AQSA'S PODIUM

Ladies and gents, the moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived; I am about to announce my top 3 drivers for the German Grand Prix.

3. Fernando Alonso

Hold the front page, I've put the race winner third! Alonso did have a great race after starting from pole; wet conditions seem to favour the Ferrari in Qualifying. He also had to defend during the race against Vettel and Button (and even Hamilton) as they tried to take his lead with no avail.

2. Jenson Button

I don't want to jinx him but... JENSON'S BACK (for now). Let's all hope that the McLaren driver's worries are over because Germany proved how enjoyable it can be to see him challenging at the front.

1. Sergio Perez

Perez had a poor Qualifying that was worsened by a 5-place grid penalty. But he wasn't going to let that stop him... He eventually finished in sixth from seventeenth on the grid and enjoyed some great overtakes to get there. He may have finished behind his teammate Kamui Kobayashi but the young Mexican was still my driver of the day.

Do you agree with my choices? Comment below or tweet me with who your top 3 drivers were...

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

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F1 MOMENTS #3

My chosen image for Setting the Scene; Germany could easily double as my pick for the best moment of the Grand Prix as well but it isn't. My choice does, however, involve both Vettel and Button.

In my opinion, that tense moment of the race when you near the edge of your seat, clench your fists and wait anxiously to find out what the outcome of a particular move will be had to be after Sebastian Vettel went into the pit lane for his second stop of the day. Jenson Button had already been closing in on him, Lewis had held him up whilst trying unlap himself and McLaren delivered a lightning-fast pit stop. Vettel came out of the pit lane and he and Jenson were neck and neck but Button had the momentum and he had gotten his tyres working so he was able to pass Vettel before they went into the next corner. That moment was crucial in the outcome of the race. These two would certainly have a battle for second and Alonso was able to pull away and go on to win the race. 

Depending on who you support your reaction to this moment would have been either jumping for joy and punching the air or squealing with anxiety at what may be lost. 

This has just been a short and sweet post as the moment of the race, for me, lasted almost a split second! Do you agree with my choice? What would yours be? You know what to do...

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

SETTING THE SCENE.

This is the feature where I choose one picture to sum up the weekend's race so when I go about choosing I try to think about what stands out to me/ what immediately comes to mind when I think about the Grand Prix. Well there is one word that jumps out when I think of Germany; penalties! There were several after Qualifying and then one rather prominent one during the race.

Sebastian's overtake on Jenson and the subsequent penalty given to him were the biggest talking points after the race and I'm sure we'll still be talking about it when we get to Hungary.

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

ALONSO ÜBER ALLES

Fernando Alonso followed up his pole position from Saturday to win the German Grand Prix; making it his third victory of the season and, critically, extending his lead in the world championship. I said before the race that this weekend would be crucial in the way the championship eventually plays out and Alonso made sure that his was the name we would all be choosing as the firm favourite. He now holds a 34-point lead over Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel is a further 10 behind.

Running the same strategy as his rivals this weekend, as opposed to Silverstone when Ferrari went a different way and Alonso lost the lead in the closing stages of the race, meant that he had a better chance of taking the win. His lead was threatened at times by Vettel and Jenson Button. Button challenging the leader; there's something we haven't seen in a while! Despite the attempts at snatching his lead, Alonso defended well and no one was able to pass him; not even with the use of DRS and around the hairpin, a place Jenson had already completed several overtakes to get himself up to 3rd. Alonso's experience in F1 is showing; he knows who his main rivals are and focuses strategy and his race around beating them! He has a comfortable lead in the standings, he has a car capable of pole and race wins, he's feeling confident; can anyone stop Alonso now?

