.:: 2010 German GP - 23-24-25 July ::.

.:: 2010 SANTANDER GERMAN GRAND PRIX ::.

Welcome to the 2010 German GP Thread. cjek and mjk1 will keep the thread updated with the latest times as they happen.

RANDOM FACT

The past decade started and ended with a first-time winner in Germany - Barrichello winning in 2000, and Mark Webber winning last year.

CIRCUIT STATS

2010 Race Number: 11
Circuit Event Number: 32
Circuit Length: 2.842 miles
Number of Laps: 67
Lap Record: 1:13.780 (K.Raikkonen, 2004)

2008 Podium:
1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2. Nelson Piquet Jnr. (Renault)
3. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

POINTS OF DISCUSSION

1. With fresh controversy coming along in Silverstone, can Red Bull keep their heads together or will their championship challenge blow up as a result?
2. How do you feel Michael Schumacher will do on his return to his homeland?
3. Over the recent races, BMW-Sauber have been improving to the point where Kobayashi has scored points in the past two races. Will this continue in Germany, and where do you think they could finish the season?
4. In 2008, Piquet managed to score a surprise podium by being able to stay out during the safety car period and taking the lead, before Hamilton eventually passed him. Was this just a stroke of pure luck, or for the fact he was able to hold back Massa does it prove he could've done so much more if he wasn't held back by Renault?
5. Do you think the race-sharing between the Hockenheimring and the Nurburgring has been successful? And if so, do you think other tracks should do it as well in order to help bring in the new circuits for the future?

SCHEDULE FOR WEEKEND (All Times UK):

Fri 23 Jul: Practice 1 0900-1030; Practice 2 1300-1430

Sat 24 Jul: Practice 3 1000-1100; Qualifying 1300

Sun 25 Jul: Race 1300

WEEKEND WEATHER

FRIDAY: Light Rain Shower, Max. 26 deg. cent.
SATURDAY: Sunny Intervals, Max. 23 deg. cent.
SUNDAY: Sunny, Max. 23 deg. cent.

PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

THURDSAY:Timo Glock (Virgin), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) & Mark Webber (Red Bull). 1PM BST.

FRIDAY:Norbert Haug (Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams), Monisha Kaltenborn (BMW-Sauber), Kamui Kobayashi (BMW-Sauber), Adam Parr (Williams) & Nico Rosberg (Mercedes). 2PM BST.

QUALIFYING:Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) & Felipe Massa (Ferrari).

RACE:Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Felipe Massa (Ferrari) & Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

BBC CIassic GP's
1986 | 1994 | 1996 | 1997 | 2009
Extended Highlights: 1986 | 2009

The Red Light: German GP Preview

BBC Presents the 2010 German Grand Prix

PREVIOUS SESSIONS
Friday Practice 1
Friday Practice 2
Qualifying
Race
Forum

1. Webber and Vettel don't have the same kind of big egos like Hamilton and Alons, Piquet and Senna, I think they will be ok and have more or less put it behind them.
   
2. He often did well here but the car just isn't up to it, expect them to fight with Renault for 4th best team of the weekend.
   
3. Kobayashi may be able to semi luck into the points with a good qualifying performance and a solid race, he has had a tendency to lose places at the start in more than one race so far so if he can get a good start as well he should have a decent shot at the points - It helps too that Sauber have a new diffuser for the weekend and that the Ferrari powerplants haven't been exploding so much lately.
   
4. Pure dumb luck, he didn't and wouldn't have scored another podium in that car at least. He was just nothing like the Hamilton's and Vettels of the fresh round of drivers.
   
5. Yes, if it didn't happen there would be NO Nurburgring and NO Hockenheim races on the calender due to money issues so I'm glad it's worked out, it also leaves two decent circuits on the calender. That said I agree with SamFisher, the old versions of both circuits were FAR better than these two. Pity the old Hockenheim ring is now just grass and trees, a hollow shell of it's former glory.

DANNY SULLIVAN JOINS STEWARDS FOR GERMAN GP

Danny Sullivan will be the drivers' representative on the stewards' panel for this weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The 1988 CART Champ Car champion contested the 1983 Formula 1 season with Tyrrell, taking a best result of fifth in Monaco.

