Adam Cooper F1

Sebastian Vettel remains confident that the Red Bull RB8’s form will not be compromised by an FIA clampdown on engine mapping.

After his team escaped sanction in Hockenheim the governing body has sought to clarify the regulations which its own stewards had deemed to be not precise enough.

Technical delegate Jo Bauer had declared that the cars were contravening the restrictions on blowing of the diffuser.

“Obviously there’s a lot of talk,” said Vettel. “There has been some talk Saturday night and Sunday, which obviously wasn’t nice for us in terms of race preparation, if you only know roughly an hour before the race what’s going to happen.

“It was good for us to start from the grid, but it was also clear that probably it was not the last action to be taken. But to be honest there is more of a fuss in writing and talking than mapping in the car.”

Vettel declined to quantify any potential loss of form: “Obviously what we had in the car in Hockenheim was what we decided to race and go for, because we believed it was quickest. It’s a little bit different for here. It’s hard to express, it’s hard to give you two-tenths, half a tenth, nothing. We can’t measure it either.”

Sebastian Vettel has no regrets about the disputed passing move on Jenson Button in Germany which saw him demoted to fifth place by a Penalty.

“I think I said everything on Sunday, the only thing I wanted to do was avoid an accident,” said Vettel in Hungary today. “Surely if there would have been gravel I would not have gone in the gravel. I did what I did and nothing has changed.

“Whatever happened, happened. I’m not in Hockenheim, I’m in Hungary and looking forward to this race.”

He did concede that he would have liked to have been warned that he ought to drop back behind Button.

“Obviously it would help to get feedback from the race direction as soon as possible in that case, or from the team, if we could get any idea from the outside it would probably help. As I said for me it was fine, that’s why I did it. In the end it wasn’t fine, and that’s why we get the penalty.

“It’s a bit of a shame. I think we should go out and race, that’s what the people want to see, why the people decide to come here, come to the races, and come to see F1. If we overtake sometimes things happen, sometimes people crash.

“Fair enough, nobody wants to crash, but these things happen. If we would all just follow each other then… Whatever we do seems to be wrong sometimes. We just have to do what we do, sometimes people like it, sometimes they don’t.”

Asked about his post-race comments on Lewis Hamilton’s unlapping move in Germany, when he said “it’s a bit stupid to disturb the leaders,” Vettel implied that he’d been misinterpreted.

“I think if I say after the race that I thought it was unnecessary, then it gets put and quoted that I said he’s stupid, it’s quite disappointing. Sometimes I have a mouth, I say a couple of words, you have ears, sometimes in that’s process it seems that mistakes happen.

“If you look at the rules I think it’s clear you are allowed to do that, I said it was unnecessary. Obviously I was hunting Fernando, it was a couple of laps to the stop. It didn’t help me, it probably helped Jenson. That’s racing. I’m not complaining, I said it was unnecessary from a racing point of view to distract the leaders, no matter who it was, and that’s it.”

Massa had another frustrating day in Germany. Photo: AC

Felipe Massa’s difficult season continued in Germany when he qualified only 14th in the wet and then lost his front wing after running into the back of Daniel Ricciardo before the first corner.

The subsequent pit stop dropped him almost to the back – ahead of only fellow delayed stragglers Grosjean, Senna and Hamilton – although he eventually climbed back to 12th place.

Although that was a respectable recovery job he was 38s behind winner and team mate Alonso immediately after his wing change, and some 71s behind at the flag. While clearly Alonso was going flat out in his quest to win the race, that time loss was not insignificant.

Massa has scored only 23 points in 2012, over half of them coming from his fourth place in Silverstone, compared to the 154 of Alonso.

“It was a very disappointing race for the start,” said Massa. “I did a good start and then there was a Toro Rosso on front and suddenly he just braked – not braked but he slowed down in front of me. It was not normal, but maybe there was a car in front, or I don’t know.

“I went left, but there was not enough time, and I just touched my front wing on his left rear wheel. It destroyed completely my race, because I did a very slow lap, and then I stopped, changing the front wing it takes also a lot of time.”

Despite his frustrations, the Brazilian said he was pleased with the overall pace during the weekend.

“I think it was good, I think the car was competitive, so lap times the pace was good and consistent.

“I think we’re doing a good direction in terms of the step with the car, and I think that’s very positive. I’m very happy for Fernando, who won again, and I’m just concentrating for the next race.”

Webber contemplates his prospects before the start in Germany

Just a fortnight after his superb win at Silverstone Mark Webber endured a difficult German GP, starting eighth after his gearbox penalty and finishing in exactly the same spot 67 laps later, having lost out to both Saubers alomng the way.

Webber was at a loss to explain why he could not get any speed out of his RB8 in race conditions.

“I wasn’t quick at any stage in the race, I was just hanging on,” he said. “We need to look into why we weren’t quick today. Ultimately we expected to get more out of it for sure, after the first lap. The first lap wasn’t too bad, I got Lewis, and after that it was just hanging on. I had nothing to fight with today.

