A podium finish for Massa and Ferrari, but is that all there is?
by Erik C. Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
Tides are Turning
Grand Prix of Germany
The one constant in F1 is change. At each and every race, every team brings new improvements to their cars. Most of the changes are aerodynamic with super computer simulations and thousands of hours of wind tunnel testing to have this element exactly this shape, this size and this angle to maximize performance and fit within the rules.
The trick that a designer has to play is figure out how to make a car quick out of the box, yet still stable enough to continue to develop throughout the season and stay one step ahead of the competition. The Brawn car was quick out of the box, but it seems like the team is starting to run out of ideas on how to make it quicker.
Qualifying made the tea leaves a bit more complicated to read this weekend with bouts of rain thrown in just to keep the engineers on their toes. Mark Webber ended Q3 with the best time, causing some to think that the Brawn domination days could potentially be numbered. The new fair weather Brawn fans saw a bit of hope during the start when Webber and Barrichello tangled and the Australian was hit with a drive through penalty. But as the race unfolded, it was starting to be clear that the Red Bull chassis was the best package for the weekend. Mark Webber would go on to win the race, his first win in 130 starts. Persistence has come through. Having your team mate close behind cements the knowledge that the team has run the numbers better than anyone else and it seems like the Brawn squad has potentially run out of tricks.
Ferrari fans were treated with Massa’s first podium of the year. It was a well played tactic of trying to move up the grid from his starting position through timing of the pit stops and a cleanly driven race. The fans are starting to fret, with rumblings of the team stopping development on the 2009 car to focus on the 2010 car. Could this be a year where we don’t hear the Italian anthem played for the constructor? It’s starting to look like it.
Rosberg gave Williams a glimmer of hope that they were still “up there” by finishing fourth. The UK independent is still trudging along, but the team’s peak seems to have been in the mid to late 90s. The two Brawn cars finished in the points in fifth and sixth, but their performance looked more like a struggle than the results the upstart was achieving earlier in the year. If the tide has indeed turned, now it becomes a question of math. Can the team achieve enough points to end the season at the top of the leader board? If there is any issue with reliability late in the season in the quest for speed, it could be game over.
Fernando Alonso was demonstrating, once again, that he can only win if he is given the fastest car on the grid. The Spaniard struggled with the Renault. There are rumors of him going to Ferrari in the upcoming season, but I think it would be more to collect a paycheck rather than do something if the crew in Modena cannot find speed in the car.
Speaking of struggling, McLaren has fallen off of the map. The Finn scored the last point of the race and the reigning world champion was lapped. Listening to the radio traffic, one has to wonder if St. Lewis is starting to realize that his rating in the team is no better than his last performance. Now that Ron is not around to protect him, could it be that he’s not as good as the English media thinks he is?
Racing will be in Hungary in two weeks, and then we’ll know if Brawn has run out of speed tricks and if Red Bull Racing can come up with more tweaks. The rest of the teams are starting to look to next year.
Race Results
| 1 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 1h36m43.310s |
| 2 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | + 9.2s |
| 3 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 15.9s |
| 4 | ROSBERG |
Williams-Toyota | + 21.0s |
| 5 | BUTTON | Brawn-Mercedes | + 23.6s |
| 6 | BARRICHELLO | Brawn-Mercedes | + 24.4s |
| 7 | ALONSO | Renault | + 24.8s |
| 8 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | + 58.6s |
| 9 | GLOCK | Toyota | + 61.4s |
| 10 | HEIDFELD | BMW Sauber | + 61.9s |
| 11 | FISICHELLA | Force India-Mercedes | + 62.3s |
| 12 | NAKAJIMA | Williams-Toyota | + 62.8s |
| 13 | PIQUET | Renault | + 68.3s |
| 14 | KUBICA | BMW Sauber | + 69.5s |
| 15 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | + 71.9s |
| 16 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | + 90.2s |
| 17 | TRULLI | Toyota | + 90.9s |
| 18 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 19 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | + 26 laps, radiator damage |
| 20 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | + 42 laps, hydraulics |
| Fastest Lap | ALONSO | Renault | 1m33.365s |
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | BUTTON | Brawn-Mercedes | 68 Points |
| 2 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 47 Points |
| 3 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 45.5 Points |
| 4 | BARRICHELLO | Brawn-Mercedes | 44 Points |
| 5 | MASSA | Ferrari | 22 Points |
| 6 | TRULLI | Toyota | 21.5 Points |
| 7 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | 20.5 Points |
| 8 | GLOCK | Toyota | 13 Points |
| 9 | ALONSO | Renault | 13 Points |
| 10 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | 10 Points |
| 11 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 9 Points |
| 12 | HEIDFELD | BMW Sauber | 6 Points |
| 13 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | 5 Points |
| 14 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | 3 Points |
| 15 | KUBICA | BMW Sauber | 2 Points |
| 16 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | 2 Points |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | BRAWN-MERCEDES | 112 Points |
| 2 | RBR-RENAULT | 92.5 Points |
| 3 | TOYOTA | 34.5 Points |
| 4 | FERRARI | 32 Points |
| 5 | WILLIAMS-TOYOTA | 20.5 Points |
| 6 | McLAREN-MERCEDES | 14 Points |
| 7 | RENAULT | 13 Points |
| 8 | BMW SAUBER | 8 Points |
| 9 | STR-FERRARI | 5 Points |