Hamilton takes surprise Hungary win

No one gave Mercedes much hope for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Banned from the young driver test, unable to test the new tyres that arrived for this weekend, they were expected to struggle despite receiving the tyre data from Silverstone.

Lewis Hamilton was fairly pessimistic for qualifying. Pole position therefore came as a major surprise, a fantastic lap from Lewis inched him just 0.038 ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. Still, Mercedes were convinced the change of tyres and the heat would leave them unable to manage the rubber in the race and see them dropping down the field like so many times before.

Most cars started on the soft compound with the notable exceptions of Mark Webber, Sergio Perez and Jenson Button who all went for the medium tyre in the hope of going long and getting into the mix as the soft tyres went off and forced their owners to pit early.

Grid formation complete, engine notes shrieking, lights out and Hamilton’s Mercedes shot into the lead well ahead of the close formation near disasters that can happen on the first lap. Vettel survived an attempt on his second place and he was soon latched onto the back of the silver car.

Surely the move was going to be made soon. The Red Bull race pace in practice had been especially ominous, the fact they hadn’t got pole a big surprise. But no, Hamilton was holding on, in fact he was banging in a few fastest laps. When were the Mercedes tyres going to wilt? Vettel now had problems of his own with Romain Grosjean’s Lotus harrying him.

Indeed Lewis Hamilton did pit first on to the mediums and as feared came out behind a medium tyre shod McLaren of Jenson Button who wasn’t due to stop for some time. Lewis made his race here, carving passed at the first opportunity into turn 1.

Now he could use his fresh rubber to attack. A few laps later and Vettel and Grosjean stopped also emerging behind the McLaren. There was to be no carving here, Vettel took 12 laps to find a way through, and from a second behind Lewis before the first stops he was now 13 seconds away; this was going Hamilton’s way.

He started closing down Webber who had yet to stop. Once the Australian pitted Hamilton found himself in the lead again, the Mercedes was working the tyres well, this was a race he could win.

After his second stop he again found himself behind Webber, but much closer now. As Webber fought with Fernando Alonso, Lewis dived to the outside of turn 2, swung round the Red Bull and closed him off into turn 3, it was the sweetest of overtakes. After his final stop he was behind Webber again and immediately straight out the pits attacked the Red Bull.

It was a more robust move, forcing Webber off the track into turn 3, but it was done and Lewis was away. He controlled the race brilliantly throughout and found that with these tyres, the tyres they feared would send them careering down the field, they actually brought life to the car and to the driver.

He could push, he could set fastest laps, and yes he had to look after the car and tyres still as is normal especially once his team mate Nico Rosberg’s engine expired not far from the end. But he could push more to the limit than perhaps he’d been able to all year. This was one of the best drives of the year, the Red Bull and perhaps even the Lotus were faster in race trim, but Lewis finally had the car underneath him to get the job done, he did so to score his fourth Hungary victory and first for Mercedes. There’s a fourth championship contender now, and he looks focused and determined. A Lewis Hamilton in this frame of mind is one to be feared.

If things had gone differently

Vettel could have won, so could Kimi Raikkonen and even Webber who had started down in 10^th. It so happened to fall for Lewis today, but he made it happen too and took his opportunity.

Red Bull were running their cars close to the edge and it was apparent that they were suffering with the heat, both Vettel and Webber were asked to drop back or move out of the slip stream when following other cars so they could cool the car.

If Vettel had dealt with Button quicker then perhaps he might have got on the tail of Hamilton, if he hadn’t damaged his front wing against Button then maybe that too might have made a difference. A race I thought he’d dominate just fell away from him, but yet again despite things going wrong, he’s still come away with a podium and actually extended his championship lead.

If Kimi could only qualify higher he might win a few more races, it’s certainly arguable but he could have won the last two races. Kimi makes the best of things though and despite spending a fair portion of the race in the lower reaches of the top 6 struggling to get past Ferrari’s, once Lotus realised the mediums were not just lasting but still offering decent grip the race turned for him.

His defence of second from Vettel was great, placing his car just where it needed to be and extending the gap when he could. It was an impressive drive after what had looked like a weekend his team mate would eclipse him on.

