Rate the race: 2012 German Grand Prix

2012 German Grand Prix

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What did you think of the German Grand Prix? Share your verdict on today’s race.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought were the best and worst races during a season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2012 German Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (4%)
  • 9 (8%)
  • 8 (25%)
  • 7 (36%)
  • 6 (16%)
  • 5 (7%)
  • 4 (3%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 566

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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166 comments on “Rate the race: 2012 German Grand Prix”

  1. Not a classic but a pretty good race. Some good overtakes, passing and fun.

    1. Exactly how I feel about the race. 7/10

    2. Agreed, I think a 7 looks bang on for me as well. Nothing spectacular or thrilling but all in all some great action. As for the DRS zone, well it wasn’t as easy as many expected & there was still that element of out-braking into the hairpin involved.

      1. 8 for me…but if the battle was Alo vs Ham i will give it 10…

    3. Jayfreese (@)
      22nd July 2012, 21:26

      Yep, looked-like a 2011-spec race for Alonso for most of the race apart when a lapped-Hamilton put him in a mirrors-starring position. Alonso controlled the race from start to lights ahead of Vettel who almost done everything he could to clear the gap, but a great job done by Button and the McLaren crew managed to finally make 2nd as Vettel got a post-race penalty (fair?). Raikkonen has not been on the best tyre strategy (S-M-M) but took 15 points thanks to Vettel’s move.
      So a 7/10 and Alonso DOTW ?!

  2. A standard 7/10. The battle for the lead was entertaining, but not enthralling either. Great drives by Alonso, Vettel and Button it has to be said.

    1. It is interesting that a 7 has become standard. Its only 2,5 years ago that even people interested in F1 fell asleep during races. Good for F1.

    2. 5 max for me. I’ll be honest, only silverstone and monaco were more boring. Let’s try to remember how exciting the races had really become till just recently. I was dying for some sort of incident to stop the procession of the last ten laps. SV did his best to provide something. Button could have but he was too busy playing with his pitwall a game of “pinch me, am I really p2?” A challenge to Alonso from anyone would have been good. I’m waiting for Kimi’s Lotus to come up to speed [as it very surely will] then we will have some real racing to watch !!

      1. That’s a Kimi fan-boy comment…as if only Kimi could do real racing come on.

        1. You mean he should start using DRS to overtake cars and stop with that non-DRS overtakes nonsense hes been doing all season?

      2. I’m not sure which race you were watching, but in my opinion it was definitely worth more than 5. Raikkonen was involved in some great racing, particularly the battle with Di Resta, so surely that was good viewing.
        I went for 7. I thought there was some great racing up and down the field. The only problems for me were that we lost Hamilton due to the puncture, and he would have been right in the mix for 4th maybe 3rd. Also the end of the race was a bit of a stalemate, although the Vettel-Button incident was obviously an interesting talking point.

        1. 5 is the median, that is 5 means a typical or average race. If this race was better than average I missed it, there did seem to be a lot of action between the Sauber and Force India drivers but it seemed to be DRS/tyre-strategy induced, pit stops also mixed up other drivers but serious challenges faded away with the tyres grip.

  3. Starting value of 5

    +1 Hamilton unlapping himself while setting fastest laps.
    +1 Button’s undercut strategy paying off.
    +1 Vettel’s opportunistic move towards the end.
    +1 brave moves by Raikkonen/Schumacher through Turn 7

    -1 Strong drivers (Grosjean/Hamilton) taken out of contention at the start.
    -1 relative procession towards the end.
    -1 free DRS passes.

    So an average 6 from me.

    1. @pjtierney Pretty much sums how I felt about the race :) +1

    2. @pjtierney Sums it up for me too! +1

      1. Hey wait a min, two ‘+1’ make the total rating 8( 6+1+1 ). 3 more and Keith will have to extend the rating buttons! ;-)

    3. With you on this one :)

    4. Overtaking was hard, nonetheless no need for DRS especially where it was. DRS nullifies in groups of 3 or more which kind of hampers the guys behind, i would have liked to see Lotus making the right decisions about the tyres, i would have liked to know what Hamilton was capable of doing with the mclaren, Button disappointed, again showed that he hasnt got the killer instinct that car was far superior today, i liked the battle between Button alonso and Vettel it wasnt a processions for me in the last stint they were always trying to get to each other unfortunately for Vettel the traffic was always hitting him in the last sector and in the end the unfortunate overtake, despite all an 8 for me. For those who cant stand Ferrari winning there are positives Mclaren looked by far the strongest car today, Hamilton showed the true potential of the car and Button showed that he is out of the championship, we love Button but we have to acknowledge that he should have won the race in that last stint.

