After eight years of competing in Formula One, Australian’s Mark Webber has finally won his first Grand Prix in a drama-filled German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Though the Red Bull Racing driver had to earn this victory the hard way following a drive-through penalty after making contact with not only Rubens Barrichello on the run down to the first corner but also the fast-starting Lewis Hamilton (which resulted in the world champion making an early pitstop due to a puncture).
Webber’s victory came at the perfect moment as many questions were been asked by the media whether he could win a race against his highly rated team-mate Sebastian Vettel. This triumph not only has silenced his critics but after 130 races, Mark Webber has finally done it. He becomes the third Australian in the sport’s history to take the chequered flag (Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones were the others to taste the champagne on the top step on the podium).
Sebastien Vettel finished in second position earning Red Bull Racing’s third one-two result this season. Even though the young German was expected to win his home race following his Silverstone victory three weeks’ ago, Vettel was simply outclassed by Webber. Nevertheless, by finishing in P2 Sebastian moves into second in the drivers’ standings just 21 points behind series leader Jenson Button.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa took his first podium of the season in third, ahead of Nico Rosberg’s Williams and the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
The Brawns were unable to challenge the Red Bulls at the Nurburgring and Rubens in particular was bitterly unhappy to be outraced despite leading from lap one.
The expected wet weather never interfered the German Grand Prix but the opening lap was very eventful. Thanks to the KERS system available on the McLarens and Ferraris, which gives an advantage of 15 metres off a standing start, the KERS cars thrust forward. Lewis Hamilton – who started in fifth – actually was in the lead as he charged around the outside of Webber and Barrichello. The pair banged wheels as the Australian defended quite aggressively against the Brazilian.
Into the tight right-hander of Turn 1 at the Nurburgring, Hamilton braked but at that moment he felt a nudge from the back. In fact, his rear-right tyre had made contact with Webber’s front wing endplate which resulted in a puncture. Lewis had to limp back to the pits, which ultimately ruined his race within minutes of the Grand Prix. The world champion would later on finish a lap down right at the back.
Barrichello emerged from the Mercedes-Benz complex in front of Webber, with Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) and Massa (Ferrari) also benefiting from their KERS boost to jump to third and fourth positions, ahead of Button and Vettel.
Button dived inside Massa to take fourth at the start of lap two, but Kovalainen proved a tougher hurdle and the Brawn remained bottled up behind the McLaren until the points leader made his first of three stops on lap 13.
Meanwhile Webber’s aggressive move towards Barrichello off the grid had attracted the race stewards’ attention, and it was soon announced that he would receive a drive-through penalty.
He served this on lap 14, just as Rubens was making his first pitstop, and with the slower Kovalainen and Massa having bottled up the rest of the pack, Webber was able to emerge in the lead. The Australian then pulled away during the five laps he still had before his first scheduled stop, while his likely challengers stared at the back of Massa’s Ferrari, which was not due to pit until lap 25.
This effectively neutralised Webber’s penalty and brought him straight back into contention for race victory, especially as he was only making two pit stops, whereas the Brawns were to pit three times.
As those on long first stints finally pitted, Barrichello led again, but had lost a lost of time following Massa until the Ferrari stopped – and now had Webber closing on him rapidly despite the Red Bull being heavier, such was the latter team’s pace advantage today.
When Barrichello was delayed by fuel rig trouble at his second stop, Webber was left with a clear lead over his team-mate Vettel, who had jumped Massa at the first stops, then extended his advantage with a handful of laps a second quicker than the field before easing off, his overdue win secured.
The Brawns’ third stop guaranteed that they would fall behind not only Massa, but also Nico Rosberg (Williams), who had crept into contention in the queue behind the Ferrari early on, then gained a lot of ground thanks to a long first stint and some very rapid mid-race times, duly taking fourth from P15 on the grid.
Button caught Barrichello in the third stint and then jumped ahead at the final stops, after which the duo tried to chase down Rosberg while simultaneously coming under pressure from the flying Fernando Alonso.
The Renault driver appeared destined for the midfield as he spent lap after lap trapped behind the one-stopper of Timo Glock following his first stop, but once he had passed the Toyota, Alonso really came alive – setting the fastest lap of the race even on heavy fuel following his last stop. However despite his best efforts, he could not get around the Brawns at the end.
A short first stint and long middle stint did not work well for Kovalainen, dropping him from his early third to eighth at the finish, as he fended off pressure from Glock, Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) and Kazuki Nakajima (Williams).
