Sunday, July 25, 2010

Fernando Alonso wins the German Grand Prix


Team order controversy returns as Alonso wins
Fernando Alonso wins the German Grand Prix, but its a win tainted by controversy as Felipe Massa is asked to allow his team-mate through
Fernando Alonso has secured his second victory of the 2010 F1 season, but it proved to be a somewhat hollow success after team-mate Felipe Massa was told to allow the Spaniard through.

At the start of the race, Massa had jumped into the lead with pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel being so focused on defending from Alonso that he failed to notice the Brazilian blasting up the outside on the run into turn one.

Alonso got ahead of Vettel into the opening corner to put the Ferraris into first and second and the top three managed to break away from the chasing pack, which was headed by the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton had battled ahead of Mark Webber on the opening lap of the race after going down the inside into the hairpin, with Webber running fifth and Jenson Button sixth – the defending champion having been forced to lift off at turn one to avoid running into the rear of Vettel's Red Bull.

After the top three made their stops, Alonso was able to put Massa under pressure as the Brazilian struggled to come to terms with the harder compound tyres with Alonso making a move for the lead on lap 20 as they pair lapped Bruno Senna and Timo Glock heading into the hairpin.

Massa was able to retain his lead and a series of quick laps allowed him to open up an advantage of more than three seconds, before Alonso responded to bring the gap back down as the two leaders made their way through the backmarkers. Vettel meanwhile had been close to the squabbling Ferraris before losing time passing Senna having been lucky to avoid running into the Hispania man.

It looked like Massa was set to celebrate the first anniversary of his accident in Hungary with a popular victory, before race engineer Rob Smedley came on the radio to tell the Brazilian that 'Fernando is faster than you. Confirm you understand'.

While team orders may be banned, ironically as a result of Ferrari's actions in the past, it appeared to be a clear request for the Brazilian to cede position and on lap 49, he slowed exiting the hairpin to allow Alonso through – with Smedley then coming back on the radio to tell his driver he was sorry.

Alonso pulled away from Massa through the closing laps of the race to take the chequered flag just over four seconds clear of his team-mate, with Vettel closing on the Brazilian through the final laps of the race to finish a second further back. The German managed to secure the fastest lap of the race as he attempted to fight his way up to second place.
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German Grand Prix, Hockenheim – Race results
Fernando Alonso takes hollow victory over Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa after Brazilian told to move over at Hockenheim.

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

11. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
12. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
13. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
14. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
15. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +2 laps
17. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +2 laps
18. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
19. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth +4 laps

Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 56 laps completed
Rtd Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 50 laps completed
Rtd Sakon Yamamoto Japan HRT-Cosworth 19 laps completed
Rtd Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 3 laps completed
Rtd Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps completed

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Webber wins F1 2010 British GP


Mark Webber wins at Silverstone for Red Bull and then tells his team over the radio at the finish that it was: 'Not bad for a number two driver' eh?
Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber came through to win the British Grand Prix this afternoon, the tenth round in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Webber, who qualified second, took the lead at the start and after that he claimed the victory with relative ease. It was the perfect response from the Australian, who felt hard done by on Saturday, when team boss Christian Horner took the decision to hand 'his' new front wing to Sebastian Vettel for qualifying. He showed his continued displeasure at the finish too, by telling his team over the radio that his performance was 'not bad for a number two driver'.

Vettel had to settle for seventh in the end, having picked up a puncture at the start - possibly following contact with Lewis Hamilton's front wing. That dropped the German right to the back, but he managed to fight his way into the points after a safety car period mid-race bunched up the pack.

Lewis Hamilton meanwhile took second for McLaren, much to the joy of the local crowd. He had no answer to Webber though, and despite trading fastest laps, never look likely to take gold.

Nico Rosberg completed the podium for Mercedes, just in front of reigning world champion, Jenson Button, who was sensational and claimed P4, despite starting way down in 14th.

Rubens Barrichello completed the top five for Williams followed by Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber, then Vettel and Force India F1 man Adrian Sutil. Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg round out the top ten.

Ferrari had a dismal race and failed to score, with Fernando Alonso 14th and Felipe Massa 15th. Alonso will quite justifiably though, feel aggrieved. He was running well and on course to finish in the top-five, until he got a drive-through for cutting the corner when he passed Robert Kubica. That cost him dear as he had to take it straight after the SC period and so he dropped right out of contention. Alonso set the fastest lap at the end, but that was scant consolation.

Race Results - British Grand Prix 2010

1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 52 laps 1hr 24m 38.200s
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +1.3s
3. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +21.3s
4. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +21.9s
5. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +31.4s
6. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +32.1s
7. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +36.7s
8. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +40.9s
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +41.5s
10. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +42.0s

11. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +42.4s
12. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +47.6s
13. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +59.3s
14. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +62.3s
15. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +67.4s
16. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
17. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth +2 laps
19. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
20. Sakon Yamamoto Japan HRT-Cosworth +2 laps

Rtd. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 44 laps completed
Rtd. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 29 laps completed
Rtd. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 19 laps completed
Rtd. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 9 laps completed

Saturday, July 10, 2010

British Grand Prix: Vettel takes pole position

Sebastian Vettel pips Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber to Silverstone pole, with the rest trailing...
1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 29.615s
2. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 29.758s
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 30.426s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 30.556s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 30.625s
6. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 1m 31.040s
7. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 31.172s
8. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 31.175s
9. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 31.274s
10. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 31.430s

11. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 31.399s
12. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 31.421s
13. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 31.635s
14. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 31.699s
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 31.708s
16. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault 1m 31.796s
17. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 32.012s

18. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 32.430s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 1m 34.405s
20. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1m 34.775s
21. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 1m 34.864s
22. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 1m 35.212s
23. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth 1m 36.546s
24. Sakon Yamamoto Japan HRT-Cosworth 1m 36.968s