The 2014 German GP would see Williams Martini driver Valtteri Bottas finish in a fantastic second place, giving the Williams team their 300th podium finish result. This result was somewhat marred by the fact that again team-mate Felipe Massa would be involved in a crash that would not see him finish the opening lap. The result would also see Williams Martini move into third in the Constructors Championship.
German GP Race Review
Qualifying for
the 2014 German Grand Prix would see the Williams Martini drivers Valtteri
Bottas and Felipe Massa qualify in a fantastic second and third. The pole
was secured by Rosberg but his margin over Valtteri was quite small. Behind
Felipe was Magnussen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Alonso, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, and in
tenth Perez. Championship challenger Hamilton suffered a major crash in
qualifying and combined with a gear box change he will have to start from
twentieth. Button and Raikkonen were eleventh and twelfth. With the top ten
all starting on the super soft tyre there were questions as to how far the teams will be able to run them before they
are forced to pit. Another unknown was the possibility of rain during the
race.
Rosberg would move away from the grid with the field following except for
Ericsson who was starting from the pit lane. Ericsson would have to take a
ten second stop-and-go penalty after his team failed to follow a rule
regarding sealing his car after qualifying. They would complete the parade
lap for the sixty seven lap race and from up on the grid. The only drivers
starting on the soft tyre weer Raikkonen, Grosjean, and Hamilton. After a
short delay the lights would come on and then go off. It would be Rosberg
leading and into the first corner we would see Felipe and Magnussen make
contact and Felipe's car would roll over seeing Felipe's race end without
completing a lap. The Safety car was deployed as Rosberg led followed by
Valtteri. Replays showed that it was an unfortunate accident as Felipe had
come back across with Magnussen right next to him seeing the pair make
contact.
Magnussen would
pit taking on the soft tyre as the race was restarted. Hamilton was down in
sixteenth while at the front Vettel was third followed by Alonso and
Hulkenberg. Ricciardo was down in fourteenth having being forced to avoid
the Felipe accident. On lap three Rosberg was leading by 1.7 seconds. Button
was sixth and looking to pass Hulkenberg as Ricciardo moved up to twelfth.
Ericsson would take his penalty while Vettel was looking to challenge
Valtteri. Raikkonen was in ninth and Vergne tenth with five laps completed.
It was announced that the Turn one accident was under investigation but no further action was warranted.
Hamilton was up to twelfth running behind Ricciardo. Lap seven and Valtteri
was now 4.4 seconds behind Rosberg with Vettel 1.0 seconds behind the
Williams. Kvyat would try to pass Perez but as he went around the outside
the pair would make contact seeing Kvyat spin. Kvyat would keep going but
would pit on lap ten.
Lap ten and Rosberg was now leading by 6.2 seconds with Vettel also dropping
back from Valtteri. Ricciardo would pass Raikkonen for eighth with Hamilton
also looking to get past the Ferrari. Alonso would pit from fourth on lap
thirteen dropping down to twelfth after having swapped to the soft tyre.
Button would pit the next lap joined by Ricciardo and Vergne. Prior to
pitting Ricciardo and Raikkonen had been passed by Hamilton as on lap
fifteen Vettel, Hulkenberg, Perez, and Gutierrez would all pit. Vettel would
come back out in front of Alonso but behind Raikkonen. Lap sixteen and
Rosberg and Valtteri would both pit. Vettel and Alonso had squashed
Raikkonen between them seeing Raikkonen's Ferrari get front wing damage. Hamilton was
now in second as Sutil pitted on lap seventeen. Valtteri was now in third
with Hamilton yet to pit. Lap eighteen and the order was Rosberg, Hamilton,
Valtteri, Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Button, Magnussen, and
Maldonado. But Maldonado would pit on lap nineteen as Valtteri reported a
few drops of water on his visor but the team could see nothing on their
radar.
Lap twenty and
Valtteri would pass Hamilton at the hairpin to return to second. He was 9.2
seconds behind the Mercedes as Raikkonen pitted from eighth on lap twenty
one. Perez had moved up to eleventh at the hairpin while Raikkonen had
dropped to be fourteenth now running on the option tyre. Rosberg would
continue to extend his lead over Valtteri while Hamilton had dropped back
from Valtteri, now 3.9 seconds. Alonso was challenging Vettel who was in
fourth. Hamilton would pit on lap twenty seven taking on another set of soft
tyres. He would return in eighth place while we would see Grosjean pull off the track at Turn two to retire. Hamilton would
pass Ricciardo for seventh but when trying to get past Button for sixth
Hamilton would hit the rear of Button's car seeing his front wing damaged.