Webber took the three stop strategy route like most others except he would be running the faster soft tyres at the end. Another good start saw him rise up from his lowly start position and he found himself in the lead several times as the pit stops went on, it looked like he could be in with a chance.

After his final stop, the win was out of the question but a look at the podium was possible. He went about slicing into the lead of Kimi and Vettel but the grip went and he had to settle for fourth, but it was an outstanding drive.

Romain Grosjean still battles himself

The pace he had around the Hungaroring should have brought him a podium, should have brought him a sniff of victory. In the end it brought him some fantastic over takes, some dodgy overtakes, a drive through penalty and a disappointing sixth place.

The good stuff first, the start; he nearly got Vettel and held off Rosberg well. His move around the outside of Felipe Massa into turn 4 was just breath taking, the fact he got a drive through penalty I thought was slightly too harsh. Excellence like that should be rewarded but rules are rules and even if only for a second, he had all four wheels off the circuit.

Massa has since said he doesn’t believe Grosjean deserved a penalty for the manoeuvre. Grosjean was already ahead before the turn and it could be justified that he went wide to avoid a potential accident.

His move on Jenson Button into the turn 6 chicane where they clashed wheels was rightly penalised after the race. Twenty seconds was added to his race time although it doesn’t cost him a position. Grosjean said afterwards he thought the track was wider. But when he’s been pounding around there all weekend, you’d have thought he’d know?

During the race he was tremendously quick again, especially in the first half, but yet again we see the two sides of Grosjean coming out to play. This guy is capable of a win, he’s outperformed his world champion team mate for two consecutive races, he’s better than this. While the likes of Rosberg and Massa were hitting each other on the opening lap he was keeping it clean, but then he’ll hit someone inexplicably. I think this weekend was a missed opportunity.

Ferrari falling back as they suffer fine for illegal DRS use

Oh dear Ferrari. Rumours have surfaced that apparently Ferrari’s wind tunnel is still not calibrated properly, so therefore developments are not translating well onto the track. Seen as their wind tunnel has been closed down for some time now as it is refurbished, is there something more fundamental wrong? They’ve been using Toyota’s highly advanced wind tunnel for some time now, so surely this shouldn’t be hindering them?

Fernando looks increasingly frustrated. Again this weekend, he didn’t have the pace to keep up. He targeted a finish ahead of Vettel as the minimum this weekend, but he couldn’t even finish ahead of other title contenders Kimi and Lewis. Alonso has now dropped to third in the championship after his fifth place finish and is currently driving the fourth fastest car.

It could have got worse too when stewards investigated data that showed the DRS on Fernando Alonso’s car was activated three times when more than a second behind the car ahead. It was put down to a programming error and were fined $15,000. Massa could only manage eighth. Things don’t look good at Maranello.

Teams on the move

Force India look to be on a downward trend too. Two races, two no scores; Paul di Resta had no excuse for dropping out in Q1 this time, and the race pace wasn’t exactly scintillating. Adrian Sutil might have had a chance of points but like di Resta retired with hydraulics problems. They won’t be a top 5 team for much longer on this form.

Especially as moving in the opposite direction is McLaren. They want to be fighting for wins but a fairly competitive race performance will raise a bit of a smile from the Woking team. Seventh and ninth isn’t anything to write home about, but in performance terms it’s an improvement.

Finally a quick note on a few other teams; Pastor Maldonado took Williams first point of the year which will give them a bit of a cheer. Perhaps it was only because Nico Hulkenberg suffered a drive-through but still a point is a point. Toro Rosso disappointed in the race after another impressive Daniel Ricciardo Q3 appearance, only managing 12^th and 13^th. Marussia also dropped way off the back of even Caterham.

Tyres

The new tyres were thankfully good and I think over the rest of the season we can move away from constant tyre chatter. The order at the front hasn’t been upset too much if at all. Red Bull and Mercedes can run stronger for longer but Lotus can still make them last longer. It seems to have altered the midfield the most with significant performance drops for the likes of Force India and Marussia.

A few thoughts

We now enter a four week summer break with an enforced two week factory shut down for all the teams. Of course they’ll all be working hard to bring new updates for the races ahead.

