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Jenson Button bounced back from his recent run of disappointments to take second place in Germany, having scored only seven points in his last six starts.

Button had lost second position to Sebastian Vettel with two laps to go when the Red Bull driver muscled past. The FIA later deemed that Vettel had gone off circuit in getting by, and bounced him down to fifth place.

Before that Button had a chance to challenge Fernando Alonso for the lead, but he lost momentum in the closing laps.

“I couldn’t quite challenge Fernando in the last stint,” said Button. “When you’re in the middle of three people, you really have to push, because you have to watch out for the guy behind and you’re obviously trying to get past the guy in front.

“So I was probably pushing more than these two in the early part of the first stint but I had to, to try and get past Fernando and then when you’re in the lead you can cruise it on the places where you can’t get overtaking and obviously you have good tyres for the exit before DRS. So, it was a tricky situation but we thought it was best to go aggressive, which we did, but it was just one or two laps really.”

In the end Button didn’t quite have enough to get the job done.

“It was really close. But Fernando knows exactly, as we all do, how to use KERS to keep someone behind you, not just in the DRS zone but in other areas around the lap. I just ran out of steam at the end of the straight. It was a little too big, the gap, to get past. I’m a little but disappointed with that, but all in all a fun race, and I really enjoyed racing out there today.

“It’s nice to be back on the podium and to get some good points. In the last couple of races, as I’ve said, I’ve been very happy with the car – the balance of the car anyway – and my feeling with it, he confidence. The results haven’t been there because the pace hasn’t been there with the car. This race gives me a lot of confidence, and I’m very happy with being up here.”

Fernando Alonso’s German GP win saw the Spaniard extend his championship lead over Mark Webber to 34 points, while Sebastian Vettel is now 44 behind in third.

However Alonso remains cautious about his title prospects, given that Ferrari has yet to definitively prove it has the fastest car in dry conditions.

“I think before coming here we were not sure about the performance of the car,” said Alonso. “It’s true that we were OK in Valencia, but Red Bull was quicker than anybody there, but we took advantage of the mechanical problem that Sebastian had in Valencia and we won the race there.

“In Silverstone we were OK in wet conditions but a little bit slower than Red Bull in dry conditions and Mark won the race and he deserved it, because he was the quickest. Yesterday, OK, we set pole in wet conditions again which seems to suit our car but in the dry, we again saw that we are still not the quickest. Sebastian and Jenson put a lot of pressure on us, also Hamilton was extremely quick but he had some problems in the race.

“It’s halfway through the season; we made a very good recovery when you think of where we started in the Jerez test, where we were maybe two seconds off the pace. In Australia we were 1.6s [off] in Q2 and now we are very happy with the points that we have achieved in the first half, but it means nothing, because there are still another ten races in which we need to improve the car.

“We need to be consistent and we need to keep finishing all the races. One or two drivers always don’t finish the race because of mechanical problems or incidents or something, so we need to avoid these problems.”

Alonso is hopeful of another good performance next weekend in Budapest, where he scored his first ever win back in 2003.

“Well, it’s going to be tight again. It’s a very short circuit in Hungary again, and as we saw this year, in two- or three-tenths there are eight, nine cars. In Hungary we need to make a perfect preparation again, a perfect qualifying, because you can be starting in 12^th or 13^th if you make a little mistake, so we need to approach the race in the same way we did the last couple of races, try to maximise what we have in Hungary and hopefully bring in some new parts that can help us in that circuit.

“I think at the moment the car seems OK in all areas, there is not weak points, as maybe we had at the beginning of the season, that we were suffering a little bit on traction and top speed. Now I think that we are OK on that. In Hungary I think with these slow speed corners, traction etc., I don’t see any problem with the car and we should be competitive there.”

Sebastian Vettel has been given a 20s penalty for exceeding the track limits when passing Jenson Button for second place in the closing stages of the German GP.

He was deemed to have left the track and gained an advantage, and was given the equivalent of a drive through penalty.

The penalty puts the German down to fifth place, and leaves the top four as Alonso, Button, Raikkonen and Kobayashi.

Before he got the penalty Vettel had said: “I wasn’t sure where he was, I couldn’t see him, to be honest, at that moment, and then decided to give him enough space and decided to go off line on the slippery paint and still was able to stay ahead.

