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[Hammer278]

Article - agree/disagree?

It's a fact that in a quick car, and no traffic before him, there isn't a match in the world for Sebastian Vettel. Winning six of the first eight races in completely dominating fashion proves that point well enough. But then came the British GP, and Seb's cage got rattled.

Fernando Alonso had found a chink in Sebastian and Red Bull's mighty armour; hassle him a bit, drive a smart race, and you'll have him.

If it wasn't for a shady FIA ruling in Monaco this year, Alonso and possibly Button would have beat Vettel to victory. In Canada, Jenson Button's pace at the end was enough to unnerve Vettel and snatch the win from him. In Silverstone, it was again Alonso who was right on the money, pacing himself neatly behind Vettel. One pit slip-up from the Red Bull team, and Vettel was left for dead by Alonso.

It was more of the same at last weekend's German GP. Starting from third isn't as bad a break as you can get in Formula 1, so there really isn't much available excuse for Vettel's form during the race.

Early battles with Fernando Alonso saw Vettel passed by the Spaniard, and then make a slight mistake in trying to keep up with him after, going too wide on a braking point, spinning and compromising the state of his tyres.

For the rest of Vettel's mentionable race, it was the ever-off-form Felipe Massa who kept the German busy. With Massa ahead of him, it seemed that all Vettel could do was sit and stare at the Brazilian's gearbox, despite having the quicker car on the day (as proved by his clocking a Fastest Lap while behind Massa).

The problem with this is that, it seems to be the case that while Seb needs a brilliant car to perform equally brilliantly, drivers like Fernando or Lewis need not too much more than an engine with four wheels attached to challenge for wins. Thus perplexing Vettel's proclaimed brilliance.

He's quick, no question. But then again, everyone in Formula 1 is quick. They wouldn't be there otherwise. But if he's really fit to be placed alongside the greats, we've rightly some reservations, especially after performances like at the German GP.

This gives us a couple of really assuring indications. And that's that the season is far from over. We've just as many races to go as we've seen so far. With McLaren and Ferrari edging back to their best, Seb and Red Bull are going to be put under immense pressure to stay on top. And if Vettel's recent handling of pressures is anything to go by, there's still everything to be won or loss this Formula 1 season.

[acosmichippo]

I'm inclined to think Silverstone was due to the EBD ban, and for some reason he wasn't comfortable with the car's setup in Germany. Maybe it was related to the low temperature. So I think he'll be right back at the top in Hungary, and definitely at Spa.

[spankyham]

Congrats to Lewis a great race and well earned win.

Special mention to Sutil, really great effort and glad he could do that at his home GP.

Really super happy with SF's performance, except for the Felipe's last pit stop. Felipe really good race, Nando, excellent race again. The car was wonderful and to be so competitive on a wet setup just make me feel that we can fight for wins for at least the next few races.

I went on record before the race saying I wouldn't be surprised if there was no RB on the podium, well, they made it, but only just. And, despite the Hungary coming up, I think RB will struggle to hold their current position, and might even fall away further. I posted at the start of the season that I thought RB will be caught and perhaps passed and I think we are seeing that happen now. My reasons are the compactness of the car, the pull-rod and the KERS placement and size.

I said at the start of the year KERS will plague Red Bull all year, we have seen it so far and it will continue. It's placement causes most of its problems and it can't really be moved. Pull-rod and compactness gives great aeros and a lower COG but, again, you can't change or move things easily, you are limited with dabbling at the fringes.

Both Ferrari and McLaren have made big changes and improvements to their cars in the last few races and as they gain data and knowledge from the last two races they will get a lot more out of those updates.

I expect SF and McLaren to continue making significant improvements again.

Only Nando and Lewis (funny how those names seem to go well together) could possibly challenge Seb this year, and, realistically they both need each other and their team mates to perform, plus, they need Seb to throw it away somehow/somewhere. The title is really safely in Seb's hands, but, the races should be crackers for the rest of the year.

On an aside, a lot of people say that after '07 you could never have Nando and Lewis in the same team - personally I don't see any angst between them, in fact, I think they would be fine being team-mates and I think that would just be such a great thing for F1. Nando and Lewis in a pair of shiny red SF cars at some stage in the future

[darwin dali]

Congrats to Lewis a great race and well earned win.

