Grand Prix 2012 German Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

The German GP marks the half way point in this strangest of seasons.

There have been seven different winners, with Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber the only two able to notch up more than one win.

From having a car which looked to be well off the pace at the start of the season, Fernando Alonso is still leading by 13 points, from Mark Webber of all people. Can he and Ferrari maintain the momentum going forward?

Indeed, in a drastic reverse of fortunes from last season, Mark is comfortably winning the head to head over his double world champion team mate, Sebastian Vettel.
The Red Bull car appears to suit both drivers though and is the class of the field so expect things to change between the top three before the summer break.

It's a different tale at McLaren. Button has gone from winning the first race to only scoring seven points in the last six races. His team mate, Lewis Hamilton has fared better, despite multiple team errors and the best efforts of certain other drivers. He is however languishing in fourth place in the standings, as are McLaren who have been overtaken by Lotus.

What is clear, is the McLaren is no longer in the top three and some (including Button) are even claiming it is behind several of the mid-field teams. This after the results of both McLaren drivers at Silverstone, where they barely scraped 8th and 10th place finishes.
It's a big change from just a few races ago when Hamilton was leading the Drivers' Championship and McLaren were second behind Red Bull in the Constructors'.

Lotus appear to be getting stronger with every race. Surely it's just a matter of time before one of their drivers is on the top step. Which one though? Romain Grosjean looks every bit as good as Kimi Räikkönen and if not for some unfortunate collisions earlier in the season would most likely be ahead of him in the standings.

Mercedes are consistently inconsistent. Michael Schumacher appears to have broken his dreadful run of results and bad luck but Nico Rosberg had a very poor race last time out, finishing a lowly 15th.

Likewise for Williams; the car appears to have the pace, if only the drivers were capable of exploiting it.

It has been two years since F1 last raced at the Hockenheimring, due to the alternating calendar with the Nürburgring. As a result the teams will have no data concerning the Pirelli tyres, so expect lots of running in the free practice sessions, weather permitting.

Will we see the eighth different winner of the season? Will this race finally reveal the pecking order and see things settling down?
Will McLaren be able to recover their position amongst the top three with their much vaunted upgrade package they are planning to bring?

All these questions and more will be answered soon.

For the circuit write up, stat's, map and videos, see here: http://cliptheapex.com/pages/hockenheimring/

 

[Jos the Boss]

Does anyone have a list of who did and didn't use options in Q1? I know Schumi didn't use any options but I haven't a clue of anyone else!

 

[Slyboogy]

Don't have much hope for this race.

Unless Schumacher does something from third, Alonso will pull away from the championship as his luck continues since he was not going to get on the front row in the dry, the Ferrari seems hooked up in the wet the past two seasons, unlike the several seasons before where it was shocking.

But there's also Vettel who could out-pace Alonso, but not too sure, Ferrari have probably learned from their strategic mistake from Silverstone.

The run down into the first corner is very short, could expect a few collisions as the turn is quite narrow. Think the DRS zone is too big, watching the GP2 race, cars where able to get a slipstream easily into the hairpin, and overtaking was plenty, so not sure why the DRS zone is there, in my opinion it should be from Turn 1 to Turn 2.

The McLarens, Webber and the Lotus cars are too far down to do much, Maldonado is in the mix so that could throw things up.

Nice to see Hulkenberg up in 4th.

The Lotus car being one minute the fastest then 5s behind is a head scratcher, I know the cold temperatures and the wet doesn't suit them, but they aren't usually that far behind in the wet. Same with the McLaren too, great on the intermediates, on the wet it's average.

Hopefully we'll see an interesting race with Hamilton, Raikkonen, Massa, Grosjean and Rosberg making there way up the field.

As for the fight in the front, I'm not expecting much.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I reckon grid penalties can in a way penalize other drivers, Webber moving down to 8th whilst it pushes other drivers up a slot it also changes which side of the grid they start on, this means that Button was on the clean side but now he is on the dirty side, and after watching the start of the GP2 race all the drivers on the right hand side of the grid got really bad starts, this means they could lose more than the one place gained...

 

[Slyboogy]

In GP2 though, one side of the track was wet, while the other dry. Don't think it will have that much of an affect in the dry.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I also watched the GP3 race what a farce that was, I hope Charlie isn't that cautious with the big boys if it rains...

