Hamilton Upsets The Form Book In Germany
Lewis Hamilton drove a fantastic race at this weekend's German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring to win the sixteenth Grand Prix of his career.
In the process Hamilton re-opened the possibility that Sebastian Vettel might not be this year's champion after all, having dominated the opening races of the season, and after his criticism that McLaren weren't providing him with a good enough car was delighted with not only his but his team's performance this weekend.
There was little to suggest on Friday during qualifying that McLaren would be any better than in previous races, but on Saturday Hamilton qualified second on the grid - and by the time of the first corner on Sunday during the race proper was in the lead.
With another race next weekend in Hungary, if Hamilton can do well there as well, there will be a three week gap in which time McLaren might have fine tuned their cars to give Hamilton a real chance of becoming World Champion again in 2011 - unthinkable just a fortnight ago after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Press reports recently suggest he might be becoming a resident and buying a property in Monaco soon.
And it was a miserable race for Sebastian Vettel.
Many commentators and F1 fans assumed Ferrari's Fernando alonso's victory at Silverstone might well have been a blip, and there was no doubt that the German fans were confident of seeing their man clinch a famous victory in front of them at the Nurburgring
But it wasn't to be. Whether it was the extra pressure of performing in front of his own fans, or whether McLaren and before them Ferrari have now caught up with Red Bull to produce a fascinating second half of the season isn't clear - but it was Vettel's worst performance this year by far.
But the story of Germany is really Mclaren. After Silverstone many had written the Weybridge based team off as Red Bull's main competition this year in favour of Ferrari, but now all bets are off until the end of the Hungarian race next week which will show if it is Red Bull, Ferrari or McLaren who are in the ascendancy.
McLaren weren't without their problems as Hamilton's teammate and fellow Brit Jensen Button had to retire early for the second race in a row, but their pit stop strategy and teamwork to get Hamilton back on the circuit again was first class, much to the delight of Lewis Hamilton. he might have been motivated this week too by former drivers questioning his attitude and driving ability - he can now, for this week at least, claim they are yesterday's men with yesterday's views - though he might not say so publically.
Speaking after the race he said that McLaren were back in the fight, and dismissed suggestions that the race conditions were much more in his favour than Red Bull or Ferrari. He did admit that coming in to the race he wasn't expecting to be as fast as he was, and paid tribute to his team.
Looking forward to next weekend Hamilton commented that the track temperature and conditions could be very different as it should be hotter than Germany this weekend, but if he can repeat this weekend's performance there won't be any room for doubts that both he and McLaren at last are in a position to compete for the chequered flag at every race that follows.
Meanwhile Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber acknowledged that Ferrari and McLaren have outperformed his team in the last two races and needed urgently to address the situation, and also suggested that next week's race in Hungary could be pivotal in the last Grand Prix before the summer break and the return of F1 in late August, and it will only be post Hungary that will show if Red Bull really are on the back foot - if he or Vettel don't win it, it will be three races in a row that Red Bull have failed to win - a worrying losing streak psychologically with three weeks between races!
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