Best of the rest (Renault team review)
Renault got both cars in the points for the second time this year:
| Robert Kubica | Vitaly Petrov | |
| Qualifying position | 7 | 13 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q2) | 1′14.835 (-0.472) | 1′15.307 |
| Race position | 7 | 10 |
| Average race lap | 1′19.711 (-0.215) | 1′19.926 |
| Laps | 66/67 | 66/67 |
| Pit stops | 1 | 1 |
Robert Kubica
Kubica positioned himself well out of turn one to gain a few places but was boxed in behind Lewis Hamilton.
For an illustration of Renault’s straight-line speed weakness compared to McLaren, watch the replay of the start and see how Kubica was powerless to get past Jenson Button despite having a good run on him out of turns three and four.
That left him seventh which was was where he finished after successfully fending off the two Mercedes, particularly on lap 18 when he came out of the pits and found Michael Schumacher right behind him.
However he was unhappy at being lapped by the flying Ferraris before the end of the race:
I think we had a good weekend considering the car’s potential at this circuit. There were some exciting moments during the race: I made a good start and was fighting to pass Hamilton into turn two when he braked early, and I ended up losing positions to Button and Webber.
Then, after my stop, I had a good battle with Michael to keep my position – but I also had to make sure I didn’t lose too much time fighting with him, because I had to maintain a good pace to stay in front of Rosberg who hadn’t yet stopped.
Overall, though, the gap to the front-runners was too big for us to fight for more than seventh place, so I think we must be pleased that we achieved our maximum.
Robert Kubica
Compare Robert Kubica’s form against his team mate in 2010
Vitaly Petrov
Picked up a point for tenth place – which surprised and pleased him as he thought he’d finished 11th.
Petrov was heard being warned on the radio to shift up to seventh gear earlier. But chief race engineer Alan Permane said afterwards he was happy with the Russian’s performance:
As for Vitaly, he put in an excellent drive: he made a good start, and then managed to overtake two cars at the stops. This meant we finished with both cars in the points for the second time this year, and we can be happy with that.
Alan Perman
Compare Vitaly Petrov’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 German Grand Prix
- Ferrari: “Lauda missed out on a fine opportunity to keep his mouth shut”
- Lauda: Ferrari will get a pasting from WMSC
- In the stands: 2010 German Grand Prix
- Technical review: German and Hungarian Grands Prix
- In the stands: Two races in one week
- "I am much quicker than Felipe" - how Alonso urged Ferrari to use team orders
- F1 fans slam rigged German Grand Prix
- 2010 German Grand Prix - the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the German Grand Prix weekend? (Poll)
- Alonso: "Winning is a great feeling"
Great to see Kubica beat both Mercedes. I’m really looking forward to seeing their F-duct and other upgrades at Spa. I hope it can put Kubica on the podium again.
It’s great to see Petrov pick up some points, even if it was only just one. He’s long overdue given his performance in Turkey.
Vitaly needed that point, but it is probably too little and too late. I wonder if Adrian Sutil will be racing next to Kubica. Or perhaps Kobayashi.