The German Grand Prix represented the chance for many unlikely 'firsts' for several teams and drivers, as the 2013 Formula 1 season moved into its ninth race. For pole-sitters, and eventual winners of the last Grand Prix, Mercedes could claim their first home Grand Prix win since their re-introduction into the sport, somthing that the Silver Arrows craved. Similarly, both Nico Rosberg and, more surprisingly, world champion Sebastian Vettel were also looking for their inaugural victory on home soil. Of the rest of the field, the most surprising name to never win the historic race was Kimi Raikkonen. The championship contender had come within a lap of taking victory at the Nurburgring in the European Grand Prix of 2005, and had to retire from the lead of the German Grand Prix of the same year (held at Hockenheim), but had never managed to take the top step. All of these storylines led to an intriguing battle in both qualifying, and the race.
Before any racing had even begun, there was the very real possibility that there would be no racing at the circuit this last weekend. After the serious problems with the Pirelli tyres supplied at the British Grand Prix, many of the drivers stated that they would boycott the event should the problems resurface. Certainly an eventuality none in the world of F1 wanted, but an understandable conclusion, given the danger of the race at Silverstone. This meant that even more scrutiny was placed upon the tyres supplied, with Pirelli workers toiling day and night in an attempt to ensure the security of their products. As it was, there were no significant incidents in either free practice, or the qualifying. This meant that, thankfully, the race could continue undiminished.
A more positive note accompanying the Grand Prix was the Williams' milestone of 600 Grand Prix. Whilst the team have been noticeably struggling this year, failing to accrue any points from the opening 8 races, I remember many glories in my Formula 1 watching. Whilst I have not been alive long enough to see any of their world championship winning cars, there have been many memorable moments. One that springs instantly to mind are the many confrontations between Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya between 2001 and 2004. With the up-and-coming Montoya threatening to outdo his more illustrious teammate, a long-running spat developed between the two drivers. Whilst they did come to a 'working relationship', there were more than enough arguments, and more than a few collisions between the pair, that indicated there was no love lost. Another more recent moment is last year's incredible maiden victory for Pastor Maldonado at the Spanish Grand Prix. After a fortuitous pole, the Venezuelan held off the challenge from his competitors, particularly Fernando Alonso, to claim the most unlikely of victories for Sir Frank Williams and the team. A genuine giant of Formula 1, it will be a very sad day if the name Williams disappears from the sport. So here's hoping for many more memorable moments!
Back to the action of last weekend, the German Grand Prix qualifying took place in sweltering heats, with the threat of rain a distant memory. This allowed us to see the true pace of each of the cars, putting Red Bull at a distinct advantage in the earlier practice sessions. Whilst Williams were celebrating their 600th Grand Prix, a double elimination in Q1 will have done little to increase the party atmosphere in their section of the paddock. Other than the Williams, the back of the field was filled with the usual suspects, the Marussias and Caterhams. Going into Q2, the from 4th to 14th were covered by just 0.7 seconds, promising an unpredictable and entertaining session. Whilst both the Red Bulls and the Mercedes had managed to make it into Q2 using just the harder tyres, the rest of the pack were not guaranteed such an easy ride. The big shock of Q2 involved the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Despite being tipped to contest the pole position, the German side failed to accurately anticipate the cut-off time, dropping Rosberg into 11th, and out of the session. The main losers of the second session were Force India, who after a couple of promising qualifying sessions, failed to get either of their drivers into the top 10, finished 12th and 15th. The main beneficiaries were McLaren, getting Button into the top 10, and Toro Rosso, with Daniel Ricciardo continuing to stake his claim to take over from Mark Webber at the parent team at the end of the year. Into the final session, the consensus around the paddock was for a Vettel pole, if not a front row lock-out for the Red Bulls. However, Lewis Hamilton threatened to derail the charge when he popped his Mercedes in front of the Red Bulls after the first round of lap times. Vettel responded, going to the top of the leaderboard as the chequered flag dropped. But Hamilton was still on a lap, and the Mercedes driver shocked everyone to beat Vettel by nearly 2 tenths.
After their success at Silverstone, everyone expected the Mercedes to be competitive in the race. And starting on pole at a circuit where they appeared to be on the back foot looked ominous for the rest of the grid. However, their dreams of controlling the race from the front went up in smoke as Hamilton was overtaken by both of the Red Bulls by the end of the first corner. Ferrari's low-key afternoon continued, with Felipe Massa spinning out of the race after just 4 laps. It is unclear whether it was a mechanical failure or a simple driver error, but it capped a fairly poor weekend for the Brazilian. Unfortunately, the main two talking points of the race were not for racing incidents. The first, and most serious, happened at the first round of pit stops. Mark Webber entered the pits on lap 9, for a routine stop as the soft tyres began to 'go off'. Due to the desire for a quick stop, sometimes the tyres are not quite fastened on correctly, as either human or mechanical error does sometimes occur. Usually, these errors are spotted and the driver is stopped as he leaves the pitlane. Unfortunately, in this case, Webber's tyre was so unsecurely fastened that it flew off as he left his box, causing mechanics to scamper out of the way and catching a FOA cameraman square in the chest. This comes as a stark reminder that F1 is a dangerous sport for more than just the driver. I wish the cameraman a speedy recovery, and I hope to see less incidents like this in the future.
Despite the incident, Webber was able to continue, albeit at the back of the field. After a few laps in which Lewis Hamilton fell back behind Raikkonen and struggled to keep Alonso at bay, the second talking point occurred. A routine engine failure on lap 25 turned into a nightmare, as Marussia's Bianchi pulled off to the side of the track. After a few flames and a lot of smoke, the drama had seemingly ended. That was until the car began rolling backwards across the track! At least there was no oncoming traffic to collide with the out of control Marussia, which would have made the situation far more serious. The safety car was deployed to deal with the incident, and when the race restarted, the two Lotuses began heavily pressurising the leader Vettel. When Grosjean pulled in for his second and final stop a few laps later, Red Bull's response was instant. They pulled Vettel in the next lap, ensuring that he rejoined in front of the Lotus. All eyes then turned to Kimi Raikkonen, who remained on track, worrying the Red Bull garage that he planned to one-stop. As each lap passed, the mood became ever more tense. Unfortunately for the Lotus team, 50 laps is all Raikkonen could manage on the tyres. However, his change to the soft tyres promised a nervous last 10 laps, as Kimi could now go a full second faster than his teammate and Vettel in front. Alonso too took that gamble, hoping to chase down the Lotuses for the podium.
The change in speed was instant. Both Raikkonen and Alonso began reeling in the front two very quickly, with Grosjean eventually moving out of his teammate's way to allow Kimi to chase down the race leader. Further down the field, Williams's 600th Grand Prix ended in disappointment, as an epically slow stop prevented Pastor Maldonado from claiming their first points of the season. An incredibly poor season so far from the veteran team, who need to improve in the second half if they are to challenge for the top 10. As we moved into the final lap, we were promised a showdown, with both the race win and the final podium spot up for grabs. It seemed it was destined to come down to the final DRS zones of the race. However, in both cases, they ran out of time. This meant that Sebastian Vettel took his first victory on home soil, and the 30th win of his career. Raikkonen maintained his incredible scoring run, and Grosjean took an encouraging podium, hoping to kickstart his Formula 1 career after a difficult first season. Alonso had to settle for 4th, pushing him even further behind the overall championship lead. After a promising qualifying, Hamilton and Mercedes faded, finishing 5th after a brief resurgence to overtake Jenson Button on the last lap. But the day belonged to hometown hero Vettel, who now takes an increasingly healthy lead into the second half of the season, knowing that the title is now his to lose.
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