Alonso wins weather changing race

F1 Grand Prix, GP Europe, Nürburgring

Fernando has displayed why he is actually the defending champion. The 2007 German GP was dominated by changing weather with heavy showers in the beginning and the end of the race. Alonso managed to profit from the rain to overtake a dominant Massa 5 laps before the end. Mark Webber is the surprise on the podium. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile was unable to score points.

At the start of the race, the weather is very menacing weather. The track is dry but changes are big that rain will fall soon.

As soon as the drivers kick off, Massa takes the slipstream of Raikonen in order to pass Alonso in the start. The plan works well for the Ferraris, but behind them, in corner 3 both BMW Sauber cars hit each other. Hamilton is able to profit from it and ends up in 4th place after only 5 corners. Unfortunately for the Briton he suffers a right rear puncture and will have to pit immediately.

Half a lap later however, the expected rain pours down incredibly hard, transforming the track in a river in only one minute. While most drivers pit for the wet tyres, Kimi Raikkonen even misses the pit entry and is forced to complete another lap on his dry tyres. Some others choose to do so, much to their regrets afterwards.

Two laps later all drivers have switched to the wet compound. Markus Winkelhock on the other hand was already on the wet compound and ended up in the lead of the field. The German rookie who drives his first race took a gamble and entered the pitlane again before initially taking place on the grid. As he expected rain to fall, he took a working gamble by switching tyres. He therefore has several tenths of seconds ahead of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.

Lap 3 is a total miss for a lot of drivers as 6 of them end up in the gravel trap at the end of the main straight. Hamilton, Sutil, Speed, Liuzzi and Button are the most important victims of the rain but they are lucky to be pulled out of it and allowed to continue their race. The safety car is imediately afterwards deployed for one lap only for the race to be red flagged after 4 laps.

As the drivers line up on the starting grid again, Winkelhock is on pole, ahead of Massa, Alonso, Webber, Coulthard, Kovalainen and Raikkonen. Hamilton is in the back of the field in 17th. Jenson Button, Sutil, Rosberg, Speed and Liuzzi are out of the race and will not be allowed to take part in the rest of the race. The restart will be a rolling one as 2007 regulations prescribe and will take place on a still wet track but in sunny conditions and at 14:35. Rain is however expected to fall during the remainder of the race.

Surprisingly, the restart took place but the safety car stayed on track after one lap. Some parts of the track are already dry again while others are still very wet. Hamilton can profit from the safety car and overtake everyone because he is one lap down. Meanwhile several drivers enter the pitlane in order to switch again to regular wet tyres. Some had switched on the grid to the extreme wets or were even on slicks.

Due to Hamiltons pitstop just ahead of the safety car entering again, he ends up in the pack and has to let everyone pass by, effectively ruining his chances to regain the lap he lost in his 2nd lap mistake.

Winkelhock immediately lost his place to lots of drivers while Coulthard was able to pass his teammate. 5 laps later Alonso is still on Massa's tail while Weber repassed Coulthard. Raikkonen and Wurz are then the first to switch to dry tyres. Massa and Alonso follow suit just one lap later together with Webber and close to half of the field. As David Coulthard did not enter he ends up in the lead with Hamilton just behind, albeit one lap difference. Raikkonen's early switch to slicks gained him several places at once as he is now 3rd, ahead of Webber, Wurz and David who appears to be unable to match the pace of the cars ahead of him.

Lap 14 marks the end of the race for Markus Winkelhock due to a technical problem. Raikkonen meanwhile puts in the fastest lap as he chases down Alonso for P2. The Spanish McLaren driver appears to be unable to follow Massa now in almost dry conditions now.

In lap 20 two more drivers leave the race. Sato is out with a technical problem while Ralf Schumacher got hit Nick Heidfeld in the final corner of the lap.

Most drivers appear to be on a double stop strategy as Kovalainen and Fisichella are the first drivers to pit in lap 29 and 30.

5 laps later msot drivers enter the pitlane for their first regular stops. At the same time bad luck strikes again for Raikkonen as he is suffering mechanical problems again. He managed to creep into the pitlane with his Ferrari but halts there, marking another DNF for the Finn at the Nurburgring. One lap further Massa makes his pitstop and stays comfortably ahead of Alonso Hamilton is meanwhile making his way up after passing Fisichella and Trulli, making him 12 after his stop. Although the Briton displays some impressive passings it is unlikely that he'll be able to get away with points from this race. It would actually be the first time ever in his F1 career that he will not be on the podium.

Only 11 laps left and some people are putting on rain jackets. Although the track is still dry, rain is expected to fall and Kovalainen puts on rain tyres. Unfortunately for the Finn it takes two laps to rain in the Dunlop chicane, and one lap later half the track is wet. The main straight is still dry. Only 7 laps to go and all drivers enter the pitlane to switch to rain tyres.

Hamilton on the other hand gambles the other way and stays out for several movre laps on the dry compound. Alonso has meanwhile charged into Massa and overtaken him while only two laps earlier he was 6 seconds behind. Both mean touched wheel to wheel but no damage appears to have been done.

With 4 laps o go, Alonso is in the lead ahead of Massa, Webber, Wurz, Coulthard and both BMW Saubers. The track is again drying now but it doesn't look beneficial for anyone to make a stop again.

Fernando Alonso has finally won another GP for McLaren in a masterly display through the rain. Hamilton meanwhile did not get any points but came home 9th and was just behind 8th places Kovalainen when they crossed the finish line.