FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Hockenheimring gets two DRS zones for first time

Two DRS zones will be used at the Hockenheimring for the first time this weekend.

As the circuit shares the German Grand Prix with the Nurburgring and hosts it on alternate years, this is only the second time F1 has raced at the track using DRS.

The previous DRS zone on the approach to turn six, the Spitzkehre, is unchanged, with its detection point at the exit of turn four.

A new DRS zone has been added on the preceding straight heading towards turn two. The detection point is on the approach to turn one, with the activation zone shortly after it.

[Pedro2486]

Wheel size in Formula 1

There is no doubting that larger wheels can look pretty good but on the other hand, the larger the wheels and the tyres the heavier they are and thus the more effect they will have on performance. Tests show that as wheel/tyre combinations get bigger, acceleration and fuel economy suffer often quite dramatically with a 10 percent drop in fuel economy between using 15-inch rims and 19-inch rims. Formula 1 has used 13-inch rims for the last 20 years and this is now out of step with the industry which tend to use 15-inch rims with lower profile tyres. In theory this means that a tyre company has less scope to apply the technology learned in F1 to road car tyres. This is not strictly true but it is clear that if one can market tyres that are the same size as those used in F1 there are likely to be more sales. There was talk a year or so ago of Michelin coming into the sport but the French company said that it wanted to increase wheel rims to 18-inches after the first couple of years.

“The 13-inch tyre is no longer relevant to the everyday road user,” says Pirelli’s Paul Hembery. “While 18-inch tyres would be a big step for Formula 1, there are many other motorsport series that already use this size. So there’s scope to go even bigger than that in Formula 1 in years to come. In order to underline F1′s role as a test bed for future mobility solutions, we believe that it benefits everybody to have as close a link between road car tyres and competition tyres as possible. However, we’d like to emphasise that this move is not something that we are actively pushing for, as our role in Formula 1 is not to instigate changes. Instead, it’s to help teams and drivers make the most out of the equipment, regulations and resources they have at their disposal – whatever they decide that framework is going to be.”

Thus the Pirelli test of 18-inch tyres this week at Silverstone was an interesting experiment. The tyres were run by Charles Pic, with the Lotus.

“It was a very early evaluation test and the different tyres and wheels affect the aerodynamics of the car quite a lot, but you could certainly feel that the tyres felt different to those we’re used to on an F1 car,” he explained.”

The objective of the test was to give Pirelli some initial loading information as well as for everyone to see what the cars looked like in this configuration.

“The new tyres looked stunning fitted to the Lotus,” Hembery said. “These are just a prototype concept, but if the teams decided that they wanted us to proceed in this direction, we have the capability to carry on development in this area and come up with a production-ready version in a comparatively short space of time. We’ve heard a lot of opinions already and we look forward to canvassing other opinions in the coming weeks and months. Even though performance wasn’t by any means priority here, the new tyres still behaved exactly in line with our expectations, so we’re clearly potentially at the beginning of a huge development curve, with the wheel and tyre size rules having remained unaltered for many years.”

The key technical advantage of an 18-inch tyre is a stiffer sidewall that helps maintain the structural rigidity of the tyre and also makes it easier for the tyre to maintain a constant pressure – as there is less actual air inside the tyre.

The reality is that if the wheel size changed, the cars would need to be completely redesigned because of the impact of the tyres in the airflow around the cars. The cars are generally changed from year to year so this is not necessarily a problem but it will mean that the philosophy of design will change as engineers try to find the downforce that will be lost with such a change.

“They are more reactive and nervous and on top of that you lose a lot of aero,” Pic said. “It is not even like you are on the aero you use at Monza, it is even less. The combination means you are five or six seconds off the pace.”

Yeah it looks real cool but I think that is the only positive that would come out of this. The smaller sidewall would basically force Pirelli back to square one as well as introduce a slew of new issue in suspension, aerodynamics, tyre wear and handling. All for selling a few more sporty tyres and rims that arguably get better testing and development in supercar and Touring car racing already.

[Pedro2486]

Double post for some reason

[Pedro2486]

In addition. To me the tyres along with the smaller engines and limiting aerodynamics smacks of making the sport more and more about making the cars look cool rather than F1 being about pure technology and staying on the bleeding edge of high performance. Like putting 20" rims and a milo tin exhaust on a Lancer

[MIKA27]

GERMAN GRAND PRIX: ROSBERG CRUISES HOME

Nico Rosberg cruised to a first home win in the German Grand Prix, finishing 20 seconds clear of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, as Lewis Hamilton recovered from a 20th-place start to finish in the race in third position.

Behind the podium finishers Sebastian Vettel finished fourth for Red Bull Racing, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won an enthralling battle with Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull to take fifth place.

There was drama as soon as the lights went out at the start. While Rosberg and Bottas got away well, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who’d made a good start, collided with the Williams of Felipe Massa and the Brazilian’s car was flipped upside down as the pair slid into the gravel trap at turn one.

The Williams came to rest right side up and Massa was quickly out of the car. The accident ruled him out of the race however. Magnussen was able to continue, though he had to pit for repairs and the Dane rejoined at the back of the field.

The incident disadvantaged Ricciardo who had to take evasive action and he dropped back to 15th. Vettel steered clear of the chaos, however, and rose to third as the Safety Car was deployed.

When the racing resumed Rosberg held his lead from Bottas, with Vettel third ahead of Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg was in fifth, while Jenson Button had risen to sixth from 11th on the grid.

The first stint was largely about Hamilton’s charge through the pack. By lap eight he was up to 12th behind Ricciardo who was also making progress. Hamilton was, however, now almost 18 seconds down on his front-running team-mate and he continued to lose time as he battled with Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver made it past Jean-Eric Vergne and Kimi Raikkonen but while Hamilton got past the Frenchman he briefly became stuck behind the Finn.

Now 25 seconds down on Rosberg, Hamilton had to move decisively and he did so on lap 13. Pulling alongside Raikkonen, Hamilton braked late into the hairpin. The Mercedes and Ferrari made contact but Hamilton made it past and with Ricciardo avoiding trouble, the Briton passed the Red Bull into the bargain. The move elevated him to seventh.