Fisichella had briefly run in the top eight thanks to a bold early charge on a three-stop strategy, while Glock made up for his pitlane start following yesterday’s poor qualifying and blocking penalty by running 37 laps on his first tank of fuel. His Toyota team-mate Jarno Trulli went in the opposite direction – pitting for repairs on the first lap and never featuring afterwards.
Kimi Raikkonen had run close behind team-mate Massa until retiring with a loss of power, shortly after an incident with Adrian Sutil that ended the German’s chances of taking Force India’s first points.
Sutil was driving superbly in the first stint – tagging on behind the Ferraris and then running as high as second thanks to staying out until lap 27 before pitting. But as he rejoined, Adrian made contact with Kimi at the first corner that destroyed his front wing, forcing another stop. In the end after a promising start, finishing in P15 was not want he wanted.
The day, however, belonged to Webber as Advance Australia Fair played at the end of a Grand Prix for the first time since Alan Jones won in Las Vegas back in 1981. It was superb victory in the most trying circumstances, and Webber thoroughly deserved his maiden success.
Button still leads the world championship with 68 points, but now Vettel is second with 47, Webber third with 45.5 and Barrichello drops to fourth on 44.
Race results from the Nurburgring, 60 laps:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h36:43.310
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +9.252
3. Massa Ferrari +15.906
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota +21.099
5. Button Brawn-Mercedes +23.609
6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes +24.468
7. Alonso Renault +24.888
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +58.692
9. Glock Toyota +1:01.457
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber +1:01.925
11. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes +1:02.327
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota +1:02.876
13. Piquet Renault +1:08.328
14. Kubica BMW Sauber +1:09.555
15. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1:11.941
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1:30.225
17. Trulli Toyota +1:30.970
18. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:33.365
Not classified/retirements:
Raikkonen Ferrari 35 laps
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19 laps
World Championship standings, round 9:
Drivers:
1. Button 68
2. Vettel 47
3. Webber 45.5
4. Barrichello 44
5. Massa 22
6. Trulli 21.5
7. Rosberg 20.5
8. Glock 13
9. Alonso 13
10. Raikkonen 10
11. Hamilton 9
12. Heidfeld 6
13. Kovalainen 5
14. Buemi 3
15. Kubica 2
16. Bourdais 2
Constructors:
1. Brawn-Mercedes 112
2. Red Bull-Renault 92.5
3. Toyota 34.5
4. Ferrari 32
5. Williams-Toyota 20.5
6. McLaren-Mercedes 14
7. Renault 13
8. BMW Sauber 8
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5
Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring. July 24-26
The top three drivers on the German Grand Prix – Webber, Vettel and Massa. Taken from Autosport.com.
Mark Webber hailed his maiden grand prix victory as incredible after the Red Bull Racing driver put an end to a streak of 130 win-less races.
The Australian overcame a drive-through penalty he was given after making contact with Rubens Barrichello at the start, then stormed through the field to lead another Red Bull Racing one-two, finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
The win comes after a difficult winter for Webber, who missed most of the off-season testing after breaking his leg in a bicycle accident.
Webber becomes the first Australian to win a Formula 1 race since Alan Jones in 1981.
“It is an incredible day for me,” said an emotional Webber. “I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone. I thought I had a good chance there. After pole I knew I was in a good position to win the race this year, I thought the only thing that could beat me or test me even more was the rain, but that held off.
“I lost Rubens off the start, I thought he had gone to the left but he went right and I banged into him. I had a drive-through and my engineer kept me calm.
“It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so I kept my motivation high and I was hurting a lot. The team had patience with me, everyone in Australia and a few people who doubted me too so hello to them as well. So thank you to everyone who helped me here.”
Webber, who had scored his maiden pole position on Saturday, lost out to Barrichello at the start and dropped down the order following the penalty.
“I knew my start was not absolutely fantastic,” he said. “I moved across a little bit and as soon as I hit him I was surprised. I also clipped Lewis, with these KERS cars and the way the mirrors are set up on these cars everyone is in a similar situation. A difficult run to the first corner but everyone got away okay.”
Webber moved to third place in the standings, 22.5 points behind Jenson Button and 1.5 behind Vettel.
The Australian reckons that despite the gap to Button, the championship is now very much open.
“They are both still up for grabs. Brawn are leading the constructors’, which they deserve to be, but we are not giving up, pushing as hard as we can to be consistent.