      1. To be fair to Button, and everyone, you have to accept that the cars are only fast when the tyres are working and clearly everybody at some stage of the race was racing with tyres that weren’t working.

  4. I am getting annoyed with the radio in Italian…(no offence)

    1. I’m not, it’s a legitimate tactic. The radio messages aren’t there for our amusement (despite being broadcast), but rather to inform and assist the driver.

      1. F1 is one of if not the biggest tv show on earth and to me it’s not the same when historically there has always been English talked to drivers by non-english talking race engineers.

        it’s a legitimate tactic

        The rest of the teams got to have Italian people working for them, so I doubt the messages are that “encrypted”

        1. ehm, @suka, not too long ago teams like McLaren and Ferrari were scrambling their pit radio to avoid others from listening in. Hard to know what language they even used then!

          1. And we all bitched and moaned about it, didn’t we?

        2. So you prefer RedBull and McLaren telling their drivers ‘plan A’ or ‘plan B’ or ‘5 behind target’ or ‘switch to f48 b and 5 to rear’ rather than an Italian guy in an Italian team speaking Italian to a spanish driver who can easily understand Italian while the team language has officially been changed to Italian when Domenicali took over from Todt. Fair enogh. ;-)

          1. It’s usually pretty obvious what the McLaren/Red Bull code means!

          2. But is ‘che perderemo zero virgola due secondi nel primo settore’ or ‘venti giros di piu’ (or something, I actually speak portuguese not italian) really that more difficult to understand? Yes, they could speak english, but there is no rule on it and they actually have Italian as their team language again for some years, so they don’t do it especially to annoy people. If FIA or FOM asks them to speak english I don’t care either if thats better for most viewers.

    2. And completely useless, i think.
      For now all competitors should have a translator.

      Only the viewers are suffering. FIA should do something about it.

      1. @mr-prayer And what should the FIA do for the millions of viewers who don’t speak English?

        1. With that logic we shouldn’t even have a press conference in English.
          Drivers should just say something in their native language and go home.

          English is recognized as international language in this sport.
          Despite the fact that it was a German GP all podium announcements and Lauda’s interviews were in English.

          1. it’s not obligate to talk in english…but in your opinion if a driver cant speak english..so he cant drive

          2. @Frain stermin
            Yes, it’s not mandatory. And i believe it couldn’t be, since there potentially could be a driver who would be fast enough to be in F1 without being able to speak English. Although i can’t think of one in the past. Even in lower formulas all whom i’ve heard could communicate in interviews.

            And despite all this i think FOM should talk to Ferrari or just stop broadcasting their radios at all.

            We didn’t like when Red Bull communicated in codes and we shouldn’t like this too, i think.

          3. English is recognized as international language in this sport. That’s why is been used for all interviews etc but when a team is talking to their driver during the race they can speak in any language they want… imo is better that english broadcasters (Sky, BBC) should have an italian speaker translate everything ferrari says on radio. They should respect you more, since you paying them for a full cover of every GP race.

          4. I was listening to the grand prix on radio (BBC 5 Live), and every time there was a Ferrari message in Italian, Jaime Alguersuari translated, so it wasn’t really a problem. I agree that Sky should just have someone translate it, or FOM should have a dedicated ‘Team Radio’ Twitter feed where they translate and broadcast team messages.

        2. +1 for Keith
          :)

        3. Touché, good point.

        4. @keithcollantine
          …And what ’bout the hundreds of thousands of readers wanting to read F1Fanatic.co.uk, but dont read/understand English??? ;-)

      2. How difficult is it for the TV teams to include a translator ?

        1. Ok. And while they’re at it they should hire a dozen of translators.
          For all the languages drivers and engineers are speaking.

          1. In Argentina we do get translations of the on board radio transmissions, and the post race conference press.

        2. Well, french TV (and we french people are not well versed into foreign languages) do on-the-fly translations of English and Italian (even german i think).

      3. You are wrongly assuming that only English spoken viewers watch F1. For Spanish and Portuguese spoken persons it’s quite easy to understand the Italian language.

        1. You’re wrongly assuming that i’m watching an English broadcast.
          I’m watching Russian, and commentator is speaking Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (at least). But i imaging he’s not speaking Japanese. And if Kamui would communicate with his engineer in his native tongue i suppose i won’t get the message.

          And since FOM or FIA (whichever it is) decided to include communications in broadcast, they should do something about it.

          1. Drop Valencia!
            22nd July 2012, 15:19

            If you want to understand every language, LEARN THEM!

          2. In some sense you have a point there. The problem is that there isn’t a clear rule on the subject. Maybe the FIA should clarify the issue in the future.

