Unravelling The Chaos Of The German Grand Prix
- Richard Baxter
- Jul 29, 2019
- 3 min read
The German Grand Prix once again gave us a truly phenomenal race.
As I have said before, this part of the season is always my favourite. The historical race circuits such as Hockenheim, along with Silverstone, Spa and Monza always provide us with great racing.
Plus a splash of rain like we had in Germany never fails to spice up the racing.
Sebastian Vettel made amends for last year and stormed through the field to finish 2nd place after starting last. His drive could be considered more impressive than what Hamilton did last year, winning the race after starting 14th. It’s a turn of form at the perfect time for Vettel. He has struggled at various times this season, let’s hope he can kick on from here and gain some further good results.
In contrast Hamilton really struggled during the second half of the race and was lucky to gain some points. He crashed approaching the final corner, and had a further spin where he was lucky he didn’t hit the wall again. There seems to have been a lot of criticism of him already for making a mistake. But let’s be real, there wasn’t one driver in the race who didn’t make a mistake! It was raining and everyone was struggling for grip. Verstappen who won the race even made several mistakes.
Mercedes though for me were the real embarrassment. They don’t often make mistakes so I don’t want to sound too harsh, but their pit stop was shambolic. After Hamilton crashed and came in to the pits he was stationary for 50 seconds. That’s unheard of today! Mercedes having all the fun and messing around dressing up in gear from the past and when it came to it they couldn’t even find any intermediate tires for Hamilton. There was a lot of mechanics just standing around watching. Something that isn’t acceptable for a top team.
Ferrari on the other hand, who have made mistakes in recent times, seemed to nail their strategy. They’re going to need to continue that to really keep up with Ferrari for the rest of the season.
For Verstappen, it was a great result though; he won his second race in three. This has been a great turn of form for Red Bull as well. However they should really be concerned with Gasly having another poor performance. There’s been a lot of gossip as to whether Gasly will be replaced. Personally, I would be surprised if he was still at Red Bull by the time we get to the Belgium Grand Prix. Albon has been driving well in his debut Formula 1 season; Kvyat has also been back on form and gained a well-deserved podium in Germany. I could see Red Bull performing a massive turn around and bringing him back to partner Verstappen.
Verstappen posted a photo on Instagram sitting with Kvyat, with Ricciardo joining them. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more to this post than Red Bull might like to let on.
Hulkenberg however was performing well. But once again when it looked like he was on for a long waited podium he made a mistake and ended up in the same wall as Leclerc and Hamilton. Disappointing for him and his home fans.
Finally, I’d like to finish this blog with Williams. What a result for them. Unexpectedly gaining their first points of the season, thanks to Alfa Romeo’s penalties. And it’s almost a fairy tale story for Robert Kubica, scoring his first points since his return to Formula 1. Let’s hope Williams can get back to where they belong and give their drivers a car to really compete.
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