British GP - Alonso and Massa’s great drives in crazy race
Silverstone, 30 June
Fernando Alonso, second in the Drivers’ standings started the eighth round of the World Championship from ninth on the grid, while the man who leads the series, Sebastian Vettel, was on the third spot. So how on earth could the gap between the two men plummet from 36 to 21 points in the course of the 90 minutes of the British Grand Prix? Firstly, Vettel posted a retirement while leading and secondly, Fernando Alonso produced a simply storming drive to work his way up to the third step of the podium by the end of the 52 laps. It was yet another bravura performance from the Spaniard. As for his team-mate, Felipe Massa started from eleventh, dropped to last after a tyre failure and then, in the mad closing stages of the race after a second Safety Car period, the Brazilian made those ahead of him look as though they were going backwards as he passed car after car to take a great sixth place at the flag. Ahead of the Ferrari man on the podium were winner Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes and Mark Webber second in the Red Bull.
From 9th and 11th on the grid respectively, Fernando and Felipe were planning a good start: Felipe got a brilliant drive off the line to be 5th on the opening lap, while Fernando dropped one to tenth. But on lap 2 the Spaniard was eighth on the tail of Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso. At the front Hamilton maintained his pole position while Vettel in the Red Bull had got past Rosberg in the second Mercedes to be second, while Sutil was fourth ahead of Felipe who had simply driven down the side of everyone off the grid. Fernando had been delayed, boxed in off the line behind Grosjean in the Lotus.
By lap 5, Fernando was glued to Ricciardo’s gearbox but could not find a way past, so that ninth placed Grosjean in the Lotus was 0.7 off the Ferrari. In fifth spot, Felipe was almost a second behind Sutil’s Force India and had 0.7 in hand over sixth placed Raikkonen in the Lotus. Webber in the Red Bull had been the big loser off the line, dropping from fourth to eleventh. On lap 8, the leader’s left rear tyre failed and Hamilton had to cruise slowly round to the pits. It would be the start of a series of serious tyre incidents that would change the shape of the race. This promoted everyone up a place, so that Vettel was the new race leader, followed by Rosberg, Sutil, Felipe now fourth, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Fernando, as ahead of these two Grosjean had pitted. Lap 10 and Fernando pitted for the Prime tyre, because his right rear tyre was disintegrating, fortunately at the very last corner, while Felipe had a big spin which undid all his earlier efforts, again caused by a rear tyre failure, dropping him back to sixteenth. He then pitted, rejoining at the back of the field, as Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Button all pitted on lap 11. Next lap, Rosberg and Sutil pitted from second and third, followed by Hulkenberg in the Sauber. Lap 12 and Fernando passed Vergne in the Toro Rosso to be sixth. Race leader Vettel came in on lap 13, followed by Perez in the McLaren.
Another worrying puncture, this time for Vergne came on lap 14 and one lap later the Safety Car came out because of all the debris. At this point, with everyone having made one tyre change, the order was Vettel, Rosberg, Sutil, Fernando in fourth, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Perez, Webber and Button completing the top ten. Lap 16 and Felipe pitted again profiting from the Safety Car, which eventually came in at the end of lap 21, after the track had been cleared of debris. Fernando immediately started attacking third placed Sutil, while Felipe had managed to haul himself up to eighteenth. The Brazilian was catching Bottas in the Williams and the two men got past Vergne and then the Ferrari man got ahead of the Finn so that he was now 15th with Maldonado in the second Williams his next target. The only change in the top order at this point saw Ricciardo get ahead of Grosjean to take sixth, before the Australian set off in pursuit of Raikkonen, who was trailing Fernando by 8 tenths.
On lap 29 Raikkonen pitted the Lotus for new rubber followed by Fernando and Webber next time round. The Ferrari man headed away from the garage but had to slow to avoid another car cutting across him in pit lane, costing him fractions of a second and he dropped to eleventh place. Then he was tenth on lap 32, setting the fastest race lap so far, as he closed to half a second of Raikkonen, now ninth. Fernando was on a charge and dispensed with Hamilton as Sutil, Perez and Di Resta all pitted together on lap 33. The second stops were coming thick and fast now, with Rosberg stopping on lap 34, followed by Vettel on lap 35. Fernando’s pace dropped off for a while and Webber managed to pass him, but by lap 41, the Australian and the Spaniard were close together as they caught Raikkonen. The character of the race changed once more on lap 42, as the leader Vettel coasted to a halt on the pit straight, which brought out the Safety Car for a second time. This was the time to dive into the pits for fresh rubber but not Fernando who had just changed tyres and that would play to his advantage. The remaining laps, once the Safety Car released the field again on lap 45, were incredibly exciting and not just if you were a Ferrari fan. Rosberg finally appeared to be in a bit of trouble with his tyres and behind the German, a hard charging Webber dispensed with Raikkonen and then set about chasing the Mercedes. Fernando was flying now and took seventh place off Button on lap 46, then sixth off Ricciardo on 48. Two laps later and he was all over Raikkonen and on lap 51, he passed the Finn at Stowe to get on the podium in third place. With two laps to go, Felipe had moved up to seventh spot and on the very last of the 52 laps, the Brazilian also dealt with Sutil to take the valuable 8 points that go with sixth place.
In just five days, the two F138s and the twenty other cars will all be back in action at the Nurburgring for Friday practice for the German Grand Prix. It goes without saying that the Scuderia’s priority in the short time available will be to look at how to improve the pace of its cars in qualifying on Saturday.
