Germany: The Race Seen from the Pits

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Winner

Mark Webber – 7th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « The most important thing is that the cameraman who was hit by the tire is not suffering from life-threatening injuries. It’s a reminder of the dangers of the pit lane. Everyone reacted incredibly quickly and the most important thing is knowing that he seems to be doing well. As for the race, for all drivers winning their home Grand Prix, it’s something really special, and despite the disappointment of missing out on victory last week at Silverstone, Sebastian drove flawlessly today, and he can be proud of what he achieved in his home Grand Prix in front of his fans and fellow countrymen. It’s a good result and very positive for the championship. As for Mark, it was a good recovery; he got back on the lead lap thanks to the safety car and fought for points. It’s really unfortunate not to have both cars at the front today, but credit goes to Mark for his determined race. We need to understand what went wrong during Mark’s pit stop, but as I said, our main concern today was to ensure the cameraman was okay. »

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Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 2nd

Romain Grosjean – 3rd

Eric Boullier, Team Director: « It was a very good race for the team that validated all the hard work that has been done behind the scenes at Enstone, so we thank everyone at the factory for their efforts. After three difficult weekends, being on the podium is exactly what we needed. We must continue like this to gain ground in both championships. The E21 worked very well today and Kimi and Romain drove very well. We had a good strategy from the pit wall, made very good pit stops, and had we not lost time behind the two Mercedes, it would have been possible for us to win today. I think we will ask Pirelli to keep the types of tires used this weekend for the rest of the season. »

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 4th

Felipe Massa – Abandon

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: Given the current state of the championship, I think today’s result was the best we could achieve, and I don’t think the strategy had such a big impact on the race result. Wanting to see the glass half full, the points we took today at this point in the season are very important. The changing temperatures we saw today produced different levels of performance. These changes further confirm how difficult it is for everyone to interpret the true competitiveness of the car package on each track. Looking ahead, it is now vital for us to optimize the performance of our car, just as our rivals have managed to do, so that we can be in a position to fight for the best places as soon as possible. In Hungary, we will have different tires and it will be important to understand their behavior with the Silverstone tests, in two weeks. At the same time, we will try to modify the pace of our development work, an area we need to work hard on.

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Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – 5th

Nico Rosberg – 9th

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: « Our first thoughts today are with the cameraman who was struck by an errant wheel in the pit lane. Fortunately, it seems he hasn’t suffered any serious injuries, but it once again reminds us of the dangers of our sport and highlights the need for constant vigilance in terms of safety. It was a race in two parts for us today. In the first part, we again placed too much strain on the tires—particularly on the mediums, and our performance dropped, as did our result. After that, when the temperatures cooled down a bit, both of our drivers had a respectable pace and were able to fight to climb back up. Lewis and Nico both pushed until the last lap and were rewarded for their commitment and determination. At one point, it didn’t seem like we were going to bring much home this afternoon, but it’s satisfying to have been able to take twelve points today. We always said there was still a question mark over our performance in these hot conditions, and today’s race showed us that we still have work to do. We’ve made great strides forward since Bahrain and Barcelona, where we particularly struggled with very hot track temperatures, and our performances have improved well compared to those races. But we haven’t done enough yet to convert our Saturday pace into enough speed to win races in all conditions on Sunday. The three-week break before Hungary will give us the opportunity to think about how we can make further progress in our tire management as well as improve the pure performance of our car. »

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McLaren

Jenson Button – 6th

Sergio Pérez – 8th

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Director: « Our two drivers did a superb job this afternoon. They managed to reach the limits of the tires, attacked when necessary, and were always able to push the car to the maximum. It’s just a shame that both lost a position in the last lap. It was a bit frustrating: we had a lot of traffic at the end, and Jenson lost a few seconds at a crucial moment in the race. This allowed Lewis (Hamilton) to catch up to him faster than expected and gain a position that we could have otherwise maintained.

