THE POINT…Gian Carlo Minardi
The Gp in Hockenheim was really amazing, so was Fernando Alonso, who made a masterpiece, especially on the last 20 laps.
His lap time was constantly under 1’20” and his way of driving was very aggressive. The Ferrari is getting more and more competitive and shows it can run a very quick race on every weather condition, narrowing the gap with Red Bull. Three world champions fought for a win on the edge of tenths and the time gap between them was only 2.6 seconds. This means that this season is so hard-won and competitive. They must stay focused until the end for not giving anything to rivals. Each grant will be paid off. Car development will be very important and Ferrari team is proving to be good in this area. They feel also easy at pit stops and the work on different areas begins to pay off.
This is a Ferrari vs Red Bull struggle and Fernando Alonso is fighting alone against Vettel and Webber. Massa had to pay for a negative qualifying result. When a driver starts from a middle row, the risk of clashing is so high, especially in a circuit like this, where a L-shaped corner follows a long straight stretch. Button performances now are as good as the ones at the beginning of the season, this is because he’s behind the wheel of a restored McLaren. Unfortunately Hamilton was very unlucky. Sebastian Vettel was very nervous, this was reflected by a risky overtaking at the expense of Button. I think officials decision was right because the Englishman was in trouble so he could have waited. The carelessness he committed was not worthy of a world champion. In this way he made an important gift to Fernando.
We’re just in the middle of the race season, so many races still have to be run and many scores have to be won, but fights between drivers and outsiders can be an ace for Fernando’s benefit; the Spaniard’s advantage over Webber is 34 points. As shown by his overtaking on Vettel, Hamilton won’t give up…. Lotus itself could accidentally be a weapon for the Spaniard’s benefit, but next Sunday race is unpredictable. Kimi performances were not so constant and he was in trouble with hard tyres. Despite everything, including Grosjean mistakes, they’ve just one point less than McLaren.
Awesome race for Sauber. The car performances are getting better and better as shown by a good 5th and 6th place, got up to 4th thanks to Vettel penalty.
In a week drivers will run again in Hungary , where the track is medium-slow, so qualifying and strategy will be crucial. After the summer break Gp will be at Spa and Monza circuits. Those tracks are so important for the final part of the Championship.
Gian Carlo Minardi