Sunday: Ferrari and Alonso better than the Red Bull
Contested under rather autumnal weather, the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring perfectly suited Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in particular, to whom victory could have gone. Felipe Massa was once again a victim of bad luck and only secured the fifth position.
Fernando Alonso – 2nd
« After a second-place finish like this, it’s easy to say it could have been better, but I’m still very happy. We need to improve in qualifying because we have a very good race pace, there’s no doubt about that. Everything went well today: the start, the stops, and the strategy. We’re still missing something on Saturdays because yesterday we were three or four tenths off, but I’m sure we can improve in that area. Today, Hamilton was faster so kudos to him and his team: when I was behind him, I pushed as hard as I could, but I wasn’t close enough. Even though I came out ahead of him after the second stop, I had absolutely no grip, and he passed me on the outside: immediately, he built a lead of a few seconds. Today, we were clearly superior to the Red Bulls in terms of performance and that’s important, especially when you consider where we were at the start of the season. That doesn’t mean it will be the same in the next races, but the situation is normalizing. The standings? I don’t look at them, but if there is a chance, it’s important to always finish on the podium and hope that Vettel isn’t there. I stopped the car because the team asked me to cut the engine, and luckily, Mark was next to me and stopped to give me a lift back. I don’t know how he knew I had shut off the engine; maybe he has a radio link with my engineer! »
Felipe Massa – 5th
« It was a good race, in which I competed with Vettel for many laps. It’s a shame we lost time at the start behind Rosberg: the Mercedes is one of the most difficult cars to overtake because it’s very fast on the straights. The DRS wasn’t much help here, to the point that I overtook him, like Vettel, during braking at turn #1 where the movable wing isn’t usable. Obviously, I would have preferred to stay ahead of the reigning Champion until the end, but during the last pit stop, there was a nut problem on the left rear wheel which cost me a few seconds: these things happen and complaining won’t change anything. Now, we’re going to Budapest: we’ll have the softest tires there and we can hope for more summer-like weather, which will be beneficial for us. We must continue on this path ».
Stefano Domenicali, team principal
A positive result for the team at the end of a great race that was very exciting. The weather was the worst possible for us, and to have still fought for victory until the end is significant. We are working in the right direction and must continue like this, while being aware that we still need to raise our performance level. I’m sorry for Felipe, who lost a place during the last stop: these things happen, as we have seen often this season. Now, there will be a few hours’ break to take a breath before immediately heading to Budapest, where we want to confirm all the progress we’ve seen. It’s no coincidence that Fernando has scored more points in the last three races than any other driver, and the team has done its best during the last two. This means that we are working as hard as possible and believe in what we are doing, without letting up on our efforts.