Rosberg, meanwhile, had made his first stop and as the bulk of the field, who had started on Super-soft tyres, headed for pit lane, Hamilton, who had started on Soft tyres, rose to second, 7.7s behind his team-mate. Bottas then retook second on lap 20 with Hamilton under instruction not to resist the Finn.

Hamilton, targeting a two-stop race, finally made his first stop on lap 27, taking on another set of Soft tyres. He resumed in eighth place. At the front, Rosberg was now 13 seconds ahead of Bottas, with Vettel third, a further eight seconds back. Alonso held fourth ahead of Hulkenberg and Button. Ricciardo was once again in front of Hamilton.

Hamilton, on fresh tyres, passed Ricciardo for P7 on lap 29 but then tried to overtake Button. He misread the pace of the McLaren, however and hit the sidepod of Button’s car. It damaged Hamilton’s front wing but the Mercedes driver carried on and then made a clean pass on his former team-mate on the following lap. He found a way past Hulkenberg on lap 33, for fifth.

His two-stop plan appeared to be working but by lap 42 the Mercedes driver was complaining that his tyres were wearing too fast to make it to the end of his planned long stint and his team switched him to a three-stop programme, bolting on Supersoft tyres on lap 43.

Sebastian Vettel versus Kimi Raikkonen versus Fernando Alonso

On lap 50, Adrian Sutil spun in the final corner and his car stalled almost in the middle of track. The situation seemed set for a Safety Car and Mercedes, perhaps anticipating it, brought Hamilton in for his final set of tyres, more supersofts.

With the trackside marshals able to remove the Sauber, the Safety Car didn’t appear, and the Mercedes driver, who rejoined behind Alonso and ahead of Vettel, faced a long stint on the quick but fragile tyres.

It didn’t seem to hurt Hamilton, however, and he passed Alonso for P3 on lap 56 to sit just over seven seconds behind Bottas.

Alonso, meanwhile, made his third and final stop, for Super-softs, with 11 laps to go. He rejoined in P7 behind the Red Bulls of Vettel and Ricciardo and the McLaren of Button but with fresher, quicker tyres.

Ahead Hamilton was chewing through the gap to Bottas with the deficit reduced to just four seconds by lap 58. On the following lap the Briton took 1.7 seconds out of the Finn to set up a move.

Fernando Alonso versus Daniel Ricciardo was riveting stuff

Behind them a great battle developed between Alonso and Ricciardo, with duo tussling hard for P6. Despite Ricciardo’s best efforts he couldn’t resist indefinitely and eventually the Ferrari driver muscled past at the hairpin.

He ran deep, however, and offered Ricciardo a way back in. The Australian pushed hard to recover the position but Alonso held on. With Vettel now 7.6 s ahead and out of reach fourth was the best Alonso could do. It was by a tiny margin, however. Ricciardo battled to the end and when the duo took the flag there were just hundredths of a second separating the pair.

At the front Rosberg took a comfortable fourth win of the season but behind him Hamilton could find no way past the calm and collected Bottas, who took his third podium finish in a row.

With Vettel fourth for Red Bull and Alonso and Ricciardo taking P5 and P6 respectively, seventh place was taken by Hulkenberg. Button was eighth, ahead of team-mate Magnussen and the final points position.

Rosberg’s win leaves him on 190 points with Hamilton now 14 points back. Ricciardo lies third with 106 points, nine clear of Alonso, who is six ahead of Vettel.

MIKA: Was a pretty good race, a bit boring at times (Out front) but watching Alonso battle with Vettel and Kimi was brilliant racing from all.

Hamilton did extremely well to recover and get P3 considering he started at the back of the grid.

As for Massa, I was really hoping he'd do well, very bad luck and I don't agree it was Kevin Magnussen's fault but rather Felipe Massa has himself to blame placing himself in that position. Kevin had no room to move and Massa was banking on Kevin to brake. Massa needs to stop blaming people. Great to see Williams doing so well this season.

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS: WE ALWAYS AIM FOR MORE BUT FOR NOW WE NEED TO BE HAPPY

Valtteri Bottas is now regarded as a rising star of Formula 1 after his third consecutive podium for Williams, this time finishing second at the German Grand Prix and scoring his illustrious team’s 300th podium. The young Finn spoke after his strong showing at Hockenheim.

Three time on the podium now but how hot was the breath of this guy [Hamilton] on your neck?

Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, I feel really happy again being third time in a row on the podium. These guys [Hamilton and Rosberg] were too quick today but [i'm] really happy that we at least managed to keep one of them behind. It was not easy, it required all the info from the engineers, what to do with the engine modes, and from my side pushing hard but I really want to say thanks to all the say thanks to all the fans. I also see many Finnish flags here so, thanks Finland.

Something of a defensive master class at the end, defending from Lewis in the final laps. Tell us a little bit about what was going through your mind, the way you positioned the car in those final laps, particularly given the state of the tyres after a very long stint.

VB: Yes, big enough the last stint. I was already close with Lewis but he stopped and at that point there was still twenty or so laps to go. I knew it was going to be really close in the end. With a new set of tyres, 20 laps to go, he can make up the pit loss, and he did and he was riding my tail the last few laps. For me it was just really, really important to always get a good exit for the DRS straights, so out of Turn One and out of Turns Two-Three, to get as good an exit as possible and brake always as late as possible for the hairpin at the end. Also from the team, we were communicating and I got all the support from the engineers to get the right engine modes for defending – so thanks for that.

Is second place today the maximum for you, is second place the maximum for your team or can you do more?

VB: We always aim for more but for now we need to be happy with these points. Of course we were unlucky with Felipe again, we didn’t get both cars in a good position but I think today was the maximum result. We did everything perfectly and managed to keep Lewis behind in the end which got us an extra few points but in the future, we are definitely aiming for more and this is not the maximum.

Your target for this year was a podium; now you’ve got a hat-trick of them. How surprised are you with this success, because it’s not so usual for Finnish drivers to get three podiums in a row?