He follows on from drivers including Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi as part of the new-for-2010 scheme that brings former racers onto the stewards' panel at grands prix to advise the officials on their rulings.

AUTOSPORT

PRACTICE 1

Pos  Driver         Team                   Time              Laps
 1.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:25.701            20
 2.  Massa          Ferrari                1:26.850  + 1.149   27
 3.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:26.936  + 1.235   16
 4.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:26.947  + 1.246   21
 5.  Petrov         Renault                1:26.948  + 1.247   21
 6.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1:27.448  + 1.747   20
 7.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:28.114  + 2.413   31
 8.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth      1:28.193  + 2.492   24
 9.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:28.300  + 2.599   19
10.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari         1:28.486  + 2.785   23
11.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault       1:28.735  + 3.034   21
12.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1:28.735  + 3.034   21
13.  Kubica         Renault                1:28.903  + 3.202   20
14.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1:29.048  + 3.347   13
15.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1:29.280  + 3.579   17
16.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:29.366  + 3.665   34
17.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1:29.429  + 3.728    8
18.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth        1:29.500  + 3.799   19
19.  Alonso         Ferrari                1:29.684  + 3.983   15
20.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1:29.690  + 3.989   17
21.  Fauzy          Lotus-Cosworth         1:30.938  + 5.237   27
22.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth           1:31.720  + 6.019   23
23.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1:32.450  + 6.749   13
24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth           1:32.791  + 7.090   26


All Timing Unofficial

AUTOSPORT

Oh lordy lord - there's apparently TEN storms heading towards Hockenheim!Redders1989

lolwat!?

And poor lewis, not going his way so far this weekend :P

[QUOTE="Redders1989"]Oh lordy lord - there's apparently TEN storms heading towards Hockenheim!kipi19

My weather radar guru says there are only 10 storms on their way to Hockenheim right now. Get those umbrellas ready!Jonathon Noble on Twitter

Jonathon Noble LIES!

PRACTICE 2

Pos  Driver         Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Alonso         Ferrari                 1:16.265            35
 2.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault        1:16.294  + 0.029   26
 3.  Massa          Ferrari                 1:16.438  + 0.173   37
 4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault        1:16.585  + 0.320   40
 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes                1:16.827  + 0.562   32
 6.  Schumacher     Mercedes                1:16.971  + 0.706   20
 7.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes        1:17.004  + 0.739   10
 8.  Kubica         Renault                 1:17.009  + 0.744   37
 9.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1:17.056  + 0.791   37
10.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth       1:17.204  + 0.939   44
11.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari          1:17.336  + 1.071   44
12.  Petrov         Renault                 1:17.547  + 1.282   35
13.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari          1:17.573  + 1.308   39
14.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1:17.701  + 1.436   38
15.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1:17.739  + 1.474   36
16.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes    1:17.871  + 1.606   33
17.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:18.147  + 1.882   45
18.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1:19.327  + 3.062   48
19.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth         1:19.553  + 3.288   30
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth          1:20.008  + 3.743   34
21.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth         1:20.106  + 3.841   31
22.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth          1:20.377  + 4.112   37
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth            1:21.988  + 5.723   37
24.  Yamamoto       HRT-Cosworth            1:23.066  + 6.801   37

All Timing Unofficial

It's dry in Hockenheim at the moment, but the sun seems to be hiding. Nonetheless, blue skies are in order.

They've also re-painted the advert at turn 6... it needed it really!

EDIT: Some amazing performances in GP2 this morning - namely Sergio Perez, Sam Bird and Romain Grosjean. Perez just dominated once he took the lead, Bird finished 5th after starting 22nd, but poor Grosjean had an awesome race ruined by a stupid move by the championship leader!!! Pastor Maldonado. I'd love to see Bird in F1 if this is anything to go by - he just needs his luck to turn around.

The clouds have rolled in during the GP2 race.

BRIDGESTONE EXPECTING DRAMATIC RACE

Bridgestone believes tyre strategy could create a dramatic German Grand Prix - despite the allocation of super soft and hard compound tyres not leading to the hoped-for multi pitstop race.