“I think clearly it’s not an advantage if you try to accelerate the paint rather than on the circuit. As I said the only intention was not to crash and give him enough room.”

The FIA stewards have decided not to take any action against Red Bull after meeting with representatives of the team and Renault.

A report from technical delegate Jo Bauer had noted an engine map irregularity related to off throttle blowing of the diffuser.

In effect the stewards were persuaded that the rule was not written precisely enough so it could not be applied successfully.

The stewards reported: “While the stewards do not accept all the arguments of the team, they however concede that as the regulation is written, the map presented does not breach the text of Art 5.5.3 of the Formula One Technical Regulations and therefore decide to take no further action.”

Red Bull is under investigation by the FIA this morning after technical delegate Jo Bauer reported that he found an engine mapping irregularity.

Rivals confirm that the matter clearly relates to off throttle blowing of the diffuser, which is not permitted this year.

A technical report from Bauer said: “Having examined the engine base torque map of car numbers 01 and 02 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.

“In my opinion this is therefore in breach of Article 5.5.3 of the 2012 F1 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 on TD 036-11.”

The stewards are now considering the matter, who  have the power to cancel the qualifying times of both drivers.

When this writer and a colleague told a surprised Horner of the FIA bulletin he said: “I’m not aware of any irregularities, and the result was declared after qualifying.”

Lewis Hamilton was frustrated to qualify only eighth in Hockenheim after being fastest in Q2 as once again McLaren had a difficult Saturday.

The team lost performance in the switch from intermediate to extreme wet tyres between the two sessions. Hamilton ended up just behind team mate Jenson Button, although both men gain a spot from Mark Webber’s penalty.

“It is a bit of a mystery for us, and I think we’re trying to understand these tyres,” said Hamilton. “At Silverstone the extreme worked really well for us, and we couldn’t work the intermediate. And then this weekend the intermediate was working really well and when we got into the extreme in Q3 for some reason it wasn’t getting any faster, and it was really like driving on ice. Jenson was saying the same thing, we were just sliding.

“You’d go into Turn One and the whole car was just drifting, so [we were] just not working the tyres, keeping the temperature. We asked the engineers and they said the temperatures just drop and we struggle to maintain the temperatures in them. It’s something we need to continue working at, but obviously it doesn’t put us in the best position in Q3. But the car is better.”

Asked to elaborate on how the latest update package has improved the car, Hamilton was optimistic that the race would show the benefits.

“We’ve picked up a little bit of grip, so when we’re driving in the dry the rear end feels a little bit stronger this weekend. But to what extent and how much quicker it is I don’t know, because we haven’t back-to-backed it. But it think tomorrow will be a good test for us. If we’re stronger throughout tomorrow then that should be the main reason.”

World Championship leader Fernando Alonso made it two poles in two races after an impressive performance at a wet Hockenheim.

In the end Alonso set the two fastest times of the day with his last two laps. Although he made it look easy, he insisted it was a tough session.

“I think the problem is that you don’t know the conditions,” said Alonso. “It was similar in Silverstone. You wait five, seven minutes in the garage and then you have completely different grip and completely different standing water in places that you don’t expect.

“So in the out-laps you try to memorise a little bit where the water is and how much to push, to feel a little bit with the car the grip. Then you start opening the lap you go surprise after surprise with the car, having moments everywhere, especially with aquaplaning into Turn Six.

“I think when you have this type of conditions it’s very difficult to put a clean lap together and it’s very easy to finish in the gravel or to finish in the grass, the wall or whatever. So, those type of conditions are a little bit of a survival moment, that you need to finish the qualifying and see afterwards what position you get.

“You try to complete the lap, to avoid any problem, and then whatever the position is, you are happy, because you know you were at the maximum, or you felt that you were at the maximum. So when they tell you, you are on pole, it’s obviously a very happy moment.

“But the race is tomorrow, today was good but we need to concentrate for tomorrow and also look at the sky – because the weather has been so changeable at the moment – yesterday and today – and tomorrow we need to be ready for anything.”

One of the keys to Alonso’s performance today was the decision to pit during Q3 for a fresh set of extreme wets in the search for extra grip in the closing laps.

“I think it was a very good decision in the end, because obviously I didn’t know what timed lap you could do if you kept running but as soon as I put on the second set of tyres, I found a little bit more grip in the car. Also the track was improving obviously, but I think we improved a little bit more thanks to the tyres, not only the track conditions, so I’m happy with the strategy today and I think it was the right call.”