Sebastian Vettel was a bit disappointed today, but yet he’s still come away with another podium, his consistency is what is keeping him ahead, that and the fact he has double the wins of anyone else this year.

It looks like Alonso is dropping away, Ferrari just don’t seem to be operating at the level they were last year. Alonso said a result ahead of Vettel this weekend would give the team renewed motivation as they head into the break. They didn’t manage it and now Alonso looks ahead to perhaps a seventh year without a third title unless they can find something remarkable with the car.

After two bad races, Kimi has now scored three top 5 finishes including 2 podiums. But they need to win; he’s now second in the championship, but he lies 38 points behind, only wins will take him to the top though.

Lewis Hamilton looks like the man to take a few more wins this year. Can that turn him into a championship challenger? Only if he’s backing it up with other podium finishes too. After a little bit of advantage Rosberg in the Mercedes team, Hamilton has now scored three consecutive pole positions and is beginning to assert his authority at the team. He’s within two race wins of Vettel, and if he can get on a roll who knows what could happen.

It’s very much advantage Vettel, he’s driven better than anyone this year, but it’s still all to play for when the F1 circus returns to Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps, the greatest track of all.

Final Result:

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

2. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus

3. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

4. Mark Webber - Red Bull

5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

6. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

7. Jenson Button - McLaren

8. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

9. Sergio Perez - McLaren

10. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

11. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

12. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso

13. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

14. Geido van der Garde - Caterham

15. Charles Pic - Caterham

16. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

17. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Paul di Resta - Force India - Hydraulics

R. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - Engine

R. Valtteri Bottas - Williams

R. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

R. Adrian Sutil - Force India - Hydraulics

all photo's taken from autosport.com

The Hungary Forecast

Scorching, sizzling, boiling, searing are just some of the adjectives to describe the current 36C temperatures that will welcome the Formula 1 fraternity to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hot sums up it up.

And that’s before the drivers put on their thick fireproof gear, pull on their balaclava, squeeze into their crash helmet and climb into the tight confines of a 200mph Formula 1 machine with just around a litre and a half drinks bag to help them through the 70 laps of the Hungaroring.

This track has no real chance to relax either with no long straights and constant corner after corner, it’s often described as Monaco without the walls. Therefore it’s going to be tough to pass, although it can be done and this year they’ve helped out a bit more with two DRS zones. One will be on the start finish straight with the other a short run from turn one to two. Strategy options will also be affected by the reduced pit lane speed limit from 100kph to 80kph due to the tyre hitting cameraman incident in Germany.

Of course the main talking point will be? Yes, Pirelli’s tyres. They've brought the medium and soft compounds but with a whole new construction. After the tyre blow outs at Silverstone something had to be done so in between Germany and Hungary we had the young driver test taking place at Silverstone which Pirelli provided the new tyres to be used for the rest of the season. All teams apart from the banned Mercedes squad took part in trying them out; Pirelli say they are confident they will be fully functioning inflated balls of rubber. Or words to that effect.

The main alterations over the tyres the teams have been using so far this year are that they’re switching the construction to the 2012 tyre whereby the steel belt running round the tyre has gone back to Kevlar and there is a tougher join to the sidewall. The 2013 compounds will still be used, but the result of this should mean the tyres are longer lasting meaning the drivers can drive more to the limit without having to almost immediately think about looking after the tyres once the race has started.

This at first glance plays into the hands of Red Bull and Mercedes, teams which had campaigned that the 2013 tyres degraded too fast. With the tyres lasting longer it should allow them to exploit their cars potential far more than they’ve been able to thus far. Of course despite receiving the data from the test Mercedes will be at a crucial disadvantage at getting the best out of the tyres immediately.

On the other hand it isn’t all doom and gloom for the teams which used the tyres best like Ferrari, Lotus and Force India. With the tyres lasting longer and their cars able still gentle on them, it will enable them to perhaps go for alternative strategies. One put forward in a James Allen analysis is that they will be able to use the softer option tyres for longer periods of the race, which generally will have a speed advantage over whatever harder compound they’ve brought something teams like Red Bull might not be able to do as they use the tyres more aggressively.