VB: Yeah, of course I feel really lucky also to be part of this. Last year we could not have expected to be three times in a row on the podium but we now… This is the package we have and it’s all down to hard work and we need to always keep aiming for more, like I said before. Of course, it feels really good to be (on the podium) for a third time in a row but I think we’re aiming for more than that now. We know Budapest might be a bit difficult for us but hopefully we get some updates.

[MIKA27]

PHOTOS: MASSA ROLLS OUT OF GERMAN GRAND PRIX

Felipe Massa, starting on the second row, flipped and somersaulted spectacularly out of the German Grand Prix after his Williams was tagged in a melee in the first bend at Hockenheim.

Massa’s car came to rest in the safety gravel. The Brazilian walked away unscathed but clearly frustrated after the accident triggered when Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren clipped the rear of his car.

“Big crash for Felipe but he is out the car and heading back to the garage,” Williams said on its Twitter account.

Magnussen continued, although the Danish driver reported damage to his front right tyre. The race restarted after a brief interlude when the safety car appeared, with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg leading from pole.

Massa said afterwards, “I am okay. The accident was a little bit more scary watching than being inside. I just saw everything the other way around, but I am fine. I am so disappointed at what happened.”

“It’s another race and another car that has pushed me out and finished my race. With a car that that is very competitive and fast that’s so disappointing. I was in front and doing the corner in front. If someone needs to watch, it’s the car behind,” added Massa.

Massa has suffered wretched luck this campaign, at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, last time out, his race ended prematurely after a collision with Kimi Raikkonen’s out-of-control Ferrari. Only rapid evasive action by Massa prevented a far more serious crash.

In the Canadian Grand Prix in June, Massa accused rival driver Sergio Perez of being “dangerous” after the Mexican had caused their near-300kph collision.

Brazilian Massa had tried to pass Perez for fourth position as they approached Turn One when their cars collided, an impact that sent both into the barriers at high speed.

[MIKA27]

MALDONADO STAYING WITH LOTUS NEXT YEAR

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado will stay with Lotus in 2015, despite the Formula 1 team suffering a terrible first half of the season, team principal Gerard Lopez said on Saturday.

Maldonado has yet to score a point this season as Lotus struggle with the new technical changes.

“I can confirm 50 percent of our driver line-up for 2015 as Pastor is with us for next year,” said Lopez on the Lotus F1 website.

“Despite the difficulties we’ve had so far this season, he recognises our true potential as a team and we recognise his true potential as a driver. We will achieve great things together,” he predicted.

Maldonado, 29, had been with Williams for three years when he switched to Lotus at the end of the 2013 season.

Ironically, Williams are one of the success stories of this season, in fourth place in the constructors’ championship table behind runaway leaders Mercedes with 103 points, while Lotus have a meagre eight points and lie eighth of the 11 teams racing.

In qualifying for Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Maldonado failed to make it out of the first session and will start 19th.

Maldonado will start his 67th grand prix in Germany, and has one victory to his name when he won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix for Williams at Circuit d Catalunya in Barcelona.

[MIKA27]

F1 WORLD NERVOUS ABOUT RUSSIAN GP

It’s being whispered rather than shouted out aloud, but the world of Formula 1 is undoubtedly worried about the looming Russian Grand Prix.

The sport, scheduled to fly into Sochi for the very first time in October, has been quietly rocked by the news of the MH17 crash, after the Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down by reportedly pro-Moscow rebels amid the Ukraine conflict.

“Our thoughts are with the families at this tough time,” Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado is quoted by the Spanish sports daily Marca. “It’s not the time to talk about the Russian Grand Prix.”

That is perhaps true when it comes to the public record, but behind the scenes, the issue is a major one for a global sport like Formula 1. The route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is familiar to many Formula 1 figures, and Marca said Fernando Alonso has regularly flown with Malaysia Airlines.

Given the Crimean crisis, many Formula 1 media regulars were already planning to skip Russia long before the Ukraine air disaster that claimed almost 300 lives.

“I decided a few months ago that I am not going to Sochi,” an Italian journalist confirmed at Hockenheim.

But Caterham race driver Kamui Kobayashi insisted: “There is plenty of time before we go to Russia, and I think everything will calm down by then. I think it will go smoothly.”

[MIKA27]

Hamilton did 'as good as I could

Lewis Hamilton says he got the best result possible when he brought his W05 home in third place in Sunday's German Grand Prix.

Starting 20th on the grid following his qualifying accident and subsequent gearbox penalty, Hamilton provided much of the afternoon's entertainment.

The Mercedes driver sliced his way through the field, even passing Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo in one move at the hairpin.

However, it was almost one overtake too many as later, again at the hairpin, he tagged former team-mate Jenson Button, breaking the front wing of his W05.

The damage, though, counted for little as Hamilton raced to third place, held up in the final seven laps by Valtteri Bottas, who finished P2.

"I had great fun," said Hamilton. "I did as good as I could.

"It was very hard to get through the pack safely and I had a little bit of a collision with Jenson.

"I honestly thought he was going to open the door which he has done a couple of times lately but that was my bad judgement.

"It was hard to overtake so I'm glad to get some points today."

And although Hamilton was grateful to Mercedes for giving him a car capable of racing from 20th to third, he was a bit disappointed at have lost ground in the title race.

His 15 points scored in Germany mean the British racer heads to the Hungaroring trailing Nico Rosberg by 14 points.

"From a personal point of view, I can't be too ecstatic about the race because it has been a tough weekend for me and I've ultimately lost more points to Nico in the Championship battle.

"But I'm grateful that I could limit the damage with a podium finish. When you are sitting on the grid basically in last place, with no other cars in your mirrors, it's very hard to imagine that you could be standing up there two hours later.

"I'm so grateful to the team for this car, I really take my hat off to them for building a machine that can put in that kind of performance."

He added: "I'm doing absolutely everything I can to get back on level terms with Nico in the title battle: I can't focus more or work harder than I am doing right now.

"This Championship is proving a big challenge for me but that's how I love it - and I wouldn't have it any other way. "

[MIKA27]

Jense unimpressed by Lewis' driving

Jenson Button believes Lewis Hamilton tried too many dangerous moves during Sunday's German Grand Prix.