Fernando Alonso, second in the Drivers’ standings started the eighth round of the World Championship from ninth on the grid, while the man who leads the series, Sebastian Vettel, was on the third spot. So how on earth could the gap between the two men plummet from 36 to 21 points in the course of the 90 minutes of the British Grand Prix? Firstly, Vettel posted a retirement while leading and secondly, Fernando Alonso produced a simply storming drive to work his way up to the third step of the podium by the end of the 52 laps. It was yet another bravura performance from the Spaniard. As for his team-mate, Felipe Massa started from eleventh, dropped to last after a tyre failure and then, in the mad closing stages of the race after a second Safety Car period, the Brazilian made those ahead of him look as though they were going backwards as he passed car after car to take a great sixth place at the flag. Ahead of the Ferrari man on the podium were winner Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes and Mark Webber second in the Red Bull.
From 9th and 11th on the grid respectively, Fernando and Felipe were planning a good start: Felipe got a brilliant drive off the line to be 5th on the opening lap, while Fernando dropped one to tenth. But on lap 2 the Spaniard was eighth on the tail of Ricciardo in the Toro Rosso. At the front Hamilton maintained his pole position while Vettel in the Red Bull had got past Rosberg in the second Mercedes to be second, while Sutil was fourth ahead of Felipe who had simply driven down the side of everyone off the grid. Fernando had been delayed, boxed in off the line behind Grosjean in the Lotus.
By lap 5, Fernando was glued to Ricciardo’s gearbox but could not find a way past, so that ninth placed Grosjean in the Lotus was 0.7 off the Ferrari. In fifth spot, Felipe was almost a second behind Sutil’s Force India and had 0.7 in hand over sixth placed Raikkonen in the Lotus. Webber in the Red Bull had been the big loser off the line, dropping from fourth to eleventh. On lap 8, the leader’s left rear tyre failed and Hamilton had to cruise slowly round to the pits. It would be the start of a series of serious tyre incidents that would change the shape of the race. This promoted everyone up a place, so that Vettel was the new race leader, followed by Rosberg, Sutil, Felipe now fourth, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Fernando, as ahead of these two Grosjean had pitted. Lap 10 and Fernando pitted for the Prime tyre, because his right rear tyre was disintegrating, fortunately at the very last corner, while Felipe had a big spin which undid all his earlier efforts, again caused by a rear tyre failure, dropping him back to sixteenth. He then pitted, rejoining at the back of the field, as Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Button all pitted on lap 11. Next lap, Rosberg and Sutil pitted from second and third, followed by Hulkenberg in the Sauber. Lap 12 and Fernando passed Vergne in the Toro Rosso to be sixth. Race leader Vettel came in on lap 13, followed by Perez in the McLaren.
Another worrying puncture, this time for Vergne came on lap 14 and one lap later the Safety Car came out because of all the debris. At this point, with everyone having made one tyre change, the order was Vettel, Rosberg, Sutil, Fernando in fourth, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Perez, Webber and Button completing the top ten. Lap 16 and Felipe pitted again profiting from the Safety Car, which eventually came in at the end of lap 21, after the track had been cleared of debris. Fernando immediately started attacking third placed Sutil, while Felipe had managed to haul himself up to eighteenth. The Brazilian was catching Bottas in the Williams and the two men got past Vergne and then the Ferrari man got ahead of the Finn so that he was now 15th with Maldonado in the second Williams his next target. The only change in the top order at this point saw Ricciardo get ahead of Grosjean to take sixth, before the Australian set off in pursuit of Raikkonen, who was trailing Fernando by 8 tenths.
On lap 29 Raikkonen pitted the Lotus for new rubber followed by Fernando and Webber next time round. The Ferrari man headed away from the garage but had to slow to avoid another car cutting across him in pit lane, costing him fractions of a second and he dropped to eleventh place. Then he was tenth on lap 32, setting the fastest race lap so far, as he closed to half a second of Raikkonen, now ninth. Fernando was on a charge and dispensed with Hamilton as Sutil, Perez and Di Resta all pitted together on lap 33. The second stops were coming thick and fast now, with Rosberg stopping on lap 34, followed by Vettel on lap 35. Fernando’s pace dropped off for a while and Webber managed to pass him, but by lap 41, the Australian and the Spaniard were close together as they caught Raikkonen. The character of the race changed once more on lap 42, as the leader Vettel coasted to a halt on the pit straight, which brought out the Safety Car for a second time. This was the time to dive into the pits for fresh rubber but not Fernando who had just changed tyres and that would play to his advantage. The remaining laps, once the Safety Car released the field again on lap 45, were incredibly exciting and not just if you were a Ferrari fan. Rosberg finally appeared to be in a bit of trouble with his tyres and behind the German, a hard charging Webber dispensed with Raikkonen and then set about chasing the Mercedes. Fernando was flying now and took seventh place off Button on lap 46, then sixth off Ricciardo on 48. Two laps later and he was all over Raikkonen and on lap 51, he passed the Finn at Stowe to get on the podium in third place. With two laps to go, Felipe had moved up to seventh spot and on the very last of the 52 laps, the Brazilian also dealt with Sutil to take the valuable 8 points that go with sixth place.
In just five days, the two F138s and the twenty other cars will all be back in action at the Nurburgring for Friday practice for the German Grand Prix. It goes without saying that the Scuderia’s priority in the short time available will be to look at how to improve the pace of its cars in qualifying on Saturday.
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