The battle for the remaining two podium spots was full of drama! During the middle stint Jenson has been closing in on Vettel but didn't seem to be able to get close enough to make a pass or overtake. Their tyres were degrading at a similar rate and they were evenly matched in terms of speed. Jenson's lapped teammate then joined in with the fun as he tried to unlap himself by passing Vettel. Sebastian allowed him to do with relative ease around the hairpin but as he tried to make his way past the back marker, which Lewis was then, Hamilton drove defensively thus holding Vettel up and allowing Jenson to get very close. The McLaren driver then headed into the pits where his team completed a stunning 2.4 second pit stop... Something that certainly helped their chances of taking 2nd. When Vettel emerged from the pits a lap later, after an average 3.4 second stop, Jenson was able to cruise past the German and claim second place. He was undoubtedly helped by his teammate and everyone will have different opinions on whether what Lewis did was right or wrong. All I'll say is if that was a HRT/Caterham/Marussia or even Sebastian doing that move on Lewis I'm sure a few people's opinions would change...

Then on lap 66, the penultimate lap, Sebastian had closed Jenson's lead and was in the DRS zone. As he tried to overtake around the hairpin, where else?, Vettel ran wide and accelerated on the paint to pass Jenson and take the position. Again, there are differing opinions on this. The stewards were of the opinion that Vettel gained an unfair advantage and had this happened earlier in the race Vettel would have been given a drive-through penalty. They, therefore, added 20 seconds to his final time demoting him from 2nd to 5th. There is no doubt in my mind that this penalty was too harsh. A drive-through would have cost Vettel approximately 12 seconds which would have left him in 3rd place. Make of that what you will.

Sebastian's penalty not only helped Alonso, but also Raikkonen. He took the final podium spot as a result, and didn't have to go to the press conference which would make the Iceman happier, and is now sitting 4th in the championship, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, despite not yet winning a race this season. Kimi is looking stronger as the season progresses and it clearly hasn't taken him long to readjust to F1. A win is imminent in my opinion and even though many fans believe Romain Grosjean will be the first Lotus driver to take a win, Kimi is the more consistent one. He and the team should now focus on their single lap pace. If they can qualify higher up the grid Kimi can and will win a race!

Sauber had a great Sunday, even though their Qualifying wasn't very strong, and Kobayashi and Perez finished 4th, thanks to Vettel's penalty, and 6th respectively. Another high points finish for the team indicates that they are capable of taking a few more podiums this season and are set to beat Force India and Toro Rosso this year. Out of these three teams they have made the best progress that showed in Malaysia and Valencia when they took podium spots. For Kobayashi 4th is his best ever finish in F1 so he must be hoping that he can go at least one better at some point this season.

Nico Rosberg also did well to finish in the points after a poor Qualifying followed by a 5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change meant he started from 21st. He finished in 10th just behind his compatriot Nico Hulkenberg. Rosberg's teammate Schumacher finished in a disappointing seventh after starting from third and having a shot at Sebastian Vettel at the start of the race. That means we had four German drivers in the top 10 at the German Grand Prix and both Mercedes' were in the top 10 too. Mercedes are falling behind in the Constructors now whilst Lotus are taking massive strides to battle with the top 3 teams. They would have started this season as contenders for many podiums and race wins but have failed to live up to these expectations. We are only halfway through the season now so they still have time to develop and catch up to the other teams in terms of performance.

Elsewhere, Maldonado had a fairly clean race and didn't end anyone else's race. He was involved in a few overtakes, admittedly he was the one being overtaken, but there were no crashes or penalties. He could be happy with that but finishing 15th will be a disappointment after a strong Qualifying in the wet. He still beat teammate Senna who was 17th so perhaps it was just the car that wasn't up to the challenge in Hockenheim.

F1 has now reached its halfway point in the 2012 season and some consistency has taken hold of the results. We will no longer see a run of 7 consecutive winners but there is still the opportunity to see some first-time winners in Raikkonen and Grosjean and the other podium spots will also be hotly contested. The season will remain competitive and Alonso has even said that his growing lead in the championship "means nothing". I would probably disagree... Sure, a lot can happen in the next 10 races but with the way Alonso has been driving this season, his consistency, he has now finished in the points for 22 consecutive races, and his maturity I cannot see him making many mistakes. It will take a string of great results from the two Red Bull drivers and some bad luck to be thrown Alonso's way for his lead to be threatened. All we can do is merely sit back and enjoy as F1 2012 charges into the final 10 rounds. I have no doubt that they will be as thrilling as the 10 before them...