The whole team did an extremely good job today. Our strategy was perfectly managed, our pit stops went without a hitch, and the engineers maximized the car’s pace. We had a good race but we are still not where we want to be, even though there are positive takeaways from today. We will work hard during the three-week break before Hungary and will look to capitalize on the momentum we gained this weekend.

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Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg – 10th

Esteban Gutiérrez – 14th

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: A point is not exactly what we hoped for after a solid qualifying [Editor’s Note: Hülkenberg started 10th without running in Q3, and Gutiérrez 14th]. Nevertheless, we are heading into the test session at Silverstone and the next Grand Prix with confidence. We have been able to improve, especially in qualifying, and want to continue this way. Nico delivered a very good performance. The final stint was particularly exciting. Of course, we are not where we would like to be, but we have taken a step in the right direction.

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Force India

Paul di Resta – 11th

Adrian Sutil – 13th

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Director: It’s disappointing to see our series of points finishes come to an end [Editor’s note: seven, from Shanghai to Silverstone], but Paul was really very close to securing the last available point today. Ultimately, our two-stop strategy was not enough to hold off our competitors in the final laps, but we were very close to achieving it. Adrian’s race was also dictated by tire wear as we had to switch from a two-stop strategy to a three-stop race during the Grand Prix. Overall, we lacked a bit of performance and didn’t have the pace to make our strategy work. Both Adrian and Paul couldn’t overtake Maldonado’s Williams after the Safety Car, which compromised our strategy. With three weeks before the next race and a young driver test session beforehand, we will work hard to regain the form we demonstrated earlier in the season. [Editor’s note: after the race, the stewards fined the team €5,000 for releasing Di Resta from the pits just in front of Vergne, who was also coming in.]

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Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – 12th

Jean-Eric Vergne – Retirement

Franz Tost, Team Principal: Naturally, it is disappointing that we didn’t score any points this weekend, especially after Daniel secured 6th place on the grid. While retirements are very rare in Formula 1 these days, it is particularly frustrating to call Jean-Eric in to retire at the pits due to a hydraulic issue. We didn’t have the necessary pace today, and Daniel did what he could by battling with the Sauber and the Force India, finishing ahead of one car from each of these teams, but we weren’t fast enough to chase the McLaren, who were stronger today. For these reasons, we ended up outside of the points. As for our strategy, it was clear that three stops would be made by the majority of the field. We knew this weekend would be more difficult for us since the track does not suit the characteristics of our car. However, we have planned some improvements for Hungary and before that, we have two weeks to try to find new upgrades for our car.

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Williams

Pastor Maldonado – 15th

Valtteri Bottas – 16th

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: « We started the race on medium tires, and since all our direct competitors around us were on soft tires, we had the opportunity to build an offset strategy allowing us to gain positions. We planned a two-stop race for both our drivers and implemented the strategy well. Stopping before the safety car was also an advantage for us. Our drivers had a clean race and managed their tires well, but we lost a lot of time in the pits. We had an issue with the front-right wheel on each of our cars, as well as with Valtteri’s left-rear wheel during his last stop, which prevented our drivers from finishing in the positions they deserved. We are investigating this incident to ensure it doesn’t happen again in the future. Overall, our strategy, the higher-than-expected temperatures, and our tire management would have allowed us to fight for the top ten. »

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Caterham

Charles Pic – 17th

Giedo van der Garde – 18th

Caterham has not released statements from the team’s representatives.

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Marussia

Max Chilton – 19th

Jules Bianchi – Retirement

John Booth, Team Director: « It’s an incredibly disappointing result for our team today, but perhaps once digested, it will seem more favorable to us. It’s clear we had more potential and the unfortunate engine problem for Jules meant it was impossible for us to beat our closest competitors. We don’t yet know the cause, but I know that working with Cosworth tonight will allow us to see what caused the issue. It was pleasing today to see Max run at the same pace as Jules and the Caterhams throughout the race, only losing out because of a bit of oversteer, which meant his rear tires suffered considerably later in the stint. We are now moving forward with the young driver tests and then the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks. »

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