Ferrari
rebooted its challenge for the title with a one-two
finish in yesterday’s 67 lap German Grand Prix which
unfortunately came in controversial fashion with the
Italian team adjudged to have issued team orders to
manipulate the result.
After the conclusion of
the race Ferrari was summonsed to appear before the
stewards and subsequently issued with a US$100,000 fine
for breaching Article 39.1 of the FIA's sporting code,
which bans team orders, and Article 151c, which relates
to bringing the sport into disrepute. In a statement the
FIA said that the penalty would be: "Fine $100,000" and
that "the case will also be referred to the FIA World
Motorsport Council for further consideration." Ferrari
Team Principal Stefano Domenicali said afterwards that
the team wouldn't appeal the fine.
However the result
still stands and the Italian team is awards full points.
The 1-2 result means that although Ferrari is still
third in the Constructors’ Championship, it has closed
the gap to second placed Red Bull Racing from 84 to 64
points. Fernando Alonso stood on the top step of the
podium for the first time since the opening round in
Bahrain, and Felipe Massa finished second, also
reprising his position at the Sakhir circuit. Joining
them on the podium was the Red Bull of pole man
Sebastian Vettel.
When the red lights went out, Fernando edged alongside
Vettel and as the German tried to defend his position,
Felipe, having started behind him in third place,
managed to get the best line into the first corner to go
into the lead, followed by his team-mate and Vettel.
They were followed by Hamilton, Webber, Button, Kubica,
Schumacher, Rosberg, with Kobayashi tenth. The majority
of the field had started on the softer tyre, so the one
planned pit stop came early on, with Button staying out
longest to lead for a while. Fernando changed to the
hard tyre on lap 13 and Felipe pitted one lap later.
However, the run of pit stops did little to change the
order, and the two Ferrari men had a great fight, nearly
touching when the Spaniard tried to pass the Brazilian
on lap 21, one lap before Button finally pitted to hand
the lead back to Felipe. The two Ferrari men traded
fastest laps, with the gap fluctuating around the one
second mark, with Vettel always in close attendance.
Alonso passed his team-mate on lap 45 when Massa
appeared to be given a lightly coded signal to allow him
to go through and the Brazilian went on to make it
appear quite obvious on TV that he was deliberately
letting the Spaniard take the lead. From then on, the
two Ferrari men controlled the pace, even if Vettel was
closing on Felipe rapidly, setting the fastest race lap
on the very last lap. Helping maintain their lead in
both championships, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button
came home in fourth and fifth places. The rest of the
points places down to tenth went to Webber, Kubica,
Rosberg, Schumacher and Petrov. Now the circus moves to
Hungary for the next race in just seven days time, where
the much improved level of performance of the F10 means
that Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro will once again be hoping
to challenge for the top places.
Stefano
Domenicali: “First and
foremost, I want to congratulate the team on this
fantastic result, which is down to all the work
undertaken with so much effort, ability and passion by
everyone, both at the track and in Maranello, day after
day. Already, over the past few races, we have seen that
the performance level of our car has improved and
finally today, we reaped the rewards. As for the
Stewards’ decision, given after the race, in the
interests of the sport, we have decided not to go
through a procedure of appealing against it, confident
that the World Council will know how to evaluate the
overall facts correctly. The congratulations mentioned
earlier should also extend to our drivers who drove a
great race. Both Felipe and Fernando got very good
starts, with the Spaniard squeezed in a very decisive
fashion by Vettel and the Brazilian making the most of
the space that created ahead of him. Then came a long
three way fight to the chequered flag, with Felipe very
quick on the softer tyres while he struggled a bit on
the hards, which meant that Fernando was at first able
to close right up on him and then take the lead when his
team-mate decided it was best not to create a risky
situation, given that right behind them, Vettel was
fighting back. The situation in both championships is
still complicated, but this result is further motivation
for the coming races: we firmly believe in our chances
of reaching the targets we had at the start of the
season.”
Fernando Alonso: “This is a very
important win, which comes on the back of weeks of hard
work from the team, who pushed to make up the ground
that separates us from our main rivals. Race after race,
the improvements applied to the F10 have proved to be
effective, thus making the car more competitive. I am
very happy, because winning with Ferrari is a very
special feeling. At the start I was pushed right up
against the wall by Vettel, whose only thought was to
close me down, while Felipe made the most of it to go
past both of us. Then, I tried to stay close all the
time to my team-mate and when he had some difficulties,
I got past: I am sure that Felipe was thinking above all
of the good of the team and that it was pointless to
take risks when we had Vettel catching us up. There is
no point in doing the sums for the championship now. We
have shown what our package can do in a normal race and
we must simply continue to work, trying to always pick
up the maximum number of points. As I have always said,
the final tally will come in Abu Dhabi.
Felipe Massa: “A driver always wants to
win, so I cannot be completely happy with second place.
I know that this year, the team has lost too many points
in previous races and today it was important to do the
maximum. We drivers have to first of all think of the
interests of the team and that is what I showed again
today. In my opinion this was not a case of team orders:
my engineer kept me constantly informed on what was
going on behind me, especially when I was struggling a
bit on the hard tyres: so I decided to do the best thing
for the team, and a one-two finish is the best possible
result, isn’t it? I got a great start, the best of the
season. At the start, on the soft tyres I was going very
quickly but then, with the hards, I was unable to run at
an ideal pace. I think today I proved that when
everything is in order, I am a winning driver. It would
have been nice to stand on a higher step on the podium
but all the same, I want to dedicate this result to
Fernando Marins, a relation of mine, who passed away at
the start of this week.”
Chris Dyer: “A great result for the
team. Going home with the maximum number of points after
all that has happened in the races immediately leading
up to this one is enormously pleasing. This one-two is
down to all the people who have done an extraordinary
job over the last two months, to improve the performance
of our car. I think we now have a very competitive
package and we will continue to push as hard as possible
on the development of the car to be even stronger in the
forthcoming races.”