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

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ÜBUNG MACHT DEN MEISTER.

So, my title is apparently the German version of 'practice makes perfect' which is what I usually call my review of Friday's practice session; in case you were wondering!

You've probably seen the headlines about Jenson Button setting the fastest time in FP1 by now but because the track was constantly changing; there were short bouts of rain and the track was wet and then dry etc, the time isn't really an indication as to where he and McLaren will be this weekend with respect to their main competitors. McLaren have brought a major upgrade package to Hockenheim and have made significant aerodynamic changes to the sidepod in a bid to increase downforce. The upgrades were desperately needed at McLaren and they will be hoping that they are now matched with Red Bull, and even Ferrari, in terms of performance. They need to put Silverstone behind them as a weekend to forget but also learn from. Qualifying conditions tomorrow may be similar to what they were like in Silverstone and we all know that McLaren were below par in those conditions. I do find it strange that McLaren choose to bring major upgrades to races all at once and are then happy to leave the car for a few more races. It would make a lot more sense to constantly evolve the car and add upgrade by upgrade, which is what Red Bull do. Nevertheless, the upgrades are finally here but we will still have to wait and see whether their developments mean they can put their woes behind them. Jenson's time was good but set at a time when the track was dry and no-one else really benefited from that. He does, however, seem to have some of that balance back!

FP2 have us a better indication of teams' abilities but again conditions were changing and the time you set your lap was crucial. The start of the session was hampered by rain and so no running took place; Jenson Button even took the opportunity to have a cup of tea! Then brave Bruno Senna went out on the wet tyres and others followed suit. As the track dried up, the intermediate tyres came on and the lap times flew. The order was constantly changing as drivers got tyres at their optimum and the track continued to dry. Enjoying stints at the top were; Button, Vettel, Rosberg, Grosjean, Hamilton and more... Maldonado then set the fastest lap just as the rain returned. Before that there was even some talk about switching on to the slicks but that was merely a passing thought and the weather had other plans.

Michael Schumacher then brought the session to an end as he crashed his Mercedes by the Mercedes grandstand with approximately 4 minutes to go. It wasn't a big disruption as not much running was taking place and teams weren't that concerned with data collection at that point.

There's not really a lot to learn from these practice sessions but we do know that Qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday won't fail to deliver some more exciting racing. There seem to be several contenders for pole as Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren and Williams all have fast cars that we know are capable of bringing a challenge. We don't yet know what the conditions will be like for the Qualifying sessions and timing and tyres will be crucial in setting the fastest time, not necessarily who has the fastest car!

I am missing the session, but will be recording and watching late in the evening, meaning I won't be able to post a review. So, enjoy the session and I will see you back here on Sunday, which feels like a lifetime away at the moment, to discuss all things German Grand Prix-related!

Bis Sonntag,

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

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FORMEL EINS KOMMT NACH DEUTSCHLAND AN

The German Grand Prix marks the halfway point in the 2012 Formula 1 season and it could prove to be a crucial race in the title battle, which currently looks like it will be a three-way battle between Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. The trio are separated by 29 points and that is why the outcome of this race could lead to the order shuffling up.

Vettel goes to his home Grand Prix knowing that finishing lower than Alonso is not an option. Fernando is enjoying a comfortable lead over the reigning world champion and his consistency this season has helped him become a firm favourite for the title. Vettel and Red Bull have said that Alonso is still to have his share of bad luck this season and, whilst that may be true, they cannot rely on things not going Alonso's way to help them secure both titles. The German is under pressure; his past form at his home race is probably not as encouraging as he would like but if there was ever a season when winning at home would mean more than usual this is it. Sebastian knows what he has to do and must ensure that he can remain calm under the pressure and go into this Grand Prix with the championship in mind. Vettel's teammate is also ahead of him in the standings. The pair's results mean that Red Bull could be well on their way to securing a hat-trick of Constructors' titles. Some have said that Vettel is not comfortable with Mark's performance being slightly better than his this season; the Australian has 2 wins to Sebastian's one. Whether or not that is true, we don't know the feeling in the Red Bull camp and I think that considering 2012 has been so unpredictable already Sebastian understands that it is not yet time to panic and mull over what his teammate is doing.