Starting P20 on the grid, Hamilton charged up the field and it wasn't too long before he was into the top 10 and clashing with the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Button.

First some debris from Raikkonen's Ferrari went flying off as Hamilton muscled his way past and then he made contact with Button as he tried to duck past him at the hairpin.

This time a piece of Hamilton's front wing came off, but he managed to get the better of his former McLaren team-mate on the next lap and eventually went on to finish third.

The Mercedes driver admitted afterwards that his collision with Button was due to his "bad judgment", but the McLaren man wasn't impressed by his driving.

"Why would we let anyone through? I don't know if you've noticed but a lot of drivers do that line to get a good exit from the corner," Button, who finished P8, is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"I think the problem with Lewis is he expected me to let him past.

"I don't think I'm the only person he drove into today. It's strange, when the car's so much quicker you'd think he wouldn't get into so [many] fights but there you go.

"He drove into my rear wheel, that's all I've got to say and I don't know much else about it.

"I'm out there doing my race. It would make it boring if we all let him past when he was coming through the field."

[MIKA27]

Magnussen: A real pity

Sorry for the incident with Felipe Massa, Kevin Magnussen says he did his "best" to avoid him but had nowhere to go.

Magnussen and Massa collided through the opening corner of Sunday's German GP as they were fighting for track position.

The impact flipped Massa's car, putting the Williams driver out of the race while Magnussen recovered to finish ninth.

Although Massa blamed the Dane for the crash, the stewards deemed it to be a racing incident.

"A real pity: I think I could've had a decent race if I hadn't had the accident at Turn One," said the McLaren driver.

"I need to see a replay of the accident, but I feel that, if I'd had somewhere to go, then there wouldn't have been contact with Felipe. I did my best to try and avoid the accident, but there wasn't much else I could do.

"I spun after that, and had to box to change tyres and the nosebox. Then I spent the first half of the race coming through from the back of the field. Really, it wasn't the best thing that could happen."

The Dane, though, insists there are "some positives" to be garnered from the day.

"The car behaved extremely well; the rear tyres held on - which is something new for this car, it's usually a bigger problem to keep the rears alive, but today it was okay.

"I'm happy to come away with some points, but I'm disappointed because we should have scored more. I hope we can be on the pace and get a decent result in Hungary next week."

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo happy to make a statement

Awesome fun, enjoyable and amazing are just some of the words that Daniel Ricciardo used to describe his tussle with Fernando Alonso in Germany.

The Australian started fifth on the Hockenheim grid, but he found himself down in P15 after the first lap as he was forced off the track while avoiding the Felipe Massa-Kevin Magnussen collision.

However, he fought his way back and found himself involved in several scraps with Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

The best one was left for last though as he had ding-dong battle with Alonso.

The Ferrari driver overtook him for fifth place on lap 59, but he fought back immediately to regain the spot and held him off for a few more laps. The Spaniard, though, was on fresher rubber and it eventually told as he claimed P5 with Ricciardo settling for sixth.

"Awesome fun. Awesome fun. One of my most enjoyable races - except the first lap," Ricciardo told Autosport after the race. "I got on the radio and said 'let's make an amazing recovery and make ourselves proud' - and I think we did that. I think we made a bit of a statement."

[MIKA27]

Rosberg says brakes still an issue for Mercedes

Nico Rosberg thinks Mercedes still has work to do to fix the brakes on its Formula 1 car, after struggling to manage his own during the German Grand Prix.

Both Rosberg and team-mate Lewis Hamilton changed their brakes under parc ferme rules after qualifying on Saturday, leading some rival teams to consider a protest against Mercedes.

Rosberg suffered several lock-ups in Q1 while Hamilton crashed heavily in the same session when his front-right brake disc failed.

Rosberg won the Hockenheim race from pole position by more than 20 seconds from Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, but said he was still suffering issues with his brakes despite changing the rears for the race.

"Yesterday was very problematic in qualifying with the brakes and still continued today to be difficult," Rosberg said.

"So that's something we need to work on, [but] it's an ongoing process with different solutions.

"Tyre degradation was [also] really on the limit to do two stops.

"The tyres were finished at the end of each stint.

"I had a big battle going on right behind me, with two cars that were actually quicker than me at the time, [and] that didn't look good - they were left, right and centre, locking tyres. That was a bit of a concern."

Rosberg was also pleased to see Mercedes remain dominant in race trim, despite removing its advanced FRIC (front and rear interconnected) suspension system ahead of the weekend, but said his team would need to investigate why Williams appears to have closed the gap in qualifying for recent races.

"It's great to see that without FRIC we are still dominant," Rosberg added.

"In qualifying, we've seen already in Austria Williams beat us.

"We need to look at why they are a bit closer relatively in qualifying - try to understand that, but we're still the dominant force, that's great to see, and we need to keep that going."

[MIKA27]

German GP: Fernando Alonso hails best race of 2014 F1 season

Fernando Alonso reckons his drive to fifth in the German Grand Prix was his best of the 2014 Formula 1 season.

The Ferrari driver started seventh, rose to fourth when Kevin Magnussen and Felipe Massa collided at Turn 1 after the start, and ended up fifth after battling wheel-to-wheel with the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

Alonso has been on the podium and finished fourth on three occasions earlier in the season, but hailed his effort in splitting the Red Bulls as his strongest effort of the year so far.

"Fifth place was absolutely the maximum today," Alonso said.

"I'm very pleased. Austria (where he also finished fifth) was probably the best race so far this season for me, now it's probably this one because it was quite complex to manage the start, the fuel, the tyres, the changes in strategy, [and] the battles.

"It was a very complex race to understand and to execute."

Alonso said Ferrari made the right call on strategy, despite finishing eight seconds behind Vettel, and revealed that a need to save fuel almost cost him fifth to Ricciardo.

"We more or less planned to do two stops at the beginning, but in the middle of the race I was asking how the tyres were for everyone else because I really felt like we were struggling to go for two [stops], so we switched to three," Alonso added.

"I'm happy with all the decisions. For the last stint I was saving fuel but I was battling with Ricciardo so I had to decide to give up the position and cross the line or fight with Ricciardo and be on the limit to cross the line.