Special mention to Sutil, really great effort and glad he could do that at his home GP.

Really super happy with SF's performance, except for the Felipe's last pit stop. Felipe really good race, Nando, excellent race again. The car was wonderful and to be so competitive on a wet setup just make me feel that we can fight for wins for at least the next few races.

I went on record before the race saying I wouldn't be surprised if there was no RB on the podium, well, they made it, but only just. And, despite the Hungary coming up, I think RB will struggle to hold their current position, and might even fall away further. I posted at the start of the season that I thought RB will be caught and perhaps passed and I think we are seeing that happen now. My reasons are the compactness of the car, the pull-rod and the KERS placement and size.

I said at the start of the year KERS will plague Red Bull all year, we have seen it so far and it will continue. It's placement causes most of its problems and it can't really be moved. Pull-rod and compactness gives great aeros and a lower COG but, again, you can't change or move things easily, you are limited with dabbling at the fringes.

Both Ferrari and McLaren have made big changes and improvements to their cars in the last few races and as they gain data and knowledge from the last two races they will get a lot more out of those updates.

I expect SF and McLaren to continue making significant improvements again.

Only Nando and Lewis (funny how those names seem to go well together) could possibly challenge Seb this year, and, realistically they both need each other and their team mates to perform, plus, they need Seb to throw it away somehow/somewhere. The title is really safely in Seb's hands, but, the races should be crackers for the rest of the year.

On an aside, a lot of people say that after '07 you could never have Nando and Lewis in the same team - personally I don't see any angst between them, in fact, I think they would be fine being team-mates and I think that would just be such a great thing for F1. Nando and Lewis in a pair of shiny red SF cars at some stage in the future

Dream on. For most on here it would be a nightmare anyway

[PartsaS]

I always knew Button is just a journeyman....his win in Canada was just a number of things falling into his lap which made it look special when it wasn't. The day McLaren signed him, I thought the 2nd seat is a waste.

Vettel I had doubts, but more and more I'm getting sure of him as well.

Utter troll. Jenson's talent is undeniable, to say he is a 'journeyman' is an insult to his skill and achievements. He was charging through the pack until the hydraulics packed in today, he would have eaten Sebestian (who I have nothing against) alive. Surely you can celebrate you're favourite drivers' win without belitting other equally good drivers?

My apologies for getting your BP up, but I'll never agree Button is 'equally' as good as a few others on the grid. And I don't believe he would've eaten Sebastian alive, but that's down to meaningless opinions in the end.

And I've been 'belittling' Jenson in races where Lewis does badly/DNF as well, so dont worry, i'm consistent. I'm just a dissapointed McLaren fan for them hiring a driver who doesn't deserve a McLaren seat. I was hoping for a class driver like Rosberg or some such to fill in the second seat, so seeing Button waste the McLaren seat is a bit frustrating every race.

I can feel you, But I believe now McLaren has the best pair of drivers since a long - time! Don't you remember Kovalainen? He was wasting a seat for sure! I was pretty mad with that at that time! Anyway I am happy now with the form of the team although I would like to see Ron Dennis play a greater role overall...

[Hammer278]

Kova was definitely a waste which is what added to the frustration, replacing him with another B grade driver. I was like...oh great. A B+ for sure, but still a B.

I can think of plenty of other pairs:

Lewis - Alonso
Mika - DC
Kimi - JPM

And these weren't that long ago.

[LewEngBridewell]

Kova was definitely a waste which is what added to the frustration

Maybe McLaren and Lewis Hamilton was a bit to much for Kovalainen so early in his career. McLaren would have won the constructors' championship in 2008, had Kovy been on anywhere near the same level as Hamilton.

[Robert12010]

Kova was definitely a waste which is what added to the frustration

Maybe McLaren and Lewis Hamilton was a bit to much for Kovalainen so early in his career. McLaren would have won the constructors' championship in 2008, had Kovy been on anywhere near the same level as Hamilton.

and 07 without spygate (possibly), btu dont want to drag that up

[LewEngBridewell]

Kova was definitely a waste which is what added to the frustration

Maybe McLaren and Lewis Hamilton was a bit to much for Kovalainen so early in his career. McLaren would have won the constructors' championship in 2008, had Kovy been on anywhere near the same level as Hamilton.

and 07 without spygate (possibly), btu dont want to drag that up

Of course. McLaren would've steamed through to that one. But we all know what happened... seriously dark days

[What's Burning?]