Although the top 10 all qualified on the option tyre, which was around seven-tenths of a second faster over a single lap, many of those outside the top 10, led by Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher, are likely to start on the prime tyre in the hope of climbing the order.

Depending on the track temperature in the race, this could allow those starting down the order to get ahead of some of the early stoppers.

"Michael will probably have the prime tyre for the start," Bridgestone's head of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima told AUTOSPORT. "If it is hot conditions for the race, I think there will be some good stories.

"If the drivers on the hard tyres can build the tyre temperature in the beginning of the race, it will be very interesting."

The track temperature with two hours to go before the race start is 26 degrees, and could climb above 30 by the time the race starts.

Should this be the case, the drivers starting on the option tyre might not be able to run for as long as they are hoping for, meaning that pitstops could take place within the first 12 laps.

"Here, we separated the tyre allocation by two specifications, so the gap is big," said Hamashima. "In Canada, even the degradation on the prime tyre was big at the start of the race, but at Hockenheim it will stay in good condition for much longer so it will be very interesting."

With degradation on the prime tyres expected to be good even if the track temperature does climb further, this could lead to drivers such as Schumacher and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, both of whom showed potential Q3 pace earlier in the weekend, lapping significantly faster than those who started on options in the closing stages of the race.

SOURCE: Autosport

Pretty disgusting from Ferrari there. Very unfortunate that it's come to this and I don't know if Ferrari will have the book thrown at them or not. There was no specific "order" but it was hugely obvious. That's going to be one hell of an interesting post race press conference.

DotD: Felipe Massa

SotD: Felipe Massa

He did everything by the book, pulled out the gap he needed to and Ferrari shot him in the foot. Very upsetting for him and his mechanics. 

On the day one year on since Massa's accident, it would've been great to see Massa take the win. I hate days like these. I feel sick to my stomach.

You can now make your vote for Driver of the Day and Star of the Day.

DotD: Felipe Massa

SotD: Felipe Massa

Being a Ferrari fan, I am happy Ferrari finished 1-2, regardless of who's 1st or 2nd.

Although there is much controversy surrounding the means in which they got it, this was their weekend. One clear thing, there was no 'deliberate' team orders like those in Austria 2002.

Ferrari have been summoned to the stewards.

FERRARI FINED, REFERRED TO WMSC

The FIA has announced that its World Motor Sport Council is to consider whether Ferrari should face further sanctions for the team orders controversy at the German Grand Prix, after the team was fined $100,000 for its actions.

Fernando Alonso was handed victory at Hockenheim after his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa sacrificed the lead on lap 48 - soon after the team had told the Brazilian that he was slower than the car behind him.

Although Ferrari has insisted that it did not issue a team order, and merely provided Massa with information, the race stewards after the German GP had a different opinion.

After speaking to team principal Stefano Domenicali, team manager Massimo Rivola, plus Alonso and Massa to examine the events of the afternoon, the race stewards decided that the regulations had been broken.

In a statement issued on Sunday night, the FIA stated that a breach of Article 39.1, which bans team orders, and 151c, which relates to bringing the sport into disrepute, had been committed.

It said that the penalty would be: "Fine $100,000. The case will also be referred to the FIA World Motorsport Council for further consideration."

Alonso said after the race that the drivers were both simply what is best for the team.

"We tried to do our race, we tried to do as good as we can," said Alonso, who scored his second win of the year. "We are professional drivers and we try to work as a team and we try to do the best we can every day."

SOURCE: Autosport

UPDATE: Incident is to be referred to the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) for potential further sanctions.

FORCE INDIA TYRE BLUNDER UNDER INVESTIGATION; FACE EXCLUSION

The German Grand Prix stewards will look into Force India's pitstop incident during the Hockenheim race.

The Silverstone-based squad could face exclusion from the race after the team fitted the wrong tyres to its drivers, giving Adrian Sutil's Tonio Liuzzi's tyres and vice versa during their first stop.

Under rule 25.3 of the sporting code, "The use of tyres without appropriate identification may result in a grid position penalty or exclusion from the race."

The FIA said after the race that the incident would be investigated by the stewards.

Liuzzi finished the race in 16th position, one place ahead of Sutil.

SOURCE: Autosport

KOVALAINEN REPRIMANDED FOR CLASH

Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen has been given a reprimand following his clash with Pedro de la Rosa during the German GP.

