              October 17
Abu Dhabi          October 31
Brazil             November 14

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.

Red Bull Racing 2009

It has been confirmed that the Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel, currently running in third in the Championship with 47 points, has signed to race for the team until the end of the 2011 season.

Mark Webber confirmed his drive with the team at the end of July and is currently in second place in the standings with 51.5 points, behind championship leader Brawn GP driver Jenson Button on 70 points.

The 32-year-old Australian, joined the Red Bull Racing team in 2007 alongside David Coulthard after his two-year contract with the Williams team ended.  In 2009, the 22-year-old German driver replaced Coulthard to race alongside Webber after two-years with their sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Vettel has so far won the Chinese and the British Grand Prix while Webber took the victory at the German Grand Prix, both drivers have the option to sign for 2012.

Sebastien Bourdais

Sebastien Bourdais, who was ousted from the Toro Rosso team in July, will no longer be following legal proceedings against the team after reaching an out-of-court settlement.

Bourdais and Toro Rosso reached an amicable agreement the week after the German Grand Prix and it is now suggested that the Frenchman will be moving onto the Indy car series in America.

The 30-year-old, is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, winning four championships between 2004-2007.

It is claimed that as well as being paid his salary for the early exit, he has also been paid $2.1million in damages.

Red Bull Racing 2009

It has been confirmed today that Mark Webber will continue with the Red Bull Racing team in 2010, making it the first team with a full driver line-up for next year after Sebastian Vettel confirmed his drive last week.

The 32-year-old Australian said;

“I’m extremely happy Red Bull and I have been able to agree to race together again next year.  Even in the leaner and tougher years at the start of my relationship with the team, I’ve always enjoyed working with them.

So now to go through this purple patch, which we hope will continue for a good while to come, makes the work even more enjoyable.  We’ve a very exciting finish to this year’s championship, but I’m also looking forward to helping to develop and race the car in the 2010 world championship.  I’m sure we can have a good 18 months together and then we’ll see what happens at the end of next year.”

Out of nine races, Webber has been on the podium five times this season, taking his first victory at the last Grand Prix in Germany, and is currently standing third in the championship while the team are second in the constructor’s championship.

Christian Horner, the team boss, said of Webber;

“He has continued to show huge commitment and determination this season, especially following his bike accident at the end of last year.  His recent results show he is on the form of his life – most notably with his recent win at the German GP – and he has the motivation to deliver at the highest level.  It was therefore a straightforward decision to extend the relationship.

We believe the driver line-up of Mark and Sebastian is one of the strongest in the sport.”

Mark Webber - German Grand Prix 2009

An excellent result for the Red Bull Racing team yesterday as Mark Webber claimed his first win, despite receiving a drive-through penalty,he was followed by his team-mate Sebastian Vettel in second.

Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn GP F1, led the cars into the first corner ahead of Webber and Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren, Felipe Massa in the Ferrari, Jenson Button in the second Brawn GP and Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren made a fantastic get away as the lights changed and looked as if he would take the lead going into the first corner.  However, contact was made between Hamilton and Webber, with the McLaren car picking-up a right-rear puncture.  After his slow return to the pits for a new tyre, Hamilton was a lap behind and down in eighteenth place.

On the run into turn one of the first lap, Barrichello ran alongside Webber as both drivers battled for the lead,  Webber moved to the right and made contact with the Ferrari. This was later deemed to be a dangerous move and Webber was served with a drive-through penalty for what appeared to be a simple racing incident.

Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, was the first man to pit on lap 3 while Kovalainen was trying to hold onto his third position by the challenging Brawn GP of Button.

By lap 4, Webber was bearing down on Barrichello as the traffic built-up behind the McLaren of Kovalainen. Vettel meanwhile, began to put the pressure on the fifth placed man Massa as Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India passed Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber to take twelfth place on lap 9.

By lap 11, Barrichello was leading Webber by a second with third place man Kovalainen, fourteen seconds behind and continuing to hold-up Button, Massa and Vettel.

On lap 13, Fisichella moved-up to eleventh after passing Fernando Alonso in the Renault and Button took his first short pit stop on the following lap.

Webber came into the pits to serve his penalty drive-through on lap 15 as Barrichello took on fuel and new tyres and rejoined ahead of Vettel.

Kovalainen pitted on lap 16 while in third place and two laps later Button gained a place by passing the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi.

On lap 19, Button passed Heidfeld as Sebastien Bourdais run off track before going into the pits with a problem in the second Toro Rosso while in eighteenth place.

Webber pitted from the lead on lap 20 and returned to the track in eighth place ahead of Button as Massa led the race followed by Barrichello.  Vettel came into the pits for his stop on the following lap while in fourth followed by Trulli and Buemi.

Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber, released the cars of Webber and Button as he pitted on lap 23, followed by race leader Massa on lap 25, leaving Barrichello at the front of the pack.

Adrian Sutil in the second Force India was right behind the leading Barrichello as Heidfeld and Piquet both entered the pits.

Webber was now running in fifth place, only 5 seconds behind Barrichello as Sutil pitted from second place.  However, as he rejoined the circuit, he ran wide and contact was made with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, leaving Sutil with a damaged front wing that would mean another pit stop.

Barrichello was still leading Webber on lap 31 by three seconds, as it was announced that the stewards were looking at the incident between Raikkonen and Sutil, however, no action was taken.

Button pitted on lap 32 while in third place and rejoined ahead of Kovalainen, and race leader Barrichello pitted on the following lap, handing the reins to Webber.  Barrichello rejoined in fifth ahead of Raikkonen and Button, Raikkonen then appeared to have a problem with his Ferrari and Button took full advantage of the situation to get past the Finn who had been running in sixth.  Raikkonen retired the Ferrari on lap 35.

Webber was now leading Vettel by over 20 seconds, but Massa was challenging the Red Bull driver for the position, leaving Webber to stretch the gap up front.

Heidfeld passed his team-mate on lap 42 for ninth position and on the following lap Webber entered the pit for his second and final stop and rejoined just behind Vettel, who was still due to come in.

Webber took his place in the lead as Vettel pitted on lap 45 along with Kubica.  Massa was the next in on the following lap after battling with Vettel for second place, while Button challenged Barrichello for third.

Barrichello took his final pit stop on lap 51 from second place followed by Button on lap 52.  Button rejoined just ahead of his team-mate but behind Massa and Nico Rosberg in the Williams who were running in third and fourth respectively.

Webber took his first Formula One victory ahead of the second Red Bull of Vettel in second and Felipe Massa in the Ferrari in third.

Nico Rosberg took a surprising fourth for the Williams team followed by the two Brawn GP drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

Here are the results;

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h36:43.310
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     9.252
 3.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    15.906
 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    21.099
 5.  Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    23.609
 6.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    24.468
 7.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    24.888
 8.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    58.692
 9.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +  1:01.457
10.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:01.925
11.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +  1:02.327
12.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:02.876
13.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:08.328
14.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:09.555
15.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +  1:11.941
16.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:30.225
17.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +  1:30.970
18.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:33.365

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)    35
Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    19

Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing 2009

The Australian driver Mark Webber took pole position as the chequered flag was waved at the Nurburgring today for the Red Bull Racing team.

It was British driver Lewis Hamilton, who set the first fastest lap in Q1 and while most of the teams opted to stay on track to get some heat into their tyres, Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber, returned to the pits after just one timed lap.

Webber then set the best time after pitting and using the option tyre as Timo Glock in the Toyota, ruined his lap by locking his brakes as the rain started to spot.

As the first session ended the slowest runners were now eliminated, meaning that Robert Kubica, Sebastian Buemi, Giancarlo Fisichella, Timo Glock and Sebastian Bourdais, will be starting at the back of the grid from 16th to 20th positions.

As the final 15 drivers begin Q2, the rain got harder and Kazuki Nakajima, in the Williams car, who ran off track followed by the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, who ran across the grass and then into the gravel trap.

Most of the drivers went back into the pits, changing their option tyres for intermediates as the rain continued to get heavier, seeing Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren to spin at turn 4.  However, Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari was on the slick tyre and running faster.

Kimi Raikkonen slid his Ferrari off the track and onto the grass but continued without problem as Fernando Alsonso took a spin in the Renualt while in ninth place.

As the final minutes of Q2 took place the slowest five runners up for elimination were, Kovalainen, Button, Rosberg, Trulli and Nakajima.  Button moved into the top five just after the flag was waved for the drivers on track to finish their final lap as Hamilton also improved on his time.

The five eliminations were Rosberg, Trulli, Nakajima, Alonso and Heidfeld.  Alonso’s spin cost him the session after qualifying down in twelfth, while his team-mate Nelson Piquet, went through to Q3.

The final qualifying session of ten-minutes got underway with Barrichello setting the fastest initial time while his team-mate Jenson Button chose to return to the pits without doing a fast lap, as did Hamilton.

Hamilton then set the fastest lap ahead of Barrichello and Button just before the chequered flag came out as they passed the line, leaving Button and Webber still with hot laps to run.  Webber then set the fastest time of the day followed by Barrichello and Button.

Here are the results;

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 32.230s
2. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 32.357s
3 Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 1m 32.473s
4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 32.480s
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 32.616s
6. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1m 33.859s
7. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 34.316s
8. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 34.574s
9. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 34.710s
10 Nelson Piquet Jr Brazil Renault-Renault 1m 34.803s

all times unofficial