“It wasn’t very special at all, I couldn’t keep a solid pace at all. Obviously I was a little bit held up in the first stint, but after that I wasn’t strong enough at any point in the race to put up a serious challenge for a decent amount of points. It’s bizarre to have a lot of races [where you are] very competitive, and then you finish one 40 seconds away from leaders.

Asked why things were so different from Silverstone, Webber said: “A completely different track, obviously a different situation. We have to be quick in all conditions and today we weren’t for whatever reason, I don’t know why.”

Meanwhile Christian Horner said: “I don’t think Mark was totally happy with the balance of his car on the harder tyre today, on the soft tyre it looked in pretty reasonable shape. I think the lack of running on Friday definitely compromised things.”

Martin Whitmarsh says that both McLaren drivers are still in the championship fight, despite them dropping down the order over recent races and losing ground to Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull drivers.

The update package introduced in Germany clearly brought some speed to the car, and Whitmarsh hopes the trend can continue.

“We’re at the half way point and we’ve got a lot of racing ahead of us, and they can both do it,” he said. “This season is going to go right to the very end. I believe that we’ll be sat on the edge of our seats in the last few laps of the Brazilian GP, and I hope I’m in deep agony on those last few laps, because it means we’re in contention to win!

“Fernando is doing a great job, and so are Ferrari. They are difficult to beat, but it’s doable. We’re a motor racing team, and we are fighters. We are a great motor racing team and what we’ve got to do is just concentrate now race by race on trying to win and maximise points, and see if we can erode that situation.”

Whitmarsh was pleased with the updates that improved the car for Germany, but says there is no time to relax: “It’s good enough at the moment, but we’ve got half the season to go. The onus is on us to keep developing it. We’ve got a reasonable amount of momentum in the system at the moment, so we will be making the car quicker. Sadly our competitors will be trying to respond as well. I think that’s what makes motor racing and F1 in particular as exciting as it is.

“We’re on the pace anyway now. We’ve got to keep the faith, keep focussed, and not make mistakes. Both our drivers are capable of winning races and they are both still capable of winning this year’s World Championship.”

Whitmarsh also had some interesting views on the Red Bull engine mapping controversy.

“In fairness I can give you an emotional reaction, but I can’t give you an informed reaction because I don’t have the data. I can speculate, and there’s been a lot of speculation about what they’re doing, and it would be wrong for me to comment on that, but I think it’s clear that the Technical Working Group [on Monday] will be a good opportunity.

“If now it is a decision that you are allowed to do that then everyone is going to spend a lot of money to be running that sort of map and will be doing it as quickly as you can. If that’s what it’s got to be it’s got to be. Clearly the FIA is frustrated by it, so I think it will be better for there to be clarity and to stop doing it in the future.”

Christian Horner remains optimistic about Red Bull’s chances of catching Fernando Alonso, despite the Spaniard’s continued high scoring rate.

“The second half of the year is going to be again full on,” said Horner after the German GP. “I think there’s going to be a lot of good racing. Fernando’s finished all the races in the points, he’s won three races now, he’s got a 34 point lead.

“But that isn’t insurmountable with 25 points for a win. It’s important that we get both of our guys regularly beating him. We’ve got an opportunity hopefully next weekend in Hungary.

“He’s been driving incredibly well, he’s hit a purple patch of form at this point of the year. But we’ll be looking to put as much pressure as we can on in the second half of the year, which obviously starts next weekend. He’s driving very well, the car is obviously come on in leaps and bounds, but there’s an awful lot of racing to be done between now and the chequered flag in Brazil.”

Horner says that McLaren cannot be discounted: “I don’t think you can write-off anybody in this championship. People were saying Jenson’s had a bad run, he drove a great race today.

“I think it would be unwise to write off any of the top six guys at the moment, because things can change and change rapidly, it only takes a couple of DNFs for Fernando or any of the front guys and the picture can change very quickly if you string together a bit of form.”

Ferrari boss Stefano Domencali agrees with Fernando Alonso’s assertion that the team still doesn’t have the fastest car – despite the Spaniard’s healthy championship lead.

Domenicali stressed that Ferrari cannot afford to fall behind in the development race, given the close nature of the championship.

“It’s true, that’s what I said in Silverstone,” he said. “I believe we still don’t have the fastest car, if we had the fastest car maybe it would be easier to win. We need to improve the car, and we need to make sure our car is good in all the different conditions, wet/dry, different kinds of tyres, and so on.

“For sure it’s such a tight championship you need to make sure you develop the car race by race, otherwise you will lose points – you will lose because the competition is so strong. If you think that today the first three cars were in 2-3 seconds, or whatever it is, it’s nothing.

“I respect all the competitors, because we may have two difficult races, and then with such a close gap, everything is possible. I don’t want to underestimate anyone in the first five or six, because I want to make sure we are able to focus on maximising what we are able to do.”

Meanwhile Domenicali was full of praise for Alonso after his third win of the season.

“I think that considering it was 67 qualifying laps, he’s at the peak of his personal performance, no doubt about it. He has a great momentum. We need to try to keep this momentum as long as possible, I would say up to the end of November, and the first of December he can do whatever he wants.”

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.”