It’s not going to be all Red Bull’s way. Having said that who do I expect to win this weekend? Well I think Sebastian Vettel was the clever one in regards to the title challengers. He tested the tyres at the test whereas Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen didn’t attend so he’ll have a working knowledge of the new Pirelli’s. I think Vettel is on for pole position and the race win. It would be his first time winning in Hungary, but he’s already had a few firsts this month; first win in July and first German Grand Prix win. Vettel is driving better than anyone else and I don’t see how you could tip someone ahead of him.

Of course that’s not to say there won’t be others in contention for the victory. Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber has won here before, he’ll be a contender again and if he can get away at the start like he did in Germany he’ll be a podium challenger at least.

I’m not sure what to think about Ferrari, they’ve dropped way off the pace in qualifying which isn’t such a surprise but they’re not coming back in the race quite as strongly as they once did. If the same thing happens in Hungary I can see Fernando Alonso’s championship charge shuddering to a halt. He needs to make points on Vettel before the four week summer break.

The most likely contenders to Red Bull will surely be Lotus. Kimi and Romain Grosjean finished second and third respectively last year and I have an unqualified hunch that they’ll be good again this year. They certainly seem to be reacting nicely to hotter temperatures, and Hungary is going to be the hottest race since Bahrain where they finished second and third again.

Both the Lotus drivers are contenders for the podium but for the championship you’d ideally want Kimi to be ahead of Grosjean. That won’t necessarily be easy for Kimi though (apart from when the team tell Romain to move over), Grosjean showed great form last time out and if he wants to keep his seat he’ll have to consistently do that. Kimi maybe third in the points but this weekend he comes into the race as the strongest challenger to Vettel, a definite win chaser.

Mercedes could struggle this weekend. They’ve been affected by some of the tyre restrictions put in place such as swapping the tyres on to opposite sides of the car. Team principal Ross Brawn said this was partly to blame for their tyre woes in Germany after having looked strong for the past few races.

Couple that with the lack of testing the new tyres and they’re definitely on the back foot. Having said that Lewis Hamilton can drag a car to positions it really ought not to be, so Lewis for pole? Not that unlikely I reckon, it’s the race they’re really going to be worrying about. It’s going to be a tough time for Nico Rosberg and Hamilton on the Sunday.

Other quick predictions:

Toro Rosso are definitely the midfields form team, they should be on for Q3 and points. Daniel Ricciardo had a test with Red Bull last week, if he wants to help his cause for the 2014 vacancy he’ll need to continue his good form here. Cue team mate Jean-Eric Vergne having a stellar weekend.

McLaren showed at Silverstone they have a superb young driver called Kevin Magnussen who set the fast time on the first day of the test while being brilliantly consistent. Of course he could well be the future, at the moment Jenson Button and Sergio Perez are stuck with what they’ve got, which is not a lot. Maybe some fighting points, as they did look stronger in Germany with the first stage of the tyre alterations; perhaps this tyre change is just what McLaren need to help get them further up the grid.

I’m ditching my continued prediction of a Force India podium, but I do expect them to return to fighting for points, but having said that McLaren and Toro Rosso are edging them at the moment. If they don’t then the tyre changes will have hurt them the most.

While Sauber cosy up to Russian money and a way too young 17 year old potential 2014 driver Sergey Sorotkin, Nico Hulkenberg will be driving out of his skin for the rest of the year to try and get out of there. He’s had some good races and I think this is just the kind of track where Hulk can hustle the car in to the points.

Williams, Caterham and Marussia all to fail to score. It’s sad to lump Williams in with the bottom 2 teams but unfortunately they’re still yet to score. I am going to say Valtteri Bottas will out do Pastor Maldonado this weekend though.

Formula 1 is in for a big weekend, the tyres are unraced, the temperatures are high; how much will the order be mixed up if at all? Only a few days to find out.

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Awe-inspiring speed at Silverstone

It may have only been a young driver test, but some of what you saw was incredible. Here are a few video's from the test. They're only small clips, especially the first two but these opening couple of video's show the sheer speed and direction change as they sweep into Copse corner.

The first is of Davide Rigon in the Ferrari, the next is Antonio Felix da Costa, who might just have the coolest name ever. He's driving the Red Bull and watching that car through Copse was amazing. 