"I decided to fight with Ricciardo to be in the position and then try to manage the fuel as well as I could.

"On the last lap I had to massively save fuel - I was in eighth gear all lap and was lucky the race wasn't 100m longer."

RICCIARDO PROUD OF RECOVERY

Ricciardo is nine points ahead of Alonso and still third in the drivers' championship, after missing out on beating the Ferrari by just 0.082 seconds.

The Australian started fifth but completed the first lap 15th after running wide to avoid the Magnussen/Massa incident.

He reckoned his recovery to sixth had "made a statement" to the rest of the paddock.

"I just got on the radio and said, 'let's just make an amazing recovery and make ourselves proud today', - and I think we did that," Ricciardo said.

"We fought hard and didn't leave anything on the table so I think we made a bit of a statement.

"These are the sort of moments and battles I thrive off, and Alonso is known to be a tough racer, so I thought who better to have a good fight with."

[MIKA27]

RED BULL: THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM WE COULD ACHIEVE

Red Bull team report from the German Grand Prix, Round 10 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Hockenheim.

Sebastian Vettel: “It was fun with Fernando today – we started maybe where we left off in Silverstone! It was quite entertaining the first half of the race and at one point it was quite tight with both the Ferraris, but we managed to stay ahead. The second stop was a bit too close and Fernando was able to pass without too many difficulties, which put us on the back foot, but we decided to be a bit more aggressive towards the end and make sure we got the undercut and then we could put some gap between us, which was crucial for us as we were quite tight in terms of fuel towards the end of the race. I think that was the best we could get today. Daniel just missed passing Fernando at the end unfortunately.”

Daniel Ricciardo: “That was awesome fun, one of my most enjoyable races I’ve had. I mean, not on the first lap, obviously, that was just the wrong place at the wrong time. I wasn’t as worse off as Massa and hopefully he is okay. I was on the outside and the collision happened, I had to avoid it and went pretty far down the field, I don’t know exactly how far back. From then on I just got on to the radio and said let’s make an amazing recovery and make ourselves proud today. And I think we did that, we fought hard and we didn’t leave anything on the table. These are the moments and battles that I personally thrive off and enjoy. Fernando is known to be a tough racer and I thought who better to have a good fight with. I was on the Primes and he was on fresher Options and I gave it the best fight I could and, well.., nearly!”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “Fourth and sixth were the absolute maximum we could achieve out of today, especially after the first corner when Daniel did an amazing job to avoid the accident. There was some great racing with Sebastian and Fernando early in the race and he was really our main competitor today. Our strategy worked out that we were able to beat him in the end reasonably comfortably with Sebastian and Daniel came close as well after recovering extremely well and fighting hard with some more great racing towards the end. It was an exciting Grand Prix – there’s still a big gap to Mercedes but we’re working hard to try and close it down.”

Theirry Salvi, Renault: “Daniel was unlucky today at the start as he lost positions to avoid the accident and had to rebuild everything during the race. He’s done a fantastic job and was quick enough to come back to sixth. Seb had to fight all race to maintain position and he had a lot to do to manage energy and fuel consumption, but it worked fine. All went OK today reliability-wise, which is the first step. We still have a lot to do on performance to be able to reach the podium, but Hungary should suit us a lot better.”

[MIKA27]

FORCE INDIA: WE WERE EXPECTING TO BE STRONGER IN THE RACE

Sahara Force India scored seven points in today’s German Grand Prix with Nico Hulkenberg finishing in seventh place and Sergio Perez in 10th.

Nico Hulkenberg: “It was a difficult race and different to what we expected, mainly due to the lower temperatures with the track being 20 degrees cooler than on Friday. We were expecting a lot of rear degradation, but after a couple of laps it became clear the fronts were the limiting tyres, and that changed the game. It was a pretty challenging afternoon and, considering how the car felt, I think we got the maximum from the race. I also had to overcome some engine issues in the middle of the race because there were some hesitations and it was not driving smoothly. It was a good recovery by the team to solve the issue. It was important to score more points and from that point of view I’m feeling satisfied.”

Sergio Perez: “I was hoping for more at the start of the race, but I couldn’t make my tyres last as we usually do and I therefore struggled with the balance for most of the day. It was a very strange race; the track changed a lot compared to Friday and it was the front tyres that were suffering from degradation and not the rears. Together with the much lower temperatures, it made the car very difficult to drive. These things considered, to come away with a point was a good result in the end, but we we’ll need to achieve more at the races coming up to keep fighting in the championship.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “We were expecting to be stronger in the race today, but the drop in temperatures didn’t help us and both drivers struggled to show the pace we had seen during our long runs on Friday. Sergio did not feel comfortable and it became clear early on that he would need to stop three times. With Nico we managed a two-stop race and he brought the car home in seventh place. Considering the challenges we faced today, we can’t be disappointed to come away with seven points. It keeps us in fifth place in the standings and demonstrates once again that we can score good points even on days when both drivers are struggling with the balance. We now look forward to Budapest where more warm weather is forecast next weekend.”

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LOTUS: WE STRUGGLED TO GET A GOOD BALANCE ON THE CAR

Pastor Maldonado equalled his season-best finish of twelfth from his P19 starting position whilst Romain Grosjean was forced to retire from the German Grand Prix with a cooling issue on his E22.

The team demonstrated good race pace as it adapted to its first race weekend without a hydraulically connected suspension system yet maintained its signature tyre performance longevity trait with Pastor making two pit stops instead of the three completed by most race finishers.

Romain started from P14 on new soft compound tyres, changing to new super soft tyres after 24 laps. He retired from the race after 26 laps because of an issue with his car’s cooling system.

Pastor started from nineteenth position on new super soft tyres. He pitted on lap 18 for new super soft tyres and lap 38 for new softs.

Romain Grosjean: “We didn’t have an easy start with the soft tyres and I struggled to warm them up after the safety car too, but our overall pace was quite good today. I suffered from a loss of power due to an issue with our cooling system so was asked to switch off the car. It’s such a shame as we were on a different strategy from our rivals so we looked like we could be on course for scoring points. Sometimes that’s how it goes in motor racing.”