“The biggest problems at the factory is building a trophy cabinet, the hard work is being paid off. We love fighting against teams like Ferrari and McLaren, so to take the fight to the big boys is a big credit for us.”
Sebastian Vettel said there was no way he could have beaten Mark Webber in the German Grand Prix, readily admitting that his Red Bull team-mate was too fast today.
Vettel lost ground at the start but eventually got back to second, while Webber overcame a drive-through penalty to score his first win in Formula 1.
Although Vettel is ahead of Webber in the championship, he said he could not complain about being beaten at the Nurburgring.
“Contragulations to him, today he was unbeatable so he totally deserved to win,” said Vettel.
“Another one-two finish for the team. I am very, very happy. I would like to say I am very, very pleased with second but yesterday Mark did a better job and that is why he deserved to win.”
The German felt his start prevented any chance of challenging for victory, as he fell behind Felipe Massa’s KERS-shod Ferrari and could not pass it until the first stops.
“All the KERS cars got past me, I started fourth and then went into first corner eighth,” said Vettel. “And then basically I struggled a lot with the soft tyre. There was no way to pass Felipe, he used his special button when I was quite close.
“I was lucky to have the right strategy, in the end it brought us back to the correct position.”
Second place still closed Vettel to within 21 points of Jenson Button, who could only finish fifth, in the drivers’ championship, as the German moved up to second.
Felipe Massa hopes his first podium finish of the season will be a morale boost for his Ferrari team.
The Brazilian, starting from eighth position, made a fantastic start and was able to fight near the top positions during the whole event.
Massa admitted he was missing being on the podium after a difficult first half of the season, but the Ferrari driver is hoping that today’s result will help the team work harder to move closer to the front.
“To be honest I miss to be here, to be in top three, but it was a fantastic race,” said Massa. “I did a fantastic start, passed many cars.
“I was struggling a lot with the soft tyres, but fortunately I could manage to stay in front of Sebastian and manage to put out the pace after a while. When we put on a second set of tyres it was important to have good pace at that stage.
“I am happy, everyone in the team did a great job with the pitstops, so I think I am having a good result like this, a podium will definitely motivate the team to keep pushing hard, preparing a good car for the end of the championship and a great car for next year.”
Massa admitted he benefited from having KERS to hold off Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for a significant part of the race.
“It is all racing, we have the KERS which is a help to keep the positions, try to overtake, but you want to exchange the KERS for a bit of downforce I change very quickly,” he joked.
As for the Brawns, Rubens Barrichello was very vocal after the race and claims that his team lost him the race. Read on for details:
Rubens Barrichello hit out at the Brawn GP squad after what he described as “a good show of how to lose a race,” during the German Grand Prix.
The veteran Brazilian led the opening stint of the race, but fell back to finish sixth after Brawn elected to put both he and his team-mate Jenson Button on three-stop strategies compared to the two stops employed by the top four finishers.
“I’m terribly upset with the way things have gone today,” Barrichello told BBC TV. “Because it was a very good show of how to lose a race.
“I did everything I had to do. I had to go first into the first corner, and that’s what I did.
“Then they [Brawn] made me lose the race basically. If we keep going on like this, then we’ll end up losing both championships, and that would be terrible.”
Despite the three-stop strategy proving the wrong choice at the Nurburgring, Barrichello would likely still have finished fourth had his pit crew not been forced to switch to his reserve fuel rig at his second stop, after the first malfunctioned.
“To be honest, I wish I could just get on a plane and go home now. I don’t want to talk to anyone in the team, because it would be a lot of blah, blah, blah, blah… And I don’t want to hear that. I’m just terribly upset.”
Barrichello’s result dropped him from second to fourth place in the championship, behind the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, which dominated the race.
You get the feeling the Brazilian is not treated well in the Brawn GP squad. Yes, he is deeply frustrated not to win the race but as team boss Ross Brawn said afterwards, Rubens wasn’t fast enough to beat the Red Bulls.
On the positive note, championship leader Jenson Button was pleased to see Mark Webber winning his first race after eight years in the sport. Article taken from Autosport.com:
Jenson Button believes that Mark Webber’s victory in the German Grand Prix was actually good news to him, despite the Brawn driver finishing down in fifth place.
The Brawn driver’s championship lead remained at 21 points despite his second minor points finish in as many races.