Paul di Resta and Kevin Magnussen also looked utterly committed there, but alas I have not the adequate camera footage. Anyway, here are five video's from Wednesday 17th July, enjoy.

Copse clips:

Here we have a few clips of them coming out of Woodcote and down the old start finish straight.

And finally here's Magnussen and da Costa coming out of Luffield and into the pits.

For photo's from the young driver test, please click here.

Silverstone young driver test photo's

It was the start of the young driver test at a boiling Silverstone today (Wednesday 17th). Well it's mostly for young drivers, a few race drivers will be taking part to test out the new Pirelli's for Hungary in a weeks time.

All teams apart from the banned Mercedes squad participated in eight hours of ear shredding noise and spectacular watching. Being able to roam, even a small part of the track was great. Copse in particular was magical, the amount of speed they carry through there is utterly amazing.

Anyway rather than telling you what happened here is an extensive collection of pictures from the days events. The photo's of the garages might have been better if some of the bigger teams had taken their screens down, but still they did put their 2012 cars on display. Video's can be found here.

26 year old Davide Rigon is part of the Ferrari young driver program. He is no stranger to these tests and will be driving for two and a half days of the three. Felipe Massa gets the Friday morning to test Pirelli's.

Alex Rossi is from the USA, America's first decent hope at a successful F1 driver in years. He concentrated on long runs for most of the day and struck a problem when going for a fast time. He still completed 69 laps. 

Robin Frijns tested for Sauber. He is the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Champion and this year has already won in GP2 

Tio Ellinas currently leads the GP3 standings. Max Chilton took over Marussia duties in the afternoon.

GP2 race winner James Calado was overjoyed to get his first taste of Formula 1.

Kevin Magnussen dives right into the heat haze

Johnny Cecotto is a GP2 race winner and part time crasher. Money bought him 75 laps in a Toro Rosso.

Antonio Felix da Costa has possibly the coolest name in the Red Bull young driver program. Daniel Ricciardo was meant to have the afternoon but that was delayed until Thursday when it'll be his chance to show Red Bull just why he should be Webber's replacement.

Art.

Paul di Resta looked on it as soon as he took to the track.

da Costa contorting the Red Bull

Daniel Juncadella is 2012 F3 Euro Series champion. He is currently in the DTM.

Kevin Magnussen has been part of the McLaren program for a while now, they have high hopes for him. He is currently 2nd in Formula Renault 3.5. Magnussen set the fastest time of the day after completing 100 laps.

Nicolas Prost, son of Alain, isn't an F1 hopeful at 31 years old, but he is a reliable tester. He now drives in Sports cars.

Five drivers who can move up the grid in 2014

Mark Webber retiring from Formula 1 has left a few interesting possibilities in the developing 2014 driver market. It’s not just the Aussie leaving that will alter the look at the front of the grid, there are potential openings at Ferrari and Lotus to consider too.

Felipe Massa started well this season but a sequence of incidents dating back to Monaco has cast doubt on his future once again. Despite a couple of great drives to the podium, particularly at the last race in Germany, Romain Grosjean’s future at Lotus has been in doubt all year as he struggles to harness his speed with control and consistency.

If Grosjean can repeat his Germany performance his drive should be fine as I think there’s certainly a race winner in there somewhere and maybe even a potential world champion. The same with Massa who has the speed but lacks the consistency he once had from 2008/09 pre-accident.

Lotus’ current star driver is Kimi Raikkonen and he is known to be in talks with them and Red Bull. The rumours go with a transfer from Enstone to Milton Keynes but nothing is confirmed.

But with possible seats open at three of the top teams who are the drivers likely to step up? Most F1 drivers are potential race winners but out of the drivers looking to move up the grid, here are the ones I regard most likely to be contacted and also the ones most deserving of a chance; Paul di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne, Jules Bianchi and Valtteri Bottas

The Red Bull seat

Apart from Kimi, there are only two others who look to stand a chance at getting the most coveted seat in the sport; Toro Rosso pair Ricciardo and Vergne.

Both have been slightly hit and miss but they are increasingly getting their acts together and becoming more impressive. In Monaco and Canada Vergne produced outstanding qualifying and race performances to grab two points finishes. Since then he’s dropped back a bit while Ricciardo has qualified 5^th and 6^th at Silverstone and the Nurburgring respectively.

