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FERRARI DOMINANT IN GERMANY WITH A 1-2 WIN
Scuderia Ferrari rebooted its challenge for the World Championship titles with a commanding one-two finish at the weekend’s 67 lap German Grand Prix on Sunday 25 July 2010, lead by Fernando Alonso.
Although it is still third in the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari has closed the gap to second placed Red Bull Racing from 84 to 64 points.
For Fernando Alonso it was the first time since the opening round in Bahrain that he has stood on the top step of the podium.
“This is a very important win, which comes on the back of weeks of hard work from the team, who pushed to make up the ground that separates us from our main rivals,” said Alonso at the race’s end. “Race after race, the improvements applied to the F10 have proved to be effective, thus making the car more competitive. I am very happy, because winning with Ferrari is a very special feeling.”
Right from the start Ferrari launch an assault on the Championship leaders.
“At the start I was pushed right up against the wall by Vettel, whose only thought was to close me down, while Felipe made the most of it to go past both of us,” explained Alonso. “Then, I tried to stay close all the time to my team-mate and when he had some difficulties, I got past: I am sure that Felipe was thinking above all of the good of the team and that it was pointless to take risks when we had Vettel catching us up. There is no point in doing the sums for the championship now. We have shown what our package can do in a normal race and we must simply continue to work, trying to always pick up the maximum number of points. As I have always said, the final tally will come in Abu Dhabi.”
Felipe Massa finished second, also reprising his Bahrain result after Alonso overtook him on lap 45 in what appeared to the stewards of the event as a result of team orders.
“A driver always wants to win, so I cannot be completely happy with second place,” explained Massa. “I know that this year, the team has lost too many points in previous races and today it was important to do the maximum. We drivers have to first of all think of the interests of the team and that is what I showed again today. In my opinion this was not a case of team orders: my engineer kept me constantly informed on what was going on behind me, especially when I was struggling a bit on the hard tyres: so I decided to do the best thing for the team, and a one-two finish is the best possible result, isn’t it?
Apart from the final result, Massa was happy with the race.
“I got a great start, the best of the season,” he said after the German event.“At the start, on the soft tyres I was going very quickly but then, with the hards, I was unable to run at an ideal pace. I think today I proved that when everything is in order, I am a winning driver. It would have been nice to stand on a higher step on the podium but all the same, I want to dedicate this result to Fernando Marins, a relation of mine, who passed away at the start of this week.”
Joining them on the podium was the Red Bull of pole man Sebastian Vettel, demonstrating how Ferrari had beaten the fastest cars of the 2010 season.
When the red lights went out, Fernando edged alongside Vettel and as the German tried to defend his position, Felipe, having started behind him in third place, managed to get the best line into the first corner to go into the lead, followed by his team-mate and Vettel. They were followed by Hamilton, Webber, Button, Kubica, Schumacher, Rosberg, with Kobayashi tenth. The majority of the field had started on the softer tyre, so the one planned pit stop came early on, with Button staying out longest to lead for a while. Fernando changed to the hard tyre on lap 13 and Felipe pitted one lap later. However, the run of pit stops did little to change the order, and the two Ferrari men had a great fight, nearly touching when the Spaniard tried to pass the Brazilian on lap 21, one lap before Button finally pitted to hand the lead back to Felipe. The two Ferrari men traded fastest laps, with the gap fluctuating around the one second mark, with Vettel always in close attendance.
As has often been the case this season, Felipe had been very quick on the soft tyres but was struggling a bit on the hard ones and, clearly faster, Fernando passed his team-mate on lap 45. From then on, the two Ferrari men controlled the pace, even if Vettel was closing on Felipe rapidly, setting the fastest race lap on the very last lap. Helping maintain their lead in both championships, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button came home in fourth and fifth places. The rest of the points places down to tenth went to Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Schumacher and Petrov. Now the circus moves to Hungary for the next race in just seven days time, where the much improved level of performance of the F10 means that Scuderia Ferrari will once again be hoping to challenge for the top places.
“First and foremost, I want to congratulate the team on this fantastic result, which is down to all the work undertaken with so much effort, ability and passion by everyone, both at the track and in Maranello, day after day,” said Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari Team Director. “Already, over the past few races, we have seen that the performance level of our car has improved and finally today, we reaped the rewards. The congratulations mentioned earlier should also extend to our drivers who drove a great race. Both Felipe and Fernando got very good starts, with the Spaniard squeezed in a very decisive fashion by Vettel and the Brazilian making the most of the space that created ahead of him. Then came a long three way fight to the chequered flag, with Felipe very quick on the softer tyres while he struggled a bit on the hards, which meant that Fernando was at first able to close right up on him and then take the lead when his team-mate decided it was best not to create a risky situation, given that right behind them, Vettel was fighting back. The situation in both championships is still complicated, but this result is further motivation for the coming races: we firmly believe in our chances of reaching the targets we had at the start of the season.”
