Fernando Alonso relieves Silverstone pain through German Grand Prix win
"Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?" Ferrari’s race engineer Rob Smedley told Felipe Massa over the radio as the German Grand Prix ended in the midst of controversies. After the British Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso was yet again involved in controversy as he led Ferrari to a one-two finish at German Grand Prix. Massa was apparently looking to finish the race on top spot, but was ordered to move aside to make space for Alonso to pass through with 18 laps remaining. This race has once again brought Ferrari into limelight regarding the issue of team favouritism.
Massa started the race in a perfect manner as he overtook Sebastian Vettel, who started on pole. Massa passed home-favourite Vettel on turn one, followed by Alonso, who squeezed past on the other side to give Ferrari 1-2 spots. The top three positions remained the same till 18 laps before the finish when Brazilian Massa allowed Alonso to take the lead.
Lewis Hamilton, who had an awful qualifying, made most of his opportunities on race day as he climbed two positions to finish on fourth. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button finished fifth while Red Bull’s Mark Webber ended the race on sixth position. On the other hand, Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi started the race in the worst possible manner, as he lost his rear wing in the battle for early position (he ended up in the 24th position), while Lotus’ Jarno Trulli retired with a gearbox problem. Both Force India drivers were also early losers, as they were victim of a comedy of errors. They stopped for a set of new front wings and then had to return to the pits after it emerged they had been given each other’s tyres.
At the front, Massa and Alonso dominated the proceedings by recording fastest laps one after another to extend their lead over the rest of the pack. Vettel was the first driver to head to the pits in lap 13 for fresh tyres. He was followed by Alonso, Webber, Hamilton and Massa as they also headed for the pits to freshen things up.
Soon after, Alonso had the golden chance to pass and take the top spot without assistance from his team. Both drivers were held up in traffic as the Brazilian Massa struggled to get temperature into his hard tyres. The Spaniard made a move into the turn six hairpin but Massa did a very good job to hold him off. Moments later, Alonso came over the radio saying, "this is ridiculous".
In the closing laps, it turned into a two-horse race as Vettel dropped behind the top duo. It was Alonso who won the private team battle, securing his second victory of the season to spoil Massa's day a year on from his career-threatening accident at Hungary. Sebastian Vettel maintained his championship contention by finishing third.
This result means that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton still holds the lead at the championship table (at 157 points) from teammate Jenson Button (at 143 points) and the Red Bull drivers, who are tied at third. The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher had another disappointing race, as they finished eighth and ninth respectively.
Massa seemed frustrated at the turn of events, but hid his emotions well in the post-race press conference. He said, “Well, I don't think I need to say anything about that. The only thing I feel is that we work for the team and doing a great job for the team and that is the most important thing.” When asked by a news reporter if he felt he deserved to win, Massa replied, “Well, I think so. The start was just fantastic and also the pace on the soft tyres was really great and then I was struggling a little bit on the hard tyres but anyway a very good race for us.” The result leaves Massa 72 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, with Alonso 34 behind the Briton.
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