They never seem to be shining at the same time, and it’s this inconsistency that could let Kimi into the drive even if it does seem a bit of a kick in the teeth for the Red Bull young driver program. If they don’t get the drive they don’t seem to be under consideration by anyone else and Red Bull have already shown their ruthlessness with this program when they ejected the fast improving Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi from Toro Rosso at the end of 2011.

If they don’t immediately have Sebastian Vettel levels of talent, himself a former Red Bull jnr, then life gets tough. Whereas Vettel won a race for Toro Rosso, no one else has come close to replicating that for Toro Rosso. But whereas Vettel had a Toro Rosso designed by Red Bull in 2008, since then they’ve been designing their own cars which has made it difficult for them to reach those heights again.  

Red Bull have the likes of Antonio Felix da Costa doing a good job in Formula Renault 3.5 and Carlos Sainz Jnr struggling but improving in GP3 to promote if they continue their upward curves. The consequences of this could mean Vergne and Ricciardo might not just lose out on a promotion but also lose their drives which would be a great disservice to them both.

Potential seats at Lotus and Ferrari

Paul di Resta seems to fly under the radar a bit, but his reputation and image have grown a lot this year. Not sure the image is always brilliant mind you as he has launched a few tirades about his Force India team. Criticism of your team is generally understood to be kept in-house.

However, his performances on track have shone brightly this year. After being eclipsed by Nico Hulkenberg last year, di Resta looks to have come back stronger and has made a number of fantastic charges through the field after problems in qualifying. His drive in Bahrain too was worthy of a podium that he just missed out on.

The tyre changes may leave Force India at a disadvantage from now on but he’s already shown himself to be ready to challenge at the front with some great on track battles with the likes of Lewis Hamilton. That being said, of the three teams with potential openings the only one I could potentially see him getting is a drive at Lotus and that could only be if Grosjean returns to misfiring ways.

I say this because Hulkenberg’s future is important for the driver market too. He left Force India to join Sauber this year, a move which looks increasingly like a big mistake. Officially he made the move because he saw Sauber getting podiums last year and they looked like they were moving up the grid.

Unofficially they’re regarded as something of a Ferrari junior team. Before Sergio Perez moved from Sauber to McLaren he was being looked at strongly as a replacement for Felipe Massa. Massa himself was originally put with Sauber before he moved to Ferrari.

Hulkenberg is highly regarded in the paddock and has a higher profile than di Resta. Despite his lack of points this season, he has dragged a number of decent point scoring results from a struggling car. It should also be remembered that even though they were close, as team mates at Force India Hulkenberg beat di Resta significantly in the final points.

So if Kimi leaves Lotus and Grosjean stays, I would say Hulkenberg would be first in line to grab that drive whether rightly or wrongly. Even if di Resta has improved, perception in Formula 1 is very important and Hulkenberg is perceived to be one of the next big things.

However, di Resta could get the drive if Hulkenberg replaces Massa. This is where Jules Bianchi comes into the story. Bianchi has been in the Ferrari young driver program for some time and could have been racing for Force India this season if the team had taken Ferrari engines for 2014.

Bianchi has been impressive this season driving for Marussia in his rookie year. He’s annihilated his team mate Max Chilton so far and despite the team falling back since the start of the season is still mixing it with the Caterham’s.

Ferrari really rate Bianchi and as he would only be in his second season in F1, he would probably be more accepting of a support role to Fernando Alonso whereas Hulkenberg is ready to win, especially after a season where he hasn’t even had a sniff of a podium.

Bottas

So there we have it, the complex world of the F1 driver market, these five drivers are the ones most likely to make a move to one of the bigger teams but I would like to mention Valtteri Bottas who will likely still be with Williams next year to continue his development; he’s very highly regarded there. Bottas is in his rookie year but despite a poor car is showing well against his race winning team mate Pastor Maldonado. 

His performance in Canada where he qualified third and defended well against far superior cars has marked the Finn out as a future winner. He hasn’t been mentioned for any of the drives available but I’m sure he will be on the way up soon enough.

Here are some of the permutations regarding the potential drives available.