 

[Jos the Boss]

And Schumacher didn't use new wets

 

[Kewee]

Don't have much hope for this race.

Unless Schumacher does something from third, Alonso will pull away from the championship as his luck continues since he was not going to get on the front row in the dry, the Ferrari seems hooked up in the wet the past two seasons, unlike the several seasons before where it was shocking.
.

Alonso was quickest during their only dry running all weekend. Luck if you believe in it is always nice, but I don't think Alonso needs any at present. It's been a long time since I've seen any driver this much on top of his game.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Actually I would love to see Alonso take his third world title as he is one of my favourite drivers at present, and he is driving superbly..

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I don 't know if this has been mentioned already but is it possible Hamilton's car came back to the garage to switch to a dry setup before going into parc ferme rather than do another pole attempt? I'm not 100% on the rules regarding this.

 

[The Artist.....]

rufus_mcdufus

Parc Ferme rules start the second the car leaves the pits in qualifying. - I believe there are small changes that can be made (such as front wing angle), but everything else is locked off.... However, the ideal way to get a set up change would be to destroy the entire front (or rear) of the car after qualifying - as this would allow a complete re-build... Whilst everything would technically have to be replaced with identical parts, are the scrutineers going to be able to tell if you've changed the torsion bar?

 

[Jen]

Red Bull are currently with the stewards - apparently there is an 'issue' with their engine!

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/troubles-at-red-bull/

 

[The Artist.....]

Jen
Is that an issue that they have identified with their engine, or is it an issue the stewards have identified?

Either way, you can only see an engine change being required, and having to start from the pitlane.....

 

[Jen]

"The FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer reported that “having examinded the engine torque map of cars 1 and 2 it became apparent that the maximum torque output of both engines is significantly less in the mid rpm range than previously seen for these engines at other events”.​

He went on “in my opinion this is therefore in breach of Article 5.5.3 of the Technical regulations as the engines are able to deliver more torque at a given engine speed in the mid rpm range. Furthermore this new torque map will artificially alter the aerodynamic characteristics of both cars which is also in contravention of TD 036-11.”​

 

[tranquility2k9]

I see Red Bull starting from back of grid or pit lane. It must be very serious for the FIA and not another team to essentially protest it and take it to the stewards. At best RB have made a mistake and not done it intentionally, which im sure they'll argue, but even then if they could have gained an advantage then they must start from back and/or change it, which could mean pit lane. The worse case scenario is that they get disqualified if they have knowingly breached the rules - essentially cheating.

I'll hear the full story first but I've suspected for a long time that Red Bull are always on the border line of the rules and this sort of thing doesn't surprise me.

Edit on more:-

I've heard a lot of people talking about RB still using off throttle techniques, because their car sounds just like last year when off throttle in slower corners and has done all season.

Adam Cooper ‏@adamcooperf1
#F1 Red Bull under investigation by the FIA for what is basically illegal off throttle blowing of the diffuser

 

[Brogan]

Looks like Red Bull have been caught out this time. About time you have to say.

Furthermore this new torque map will artificially alter the aerodynamic characteristics of both cars which is also in contravention of TD 036-11.”

Can someone explain how a torque map of an engine alters the aerodynamic characteristics of a car?

Edit: Just seen this from Andrew Benson on Twitter - Basically, accusation is throttles are more open than should be for given torque, so more air blowing thru exhausts, so more downforce

 

[tranquility2k9]

Christian Horner has come out and said that the positions for qualifying, or should I say the finalised grid, was released last night and therefore they cannot be moved now. Typical BS.

I see this as no different to the incident with Hamilton at Barcelona. In-fact, I see it as far, far worse, because one would have to think they are knowingly cheating.

Darren Heath, the brilliant F1 photographer has said that he has been convinced that Red Bull has been off-throttle blowing for several races now - since Valencia it became more extreme in his opinion, track side. So maybe not such a coincidence that they were so dominant there in the slower corners.

 

[Kewee]

Brogan.....I think it relates to off throttle blowing Paul. The FIA bought in this technical ruling to prevent it.

 

[The Pits]

Ok, dont move them, disqualify them.

 

[Jen]

The stewards can cancel their qualifying times. Would that mean starting at the back or the pit lane? Or not starting at all?

 

[The Pits]

If they are made to amend the throttle maps, then they would need to start from the pit lane, as this would be in breach of the Parc Ferme conditions.

It will be interesting to see what happens though.