The encouraging thing for both Alonso and his team is that the F2012 has been consistently fast in recent races, in all kinds of circumstances.

“Yeah, the car is performing well in all conditions this weekend, which didn’t always happen: we were quick on inters and not extreme and vice versa, sometimes good on wets and not so competitive on dries but it’s true that this weekend both Felipe and me were happy with the balance of the car and also quite competitive in all conditions, so overall, until now it’s been a very good weekend for us in terms of car performance, but we need to finish the job tomorrow.

“Tomorrow we will try to do our best. Whatever the position will be at the end is difficult to know because we didn’t have enough dry running, I think, to know about degradation, tyre performance etc, because Friday we had some rain in FP1 and this morning in FP3 was not a big preparation for the race either, so tomorrow is a question mark for everybody.

“We will all start the race in the same condition with some things to learn during the race, very open in strategy, very flexible because, as I said, we don’t have enough information from the weekend so far.”

Michael Schumacher will start from third place for the second race running after another strong wet weather performance at Hockenheim.

The former champ only just made it out of the dry Q1 session after being hampered by a car problem, but when it mattered in Q3 he secured fourth place, before gaining  a spot from Mark Webber’s grid penalty.

“We had a little technical issue that we had to solve in Q1, our car wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do,” said Schumacher. “But finally we fixed it and we were able to perform.

“I was just lucky enough to make it, with a tenth of a second, in P17. It was a little bit of a scary moment. In the wet we were always at the top end, just a bit unfortunate that we couldn’t keep that right to the end. We couldn’t get two good laps in at the end. Plus our tyres just started to lose the momentum. Alonso was clever enough to find out about that and change.”

Early in Q3 Schumacher could be heard on the radio saying that conditions were too dangerous, but he said the track improved: “Initially it was probably a little bit over the top, but then it developed very quickly, thanks to no further rain, so it was OK to run. But difficult.”

Asked about his long time reputation as a ‘rainmaster’, Schumacher had an interesting answer: “Look at Malaysia, I thought exactly the same, and I was nowhere! I think it’s a package. If the package is in my hands I can still do reasonably good. I would naturally love to see rain tomorrow, because we’re definitely stronger in rain conditions than we are in the dry, but we have to figure out what we can do in the dry as well.”

Regarding the race, Michael will be happy to hang onto his third place.

“I guess we’ll be very happy if we can keep in that position. It would be beautiful. We predict our strength to be fifth to seventh position, but if we can make a podium, that would be optimum.

“It’s good for the home crowd, good for our supporters. We have so many people coming here to support us, particularly tomorrow we’re going to see a lot more, so it’s a nice way to start the race.”

Maria de Villota has left hospital in the UK and returned to Spain to continue her recovery.

The Marussia test driver was injured in a freak accident at Duxford Airfield some 18 days ago, and the fact that she was able to travel is an indication that she is making good progress.

“Over the course of the past two weeks, Maria has made significant progress,” said the team in a statement. “More comfortable and familiar surroundings, plus the support of her wider family and friends, will undoubtedly provide a more conducive environment in which Maria can commence the next phase of her recovery.

“The Marussia F1 Team have remained in close contact with the medical team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital since Maria’s admittance and would like to express their gratitude for the remarkable care and attention that she has received there.

“The Marussia F1 Team – the staff, race drivers Timo Glock and Charles Pic, and all those associated with the Team – wish Maria well with the next stage of her recovery. The management team will continue to liaise closely with Maria and her family and provide any assistance possible during the coming months.”

Scuderia Toro Rosso technical director Giorgio Ascanelli appears to have left the Italian team, although official confirmation has yet to emerge.

A sheepish team principal Franz Tost said today: “I can only tell you that Giorgio Ascanelli is on holiday and there’s confidentiality between the two parties. That’s all that I can say to this.”

Sources suggest Ascanelli was in dispute with Tost about the level of resources devoted to car development.

The former Ferrari and McLaren engineer was always highly rated by STR drivers, including Sebastian Vettel, who drove for the team in 2007 and 2008.

Although he has been linked with a return to Ferrari the team has denied such a possibility, but given his McLaren history it’s not impossible that he could take a job with a UK-based team.