          3. believe me if the engineer of Kamui was japanese…100% they will talk japanese

          4. @fanser
            And those talks 100% would not be broadcasted.
            And viewers 100% wouldn’t be happy about it, since they wanna know what’s happening within their favorite team.
            And FOM 100% wouldn’t be happy about it, since people wouldn’t be pleased, and FOM would loose money on it.

      4. Italian and Spanish are very similar, Italians I know have little problems understanding and speaking it without any formal training. When your head is a few inches away from a torrent of noise while you’re doing 200mph in a corner, speaking a language closer to your own might just make it slightly easier to communicate. Ferrari don’t kid themselves into thinking speaking Italian will give them a tactical advantage, they do it for their own reasons. Even the Dutch commentator (due to no BBC coverage) had little problem deciphering their communication.

        I like English, it’s a highly flawed but remarkably easy language to learn and hard to get around. But as somebody who isn’t a native speaker, get off your high horse. It’s an Italian team working with a Spanish driver. I actually kind of like it. :)

        1. First off all there’s a flaw – at least first Fernando’s replies came in English. And it’s not his first year in races – he spoke perfectly well before.

          Second, let me explain my position fully and for the last time: drivers and engineers are coming into international teams where everybody speaks English. Normally they all communicate in English. May be in Ferrari it isn’t so but in the past years we heard Fernando and Andrea communicating in English.

          For me this latest trend is clearly a trick to conceal their intensions, but it’s useless since everybody would have Italian-speaking person on staff by now.

          TV companies could hire Italian speaking commentators. But if this will continue it would become a Tower of Babel. All racers and engineers would speak in different languages. And with this, broadcasting those communications would be useless since having a dozen of translators is not an option for TV companies (at least in my view).

          And i hope you wouldn’t argue that those communications became a very important tool for making broadcasts more interesting.

          And for the sake of show i’m hoping that FOM (or FIA) would do something about it.

        2. Italian and Spanish aren’t similar at all just because both came from Latin that doenst mean they sound the same, i wouldn’t like to hear that English is similar to German just because their origins are similar. that argument is a bit disrespectful.

          1. They are actually similar. Being similar, is not disrespectful. It does not mean they are the same. But they do sound similar, because they have almost same rules of constructing sentences, same roots of words, and have been under same influences for long time, unlike french who were under different influences.

      5. You should learn Italian instead of complaining. FerrAri is an Italian team, the engineer is Italian And Alonso speaks at least three languages. So why should they speak in English?

    3. I’m not, it’s a small loophole, if you can call it like that…! Brundle or Ted should start to learn italian, tho, so they can translate it for us!

      1. Yep, Sky are asking people to pay a premium for their service – the least they can do is find someone to translate the messages, instead of making lame jokes and sounding amazed that people speak in funny foreign languages…

        1. Watching the F1 on the mainland, the TV presenters speak more than 1 language and are able to translate it for the locals. As a native english speaker watching the race in other languages, it gives you a different perspective on the race, even if you lose something in translation, you get to see that the focus is not all on the UK drivers. I think sometimes, that is forgotten.

          1. Bingo, you hit nail on the head right there. The commentators were more concerned about the British drivers than the race. They are entitled to do that, but then they lose a bit of credibility for not being realistic about various situations that arise in the race.

            In saying that however, yes Vettel was in the wrong, but why defend Hamilton who suggested to retire over the radio…

      2. @fer-no65 We have Luciano Burti as a pundit here in Brazil, and since he worked as Ferrari’s test driver for some time, he can speak Italian and translates the messeges to us, so I’m not really bothered by it :P

        1. @guilherme In future, would you mind letting us know in the live comments what’s been said?

          1. @keithcollantine Sure not :P Sometimes Burti doesn’t understand Alonso too, so I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to bring all the messeges

        2. @guilherme the commentator for the latin broadcast has italian roots, so he speaks (or understands) italian well.

          I don’t watch the latin broadcast because it’s rubbish, but at least the guy translates it. He does a bad job when it comes to translating english, though, which is pretty crappy considering all but 1 team speaks in english hehe!

          1. are you talking about tornello ?? i friggin hate when he tries to translates english and you cant understand him or the original voice..

    4. I’d be pretty annoyed if all the interviews were done in a language i dont know then are eventually done in the drivers own language

      1. yeah, not funny when you have to learn other people languages.

        too easy being english and assume everyone has to learn your language

        1. I’m Russian, but you can’t expect me to learn dozen of languages, can you?

          If French or German was the language of this sport i would learn it. But not all of them.

        2. Agree with you. Some people here think that the world evolves around them. Learn another language instead of complaining. You are asking people who first language is other than English not to speak in their language. Why should they?

    5. Wow thats Rich. So they must speak a foreign language (English), accepting that almost everything will be lost in translation just so that those English people can get a 100% localized experience.