And he believes that the potential for the Red Bull drivers Webber and Sebastian Vettel to fight against each other from now on could favour him over the remainder of the season.
“My championship lead has stayed the same, although it’s over a different person now,” said Button, who is now 21 points ahead of Vettel while he was 23 ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello before the race.
“It’s quite good [that Webber won] because Vettel’s now got him right behind him in the championship, and they’ll be taking points off each other. If Vettel had won here it would have been a disaster.
“I’m looking forward to Hungary though, when we should have a few new parts. We really need to beat the Red Bulls there.”
Button said that his own race was a disaster right from the start, the world championship leader losing significant ground throughout the race after getting stuck behind the slower McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen early on.
A lack of pace on the harder option tyres- on a cool track surface that does not favour the Brawns – also restricted his progress and prevented the podium finish that Button believed was possible.
“The start was bad, cars all around me and people outbraking themselves. I got a few places back and got up to fourth with [Felipe] Massa and Kovalainen, but their pace was way off and there was no way through, so it made it a difficult race.
“Then I spent some time behind Rubens and his pace on the prime tyre wasn’t good. And my pace on the option tyre was bad, because with the track being quite cool, I struggled to keep the heat in them. Then I had graining and big degradation.
“I thought we could have been on the podium behind the Red Bulls, but it was not possible.”
And what about the race performance from Kimi Raikkonen and Adrian Sutil? Well, for the second time (just like Monaco last year), the two made contact which resulted in no points scored for the Force India driver. Let’s hear what the 2007 world champion had to say – taken from Autosport.com:
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was disappointed to suffer his third mechanically-induced retirement of the season at the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
After starting ninth, the former world champion ran comfortably in the points all afternoon before retiring on lap 36 with an engine problem.
“I don’t know exactly [what the problem was], but it was some issue with the engine,” Raikkonen told BBC TV. “I had a loss of power and then I had to stop because the engine would have broken down anyway. It’s a shame.”
Prior to his retirement, Raikkonen was involved in a controversial incident with Force India driver Adrian Sutil at the first corner, which the race stewards announced they would investigate after the race.
As the impressive Sutil left the pitlane, Raikkonen attempted to go around the outside of the German, but made contact with his rival, breaking his rival’s front wing and dropping the former down the order to 15th by the finish.
Raikkonen denied any wrongdoing though, calling it a racing incident.
“I don’t think it was anybody’s fault,” he added. “It was just a normal racing incident. Unfortunately we touched, but I don’t know what I can do, because I was on the outside and cannot see everything in this situation.”
As for Sutil, the young German is not disheartened despite no points. He was driving superbly in the first part of the race and to miss out on a decent finish was just harsh.
Adrian Sutil was not disheartened by his disappointing result at the German Grand Prix, despite missing out on his first points finish of the year.
The Force India driver was one of the stars of qualifying on Saturday and again shone in today’s race, running as high as second after showing very competitive pace.
His hopes of a strong result, however, came to a sudden end when he made contact with Kimi Raikkonen after his first pitstop, damaging his front wing.
Sutil was forced to pit to replace the wing and dropped down the order, finishing in 15th.
“We shouldn’t be that disappointed with this result as we have had a good weekend and the next one will come very soon,” said Sutil. “All our development shows we are on the right track and that we are much more competitive.
“It was a good race for me: the start was a bit difficult but I lost just one position. In the first stint I did really well and it was looking very promising as I was up to second by my first stop.
“When I went out of the pitlane I saw Kimi coming on the outside of the corner and I just tried to hold my line but he went to the outside and I touched him and lost part of my front wing.
“That’s really when I thought the race was over for the points as I had to come back in. I kept pushing hard though as you never know what will happen.
“Overall I think we’ve learnt a lot; it’s the first time starting in the top 10 and it’s a different race up there! It’s been a good push for everyone in the team to get some more development so we can finally get some points.”
Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was also encouraged by the team’s performance after finishing in 11th position, having started from 18th.
“After the qualifying I had yesterday, I thought it would be a difficult race but I really enjoyed it and again got close to the points,” said Fisichella. “I had a good start and overtook a lot of cars in the opening laps. I could catch and pass people quite easily, although I started to get a lot of graining on the softer tyres near the end of the first stint.
“On the second stint it was again quite good and then right at the end of the race I was really catching the group in front. Perhaps with a few extra laps I could have found a way past a couple more to try and challenge Kovalainen for eighth.