Pastor Maldonado: “It was a tough race from the beginning; the incident in turn one was quite tricky to avoid but then the pace looked consistent. I did my best to manage the tyre degradation, which was quite high, and we were able to do only two stops. Today’s lower temperature helped us there as well. The initial plan included three stops but we had a competitive first stint so we went for plan B which worked well for us today.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “There was great evidence of the team’s spirit over the whole weekend in Hockenheim. We lost our suspension system which has meant a new challenge and some long days adapting the car to work in its new configuration. Despite this, we had good race strategies and looked to be managing the tyres well with the pit stop crew making some fantastically fast tyre changes during the course of the race. Pastor drove impeccably all race and was unlucky not to be rewarded with points. Romain drove superbly too, but we weren’t able to give him a reliable car today. We have improvements planned for Budapest and hope to perform much better there.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “It was a good drive from Pastor from nineteenth to twelfth. We stretched out the tyre performance lift to make two stops possible rather than the three completed by most other teams as the E22 and Pastor were working well on this strategy. It’s a shame we couldn’t make up the last couple of places and get some points, but it was a great race from Pastor nonetheless. Unfortunately we had a failure on part of the water system on Romain’s car, which we will investigate back at Enstone to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “The team has struggled to get a good balance on the car all weekend. It was always going to be a hard race from our starting positions so Pastor did a good job to get into 12th. On Romain’s car a cooling issue caused some problems and the team stopped it to avoid further damage to the Power Unit. All eyes forward to Hungary now.”

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TORO ROSSO: WE WERE EXPECTING SOME POINTS

Toro Rosso team report from the German Grand Prix, Round 10 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Hockenheim.

Jean-Eric Vergne: “I was having a good race until the moment in which I had to make a five seconds stop-and-go penalty during my second pit stop, which compromised any possibility of scoring points. After it, I came back to the track on the option tyres, which are very fragile in traffic conditions. Very soon my front left was too damaged and I was forced to stop again for prime tyres to finish the race. I think points were possible here, the race was looking great so it’s been a real shame.”

Daniil Kvyat: “It’s a shame how my race ended today, especially because yesterday went very well. My first stint was looking okay until the contact with Perez, which made me lose ground. I think I didn’t look after my tyres well enough during the second stint, in which I tried to catch up and get back some positions. The final stint was looking good in terms of pace, but I suddenly lost drive and I then saw smoke and later flames in the mirrors. I started to feel really hot in the car, so I parked it and jumped out as quickly as possible. It’s not a nice situation to be in, but I’m now more concerned about the car than anything else. I hope everything will be ok and I will now switch my focus to Hungary, where I hope we can do better.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal): “Daniil’s race was compromised by the collision with Perez. We had to call him in to change the tyres but the right hand side of his car was damaged which had a big impact on the aero-balance. So from this moment onwards he was no longer able to keep the pace. Unfortunately he could not finish the race because of a drive train failure, which we are still investigating. Jean-Eric showed a good performance, especially at the beginning of the race until the overtaking manoeuvre with Grosjean. Coming out from corner six he went off the track with four wheels and therefore the stewards decided to give him a five seconds stop-and-go penalty, which he paid during his second pit stop. With the supersoft, he started to suffer from heavy front left graining, which slowed him down. Of course, for Jev to finish thirteenth is disappointing and after Daniil’s good P8 result in his Qualifying session yesterday, we were expecting some points today. We have now a lot of work in front of us until the next race in Budapest, where we hope to show a better performance.”

Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): “Today was a missed opportunity as our car performed yesterday and the team deserved to score a couple of points. Jev’s car worked well but his penalty pushed us out of the top ten. Daniil was really unlucky to spin in the first part of the race and then to retire in such a dramatic way. The issue is still under investigation but we believe it was an ignition problem that resulted in unburnt fuel igniting in the exhausts.”

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MARUSSIA: A SOLID TWO CAR FINISH

The Marussia F1 Team delivered a solid two-car finish in Hockenheim today, with Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton ending the 67 lap German Grand Prix in 15th and 17th places respectively.

Following two days of very high ambient and track temperatures, the weather turned for race day, with cooler conditions but the threatened rain remaining clear of the circuit.

Jules Bianchi: “I had an issue at the start and dropped to the back but I got back ahead of Kobayashi and Max in a few laps and I was happy for that. Then the race went pretty well for me. I could keep everyone behind me and I was quite a bit quicker than the cars behind, so the only factor was that we were not quick enough to catch the Saubers. As we know, this is something we have to work on. So, the race was how we expected really. The balance changed a little because of the different temperatures today but otherwise fine and a good team result with us retaining our championship position.”

Max Chilton: “I got a good start and managed to avoid the Turn 1 incident but after that my race was not so good. We changed the strategy to try to get ahead of Kobayashi but it didn’t work out for us. I was giving it everything but not getting enough back from the car, so we have a few things to work on before Hungary. We seem to have lost a little bit everywhere with the changes we have made to the car prior to this race, so it will be a short but busy week ahead to try to regain that ground.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “After a difficult start to the weekend we can at least be pleased that we have got back to a point that is fairly similar to the level of performance we have seen in recent races. After an issue at the start, which we are yet to fully understand, Jules was at least able to make progress after the safety car and from that point on he was in a fairly lonely race, although the mix of strategies of our two-stop versus the Sauber’s three-stop did at least throw up some opportunities. Unfortunately Max had a delay at his first pit stop, which put him behind Kobayashi and from this point he was stuck. Again we can see the situation is clear that we need several tenths in order to move forward. This weekend we have seen the gap widen slightly and we look forward now to carrying on making progress refining the set-up on Friday in Budapest.”

Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: “It has been a very intense German Grand Prix, which ended with a result in line with expectations. Honestly it was difficult to achieve more today. From the point of view of reliability it has been a tough weekend, especially since the first the temperatures during the first two days were very high. Today the situation was improved thanks to the cloud cover, which has definitely helped. Now we are looking forward to another weekend on the track, this time in Hungary; a last effort before we can catch our breath during the summer break. At each race there is always something new to learn to try to get a better performance from a power unit as complex as that of this year and, at the same time maintain the highest level of reliability. One thing is certain: we got to the middle of the season and the Ferrari-powered Marussia is ninth in the Constructors’ classification. We will do everything to help the team to remain in this position until the end of the season and develop further in terms of

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CATERHAM: PLEASED TO GET A DOUBLE FINISH

Caterham team report from the German Grand Prix, Round 10 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Hockenheim.