      I’m very glad Fred has stopped speaking English, because every time he did, the message was lost in translation or he was mocked for getting words wrong or using “for sure” too much. Hell, people even got confused between whining and a spanish person speaking english.

      I dont understand when he speaks Spanish/Italian but every time he does, I get a lovely warm feeling inside because I know they are doing the right thing.

      1. @infy

        I’m very glad Fred has stopped speaking English

        He hasn’t. Throughout the weekend they were using a mixture of Italian and English on the radio. Though it seemed they used more Italian during the race (though perhaps this was just the messages that were chosen).

    6. Lol how dare a Spanish driver who speaks fluent Italian, driving for an Italian team, speak to his Italian race engineer in Italian? Do you really think they should ignore what’s best for their team and speak in English for the benefit of English speaking F1 fans?

      I think the British TV commentators would be better learning some basic Italian so they could understand the gist of the messages and help the viewers. TV commentators in Spain, Italy, Germany etc have to translate English team radio messages into the languages of their audience.

    7. petebaldwin (@)
      22nd July 2012, 15:24

      All the teams have translators. You don’t spend millions trying to find a tenth of a second and not spend 20k flying an italian guy round to translate for you.

      I’m amazed that Sky/BBC haven’t got one themselves yet!

    8. I think it is quite entertaining and, as Italian, I like it. I guess they do it for the show.

    9. It’s good for me, i get to exercise my italian, its such an interesting language quite complex though, english is my mother language but french, italian and portuguese (from portugal) are very interesting, lyrical and whatever. My grades aren’t really that good.

    10. you can always learn another language is not that hard, most people had to learn English as second language you get to pick.

    11. I agree with @mr-prayer . It’s just disrespectful towards the English-speaking fans, many of whom are Ferrari fans as well. English is the language of our sport, it’s a good thing and it should stay that way. It’s a general rule that everyone should accept. F1 Fanatic is as good as it is partly because it’s solely in English, too. F1 drivers and engineers have all the time in the world to speak in their native languages, and fans have a million opportunities to read / hear what they say in these languages. We often talk about how F1 should become more fan-friendly and this is certainly a step in the opposite direction.

      It’s not like English is the only language I speak. My mother tongue is Latvian, I speak German pretty well and some Russian, too. But I’m against a Tower of Babel.

      1. It’s not just annoying to English speaking fans. It’s annoying to almost all world fans expert Italians.
        I’m not British or American and i want the radio in English. I don’t even want it in my language because i know very few others will understand.
        English is a world recognized language for communication between people of different nationalities and multilingual sports.
        For that reason i bothered learning them, i can’t go though and start learning every team’s, mechanic and drivers language. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

        And they ain’t even doing it for the competition. They know very well that their competitors will have no problem dealing with it. They are just doing it for the viewers. And actually i think it’s obvious why they are doing it. So they can avoid criticism of comments on their radio messages(it’s not like Italians will say anything about a Ferrari message). “Alonso is faster than you” will now be delivered in fluent Italian.

      2. I’m an English speaker and I don’t find it disrespectful. I find it disrespectful of us to force them to disregard their home fans by not speaking their mother tong.

        Ferrari probably know that most of the English viewers dislike them and Alonso and so they have focused their attention on their loyal supporters instead, who just happen to speak Italian and Spanish.

        1. Ferrari probably know that most of the English viewers dislike them

          What do you base that assumption on ?

    12. I think many posters make an error in their assumptions, so obviously conclusions come all wrong, too. When a driver talks with the pit, they do not do it for viewers’ entertainment. They do their job. Therefore they have every right to use whatever means they find most convenient. When they are at the conference, they do speak for our benefit. Ergo, they use English. See the difference?
      The fact that FOMA decided to eavesdrop on those transmissions is FOMA’s problem and if it does not work the way they want, _they_ should fix it (subtitles) and not bother people who do their job. Actually, even some transmissions in English could use subtitles.
      And finally, there are many driver-pit communications that viewers do not get to hear at all. So when you hear Alonso’s Italian communicatiom, you are already getting something, much more than not getting anything at all. Judging from some reactions here, you’d prefer if the broadcast director did not show those exchanges at all, then you would have had no reason to complain.

    13. Pfff…learn Italian! Duh..
      Actually speaking italian helps for the strategy…right when they speak something other teams won’t know exactly what they’re saying or the least they won’t be 100% sure what they said, but hey they can always hire an interpreter :D

    14. Direct your comments to your broadcaster, too lazy to organise a translation, not the team speaking in their mothertongue.

    15. I hate comments like this…you get them all over Youtube just because something isn’t in English. Pretty ignorant.

  5. I’ve been watching for Petrov’s race.
    Caterham made all possible to bring Heikki in front of him. They allowed PET to defend from faster cars behind him before Pitstop 1 and to loose time letting leaders overtake him before P2 (4 seconds), whilst KOV pitted right before those cars get to him (next lap after they got to PET).