“I think we can be quite happy with this weekend, even if again we didn’t get any points. We’ve taken a step forward and with some more developments coming through I think we could really have some more great races.”
Lewis Hamilton was disappointed that what looked set to be his most competitive performance of the season at the German Grand Prix was ruined by a first corner incident that left him at the back of the field.
Hamilton made a terrific getaway to lead on the run down to the first corner, but received a tap from Mark Webber’s front wing, which was enough to puncture his right rear tyre.
The time loss from completing a slow lap back to the pits and from having a new tyre fitted, dropped him a lap down, and the world champion was unable to recover from 18th place.
“The start was okay, and I got a good launch down to turn one,” said Hamilton. “Then when I was braking, I had a tap from the rear and went straight on.
“I had the puncture, which damaged the rear floor and it made it like driving on ice out there. The car wasn’t working correctly with that damage, so it was like driving on ice.
“I was pushing and pushing, but it was a waste of time. I suggested that we [retire] save the gearbox for hopefully a better race in the future, but we used it up [instead.]”
Hamilton was nonetheless praiseworthy of the improvements the McLaren team have made to the MP4-24 since the British Grand Prix, which enabled him to qualify fifth on the grid.
“For sure the team has done a fantastic job,” he added. We’ve finally been competitive, in qualifying at least, and I can look forward to the next race. It’s just a shame I wasn’t able to experience the new updates in the race, because of the damage.”
Source: Autosport.com
No action on Raikkonen/Sutil incident – story taken from Autosport.com.
The clash between Kimi Raikkonen and Adrian Sutil in the German Grand Prix was deemed a racing incident by the stewards on Sunday evening, meaning neither driver faced any sanction from the governing body.
Raikkonen knocked off Sutil’s wing at Turn One during their mid-race battle for position – an accident that cost Sutil a near-certain points finish after the German had run as high as second at one point of the race.
With both drivers believing the coming together was a pure racing incident, the stewards agreed.
Raikkonen said: “It was a normal racing thing. We both tried to keep the place and I tried to take him outside, and he kept trying keep the place. Unfortunately we touched and he lost the front wing. There was nothing out of the ordinary, it was just a normal racing incident and a small touch, but for him it was not so good.”
The coming together between Raikkonen and Sutil sparked memories of their clash at Monaco last year – although the Finn was keen to play down the coincidence.
“It was not my fault, not his fault,” he said. “For sure last year (in Monaco) was my fault, but that is racing. We race against each other and unfortunately he lost the wing.”
Immediately after the race Rubens Barrichello lashes out on his Brawn GP team over strategy, but team boss Ross Brawn says the Brazilian is just frustrated in losing the race. Read on for the full story, courtesy of Autosport.com.
Team boss Ross Brawn has downplayed the significance of Rubens Barrichello’s comments after the German Grand Prix.
Barrichello accused his team of having lost him the race with the strategy and the problems during one of his pitstops.
The angry Brazilian added that he did not want to hear excuses.
“To be honest, I wish I could just get on a plane and go home now. I don’t want to talk to anyone in the team, because it would be a lot of bla, bla, bla, bla… And I don’t want to hear that. I’m just terribly upset,” he said.
Brawn, however, believes Barrichello’s comment scame in the heat of the moment and said the Brazilian had moved on already.
“I think that is a frustrated racing driver,” said Brawn. “When you put so much into a race and it hasn’t worked out, then that is what you get sometimes.
“If you get out of the car thinking you should have won the race and you haven’t got all the facts, then that can happen. Now he has the facts and understands what happens, he is fine.”
The team boss also reckons Barrichello will understand he just wasn’t fast enough to win the race.
“It’s a passion some drivers have,” he added. “But I want to have a look at exactly what he said and be clear, but he understands now what happened in the race. Rubens had the 11th fastest time in the race today.
“You cannot win a race, whatever strategy you have, if your best lap is only 11th quickest. It is just not possible. Those are the facts.
“Once he calms down, the problems we have is to go quicker. Today we were not quick enough and we have to respond because if we don’t we will throw the championship away.”
He added: “I will understand the whole situation first before we say anything. In the heat of the moment these things happen. We want to understand the whole picture and what he said.
“Rubens has been a very important member of the team. He stuck with the team through very difficult times, he has a lot of loyalty to the team and that is not something that will be destroyed with a few frustrated words after a race.”
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has paid tribute to Mark Webber’s determination and grit after seeing the Australian deliver his maiden victory in the German Grand Prix.