Red Bull:

Vettel & Kimi/Ricciardo/Vergne

Lotus:

Kimi & Grosjean/Hulkenberg/di Resta; Grosjean & Hulkenberg/di Resta; Hulkenberg & di Resta;

Ferrari:

Alonso & Massa/Bianchi/Hulkenberg 

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Majestic Vettel keeps Lotus at bay

As he has done so many times, Sebastian Vettel was out in front from the start and took his fourth win of the season and the 30^th of his career. But don’t be fooled into thinking this was an easy win; he didn’t have the fastest car today, yet he looked in complete control once again.

Vettel started from second and despite being squeezed by pole sitter Lewis Hamilton away from the line, he took the lead also keeping at bay the bizarre sight of a fast starting Mark Webber.

Pirelli brought the medium and soft compound tyres to Germany with the Kevlar belt and a number of instructions for the teams on how to use them. There were no issues with them at all, except that they worked for some and didn’t for others.

The softs didn’t last for long and all of those who started on them pitted within 10 laps with the exception of Romain Grosjean in the Lotus who got to lap 13. This meant that the top 6 qualifiers had to battle through those who were running longer on the mediums.

However on fresher tyres this didn’t pose much of a problem for many of them with the added advantage that many outside the top 10 also chose to run the softs first. Therefore Vettel was soon back in the lead of the race.

A terrible pit stop for his Red Bull team mate Webber where a wheel came off and struck a cameraman luckily with no lasting damage, meant that Vettel was now being chased by the Lotus’, this weeks challenger to Red Bull.

It was Grosjean doing the chasing, today showing just how good he can be when he combines his pace with no mistakes. He could get a win if he could do this more often. A safety car for Jules Bianchi’s fire stricken then rolling backwards Marussia half way through meant Kimi Raikkonen caught back up too and it was now game on.

Kimi had been stuck behind Rosberg and Hamilton before dispensing with them both but he was 10 seconds behind before the safety car gave his race added impetus.

For lap after lap the three of them, Vettel, Grosjean and Kimi, circulated no more than a few seconds apart, within DRS range but not quite able to mount a move. It looked like it could even be Grosjean’s breakout race such was his resolve.

But you could kind of feel it coming, there’s a fight for the championship going on and Grosjean is not Lotus’ man. As Vettel and Grosjean pitted for the final time Kimi kept on going. With 11 laps left it looked like he might try to make it on a two stop, but he pitted on to the softs for the final time.

Their extra grip took him past a helpful Grosjean, who didn’t seem overly delighted by the radio message not to hold Kimi up, but understandable from a team point of view. Kimi closed up on the back of the Red Bull and on the final lap he had DRS. He couldn’t make a move and Vettel held him off to win by a second with Grosjean third.

He’d won his home race for the first time and quite rightly described it as a ‘tough one’. Vettel was brilliant today, it probably should have been a Lotus victory, but he’s not a three time champion for nothing. He made the moves quickly and decisively when he was coming back through the field after pit stops, he controlled his pace and always kept enough of a gap to those behind. His win has now stretched his lead up to 34 points, not insurmountable for the rest but a tough ask when Red Bull are the only team consistently at the top.

Who can stop Vettel?

Today there were three drivers who could have beaten Vettel. First Webber looked very quick, but unfortunately after his botched first pit stop he was never a contender, although he managed a great climb back up to 7^th. Kimi and Grosjean could have ruined Vettel’s home race but Kimi was held up behind Mercedes and didn’t chance it with the medium tyres to make it to the end.

There was the possibility that the tyres may have fallen away dramatically, but the Lotus is one of the kinder cars to their rubber so it might have been worth a go. Vettel wasn’t catching too fast and still had Grosjean hassling him. I think they know they should have taken that risk because right now it’s about taking risks if anyone wants to prevent Vettel and Red Bull making it a four season roll.

However, it’s not quite as simple as that because sometimes you should just bag the points, is their thinking that they just wanted to secure a double podium? You can understand why. In the previous three races their best result was fifth and if anything Lotus looked like they were falling away until this weekend. At the very least Kimi has let it be known he's not out of this title race yet.