Congrats to Lewis a great race and well earned win.

Special mention to Sutil, really great effort and glad he could do that at his home GP.

Really super happy with SF's performance, except for the Felipe's last pit stop. Felipe really good race, Nando, excellent race again. The car was wonderful and to be so competitive on a wet setup just make me feel that we can fight for wins for at least the next few races.

I went on record before the race saying I wouldn't be surprised if there was no RB on the podium, well, they made it, but only just. And, despite the Hungary coming up, I think RB will struggle to hold their current position, and might even fall away further. I posted at the start of the season that I thought RB will be caught and perhaps passed and I think we are seeing that happen now. My reasons are the compactness of the car, the pull-rod and the KERS placement and size.

I said at the start of the year KERS will plague Red Bull all year, we have seen it so far and it will continue. It's placement causes most of its problems and it can't really be moved. Pull-rod and compactness gives great aeros and a lower COG but, again, you can't change or move things easily, you are limited with dabbling at the fringes.

Both Ferrari and McLaren have made big changes and improvements to their cars in the last few races and as they gain data and knowledge from the last two races they will get a lot more out of those updates.

I expect SF and McLaren to continue making significant improvements again.

Only Nando and Lewis (funny how those names seem to go well together) could possibly challenge Seb this year, and, realistically they both need each other and their team mates to perform, plus, they need Seb to throw it away somehow/somewhere. The title is really safely in Seb's hands, but, the races should be crackers for the rest of the year.

On an aside, a lot of people say that after '07 you could never have Nando and Lewis in the same team - personally I don't see any angst between them, in fact, I think they would be fine being team-mates and I think that would just be such a great thing for F1. Nando and Lewis in a pair of shiny red SF cars at some stage in the future

All of your "going on records" are proving pretty damned interesting and I agree with you we've seen the pendulum begin to swing back. SF and McLaren can out manufacture anyone, but is it too little too late? I don't know, but I'm glad that the forecast is for good racing, not just racing for 2nd and 3rd.

But I'll tell you this for the last time, bite your tongue on the Alonso and Hamilton pairing! It's like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth.

[Hammer278]

No its more like removing all your teeth with a crowbar after brushing them.

[myownalias]

My full feelings of the German Grand Prix; taken from my blog!

Red Bull dominance finally broken in Germany?

Has Red Bull’s dominance finally been broken after two races without a win as Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber at the Nurburgring. Reigning world champion and 2011 championship leader Sebastian Vettel could only manage fourth place after a final lap pitlane battle with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa as both drivers needed to use the ‘prime’ tyre or face a 30s post race penalty. I, for one would love to see the tide turning with more drivers claiming victory in the second half of the season, it’s been rather dull to watch Vettel romp into a 77 point lead during the first half of the season. The next race in Hungary will be the acid test as the Hungaroring is traditionally where the Red Bull’s are strong as it’s a downforce circuit and Adrian Newey’s RB7 generates more downforce than any other team!

Back to this weekend’s German Grand Prix; Hamilton had a storming start to jump Webber off the line as the Australian appeared to bog down badly dropping back to second while Alonso was super brave on the brakes to dive up the inside of Vettel and Massa into third place. Alonso fell back to fourth after running wide but retook the position into turn one before Vettel had a spin himself going wide losing seven seconds in the middle sector. Meanwhile Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi pushed Renaults’ Nick Heidfeld off the track sending the German into the gravel trap and out of the race. Even more action between the leaders was happening as Hamilton made a mistake in the final turns of the lap allowing Webber to make the pass entering the pit straight; but Hamilton used his more powerful Mercedes engine/KERS package to re-pass Webber into turn one.