Hamilton would finally get past Button for sixth with Hulkenberg in front of
him.
Button would pit on lap thirty two taking more soft tyres returning in
ninth. Hamilton would continue to move forward passing Hulkenberg for fifth
at the hairpin. Lap thirty four and Alonso would pit for his second time,
returning in seventh. Vettel would pit on lap thirty five coming back out in
sixth. Raikkonen would also pit happy to get rid of his super soft tyres.
Alonso was able to pass Vettel as on lap thirty six Ricciardo would pit
taking on the option tyre returning in eighth. Rosberg was now leading
Valtteri by 15.3 seconds with Hamilton 15.7 seconds behind the Williams in
third. Hulkenberg was running in fourth but he would be passed by both
Alonso and Vettel dropping to sixth. Both Red Bull's were running on the option tyre as
Rosberg said that his was really struggling with his left front. Hulkenberg
would pit from sixth on lap forty while Valtteri would pit again on lap
forty one taking on the soft tyre.
Rosberg would
pit the next lap while Valtteri was now running in third. Valtteri was now
on the super soft tyre while Rosberg remained on the soft tyre. Hamilton
would pit on lap forty three making a change to his front wing also taking
on the option tyre. Ricciardo was looking to pass Button for sixth but
Button would not make it easy. Valtteri was still in second but has Alonso
and Vettel right behind him Hamilton was in fifth and setting lap times well
over a second quicker than those in front. Vettel would pit on lap forty six
taking on the soft tyre while on the other side of the track Kvyat's car
would burst into flames ending his race. Ricciardo would pit on lap forty
seven taking on the soft tyre, coming back out in eighth. Lap forty eight
and Rosberg was leading by fifteen seconds with Alonso behind the Williams. Hamilton
would get past Alonso making good use of his option tyres and starting to
close the gap to Valtteri.
Sutil would spin his car when coming onto the main straight with his car
coming to a stop at the rear of the grid. At the same time Hamilton would
pit taking on option tyres coming back out in fourth. Hamilton's stop had
seen him come in a bit earlier than expected having only completed only
eight laps on his pervious set of option tyres. Sutil's car would be finally
removed as Rosberg continued to lead Valtteri with Alonso third. Ricciardo
would pass Hulkenberg for seventh while on lap fifty five Magnussen and
Raikkonen would pit from ninth and tenth. Hamilton would pass Alonso for
third and would start to close in onto Valtteri. Alonso would pit again on
lap fifty six coming out in seventh. Hamilton was now only 7.0 seconds behind
Valtteri but Hamilton was setting times 2.0 seconds a faster than Valtteri.
Alonso was challenging Button for sixth and would pass him at the hairpin.
Hamilton was closing the gap to Valtteri with Valtteri's soft tyres having
see thirty three laps after fifty eight laps.
It was looking
more likely that Valtteri would finish third while we had Alonso fighting
Ricciardo for fifth. Despite several attempts Alonso was not able to get
past the Red Bull lap sixty one and Hamilton was right behind Valtteri but
it would be interesting to see how the two Mercedes powered cars would run
against each other. Also Hamilton's front tyres were looking quite second
hand as Hamilton tried to pass at the hairpin using his DRS but Valtteri
covered him off. Button would pit from eighth on lap sixty three while at
the front Valtteri continued to hold of Hamilton. Hamilton had DRS but
Valtteri was able to keep the Mercedes behind , but for how much longer.
Valtteri would continue to hold of Hamilton with two laps remaining. The
pair would start their final lap with Rosberg still easily leading. Valtteri was able to keep
his lead over Hamilton while Rosberg would cross the finish line to win his home race the
German Grand Prix. Valtteri would come home a fantastic second giving
Williams their 300th podium finish. Hamilton would finish third from Vettel,
Alonso, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Button, Magnussen, and Perez tenth.
For the Williams team it was a great result with Valtteri on the podium for
a third time but it was such a disappointment for the team to see Felipe
again involved in a crash that saw him fail to score any points. With only
one week to Hungary hopefully Felipe can stop this run of disappointing
results. After the finish Valtteri's engineer would say "Amazing, that was
fantastic. Beating a Mercedes fair and square. Unreal." Another eighteen
points for the Williams team as they continue their fight with Ferrari with
Williams moving to third in
the Constructors championship.
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