Kamui Kobayashi: “At the start I managed to avoid Bianchi who was slow off the line but I was behind Chilton going into turn one. After the safety car went back in Bianchi managed to get ahead so I focused on pushing to the first stop where really good work from the pitstop crew helped me jump Chilton, and I held that place comfortably up to the second stop on lap 32. The car balance was ok – there was a bit of understeer, less than on the supersofts I’d started on, but I didn’t have the outright pace to catch the cars ahead. When we boxed again the guys did another great stop and helped put some more time between Chilton and me so I didn’t have to push the second set of softs too hard on the first few laps of the third stint. I pulled away from Chilton and then when Sutil span we boxed for the last time to finish the race on another set of supersofts. 16th was about as much as we could have done today – we didn’t quite have the performance to catch Bianchi so now it’s on to Hungary next week for the last race before the August break.”

Marcus Ericsson: “I started from the pitlane so it was always going to be a struggle today. Obviously the safety car on lap one helped but I had to serve the ten second stop / go we’d incurred for breaking parc fermé rules last night after the issue with the power unit straight after the safety car came in, and from that point I was having to try and play catch up for the whole race. My first pitstop was on lap 18, going from supersofts to softs for the second stint, and when I rejoined the blue flags for the leaders meant I started losing more time and there wasn’t anything I could do to try and make up time to the cars ahead. My laptimes were pretty good, relative to the pace we could manage today, so I just kept pushing, right up to the second stop on lap 41 by which time that set was done. We went back out on supersofts for the final stint and I was told I could push to the flag. I made up some time on the Marussia ahead but with about five laps left that set was completely gone so I couldn’t close the gap up enough to fight Chilton and finished the race in 18th.”

Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “We had a clean race this afternoon where we were able to run the power units to the maximum and are pleased to get a double finish, with one car ahead of a Marussia. We will build on this in the next race in Hungary.”

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SAUBER: OUR COMPETITIVENESS HAS SLIGHTLY IMPROVED

Esteban Gutiérrez finished the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in 14th. Adrian Sutil retired in lap 48 after spinning out in the last corner. It was a race in which the team had the chance to score a point.

Esteban Gutiérrez: “The whole team did a good job over the weekend. From Friday on we developed the car as best we could. However, 14th position is not satisfying. I was fighting the entire race from the beginning to the end, trying to gain positions and keeping cars behind me. At the moment we are missing the pace to be able to fight with the others in front of us. There was not much that we could do. We need to keep working and focusing on our performance so we can be more competitive in the next races.”

Adrian Sutil: “It was an exciting race with good battles. I had a lot of fun and it was the first time I could keep up with some other drivers. It is positive as our car was more competitive this weekend. Suddenly, after my last pit stop, I lost power and when I entered the Motodrom I thought the engine would switch off. In the last corner I had a similar problem, then I spun and this time the engine did switch off. It is certainly frustrating, but at the moment we have to come to grips with it.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “The race showed that our competitiveness has slightly improved, although we know that our level is certainly not satisfying yet. We had the chance to gain one point and it is a pity that we could not take advantage of this due to two unfortunate incidents. At first we suffered from a wrong driver procedure, following that the driver spun in the final corner and we still have to investigate the reasons for that. However, there were positive aspects and we need to deploy the insights we have gained and take every opportunity that comes up.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “Both our cars started on the supersoft tyres, which was meant to boost our chances on lap one, and worked well. When the Safety Car went in, Adrian was in P10 and Esteban in P13. Then we went to a split strategy with Adrian on soft and Esteban on supersoft tyres, which gave us a solid basis to make the right decisions for the second part of the race. This turned out to be the right decision. The drivers were racing close to each other and were able to keep up with our competition. Adrian’s race ended on lap 48 after the final pit stop due to a wrong driver procedure, following that the driver spun in the final corner and we still have to investigate the reasons for that. Esteban lost some positions on track, so in the end the result was not different from what we have had before, nevertheless there are some encouraging signs concerning our performance.“

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LAUDA: MCLAREN AND FERRARI HAVE SH*T CARS

Niki Lauda in the Ferrari 312 T2 during the Legends Parade before the Austrian GP

Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda has declared that the sport’s two most iconic teams have produced sub-standard cars compared to Mercedes, who have totally dominated the season thus far.

Lauda is the chairman of the Mercedes team, who have won every race but one this year, “McLaren has the same engine as us and the car is sh*t. Where are they? Nowhere. The same with Ferrari – another sh*t car. Next year will be different because they can change half the engine.”

The triple F1 World Champion had been asked about Mercedes’ huge advantage in 2014, and whether it is fair that the regulations restrict the rivals’ freedom to fight back, “The rules are written clearly. You cannot penalise Brixworth because others have been stupid.”

But the situation has left Fernando Alonso as perhaps the most frustrated driver in Formula 1, seemingly always stranded in a midfield car despite his talents.

“I’m sure he is very frustrated,” said Lauda, “but the money he makes should help him. “He can’t just go to McLaren because he has a contract that he can’t get out of unless he’s sacked. Sometimes you choose a car and you’re wrong.”

“Remember Ronnie Peterson? He was the best but always in the wrong place,” Lauda added.

When asked about Lauda’s expletive-laden description of the 2014 Ferrari, boss Marco Mattiacci played down the controversy, “I do not intend to comment on a phrase taken out of context in an interview.”

“For me, Niki Lauda is an icon of motor sport, one of the most intelligent drivers of all time and my esteem for him is huge,” added the Ferrari team boss.

Ironically Lauda won Formula 1 World Championship titles with Ferrari in 1975 and 1977, and in 1984 with McLaren.

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WHY DID GERMAN F1 FANS STAY AWAY FROM HOCKENHEIM?