    And despite all this PET overtook KOV and successfully defended against faster SEN for last 10 laps.
    Good race for him.

    1. @mr-prayer To be honest I didn’t pay attention to Caterham’s strategies, but I have to agree that Petrov drove a very good race (and also did so at Valencia). Kovalainen is right now the highest rated driver from the midfield/end of the grid, and to me Petrov has been fairly decent against him (at least much better than Trulli was).

  6. I really enjoyed it. I gave it an 8.
    Some overtalings, the Saubers were really good. Too bad for HAM and GRO…

  7. 6/10 – A good start, some fantastic overtakes, but the race died after the second round of stops.

  8. Not too bad, not too good. Compared to other races this season, it wasn’t the best of the bunch. But a bit better than Silverstone!

  9. There was no spectacle action but fiercing calculation and management. That was exciting. I gave 8/10.

  10. Was an alright race….. very nice overtakes… however i am starting to grow really concerned about McLarens tyre wear…

    1. You shouldnt. Button was pushing hard in order to catch up and overtake two very fast drivers. The faster you go the more rubber you use.

      1. I wasn´t only talking about this race…..this has been a problem for the last 5-6 races…

  11. sid_prasher (@)
    22nd July 2012, 14:50

    That Sauber can really make the tyres last…another fantastic drive from Alonso!

  12. I give it a 7. Like Silverstone it again flattered to deceive at the front, Alonso easily dealt with Button’s challenge and made a mockery of Button’s race engineers claims that he would be stronger at the end of the race. Having said that there were some good battles in the midfield, I enjoyed Raikkonen’s racecraft in the first 25 or so laps, and there was some good stuff from the Sauber boys as well.

    On first impressions from the TV coverage I would say Jenson has a right to feel aggrieved at Vettel’s overtake, he definitely had all four wheels off the circuit and I wouldn’t be surprised if he got demoted. I was also surprised at race direction not deploying the safety car as well at the start, there was a hell of a lot of carbon fibre on the track ruining Hamilton’s race, and it was very lucky no one else got a puncture.

  13. Another good 2012 race. Brilliant action till the final stint up till then the overtaking and battles through the field was pushing this race to a 8/9 but the last stint let it down again!
    7/10

  14. Not bad, strong 7. Also too much controversy surrounding Red Bull Racing. I’m starting to dislike the team, as they, as a whole – from engineering to drivers, seem to think that rules are there only to be broken.

  15. Hamilton, button is quicker than you!

    1. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
      22nd July 2012, 15:05

      He wasn’t though…

    2. Has to be “Sebastian, Lewis is faster than you” lol

      1. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
        22nd July 2012, 15:30

        Lol

  16. I don’t know whether it is too soon but Alonso will definitely go down in time as one of the best Formula 1 racers to have graced the sport. It is not because he has passing skill or good race craft (which he has in no small measure), but the fact that in every team that he has been in, he has managed to extract more out of the car than seemed possible. Today was one of his finest drives, I have seen and the power the Ferrari gained out of the first 2 corners and into the DRS zone was reminiscent of Giles Villeneuve doing the same.

    The race was pretty standard however and a good example of how DRS can spoil a race. Passing became ridiculously easy and boring to watch. The FIA need to take a very strong look at how DRS should assist overtaking and not be causing it. Up until this race I was quite ambivalent about it but I feel myself drawn towards its critics.

    On a note, a good drive by Button who seemed really charged up. Whether Lewis’s actions early on in passing Vettel made a difference to his position later on will be a) decided by the stewards and b) subject to much debate. Yet, given how poor his form has been this year, it was a refreshing drive.

    Other teams did what they do. Sauber – Superb tyre management getting them good points. Lotus – One driver almost flatters to deceive towards the end while the other struggles. Mercedes – Still lagging behind. Force India – Tyre wear Tyre wear Tyre wear.

  17. This was two thirds of a great race. In the first stint, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen put on a good show. In the second stint, it was great to see Button pushing towards the front and eventually taking second place. But in the third stint, not much really happened. A three-way battle for the lead looked to be on the cards, but it never materialised. Two thirds of the available points, rounded to the nearest point, is seven.

    1. There was a battle for the lead and Alonso won it. How many seconds to you need to be behind some one before it is considered a battle? Button was up to half a second.

      Then there was a battle for second place (again) which Vet won.

      1. Try dipping a wiped oil stick, into the engine oil bay but without it touching the actual oil, and then pull it out to determine if the oil needs replacing. Mebbe then, you would know that unless ‘it goes all the way in’, it doesnt count!

        The race at the front, till Vettel got past Button, was basically another Queen Elizabeth!

