German Grand Prix 2013 - Round-up

Though I’m no fan of the current Pirelli-DRS era of Formula One, Sunday’s German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring must rank among the best dry races fans have enjoyed since the sport’s rule makers chose such a route.

Of course, anything would have been an improvement on the previous weekend’s debacle at Silverstone, but it was nonetheless refreshing to see just how quickly Pirelli and the teams were able to rescue F1 from the brink of disaster.

Threats of a GPDA boycott soon subsided as it became increasingly clear that the modifications made by Pirelli – namely a return to last year’s Kevlar belts in place of the hitherto used steel belts – were sufficient to prevent a repeat of the terrifying blowouts that marred the British Grand Prix.

However, events on track were sadly overshadowed to a degree by the injuries sustained by an FOM cameraman, who was struck at high speed by Mark Webber’s detached wheel in the pit-lane and sustained a broken collarbone and ribs as a result.

Mercedes and Red Bull were the pacesetters in qualifying as per usual, with Lewis Hamilton taking a second successive pole position from home favourite Sebastian Vettel and Webber, whose race would be derailed almost from the off as a result of the aforementioned incident.

That meant, with Hamilton slipping backwards from the outset, it was left to the resurgent Lotus team to provide Vettel with his only real threat to a long overdue maiden home victory.

In particular, the race marked a return to form for Romain Grosjean, who before last weekend had failed to score points since his third place in Bahrain. Indeed, after his incident-strewn Monaco weekend, there was even suggestion of Lotus team principal Eric Boullier beginning to lose patience with his protégé.

Grosjean responded in the best possible fashion by leading the chasing pack behind Vettel after the first round of pit-stops; at one stage it even looked as if the Franco-Swiss was staring down the barrel of a shock victory as Grosjean began to steadily close the gap to the reigning world champion.

The Lotus driver’s chances were effectively ended by a Safety Car period just before half distance, which was scrambled when Jules Bianchi’s Marussia, whose Cosworth engine had just spectacularly expired in a plume of smoke, began to roll backwards down the hill preceding the final chicane.

This meant that virtually the entire field took the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres, negating the advantage that Grosjean had gained by extending his first stint longer than his rivals.

As Vettel began to extend his lead over Grosjean after the Safety Car pulled in, hopes of a Lotus victory began to rest upon the shoulders of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn was running in third at this stage, but assumed the lead when Vettel and Grosjean made their third pit-stops.

Raikkonen held a lead of around 14 seconds at this stage, giving Lotus the option of instructing their man to go the distance on his existing set of prime tyres and later fend off a faster Vettel equipped with fresher tyres.

Instead, the Enstone outfit brought in their driver for a fresh set of options with 12 laps to go, with Raikkonen four seconds away from leader Vettel once he had dispatched the slower Grosjean for second place.

Though Raikkonen was able to reduce Vettel’s advantage to one second, he was never quite close enough to attempt an overtake, leaving the German driver to take a fourth win of the season - his 30th in total - and extend his points lead over Fernando Alonso to a comfortable 34.

Raikkonen, who once again seemed rather unconvinced by his team’s chosen strategy, and Grosjean completed the top three in a replica of the Bahrain podium, the trio all finishing within six seconds at the finish line after a thoroughly entertaining race.

Missing out on the podium by a couple of seconds was Alonso, with Ferrari once again lacking qualifying pace (to the extent that the Scuderia sent out both drivers in Q3 with prime tyres) but showing very solid race pace.

While Alonso battled his way from eighth on the grid to fourth, Felipe Massa was an early retirement after a spin under braking for the first corner. It was another elementary mistake from a driver who, after a bright start to the year, is once more under pressure to retain his seat for 2014.

Alonso lost crucial time early on stuck behind the slower Mercedes of Hamilton, who never looked in contention for a podium as the Brit suffered with a return of the tyre degradation woes that have dogged the Brackley outfit for much of the year.

A last lap pass on compatriot Jenson Button gave Hamilton fifth place, while Nico Rosberg could manage no better than a disappointing ninth having started eleventh on the grid as a result of Mercedes failing to anticipate improving track conditions in Q2.

After two point-free weekends, McLaren did well to haul both cars into the points, with Button and Sergio Perez finishing sixth and eighth with two-stop strategies. The former was convinced he would have clung on to fifth if not for the lapped Caterham drivers getting in his way in the closing stages.

Splitting the McLarens at the finish was Webber, who despite being helped enormously by the Safety Car showed some eye-catching pace in his recovery from last place. Still, a seventh place was hardly consolation for a wasted victory opportunity at the circuit where the Red Bull driver secured a memorable debut win four years ago.

Nico Hulkenberg gave the cash-strapped Sauber team something to smile about after securing tenth place with a late pass on former teammate Paul Di Resta. If rumours about ‘Hulk’ not receiving his pay check as a result of his team’s dire financial straits are to be believed, it could be one of his last appearances for Sauber this year.

Also worthy of mention is Daniel Ricciardo, who hauled his recalcitrant Toro Rosso onto the third row of the grid in qualifying for the second race in succession; while the Australian was powerless to prevent himself sliding out of the points on Sunday, he seems to have re-established superiority over teammate Jean-Eric Vergne as he bids to join Vettel at Red Bull next year.

Whoever gets the nod to replace Webber alongside Vettel, chances are they will be driving car number two next year –his costly gearbox gremlin at aside, Sebastian has been in the thick of the fight for the win at the last four Grands Prix and is without doubt the form driver as the season hits the halfway mark.

Adrian Newey’s RB9 is now by far the best all-round package on the grid, and the question is to what extent Mercedes, Lotus and Ferrari are willing to plough resources into trying to catch Red Bull with the new turbo regulations looming ever closer on the horizon.

The upcoming young driver test at Silverstone, which for two of the three days will essentially be a regular test for race drivers, will be a crucial opportunity for Red Bull’s rivals to unlock the required performance to make a true contest of the remainder of the season.

The next race at the Hungaroring in three weeks’ time – where I shall be a keen trackside spectator as I venture to a Grand Prix outside these shores for the first time – will therefore provide us with a useful barometer as to just how competitive we can expect this year’s title run-in to be.