German GP 2008

[freedom_honda]

i see it differently.
i mean once you have passed someone the racing line is yours.
the car that was passed has the responsiblilty to back off.

ps. im not hamilton fanboy.

[myurr]

I´m mad Hamilton is so dirt driver. I hate FIA for that, I´m mad furious.

As I wrote in my GP report, I agree that he didn't drive cleanly and should we watched closely by the FIA. Pushing someone off the track to pass him is on the limit, but when you do it twice in two laps, it's not a coincidence anymore.

Anyway, great drive from Piquet, he held on to it nicely. I'm sorry for Fernando and I understand he was angry and therefore drove his Renault a bit harder than it apparently can handle. I feel for him though as the problematic traction out of corners costs him deerly in race conditions, despite setting very nice qualifying times.

Oh for christs sake you two - Hamilton did nothing wrong and sulking about the fact that McLaren now look like they have an edge over Ferrari isn't going to make your favorite team go any faster.

Every driver on the grid uses that same technique of pushing drivers wide on the exit to the corner, in fact had Massa held the inside line into that corner he would have done the very same thing to stop Hamilton going round the outside. It's not like Kimi or Massa have never pushed someone wide on corner exit before!

[Conceptual]

Great race!

Not many incidents, so very clean. ALOT of overtaking, and some absolutely nailbiting moments.

I also would like for all of the people that cried and whined about Felipe letting Kimi past last year in Brasil to stand up like adults and admit that Lewis' win in Hockenheim was directly due to Heikki being told to let Lewis pass. ITV's coverage even showed Ron Dennis pressing the radio button! For all of those that vehemently opposed Ferrari's team orders last year, McLaren just did the same thing.

Anyways,

Is Heikki even worth this drive again next year? I mean, he was PASTED by Hamilton in identical equipment. I think that Kovalainen is the clear #2 at McLaren this year, and he made himself that way with his driving so far this year.

Does Kimi now go into "Support Massa" mode now? He is only 7 points back where Felipe is 4 points back, but Felipe IS ahead of Kimi in points.

The rest of the season is looking pretty damn exciting!

PS: Why does everyone say that there is no passing in F1? Or what about the Hockenheim circuit lends itself to being a good overtaking track?

Good race for Vettel as well.

Chris

[vyselegend]

Congratulation to Lewis, Nelsinho, and Sebastian Vettel for their performance today.

Sure the safety car rule is proving one more time that's it is worse than before in terms of how it shuffles the game. Nelsinho benefited from it but it doesn't matter since his driving skills were top today and he really deserved such result. To think all of his 12 last laps or so have been quicker lap on quicker lap, which is to my aknowlegement the best possible reaction from a driver in such stressy situation.

Lewis somehow escaped the consequences of his team's lame pit strategy, mostly because it was a good timing to shed the softs, as the harder compound trully s**ked in comparison. Massa was the one to pay for this poor tire performance.

Great drive from Vettel, although his team was not correct in releasing him on Alonso and I think he can be happy to have not been penalised for that.

[myurr]

Everyone seems to be having a go at Massa for making it too easy to let Lewis past, but in his defense I would like to say that he probably felt that by maintaining the inside line he had already forced Lewis to lift, and therefore expected him to be a bit further back. We all have to remember that he wouldn't have been able to see him in his mirrors, and maybe his mistake was to think that as Lewis hadn't already moved to the left to attempt an overtake that he wasn't close enough and that he could return to a more traditional line through the apex.

EDIT: Should add that this mythical "everyone" was a reference to the TV coverage.

[roost89]

Good race today. It was great to see so much overtaking and close racing. It was decided on track aswell as in the pits, instead of just the latter!
Heikki and Massa letting lewis past was not good to see. I want to see racing not doors left open for people to waltz through [-X

Driver of the day in my books is Vettel. He's punching above his weight this weekend.

edit: hopefully Glock will be ok aswell, it looked like he had a mighty shunt.

[myurr]

Congratulation to Lewis, Nelsinho, and Sebastian Vettel for their performance today.