      2. iTry dipping a wiped oil stick, into the engine oil bay but without it touching the actual oil, and then pull it out to determine if the oil needs replacing. Mebbe then, you would know that unless ‘it goes all the way in’, it doesnt count!

        The race at the front, till Vettel got past Button, was basically another Queen Elizabeth!

      3. @infy Fair point, but the definition is a matter of opinion. Neither Button or Vettel actually initiated an overtaking manoeuvre on Alonso, so I don’t consider it to be a real “battle”.

        1. So Alonso would have had to lose the position before it is considered a battle? :P

          1. No, but someone would have to try to overtake him, even if they were unsuccessful. For example, Kimi Räikkönen against Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain.

  18. An 8. A different sort of race. Shame the finish was an anti-climax. Would have loved the top 3 to trade punches.

  19. 7 – Some good battling during the first third of the race, but it died down from then on. The relatively close battle for the lead added tension, but it didn’t deliver a thrilling climax. Not that we should expect one every race. Enjoyable enough.

  20. Not good but not bad

  21. Not the best race of the season, but still decent. I gave it a 6.

    I’m slightly amused that Alonso still says that Ferrari isn’t the fastest ;)

    1. Honestly, the McLaren and also the Red Bull looked faster over certain stages in the race. Alonso just got it right, making no mistakes and using the advantages of his car in a way that Vettel and Button couldn´t make use of their strengths and DRS.

      1. At what stage Ferrari didn’t look faster than Red Bull and McLaren? Couple of laps in the last stint maybe. And that’s a big maybe. I think it’s the best car on the grid and has been up there for the last five or six races.

        1. @maroonjack In the first stint, while all were with soft tyres, Ferrari looked good, but in the second Vettel cached up Alonso, just couldn’t pass him, in the third stint it was Button who cached up Alonso, but he failed as well to pass him.
          Definitely Ferrari is way better than when this championship started, but there is still something missing in that car compered to the others. From the little dry running in practice we saw that McLaren was really fast, and Button showed that today. Who knows what Hamilton could have done.

    2. Yeah, they were faster but the second they got into the dirty air they lost what ever advantage they had.

      1. Actually when they were catching the back-makers, especially later in the race, Alonso was able to maintain or even increase his gap to the following car. I didn’t see any advantage lost in the dirty air. I think that this car is an amazing piece of machinery and it seems a bit funny when they complain about not having the best car. That’s all.

        1. Agree to disagree.

  22. an okay race – this is not a reflection of the race, but i wish to point out what a great race petrov had. pretty much trounced kovalinen. i’m really pleased for vitaly. not a world champion in the making he may be – but my personal driver of the weekend.

    i was hoping hulkenberg would finish a bit higher up the order – perez too. hopefully the next race will be a better one for the williams boys.

    a good race by pedro too – shame he couldn’t catch pic.

  23. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
    22nd July 2012, 15:06

    OK race but far too reliant on DRS overtakes for my liking. 6/10

  24. Really enjoyed the race, never got bored. Very enthralling unlike the Silverstone snoozefest two weeks ago. Arguably it was an anti-climatic finish, so I give it an 8/10. Vettel’s move was not acceptable either. If he doesn’t get penalised it would be a 5/10 personally.
    A shame it didn’t rain though- I hate it when practice and qualifying is drenched yet the race is not. Any race is better in the rain, especially when watching in warm Britain on Sky HD!

  25. I watched the whole race as always but halfway I noticed I noticed that however I was still interested in the outcome, I wasn’t interested in the race itself anymore. Nothing spectaculair and DRS made overtaking look pretty easy again. I think after Silverstone this is the most boring race of the season. It’s also looking like now that the top teams are understanding the tyres it takes away the excitement of the beginning of the season. I rate it a 5/10..

  26. It was a nice race though I don’t think that I’ll remember it for a long time.
    The problems with the tyres are seemingly starting to disappear.
    Now they have to make something with the Drug Reduction System. I’ve never liked it but they should do one of these three things:
    1. Banned it for most of the races;
    2. Seriously shorten the length of part of the circuit where it can be used;
    3. Introduce a new approach of usage – for example, a definite number of times in a race it can be used.

  27. I went for a 7. It was great having 3 different drivers so close for so long, but eventually the tension ebbed away as Button failed to mount a challenge on Alonso and there wasn’t a huge amount happening behind them.

    At least my fears on DRS weren’t realised! I thought it gave maybe a little too much advantage to the car behind, but not so much it ruined the passes for me!

  28. petebaldwin (@)
    22nd July 2012, 15:19

    Christian Horner on Hamilton unlapping himself:

    “Is it against the rules… probably not. It’s not very sporting though”

    :D What can you say??? Wow….