McLaren are in a completely contrasting position to Red Bull going into this race weekend. In Silverstone they had the misfortune of both of their drivers struggling to perform and this meant it was clear that there were problems with their car. Previously, Jenson Button's failure to deliver strong results couldn't have been blamed solely on the car as Lewis wasn't experiencing the same problems. However, the last race showed that the team need to develop their car at a much faster rate if they are to continue competing for either of the titles. At this stage, when they sit fourth in the Constructors', I believe they must act as if they have nothing to lose. They should not be afraid of radical upgrades and they have the Friday practice sessions to see how the car reacts in Hockenheim. In Valencia Red Bull reformed their exhaust package and brought major upgrades; the move could have backfired but instead put Red Bull ahead of their competitors in the development game. This season the team that is able to develop the fastest and most successfully will be the team that takes the championship and currently McLaren are not able to develop the MP4-27 at a good enough rate. They have fallen behind and their fate this season is now up to them! They should also not let speculation over Lewis Hamilton's contract distract them from what they come to this race to do but McLaren are experienced enough to know how to handle with contract talks and rumours.

Lotus have now overtaken McLaren in the Constructors' so they sit in third. The lead is only 2 points but with Lotus improving and McLaren falling behind that could still increase. Lotus are still to take their first win of 2012 and their drivers Raikkonen and Grosjean are both looking comfortable with the car and the team are certainly hungry to take that win. Can they add to McLaren's woes this weekend? 

Maldonado had yet another incident with another driver in Silverstone and that led to young Sergio Perez giving a damning verdict on the Venezuelan to the world's media. He was certainly not shy or retiring in telling  us exactly what he, and apparently many other drivers, think of Maldonado's driving. The stewards reprimanded him for the incident with Perez and another one will lead to a 10 place grid penalty. I do think the collision with Perez was a racing incident and if it was any other driver involved Perez and fans wouldn't have been as upset by it but because Maldonado has form for causing incidents like this many felt that he just cuts it too fine and that's not really fair for other drivers. Let's hope that Maldonado has an incident and blame-free weekend in Germany. He definitely needs one.

There have been news reports lately surrounding the future of the German Grand Prix. Financial problems mean that both Hockenheim and the Nurburgring are uncertain over their ability to stage the Grand Prix. The race in Germany is such a staple in the F1 calendar and for it to be missing would be a real shame. The country's link to F1 is huge; historically and in the present day! Furthermore, the TV revenue that F1 gains from Germany is huge, RTL pay staggering amounts, so financially it is a very important country to the sport. I have no real doubt over a Grand Prix taking place in Germany; Mr Ecclestone and co. understand how vital Germany is to F1. 

All in all this weekend is set to be a great one! There is so much riding on it in terms of the two world titles and that means the stakes are very high! Hopefully this will lead to interesting strategies, drivers really going for it and teams bringing upgrades that really mix things up. Silverstone was too long ago and I am desperate for some exciting on-track action; I'm sure Hockenheim will deliver. 

Bis bald, (yes, I did German at A-Level and I know that impressed you!)

Aqsa

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P.S. Tomorrow I will try my absolute hardest to ensure a review of FP1&2 is up but I will not be able to do one for Qualifying as I am working all day (13 hours to be precise) so I will not have the time. A race review will certainly be up on Sunday though. Thank you for bearing with me; I am very busy this weekend and absolutely gutted to be missing Qualifying. I will post the Qualifying results though...