Sure the safety car rule is proving one more time that's it is worse than before in terms of how it shuffles the game. Nelsinho benefited from it but it doesn't matter since his driving skills were top today and he really deserved such result. To think all of his 12 last laps or so have been quicker lap on quicker lap, which is to my aknowlegement the best possible reaction from a driver in such stressy situation.

Lewis somehow escaped the consequences of his team's lame pit strategy, mostly because it was a good timing to shed the softs, as the harder compound trully s**ked in comparison. Massa was the one to pay for this poor tire performance.

Great drive from Vettel, although his team was not correct in releasing him on Alonso and I think he can be happy to have not been penalised for that.

Totally agree, though I'd like to add Heidfeld to that list as well - considering that he made it up to fourth from 12th, without benefiting quite as much from the safety car (field spread helped, but he was as quick as any other driver bar Lewis at that point in the race - more closely matched to his pace than Massa was in the first stint).

[timbo]

I wonder where Macs found that extra performance. How they managed to run with smaller radiator inlets in higher temperatures? Is that new coolants/lubricants?

[JamesS]

Very good race from Lewis fans point of view.

When they opted not to pit Lewis during the safety car my heart sank. But they were vindicated. If the car had fuel for 3 or 4 more laps, he may have just made the time or at least even closer to Massa and then dispatched him sooner than he did.

I liked the Hockenheim track, lots of potential to overtake, I hope it becomes a permanent fixture in future seasons.

[myurr]

I wonder where Macs found that extra performance. How they managed to run with smaller radiator inlets in higher temperatures? Is that new coolants/lubricants?

I don't know about the cooling side of things - but from what Martin Brundle said during the race coverage McLaren have been improving the car not so much in terms of raw performance (although they have moved that forwards as well), but more in terms of drivability. The dominance that Hamilton showed in this race was partly due to the Ferrari's being poorly set up, but as much that he is overflowing with confidence in the car, and the time comes from that.

This is evident in his performances relative to Heiki - earlier in the season there wasn't much to separate them and Lewis was beginning to look a bit average. However as the car has been developed and he's matured over the last couple of races, he's opened a huge performance gap back to his teammate. Hamilton seems to thrive in conditions where the car is well balanced and drivable, and sometimes suffers from overdriving the car in conditions where this is not the case.

[Miguel]

I wonder where Macs found that extra performance. How they managed to run with smaller radiator inlets in higher temperatures? Is that new coolants/lubricants?

Actually, it was only 22ºC today. Not hot at all, especially for Germany in the summer. I guess 30º is closer to the average this time of the year.

Regarding Hamilton, he was exceptional today, although team orders and a wimpy Massa did help him a lot.

[timbo]

The thung I disliked most about the race was how Kovalainen let Hamilton thru. Coinsidentally TV coverage showed Ron Dennis pressing some buttons on his monitor

[vyselegend]

Remembering the first laps of Silverstone, I wouldn't not put the finger at Mc Laren that much for team orders or forbiding fratricid fights etc...
The "no driver preference" attitude is even what have cost them two tiltles at least in the past. Heikki did volontary let Lewis by because he had no reasons to block him, and he was clearly slower so it was a logical decision. Heidfeld did the same at Montreal, and Ferrari are used to it for a long time. Renault is in that bath as well, they're all...

[Steven]

I wonder where Macs found that extra performance. How they managed to run with smaller radiator inlets in higher temperatures? Is that new coolants/lubricants?

Actually, it was only 22ºC today. Not hot at all, especially for Germany in the summer. I guess 30º is closer to the average this time of the year.

Regarding Hamilton, he was exceptional today, although team orders and a wimpy Massa did help him a lot.

Actually Massa was having problems with his brakes, so there wasn't really much to do for him. It obviously helped massively for Hamilton and makes it look more dominant than it actually was

[boci]

I´m mad Hamilton is so dirt driver. I hate FIA for that, I´m mad furious.

Raikkonen. Australia. Coulthard. Lap 1.