Following the drama of the winter for Webber, who broke his right leg and shoulder in a bicycle crash in November, he was in totally dominant form throughout the Nurburgring weekend to take a popular triumph.
And for Horner, the victory was made even more impressive because of the fact that he believes Webber is still not back at total 100 per cent fitness – meaning he will continue to get better.
“I think lying in a hospital bed in Tasmania in November, he could never have dreamed about today,” said Horner about Webber’s victory. “Certainly we had some concerns, because he forgot to tell us that he broke his shoulder as well.
“So, the comeback that he has had has been remarkable – and it is testimony to his determination and commitment that he has got himself back, he has got himself fit and he is driving better than ever.”
When asked by AUTOSPORT about his current fitness levels, Horner said: “I don’t think he is still at full fitness. He cannot run. He is carrying an extra bit of ballast in his leg which Adrian [Newey] is not too happy about, but I think that he has dealt with the injury.
“He has very good support and it is not compromising his driving but I don’t think he is certainly at the fitness level he was 12 months ago.”
The manner of Webber’s triumph, following team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s similarly dominant victory in the British GP, has left no one in doubt that Brawn GP now has a serious challenge for the world title.
Horner said he was not going to get too carried away by the fact that the momentum now looked to be firmly behind his team, as he predicted an ‘exciting’ second half to the season.
“I think we have taken 20 points in the last three weekends out of them, so I think that our car is working very well,” he said. “It is working well in a multitude of conditions.
“Obviously their car has not suited the cooler weather of the last couple of events, whereas we have looked very strong. We have still got a big hurdle to get over to catch them, but we have made a good inroad into that this weekend as well as previously at Silverstone.”
He added: “I think that we have got a car that we should be able to fight them in all conditions. We are pushing them very hard on development. We still have performance to come to the car and it will be a really exciting second half of the season.
“Budapest is usually quite warm, so we will see there. But I don’t think the temperature was anything to do with today. I think the performance of the car was very good, the drivers drove brilliantly and there are no high speed corners here, so that was not a factor this weekend. So, we will see.
“Certainly the pendulum has swung in the past few events, but I am sure it will swing again in the next few events. We are just going to take each weekend as we can, just focus race by race and the championship will take care of itself.”
Source: Autosport.com
So pleased for Mark, what a thoroughly deserved win. Listening to him talking to his team as he finished the race, I think he was a bit pleased! He wanted to drive the win, and just maybe he did that! Having got that stupid drive through, it looked as though it was curtains for him and his first victory. But race back and win, I think that can go down as “driving the the win”.
And so it’s another 1-2 for red Bull, and surely now Brawn must be worried. They had what seemed an unassailable lead for the constructors title, but RB are closing the gap seriously fast and Seb is very close to Jenson for the drivers title. Be worried Brawn. They need a hot country like I need a beer!
As for Rubins outburst. Hmmmmm, in one way I agree with him. He has lost the lead twice through some dubious pit calls by Ross, and so I would be angry aswell. BUT, he didn’t have all the facts before letting rip, and as Ross said, he was 11th fastest on the day. You just don’t win races with the 11th fastest lap. You don’t have to be the quickest ( Lewis hardly got any lap records during his last two years ), but no way are you going to win when the leader gets a drive through and still cruises to the win.
However, sticking to the 3 stop strategy was strange, and I doubt they would have stuck to that if Jenson was in Rubins place. But Ross had all the figures and I’m sure he knew it was not on the cards for a win. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t chicken out and not go for it. Brawn was an absolute legend at Ferrari with his pit-stop strategies, and won titles by doing them. I found it very odd that even if it meant it not working out going with 2 stops, it wasn’t worth a stab.
but the re-fueling rig breakdown would have meant 3 stops anyway. What gets me is that when the second stop took so long, Rubino asked if he was switched to a two stop race. The team replied ‘no’ and that there was a breakdown of the rig and he’d need to stop again. He must have heard that the rig broke and that he’d need to stop again, cos of course he did. So why the outburst! Making the call to stop twice would not have worked anyway then!
To me it DID sound like he had all the facts ( apart from being too bloody slow anyway ) but just moaned anyway. Poor Rubins does wear his heart on his sleeve though and I think much of it was frustration and sadness at a poor weekend for the team.
But well done Mark, Aussies are not my fave kind of people, but he is a rare breed where by he ain’t a complete c**k!
Extensive write-up Elton. thanks for your effort!