The Sauber driver made contact with Kovalainen when lapping him near the end of the race, the Finn closing the door on de la Rosa after having let another car by.

De la Rosa had to pit for repairs while the Lotus driver retired.

Kovalainen, who admitted the incident was his fault, was given a reprimand by the race stewards.

"A disappointing end but it was just one of those things that can happen when you're having to let cars past," Kovalainen said.

"It was my mistake but I didn't see the Sauber coming. I thought I was letting the Williams past, and didn't see the Sauber so I closed the door and that was the end of the race."

SOURCE: Autosport

FORCE INDIA REPRIMANDED FOR TYRE BLUNDER

The Force India team was given a reprimand for its pitstop blunder during the German Grand Prix on Sunday.

The team was involved in a bizarre incident at the start of the event when it fitted the wrong tyres to their cars, giving Tonio Liuzzi team-mate Adrian Sutil's rubber and vice versa.

The drivers pitted again immediately to rectify it.

Although the rules state that "the use of tyres without appropriate identification may result in a grid position penalty or exclusion from the race," the German GP stewards have given Force India a reprimand.

The decision means the drivers keep their positions, with Liuzzi in 16th and Sutil in 17th.

SOURCE: Autosport

"It's a shame, not for us because this is racing, but for all the fans who came here to watch a manipulated race,"

Fernando Alonso, after the 2010 European GP.

Disgusted, appalled, hope Alonso and Ferrari never win another race. That is not sport and I feel sick to my stomach!!

DotD: Massa

SotD: Massa

WotD: tie between Alonso and Stefano Domenicali

WotD: tie between Alonso and Stefano Domenicali SadPSPAddict

I'm taking a guess at what "W" is, and won't ask you to expand :lol:

(That's not what she said)

[QUOTE="SadPSPAddict"]WotD: tie between Alonso and Stefano Domenicali Redders1989

I'm taking a guess at what "W" is, and won't ask you to expand :lol:

(That's not what she said)

:lol: - well sure you'd be right! :D

The Red Light: Team Orders - Where do we go?

STR DUO DISAGREE OVER COLLISION

Toro Rosso duo Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi each felt they were the innocent party in the first-lap tangle that ruined the team's German Grand Prix.

Buemi had to retire immediately after Alguersuari ran into the back of his car at the hairpin on the opening lap.

Alguersuari said he was 'sorry' about the incident, but felt there was nothing he could've done to avoid it - saying that the group of cars Buemi was racing in all slowed excessively.

"I was on the inside going into Turn 6 and I braked well, leaving enough space," said the Spaniard.

"But there seemed to be some problems in front of me, as the cars ahead all slowed much more than is normal.

"I braked again, but it was not enough and I drove into him.

"Naturally, I am sorry for that."

Buemi's standpoint was that Alguersuari had simply out-braked himself.

"I made a really good start and was able to pass three or four cars and then when we came to the hairpin, I was braking in the middle of the corner and my team-mate came from a long way back and ended up driving onto the top of my car," said the frustrated Swiss driver.

"The damage was too bad for me to continue, which is a real shame after I had got such a quick start."

Alguersuari went on to finish 15th after getting a new front wing, and admitted that the incident had cost the team a good chance on a day when its race pace was strong.

"In terms of performance, the car was quite fast and I was able to do some good lap times," he said.

SOURCE: ITV-F1

DotD: Massa

SotD: Rob Smedley

He deserved to be the winner for his work and race start. If any driver wants to win (or gain positions during the race) he should do for his own means. If you are faster, go and overtake the guy in front of you. Be a man and good sportsman.

DotD: Felipe Massa

SotD: Felipe Massa

No more voting for DotD, Sotd or WotD please.

Where did Petrov start on the grid?Garfield360UK

He started 13th.

DOTD: Petrov

SOTD: Massa

No more voting for DotD, Sotd or WotD please.Redders1989

Erm... :lol:

(I should apologise, I haven't been saying it recently, but I usually close the DotD and SotD votes at 5PM on a Monday for a European race.)

Ah sorry dude, I didnt know.

So basically we vote on the day of the race to make sure we get it in?