Hockenheim normally packed on race days in the past had empty spaces in the stands this year

On the same day as the German Grand Prix, the Nurburgring hosted an event called the Truck Grand Prix. Watching the cumbersome trucks from the grandstands were about 100,000 excited spectators – about twice the size of the crowd that gathered at Hockenheim.

Bild am Sonntag asked Bernie Ecclestone where all the fans are, to which he retorted, “Obviously not here.”

As far as some are concerned, notwithstanding the big crowds recently in Austria and Silverstone, the unpopularity of the Hockenheim race should be ringing alarm-bells: Where have all the German Formula 1 fans gone?

The glamour sport was asking itself that question after tens of thousands stayed away from a home grand prix that should have been box office gold in the land of Mercedes but instead left plenty of empty seats on Sunday.

Some pointed the finger at the country’s reigning quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, struggling for form at a below-par Red Bull this season and unhappy with the new rules and engine format.

Others blamed World Cup fatigue, Germany’s strict tax rules on corporate hospitality or the absence of Michael Schumacher – the most successful driver of all time who retired in 2012 and is still in hospital after a near-fatal ski accident.

Whatever the reason, the facts on race day were stark. The dominant Mercedes team, with championship leader Nico Rosberg triumphant, had just won their home grand prix with a German driver for the first time since the 1930s.

Such a result had looked on the cards for months – Mercedes have now won nine of 10 races so far – and yet instead of queues of cars on the autobahns and crowds thronging through the turnstiles, the race at Hockenheim drew an attendance of just 52,000 on Sunday.

In total, 95,000 turned up over the three days – a small crowd in one of the world’s largest car exporting nations and home of sporting marques like Porsche, BMW and Audi.

The Sunday figure represented a 38 percent drop on the previous race at the circuit two years ago, when seven times champion Schumacher was in the last season of his comeback with a then-uncompetitive Mercedes team.

Hockenheim on Friday was deserted

When Schumacher – the first German world champion and a four times winner in Hockenheim – announced his comeback with Mercedes in 2010, the circuit sold 10,000 tickets straight away.

Katja Heim, the circuit adviser who was involved in the race promotion, said the crowd was better than the 45,000 at the Nuerburgring last year but Hockenheim was always more popular.

She blamed Vettel, and the return of the Red Bull-owned Austrian circuit which hosted its first race in 11 years in June, in part for some of the empty seats.

Vettel told reporters early in the season that the new V6 turbo hybrid engines, which are much quieter than the old V8s, sounded ‘shit’. He was not the only one of that opinion, but his words had resonance.

“It certainly didn’t really help that Sebastian in his frustration about the new Formula One and his car gave loads of interviews about how bad Formula One is now and that it’s not worth going there,” Heim said.

“As a four times world champion from Germany, people believe him more than they would the sales people. So if he says there’s nothing any more for the fans, it’s not Formula One like it used to be, that was 100 percent quite damaging.”

Friday in Austria was packed

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff was inclined to agree, “We’ve talked the sport down at the beginning of the year and we are all to blame, or many of us,” he told reporters on Sunday as he faced yet more questions about the poor turnout.”

“The last couple of races were really good to watch. Lots of overtaking everywhere, so the sport is in good shape. We have to analyse properly why there are not more spectators in Hockenheim. It’s a shame,” he added.

“Is there a general trend that people just have many more options in what they do in the digital world? I don’t have an answer because from the sporting side all of us are doing it right.”

High ticket prices, with a category one weekend pass costing 515 euros ($700), were also seen as a factor – particularly with Austria offering a cheaper alternative as well as novelty value in the same German-speaking catchment area.

Austria was a sellout attraction, with tickets limited to 225,000 over the three days. An estimated 80,000 turned out on race day. Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, drew around 120,000.

Prospect of a German win did little to attract local fans

Heim said Austria had probably taken six or seven thousand spectators away from Hockenheim, while seats that might have gone to corporate guests in the past were harder to shift.

Germany’s World Cup success, with the national team winning their fourth title in Brazil only the weekend before Hockenheim was also seen as contributing.

“Germany won the World Cup, and all the sports-mad people bought a ticket to Brazil,” Ecclestone told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “They’re just worn out after so many major sports events.”

Heim agreed that was a consideration, “For Formula 1, it would maybe have been better if Germany had done an England and gone out in the first round. I really believe that.”

But there are also deeper concerns, one to do with demographics and the need for the sport to appeal to a younger audience with other demands on their time and attention.

“Someone asked me yesterday ‘Do you think all your spectators died away?’” laughed Heim. “They were referring actually to the point that we need to find a trick to get new, young fans. That is something the whole sport has to embrace. We need to get cooler.”

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FERNANDO ALONSO: I’VE HEARD A LOT OF PLANS

Fernando Alonso sounds underwhelmed after having been told of Ferrari’s bold “master-plan” to push him to the very front of the grid in 2015.

As arguably the best driver in Formula 1, Spaniard Alonso is always a central figure of the ‘silly season’, but this year there are real signs that his patience with the Maranello team is finally ending.

He has been linked with a move to his former team, McLaren, who are switching to works Honda power next year with the biggest budget in its history. but it emerged at Hockenheim that, last week, Alonso was shown Ferrari’s plans for a major improvement in 2015.

“I hope the presentation I put his way impressed him, but you should ask him that!” said Technical Director James Allison.

Predictably, Alonso was indeed asked and Ferrari might not like the answer, “I’ve been in Formula 1 for fourteen year. I’ve heard a lot of plans.

“In July and August each team is very strong, in November they’re even better and by January they’re dominating. But only in February are the facts on the table,” Alonso explained to Auto Motor und Sport.

Diario AS also quoted Alonso as saying at Hockenheim: “Only two or three teams can win races. You would need a crystal ball to know what will happen next year.”

“What Mercedes have shown is that they can be fast and dominant in this new era of Formula 1, while we have not worked well enough with the new rules. But it’s not like other years where everything was more or less on the limit.”

“I think the step between the cars of 2014 and 2015 will be much bigger than what we saw in the past. That is the big hope we have, but everyone in July will have the same hopes as well,” said Alonso.