    1. It is true though….

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        22nd July 2012, 15:21

        If Hamilton unlapping himself is unsporting, what is finding loopholes against the spirit of the rules and overtaking off the track?

        What should Hamilton have done? Driven around behind Vettel even though he was faster? Or should you just retire once you go a lap behind?

    2. But it´s sporting going off the track to overtake someone? Alright… Can´t stand this team anymore.

  29. I think the coverage of the race killed it for me

  30. Good Race…7/10
    Man!! Raikkonen was flying…he just needs a good qualifying…surely Hungary is Kimi’s :)

  31. 7-ish for me.

    Hamilton’s unlapping techniques, Force India constantly swapping places with the Saubers for half the race and Vettel’s desperate driving were fun-to-watch moments. However, not much else to it.

    Some good overtaking here and there – most of them starring Raikkonen, Di Resta or Koba. Some uber-easy moves under DRS too.

    Some ups for: Button getting back to his senses, the Saubers nailing the strategies for both drivers again, Rosberg grabbing a point from 21st on the grid and Maldonado managing not to take anyone out this time.

    Quite a few downs for: Massa going back to his own self, Schumacher not capitalising on his last stint on softs, Grosjean’s slow pace and error-riddled race, Williams looking quick with Maldonado in front of Webber for 1/4 of the race and dropping down to 15th after all – wasted potential, same old – and Caterham bringing a brand new car to Germany in order to lose contact with Torro Rosso again. Also expected Raikkonen to be more of a threat to the trio in front.

    Still a decent race though. Seen better, seen worse.

    1. @tony031r Same feeling, you pretty much summarized it for me :).

    2. Lotus did amazing call(finally) on Kimi’s first pit stop and got him in front of some cars, but then with second set of Softs lost too much to leaders on Hards. Ohh well…good there is another race this weekend!!!!

  32. I’d say an eight. Good, not great – vould have been higher, but the battle for the lead fizzled out rather than being spectacular.

  33. I gave it a seven. Although it was a perfect drive from FA, It sort of lacked something to make it stand out… It was lookng quite good at the end and JB really seemed like a real threat but in the end the battle never took place which sorta killed it for me…

  34. Missed the beginning of the race, what happened to Hami?

    1. Rear tire puncture.

  35. It was a good and fun race to watch, but we had a anti-climax at the end, so for me it’s a 7 out of 10. I was really hoping that those three would battle it out for the lead on the last laps, but it didn’t happen, to my disappointment.

  36. 5.

    Most boring race of the year. Just 2 real overtakes. A little promise of Button and Vettel challenging Alonso for the lead but the Ferrari is the fastest car now. Button had an advantage briefly but that advantage cost him his tyres.

    1. @f1fann
      I wouldn´t call it the most boring race of the year but it certainly wasn´t spectacular and i really don´t think the Ferrari is the fastest… Jenson worked his way up like a rocket and was dismissing rivals left and right… Alonso just made the best with what he had… The McLaren is definitely the quickest car!!

  37. 7/10 from me, there was plenty of racing to keep me amused but the Alonso v Button anticlimax at the end spoilt it a bit.

  38. + Plenty of nice overtakes during the race. Faster drivers who were assertive were able to convert pace advantage into overtakes but not easily. For the most part the DRS zone seemed to be good today.
    + Close racing throughout the field with plenty of changeups. Race was open for the win for either Button or Vettel until the last 7 laps.
    + It was relatively easy to interpret how the race was unfolding but the race was not too predictable.
    + Return to form for Button is good to see
    + Dry race

    – Hamilton and Grosjean both suffering as a result of Massa and ultimately completely out of contention.
    – Battle for the lead was slightly anticlimactic with no actual overtaking attempts, but still a good, close and long battle.
    – Vettel’s overtake on Button denied fans the opportunity to watch Button attempt to defend ON THE TRACK in the last 2 laps.

    Overall an 8/10 for me.

  39. Spent more time watching the timing than action, but still good fun. Better than Silverstone. Shame to see Grosjean and Hamilton tooling round the back though. And Massa continues to disappoint.

  40. Dimitris 1395 (@)
    22nd July 2012, 17:05

    It was a wonderful race! Many overtakes (a lot of them after the DRS zone), good battles and some pretty drivng by Alonso, Button, Kimi and Kobayashi. Despite this, two of the best drivers were far away in the back (Hamilton, Grosjean) and for yet another race, the closing laps lacked the much-expected drama.
    P.S I have to say a big thanks to the organisers of the Grand Prix as they weren’t distracted by the treacherous rain and managed to help everyone in the circuit!

  41. James (@jamesjames123abc)
    22nd July 2012, 17:11

    Gave it a 6. I’ve seen better (especially this year) but I’ve seen worse.

