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I admit to being confused. First of all, what year is it? I thought it was 2005, but it must be 1990 because whenever I pick up a paper, there's Mansell, advising his sons against racing, doing a DTM sprint (and claiming foul against Prost) or pontificating on F1. “I think I am exceedingly more disappointed than ever this year”, he says. Leaving aside the Kiplingesque language, why should he be? The technology is better than ever, excluding perhaps 1992 when his computer-loaded Williams won the Championship, and there has been some racing excitement and, say it quietly, overtaking is returning. Certainly TV figures have dropped but surely this is precisely because F1 has sought “Big Brother” style populist instant gratification when those of us who have watched it for a few years – especially tifosi of the 1980s – know it's a long, slow game played at 200mph. I'm also confused by Ferrari. Two of the top four drivers, third in the Championship and only 6 points less than Williams, Sauber and Red Bull put together doesn't sound like a disaster, yet it has to be said that many points have been gained by the Ferrari strong point of reliability. Is it wholly the tyres or is it partly the car that is losing the team speed? Jordan's Ian Philips, speaking on BBC 5Live's British GP coverage confirmed Winston D'Arcy's recent view that the trouble lies not just in the Bridgestones, but deeper in the car. Whether it's the aerodynamics or elsewhere stays a puzzle and probably always will, but for now we can, realistically, only hope that the Scuderia's efforts are concentrated on next year's car. Yet development of the recalcitrant machine must continue and a new aerodynamic package appeared this weekend. Jean Todt later said that the problem lies in lack of grip in qualifying and tyre degradation in the race, which they now think is linked to the Bridgestones' interaction with the Michelin rubber on the track - which, of course will show less in testing, and not at all in exclusive testing. He dismisses aero problems because the aero doesn't change in the race - but the grip does. Which brings us to qualifying. Against recent form the Ilmor engines in the McLarens held together on Saturday allowing Raikkonen to speak eloquently with his driving (as opposed to his voice....) to take pole, clear of Button whose BAR was assumed to be set up to sprint/headline spec (delete according to cynicism). Montoya crashed in sight of the line, leaving him at the rear of the grid. With Championship leader Alonso third, it sounded like it could be a good race, unless you're a Ferrari fan. Michael had a “solid” fifth, 0.7 seconds behind pole. Rubens languished in 15th, nearly 2 seconds off pole and ahead only of the Minardis, the Jordans and the errant Montoya. Dire. Jean Todt muttered about different strategies, presumably "less than ideal" and "not very good at all". Michael decided that the softer tyres were the only way to go and hang durability. With the tread of his new softer spec rubber peeling in practice, things did not look promising for the race. Rubens, on the conservative hard tyres, said that his qualifying performance was compromised for performance in the race. Ross Brawn hoped for consistency, and in a way he was satisfied. See below and weep... 45 minutes before the race there was light rain at Hockenheim and more was expected. Hopefully this would benefit Schuey; certainly out of a crowd of 110,000, around 100,000 hoped so, even amongst those in the ever-tasteful and understated Mercedes stand. From the start, Schuey took a brave line, using the run off area at the first corner as part of the track to rise to third in a real “no prisoners” move. After 3 laps the gap to Alonso in second was 2 seconds, with a further 2 to Raikkonen in first. The McLaren looked at totally dominant and in a race of its own. It was a pity that the particular race was only 36 laps for after this distance the hydraulics failed and the taciturn Finn was out. However, for now the Finn was in the lead, Alonso in second and Michael held third until his first pit stop on lap 23, the same as Alonso, proving he had not qualified light. Button kept MS under pressure for the whole of the first stint and after taking an earlier pitstop on lap 20 was back close behind by lap 28. Rubens had risen to 12th on lap 1 and subsequently as high as 6th, but don't get excited, this was just pit stop roulette. He had a heavy fuel load and stayed out until 26. His day got no better on lap 39 when Klein's Red Bull passed him for 9th. Move that back to 2004 and imagine a Jaguar passing a Ferrari. Is there a suspicion that he has a touch of Villeneuve/Irvine's disease of switching off when the car is under performing? The team says not. With Raikkonen out on 36 and Button still pressuring Michael for second, the rear inner grooves on the Ferrari were non existent, and then Montoya, up from the back on a late stop strategy joined the party. Michael gave a copybook demonstration of clean, fair but strongly defensive driving for the last 30 laps. It wasn't enough on lap 44 when Button outbraked him into the hairpin. The move was the sort familiar to Michael, though usually as the overtaker rather than the victim – aggressive, a bit of wheel banging, but essentially professional. Michael went onto the run off area but without loss of speed. Button pitted shortly afterwards but had gained enough to give himself a flying start when he rejoined. Montoya, having risen from 20th to an incredible 11th on lap one now challenged MS for second. It was a fight which Montoya was always going to win, and just as Button entered the pitlane in triumph MS entered it in defeat on lap 49. As the stops sorted themselves out, MS was in 4th, and for the record RB still in 9th, where he would ultimately finish. Ferrari's problems were summed up by Michael circulating in the 18's, Alonso in the 16's and the other front runners in the 17's. In the last 7 laps MS fell into the hands of Fisichella's Renault. His
thoroughly worn Bridgestones were locking regularly and whilst he repulsed
the Italian's surge on laps 63 and 65 it came as no surprise when, with
1 lap to go, Michael eventually slipped to fifth. The tyres were so worn
that he might just as well have been in a wet race for the grip they were
giving, and in many ways this was one of his finer, more intelligent and
hard working races. For me it was the drive of the race. He made few if
any mistakes, and showed his critics that he fights just as hard for fifth
as he does for first and can do it cleanly and sportingly. After the race
it emerged that he was also suffering from fuel feed problems. Aside There was another GP going on this weekend: the MotoGP from Donington. In the pouring rain, Valentino Rossi gave one of the most sublime motor sports performances it has ever been my privilege to see.
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