German Grand Prix; VeloceToday Rates the Drivers

Massa lost a sure position to Vettel for fourth two laps from the finish, echoing a similar Ferrari failure some laps previous as Alonso lost the lead to Hamilton. The pit crews didn’t screw up; they were just not quite as quick as the competition. After the race, Alonso was reduced to muttering inanities like “If we can get another podium finish in Hungary, it would be an almost perfect month for us” . Hamilton won, Alonso salvaged second, Webber managed third and Vettel fourth. Should have been Ferrari’s day again but overall the McLaren Mercedes won honestly and well.

Not that Red Bull was all that good either. Vettel, who should have been on top form at his native Grand Prix, was fourth, not even on the podium for the first time this year. Webber, who started from pole, was undone by a Hamilton who seemed to do no wrong. Webber drove well, but drove like Webber. There were some post race rumors about a mechanical problem in the Vettel mount but alas, it may also be that winning is much easier to do from the front of the pack than from fourth. It certainly was a close race for the podium finishers, keeping the nail biting to the bitter end. As they used to say, one could cover the three front runners with a blanket—not that they would particularly like that arrangement.

None of this seems to bother two other people though—Adrian Sutil and my man Kobayashi. “Kobi” just keeps on trucking in a Sauber Ferrari, (pardon the F150 pun) doing just as well as seven times World Champion you-know-who in a car that the German Deutschmark built. Kobayashi started from 17th and ended up 8th overall. Sutil also has been earning high marks for being steady, consistent and mature as well as much faster than his car would allow. These two guys deserve better rides, and we know of several guys who no longer deserve the good rides they have.

And I digress. Here is a TV thought; Fox at high noon and an abbreviated program. So we ask, is F1 ever going to return to SpeedTV and be broadcast live? Why has Fox taken it over? Shouldn’t it rightfully be live and on Speed? Does it cost less to televise it delayed than live? What would our reader’s prefer? Our vote is live, at whatever time, and on Speed, where the full interviews and pre race show are shown in the same package.

And how about this. Let’s play rate the drivers. Three tiers, and here’s my take. I found it too simple. Your comments are welcome!
First Tier
Hamilton
Vettel
Alonso
Second Tier
Button
Webber
Rosberg
Schumacher!!!!
Petrov
Kobayashi
Sutil
Massa
Third Tier
Everyone not listed above

Race Results

1	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	1h37m30.334s
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 3.9s
3	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 9.7
4	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	+ 47.9s
5	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 52.2s
6	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	+ 86.2s
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 1 lap
8	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 1 lap
9	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
10	PETROV	Renault	+ 1 lap
11	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
12	ALGUERSUARI	STR-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
13	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 1 lap
14	MALDONADO	Williams-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
15	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	+ 1 lap
16	KOVALAINEN	Lotus-Renault	+ 2 laps
17	GLOCK	Virgin-Cosworth	+ 3 laps
18	D’ABROSIO	Virgin-Cosworth	+ 3 laps
19	RICCIARDO	HRT-Cosworth	+ 3 laps
20	CHANDHOK	Lotus-Renault	+ 4 laps
21	LIUZZI	HRT-Cosworth	+ 23 laps, electrical
22	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 25 laps, hydraulics
23	BARRICHELLO	Williams-Cosworth	+ 44 laps, oil leak
24	HEIDFELD	Renault	+ 51 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	1m34.302s

Note – Liuzzi qualified 23rd, but received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. He was then promoted back to 23rd after Buemi was excluded from qualifying due to a fuel irregularity.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	216 Points
2	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	139 Points
3	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	134 Points
4	ALONSO	Ferrari	130 Points
5	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	109 Points
6	MASSA	Ferrari	62 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	46 Points
8	HEIDFELD	Renault	34 Points
9	PETROV	Renault	32 Points
10	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	32 Points
11	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	27 Points
12	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	18 Points
13	ALGUERSUARI	STR-Ferrari	9 Points
14	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	8 Points
15	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	8 Points
16	BARRICHELLO	Williams-Cosworth	4 Points
17	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	2 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	355 Points
2	McLAREN-MERCEDES	243 Points
3	FERRARI	192 Points
4	MERCEDES	78 Points
5	RENAULT	66 Points
6	SAUBER-FERRARI	35 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	20 Points
8	STR-FERRARI	17 Points
9	WILLIAMS-COSWORTH	4 Points