Over the last few races it’s been Mercedes who’ve been stepping up, unfortunately today their tyre degradation problems resurfaced again as the track temperature rose up to 44C. Hamilton fell to fifth from a great pole, while Rosberg managed to climb up from his mismanaged qualifying; 11^th to 9^th isn’t  bad when you consider the problems they had earlier in the year with tyre deg. 

Still, after 2 wins and a podium in the last 3 races they would have hoped for more even if Lewis did come on song in the last stint to steal his position from Button on the final lap.

Ferrari have been sporadic, and if anything, despite Alonso coming up from eighth today to finish fourth, they’ve not really looked like challenging for the win since Spain. Partly this is down to their qualifying form, but it’s also looking like they’re going in a poor direction with the development of their car. 

Alonso is still second in the title chase but at the moment that looks as good as it's going to get. I think Alonso is beginning to feel that too saying their result today was an over achievement. Massa spun out while lying sixth, he's still looking quick but he's not getting the results he had earlier in the year which he'll be concerned about.

All of these teams can beat Red Bull but there is no consistent challenger to Vettel, the only way I see his lead being reversed is if they all get on their top form and starting bumping Vettel off the podium. It has to happen soon though.

Tyres

Pirelli brought their new construction to Germany, and will bring their 2012 construction with 2013 compounds for Hungary to mix up the order once more. I think it’s made life a little easier for Red Bull, although I didn’t expect it to hurt Mercedes so much with Lewis saying he had nothing good to say about the tyres.

However, I believe that is because of the high temperatures. If anything I expected Lotus and Ferrari to suffer a bit more, but Lotus were very much the should have won team, while Ferrari continued their current form.

Sauber seemed to find some good pace; if it wasn’t for the safety car Nico Hulkenberg might have picked up more than a point for 10^th. In the other direction Force India fell back a bit, not scoring and not even qualifying in the top 10. They’ll be hoping this is just a blip and not a tyre change that is about to effect the rest of their season.

Toro Roso also seemed to suffer a little bit despite Daniel Ricciardo qualifying a brilliant sixth. In the race though their form dipped and he fell to 12th.

McLaren were strong today, genuinely so. I’m not sure if this was a tyre thing, but it certainly didn’t hurt them. If it hadn’t have been for battling Caterham’s in the final stint then Jenson Button would probably have held off Lewis, instead he had to settle for 6^th although I think Button could have given him a slightly harder time. Sergio Perez finished 8^th to join Button in scoring McLaren their first points since Monaco. They are nowhere near wins but at least it’s progress. Unfortunately this might be as far as they get as they’ve turned their attentions to the 2014 car.

We’ll see if the order is shaken up a little bit more in Hungary when Pirelli bring their newest batch of tyres.

A few thoughts

One of the highlights of the race for me was when Fernando Alonso caught a struggling Lewis Hamilton on worn tyres. I’d love to see these two go head to head for a title again, because every now and then you get these snapshots of just how amazing it would be.

It was a fair battle too, the DRS zones didn’t make it too easy to pass so Alonso had to work for it, but Lewis kept his line, defended well and for three laps we were treated to a fantastic display of driving from both of them before the Mercedes pitted. It was thrilling stuff.

For now though they both have to think of how to get back on terms with Vettel. He's the one re-writing the record books which they believe should be them. There is a long way to go in the season, still 10 races but the Red Bull driver continues to get better, and it’s going to take a great run of form to beat him.

The young driver test starts at Silverstone on July 17^th, the teams need to use it as wisely as they can. With new Pirelli tyres being tested too the FIA has allowed race drivers to take part. Of course Mercedes won't be taking part as they have been banned from attending due to their earlier ‘secret’ test, the rest of them must hope they find something if they want to stop Red Bull.

Final Result:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

2. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus

3. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

5. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

6. Jenson Button - McLaren

7. Mark Webber - Red Bull

8. Sergio Perez - McLaren

9. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

10. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

11. Paul di Resta - Force India

12. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

13. Adrian Sutil - Force India

14. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

15. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

16. Valtteri Bottas - Williams

17. Charles Pic - Caterham

18. Geido van der Garde - Caterham

19. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - Hydraulics

R. Jules Bianchi - Marussia - Engine

R. Felipe Massa - Ferrari - Spin

all photo's taken from autosport.com