Webber managed to come out ahead of both Hamilton and Alonso to lead the race after the first round of pit stops but Hamilton returned the favour in the second round of stops as Webber had a slow out lap allowing for Hamilton to come out just feet in front of the Australian; resisting Webber’s attack around turns two and three. On the next lap, Alonso jumped the pair of them to take the lead but the Spaniard was caught napping by Hamilton who drove clean around the outside to retake the lead. While all this was happening Jenson Button was quietly making his way up the field after dropping back from sixth to tenth off the start but was hit with more bad luck after taking sixth position from Nico Rosberg; having to retire the car because of hydraulic issues. The final drama of the race was the battle between Massa and Vettel for fourth which was won in the pit lane; the Red Bull mechanics were much faster than the Ferrari mechanics helping the German claim a few extra points, but for Vettel fourth must be a disappointment; it’s the first time this season where he hasn’t been standing on the podium but still has a three race margin in the drivers championship; the German can literally sit out the next three races and still be in the lead!

After this second retirement; Jenson Button has written off his chances of winning the 2011 drivers title, as much as I hate to say this being a big JB fan; he just hasn’t been fast enough this season in comparison to his team mate in the same car, the only exception to that has been the Canadian Grand Prix which Jenson won brilliantly from stone last. But even Canada has question marks over it; if Hamilton didn’t crash out would JB have won? More talking points that have come from Germany is; can Vettel really cut it when back in the chasing pack; he’s brilliant while out front but struggles when fighting in the pack; Vettel needed his pit crew to get him ahead of Massa; he just followed the Brazilian around lap after lap until the final last lap round of pit stops!

Quote of the day for me was Lewis Hamilton’s “I gave him just enough room to be behind me” when referring to defending his position against Webber in turn two after the second round of pitstops!

[andrew]

Interesting enough race, even if the result sucked!

Some good racing and overtakes by Vettel, should silence some of the kid's doubters. Pity he had the brake problem - sounded like KERS harvesting going wonky but when the problem was sorted he was on it. The early spin cost him dear but that's they joys, they all have off days at times.

Nice bit of sand bagging on Friday by McLaren - heehaw wrong with their motor obviously. Clearly the fastest out there on Sunday. Button must have been asleep and then woken up by the radio call to retire. Have to say that I agree to a large extent on Button being a journeyman comment earlier. He should have been much further up the grid.

Hugely surprised at Alonso letting Hamilton past so easily after his pit stop. Thought the chap had some fight in him or did he have to slow down? Must have been light on the fuel and had to go slow. Massa had a strong race but his final pitstop was a disaster.

McLaren got the strategy right on the day and Red Bull screwed up, yet again.

Well done to Vettel though on driving a very mature race (except his spin). He is clearly driving with his head and thinking of the championship. No point in risking a DNF. He's done the tough bit now, just has to be consistnet.

[myownalias]

Button must have been asleep and then woken up by the radio call to retire. Have to say that I agree to a large extent on Button being a journeyman comment earlier. He should have been much further up the grid.

I'll agree that JB can be a bit of a Journeyman at times but he was hardly asleep; he managed to work his way back up from 10th after a poor start; he had just passed Rosberg for six when he was called in to retire the car and possibly could have managed to get upto fourth as he had the speed in the second half of the race; it seems that JB struggled early on with the heavy fuel load but it came to him as the fuel was used up! I liken JB to the tortoise and the hare; slow and steady (sometimes) wins the race.

[vaptin]

Hugely surprised at Alonso letting Hamilton past so easily after his pit stop. Thought the chap had some fight in him or did he have to slow down? Must have been light on the fuel and had to go slow. Massa had a strong race but his final pitstop was a disaster.

Possibly the best decision, the Ferrari's are poor at warming up their tyres, I think Alonso took the fastest line he could, the grip just wasn't there. This year overtaking is different, if the pace came to Alonso after, he could've got Hamilton back like in Sliverstone.

The low fuel was also telling, going lighter on the fuel loads seems to be a common way for teams to paper over poor performance, they hope to make up places at the start of the race, then have a big enough gap to save fuel.

Either that, or Alonso was just using more fuel than usual, as he was pushing and so was using higher engine settings than the other drivers, or he would normally.

This could be seen every time a Ferrari came out of the pits on fresh tyres, they were pretty tentative.