    DRS wasn’t as bad as expected, actually it was probably one of the ‘best’ DRS zones this year.
    Some interesting battles down the field.
    Massa had a good recovery drive after effectively ruining his own race at the first corner.
    Was good to see the Saubers make there way through the field, they’ve deserved a good result lately.

    I just hope we get a completely dry weekend at Hungary next week, to see the true pace of everyone, although it doesn’t look likely.

    1. James (@jamesjames123abc)
      22nd July 2012, 17:12

      *their – regarding the Saubers

  42. I think the post-race controversy rather spoils the race itself, a 4/5 for me.

  43. The fact that Red Bull were allowed to race with their illegal car is a disgrace so before the race it already deserved a 1.

  44. Trenthamfolk (@)
    22nd July 2012, 17:58

    A highly enjoyable race from my perspective: great overtaking, inept driving from Massa, nice aggressive stuff from MSC, thoroughly deserved win for Eyebrows, beautiful return to form for Button… I’m more than satisfied with this season to date, and this race was a welcome addition. Only downers were Hamilton’s retirement, and Maldanado not crashing anyone out… 7/10

  45. 7. Certainly not a classic, but enough interest to keep us guessing. Win was in some doubt until the final few laps, though things were a bit processional.

  46. it’s funny to see how much this F1 has changed in such a short time. 2 years ago a race like this would have been rated at least an 8/10 on average..
    i voted 9/10, mainly for these motivations:
    – close battle at the front between Alonso, Button, Vettel
    – the lapped Hamilton overtaking Vettel and then challenging Alonso
    – the Raikkonen overtaking move against DiResta

  47. @keithcollantine do you rate the race yourself? if so, what did you rate this one? or silverstone for that matter.

  48. 8/10 for me
    Very tense battle at the front with a fair bit of overtaking down the field.
    Whilst there was little successful passing out front, the tension was there- it was really tenth up, then a tenth down, a real race.

    Result was less good!
    Alonso DOTD and DOTW for me. Some very good drives elsewhere but he had that little extra

  49. Tsk. Let’s see. 3 points, tops.

  50. The whole language thing is a non story, I would rate the race as a bog standard 6ish, Dont know if its just me but I find the interveiw on the podium a bit `cheap an nasty` with a touch of amatuerish about it.

  51. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    23rd July 2012, 3:08

    7.

    Pros – Great to see Button getting back into the groove.
    – Loved seeing Hamilton unlapping himself from a whining Vettel
    – Mclaren’s record breaking pitstop – 2.4 secs.
    – Great midfield battle between Sauber and Force India.

    Cons – Hamilton getting puncture on the second lap + poor race start.

  52. I gave it an 8. I felt the race provided some good overtaking moves and it was interesting to see how the different cars behaved differently on the varying strategies. It was good to see the top 3 running so closely for a large part of the race and I thoroughly enjoyed the two Sauber/Force India battles.

    Shame we didn’t see any change for the lead during the race but it was pretty tense stuff.

  53. Didn’t see any reference to Ecclestone being there?

  54. Voted a 9. Great race, had absolutely everything. lots of good battles all through the field, with some good overtaking. A developing fight for the lead which delivered so much tension and excitement in the second half of the race. Plenty of intrigue and controversy – this was a race which was exciting hours before it started with the red bull fuel mapping issue, and hours after it with the impending decision about Vettel’s penalty. Plus the controversy over Hamilton unlapping himself.

    All in all, a very unique race, full of excitement from start to finish. Two thumbs fresh

  55. 7 from me. It would have been a little higher had the battle between Alonso, Button and Vettel had a little more life in it. It only got exciting once Alonso’s tyres started to go off but credit to him for still holding on to his lead. A bit of drama between Button and Vettel helped!

    Bit disappointed that Hamilton couldn’t make more of an impact in spite of his puncture but good call from McLaren to get him to hold up Vettel for Button’s sake, rare strategic positive from McLaren!

  56. I found the race to a bit boring so I only gave it a 6.

    I never felt that anyone was seriously going to threaten Alonso for the victory and all of the overtakes at the hairpin did nothing for me because of DRS.

    On the plus side there was some action further down the field and Kobayashi provided some entertainment.

  57. I would have given this race a normal 7 but Hamilton trying to unlap himself made me laugh. He would have succeeded in overtaking Alonso as well if the F.A hadn’t gone into the pits. So for me an 8/10

  58. 7/10
    Good fight at the start, boring halfway-through, amazing finish. Key part was Hamilton unlapping himself!

  59. 8. Vast improvement from 2010. No more Fernando-is-faster-than-you. Kobayashi P4 & Perez P6. Tons of overtaking. Epic McLaren pit stop. Great battle at the end.

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