F1 Nurburgring Race Results & Report: Hamilton Pushes to the Win, Vettel 4th

What Happens When We Don’t Need Rain for a Good Race

9:54am EST — Lewis Hamilton won the 2011 German Grand Prix, a race marked by close fighting amongst the leaders and well through the field, despite a lack of rain. Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber completed the hard-fought podium, in a race were the lead changed not just from pit stops but actual on-track passing. After the final pit stops, Hamilton took the lead he lost in a fast stop by Ferrari back decisively, pushing Alonso out of the way. Webber had no chance to fight for anything higher than third after Red Bull kept him out a long time on degrading softs in the final few laps. On the other side of the garage, a last lap pit stop allowed Sebastian Vettel to take fourth from Felipe Massa as the Red Bull boys got the German out ahead of Massa.

Webber (1:30.079) started the race on pole after holding off a stunning late fast lap from Hamilton, who started on the front row after a weekend of disappointing times. Vettel was next to Alonso on the second row, the first time the German started a race in the 2011 season off the front row. Saturday’s qualifying was one of the most exciting of the season, with surprising drivers in the knockout zone during each of the sessions, only to haul themselves forward with late fast laps.

Alonso was the first man to go quickest during the Friday morning practice, only to be displaced by Webber that afternoon, then Vettel on Saturday morning. All three practice sessions saw multiple drivers slide through the gravel traps and work on their rallying skills, though only Buemi on Friday and Chandhok on Saturday had any problems in getting back out of the kitty litter. Saturday was an even worse day for Buemi, after he was excluded from qualifying for mis-matched fuel samples over the course of the weekend. He will start from the back of the grid, next to Tonio Liuzzi, who was given a five-place grid penalty for a Friday gearbox change.

It began to rain lightly about ten minutes before the race start, becoming more heavy as the start time approached. All drivers started on dry tires, with Hamilton taking the lead from Webber as Vettel got pushed between a weaving and diving Alonso and Massa, with the Spaniard taking third position. Massa had the better start of the Ferraris, but his push toward Vettel distracted the German and allowed ALonso to push through. di Resta and Heidfeld had a moment together, but both continued on in the rear of the field. At the end of the first lap, Hamilton led Webber by over a second, with Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg, Massa, Sutil, Petrov, Schumahcer, and Button the top ten. However, Alonso soon had a moment, losing the rear end and allowing Vettel to capitalize and take third. Hamilton was off at the front, nearly two seconds ahead of Webber.

F1 Nurburgring Quali Results & Report: Webber Dominates to Pole for the German GP

What Happens When It’s Stil RB All the Way

9:17am EST — Mark Webber (1:30.079) put his stamp on winning pole position for the 2011 German Grand Prix, beating out Lewis Hamilton, teammate Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Felipe Massa in a nail-biting final minutes of qualifying on Saturday. Though Webber took an early lead, going a half second faster than the rest of the field, Hamilton ended the session with a stunning lap to come less than a tenth off the Australian’s pace. Alonso looked quick most of the weekend, but simply did not quite have the final tenths to catch the Red Bulls, even a surprisingly slower Vettel who will start third at home. Jenson Button, who will start seventh, was unhappy after qualifying, considering how he had “felt comfortable” during the morning’s practice.

Though the Red Bulls led two of the three practice sessions, Ferrari looked to be continuing its quick pace from Silverstone. Vettel (1:30.916 posted the quickest lap of the weekend in Saturday morning’s final practice, but it was Alonso (1:31.894) who set the first quick lap Friday morning and Webber (1:31.711) quickest Friday afternoon. Also interesting, Alonso did not bother to set the second faster lap on his soft tires in the final practice, leading many to suspect that the Spaniard might just have the pace to break the Red Bull pole streak, so long as the threatening rain does not fall during qualifying. Though McLaren looked to be well off the pace on Friday, both Hamilton and Button improved Saturday. Many drivers had minor off-track excursions through a gravel trap on Friday as the cool track rubbered in, but Saturday was relatively uneventful. Tonio Liuzzi will suffer a five place gird penalty after changing his gearbox on Friday.

Q1:
The first of three qualifying shootouts began under partially cloudy skies, with no rain forecast for the twenty minutes of Q1 on a cool circuit. Virgin Racing was the first team out, followed by Ricciardo for HRT as the lights went out. Massa was the first of the faster teams to leave, moments later, on the harder tire. He was soon followed by Webber and half the field. Just three minutes in, all but Petov, Kobayashi, Perez, and Buemi were out of the garage. With so many cars on track, the first times came furiously, with Schumacher (1:35.368) taking an early lead, five minutes into the session. He was followed by Heidfeld, Webber, Hamilton, and Sutil as the top five.

Soon, though, Webber was on top, followed by Algersuari, only to be displaced at the top by Hamilton, despite the Briton’s being balked in the final corner. Only Petrov, Kobayashi, and Perez had yet to leave pit lane with eleven minutes remaining, as Hamilton (1:32.934) led Vettel, Alonso, Button, Webber, Massa, Alguersuari, Buemi, Rosberg, and Schumacher the top ten. D’Ambrosio, Liuzzi, Chandhok, and Ricciardo joined those without times in the relegation zone.