After the Grand Prix race stewards imposed at fine on Ferrari, but allowed the result to stand, for appearing to tell Massa to allow Alonso to over take him, in contravention of the ban on team orders.
As for the Stewards’ decision, given after the race, in the interests of the sport, we have decided not to go through a procedure of appealing against it, confident that the World Council will know how to evaluate the overall facts correctly,” said Domenicali.”
2010 German Grand Prix – Race Results
1. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 67laps 1hr 27m 38.864s
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 04.1s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 05.1s
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 26.8s
5. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 29.4s
6. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 43.6s
7. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault +1 lap
8. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
9. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault +1 lap
11. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
12. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
13. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
14. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
15. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes +2 laps
17. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +2 laps
18. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth +3 laps
19. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth +4 laps
Rtd Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 56 laps completed
Rtd Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 50 laps completed
Rtd Sakon Yamamoto Japan HRT-Cosworth 19 laps completed
Rtd Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 3 laps completed
Rtd Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps completed
Fastest lap:
Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.824s lap 67
F1 DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 (after round 11 of 19)
POSITION / DRIVER / TEAM / POINTS1 / Lewis Hamilton / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 157
2 / Jenson Button / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 143
3 / Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull Racing / 136
= / Mark Webber / Red Bull Racing / 136
5 / Fernando Alonso / Scuderia Ferrari / 123
6 / Nico Rosberg / Mercedes GP Petronas / 94
7 / Robert Kubica / Renault F1 Team / 89
8 / Felipe Massa / Scuderia Ferrari / 85
9 / Michael Schumacher / Mercedes GP Petronas / 38
10 / Adrian Sutil / Force India F1 Team / 35
11 / Rubens Barrichello / AT&T Williams / 29
12 / Kamui Kobayashi / Sauber / 15
13 / Vitantonio Liuzzi / Force India F1 Team / 12
14 / Sebastien Buemi / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 7
= / Vitaly Petrov / Renault F1 Team / 7
16 / Jaime Alguersuari / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 3
17 / Nico Hulkenberg / AT&T Williams / 2
18 / Jarno Trulli / Lotus F1 Racing / 0
= / Heikki Kovalainen / Lotus F1 Racing / 0
= / Karun Chandhok / Hispania Racing Team / 0
= / Bruno Senna / Hispania Racing Team / 0
= / Timo Glock / Virgin Racing / 0
= / Lucas di Grassi / Virgin Racing / 0
= / Pedro de la Rosa / Sauber / 0
F1 CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 (after round 11 of 19)
POSITION / TEAM / POINTS1 / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 300
2 / Red Bull Racing / 272
3 / Scuderia Ferrari / 208
4 / Mercedes GP Petronas / 132
5 / Renault F1 Team / 96
6 / Force India F1 Team / 47
7 / AT&T Williams / 31
8 / Sauber / 15
9 / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 10
10 / Lotus F1 Racing / 0
= / Hispania Racing Team / 0
= / Virgin Racing / 0
The F1 2010 Calendar
DATES / GRAND PRIX / Ferrari PositionsMar 14 / Bahrain, Sakhir / Alonso:1st / Massa: 2nd
Mar 28 / Australia, Melbourne / Massa: 3rd / Alonso: 4th
Apr 04 / Malaysia, Kuala Lumpar / Massa: 7th / Alonso: DNF
Apr 18 / China, Shanghai / Alonso 4th / Massa 9th
May 09 / Spain, Catalunya / Alonso 2nd / Massa 6th
May 16 / Monaco, Monte Carlo / Massa 4th / Alonso 6th
May 30 / Turkey, Istanbul / Massa 7th / Alonso 8th
Jun 13 / Canada, Montreal / Alonso 3rd / Massa 15th
Jun 27 / Europe, Valencia / Alonso 8th / Massa 11th
Jul 11 / Britain, Silverstone / Alonso 14th / Massa 15th
Jul 25 / Germany, Hockenheim / Alonso 1st / Massa 2nd
Aug 01 / Hungary, Budapest
Aug 29 / Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps
Sep 12 / Italy, Monza
Sep 26 / Singapore, Singapore
Oct 10 / Japan, Suzuka
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Release Number: Ferrari_476
Date of Issue: 8 December 2018. Time of Issue: 20:13:16