German GP- THE POINT
Once again the GP was spectacular, even though it was affected by tyre behaviour. Some teams disappear too quickly and reappear in the following GP. Sometimes their performance changes as the temperature of the asphalt changes within the same race week end. Now, I wonder why teams have to spend so much money in car development and wind tunnel testing if it only takes the slightest mistake to ruin their work.
That being said, I don’t want to devalue Red Bull’s great performance in any way. The team recovered from the technical failure it was victim of during the British GP. They have the best car which id driven by a racer who can manage it in an excellent way. Webber was very good, as well. The Australian was finely able to manage the pit-stop issue and entered the top 10, scoring important points for his team.
Unfortunately at the Nurburgring the Ferrari, which tried to reverse an unlucky situation into a good result, was not so performing. The Italian team finished fourth with Alonso at the Nurburgring, which is a very good result if we consider the bad start of the race weekend. Doing that, the team gives way to rivals. If they go on like this it will be difficult to preserve the third position in the constructors’ championship, as the Lotus will be very performing also in Hungary. If Kimi gets one more good result, he will probably reach Alonso’s points. It will be important to understand what’s happening to Massa. To be honest, what happened to him on Sunday is very strange. If he had come lengthwise, the car would have headed for the right side, but the tyres of the Brazilian’s car jammed and it headed for the left side. I don’t feel like blaming him for the matter, but unfortunately the Scuderia lost points with a view to the constructors’ championship. Unlike his main rivals, Alonso is not covered in an efficient way.
The Championship is still so long; however we can say that the Red Bull is the favorite team at the moment. Let’s hope that the three-week-break before the Hungarian GP and the sabbatical month of August will bring some changes to the Ferrari. I think that Sunday’s arrival order reflects the teams’ current technical value, with the five top-tier teams in the first nine positions. Just Massa is still missing, in his place Hulkenberg drove an excellent race and scored one point. The McLaren was able to take advantage of hot weather, getting the better over Toro Rosso and Force India which finished in the top 10 on Saturday. Talking about Webber’s accident in the pit, I had already pointed out the dangerousness of the tyre change process. Until now tyres came off while the car was on track, but this time it happened in the pit lane, where the room is so tight and luckily it didn’t happen the worst. Unfortunately a cameraman was injured so, starting from next GP, they can only stay on the wall. Although it’s not easy to try to find a solution, I think that the “fence is always closed when horses have already bolted”……Before the Hungarian GP, I would like to talk about the Mercedes’ request to take part in the tests at Silverstone. Beyond all the exceptions given to the German team, I think it’s fair that they take part in that test, as tests at Silverstone were conceived for a matter of safety. The commissioners will have to make sure that everything runs in the right way. However I think that it’s extremely fair to leave the Mercedes off the rookie tests.
