F1 went into the summer break on a low

2016 German Grand Prix Rate the Race result

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An indifferent German Grand Prix continued a run of low-ranked F1 races before the summer break began. F1 Fanatic readers rated it 5.8 out of ten, putting it among the lower end of the scores this year.

An unchallenged win for Lewis Hamilton, a hotly-debated penalty for his team mate and

A repeat of Hungary, with the start basically spoiling much of the race as the fastest guy in the fastest car managed to get into the lead and just had to cruise to win.

On lap four I really realised how bad the tyre management issue seemed to be again: every was just holding stationary with some 1.5 seconds between the cars. Then when the cars started pitting, those on newer tyres just usually cruised past those with older rubber.

Yes, there were some nice wheel-to-wheel dices (Hockenheim has definitely one of the best pieces of Tarmac in F1 for action from turn two to the stadium) but overall, once again, the race lacked that bit of excitement that would glue me to the screen.
@KaIIe

That view of the race was much the same for those who attended in person:

Watched the race from the Mercedes grandstand and was able to see pretty much every overtake in the race from up there. It wasn’t a very eventful race, especially compared to the GP2 main race, but it had its moments.

Liked the battle between the Red Bulls and Rosberg. It was nice to witness a podium finish for my compatriot Verstappen (thanks to a overly aggressive Rosberg and a faulty Mercedes stopwatch). Unfortunately there never was a real battle for the lead. Hamilton had it in the bag after turn one.
OGW (@ogw86)

That aggressive move by Nico Rosberg was one of the biggest talking points of the weekend:

Shame Rosberg got the penalty but I think the stewards had to act. If he must make such moves, he has to be very good at it. It has to be fluid and well calculated. Rosberg’s always look like he is ramming people off tracks. He needs to hone his craft. Such moves are seen a lot during every championship.

The problem is Rosberg has not learnt from top drivers. Interestingly, whenever he does it, you don’t think of “running wide”, what comes to mind is the word “force”. So the penalty would not have come if it was well executed without the clumsiness.
Tata

There was constant fighting going on, which was nice, but the front of the field was determined by strategy, which was ridiculously frustrating.

I’m not surprised by the Rosberg penalty, there is a difference between a divebomb and not turning in, see for instance the comparison between this move and Verstappen on Ericsson in China 2015, there he still makes the corner, not goes on straight and pushes off the other driver. That’s the limit, and Rosberg went over it. I was surprised Rosberg couldn’t catch the Red Bulls in the end. I was also surprised that Verstappen let Ricciardo through so easily and then didn’t get the place back, although that may well be because I’m not privy to the information.
@Hahostolze

It’s like the stewards don’t want the drivers to race against each other. Penalty this, penalty that. Come on, they’re racing drivers, not sock puppets. This is what they do.
James Brickles (@Brickles)

Not everyone was down on the German Grand Priux:

The 21 cars racing each other after turn one made it an interesting fight throughout the field. Great strategy and partnering for Red Bull. Ferrari stumbling all over themselves strategically.

Great moves by Alonso, and then let it all slip, and for Button to show how to reel in the points. And many more moves and overtakes, and not just at the end of the DRS straight.
ColdFly F1 (@Coldfly)

But for many the main event at the Hockenheimring was once again shown up by the undercard:

I needed a boring race like that after multiple heart attacks during GP2 races.
Dmitry (@Albedo)

2016 Rate the Race Results

RaceAverage score
2016 Spanish Grand Prix8.706
2016 Austrian Grand Prix8.097
2016 Chinese Grand Prix7.853
2016 Australian Grand Prix7.757
2016 Monaco Grand Prix7.747
2016 Bahrain Grand Prix7.382
2016 Canadian Grand Prix6.583
2016 British Grand Prix6.478
2016 German Grand Prix5.814
2016 Russian Grand Prix5.396
2016 Hungarian Grand Prix5.052
2016 European Grand Prix4.728

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2016 German Grand Prix

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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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15 comments on “F1 went into the summer break on a low”

  1. People are so negative for no reason, this was a good race with some decent action. Definitely a six or a seven for me

    1. People are so negative for their own reasons. I dunno…for me the whipsaw rules changes, the focus on everything BUT speed, Bernie’s consistent talking-down beloved tracks (and by extension the loyal fans who attend those races) all add up. Eventually it takes something spectacular to make me want to support these actions with my time and the revenue my eyeballs represent.

      Plus, if you’re going to fiddle with a racing sport to artificially create passing opportunities and a show, you had better create a lot of passing opportunities and put on a pretty good show! For all their best efforts to avoid a procession in which the fastest car wins and the slowest car comes in last and everything in between, we sure do have a lot of races in which the fastest car runs off into the distance and the slowest cars finish last. Gee, we could have that without the controversial DRS, without the hyper-complex-but-not-much-faster….hell what do we call them now – engines? MGU? Power Units? Let’s keep it simple and call them “the whatchamajigger that fails all the damn time and gives people 5-positions penalties for reasons few understand.”

      F1 could try something truly crazy for a change. Celebrate their classic tracks. Return this motorsport to one that uses MOTORS. Get rid of the tricks and contrivances and let the world’s best drivers put the pedal to the metal with only their bravery and skill determining the winner.

      1. Long story short: let’s go back to the 50s!

      2. So let’s get rid of the best engines ever, let’s get rid of the record setting single lap pace cars, let’s get rid of the highest speed since the V10’s. But the truth is, F1 engines have always broken, F1 has always had boring races. “Let the world’s best drivers put the pedal to the metal with only their bravery and skill determining the winner.” F1 has always been about the cars, and the engines as well as the drivers. This F1 you describe never existed. Never has done, never will do.

    2. Axel (@krausenstaff)
      21st August 2016, 15:13

      Yeah, this season have been paradise compared too 2015, sure there where a few races that sucked like Baku and Hungary but other than that it’s been nice! :D

      1. germany, bahrain, russia, canada, australia, baku, china, hungary, gr8 britain, monaco all processional mercedes wins or ferrari and red bull screwed up and gave mercedes the win. only spain was good IMO and there were no overtaking opportunities

        1. You’re a new F1 fan aren’t you?

  2. Good. Rate the Race result article mean next race is up…

  3. we should rate the race… compared to indycar races, or wec races, of many other series….. but wthen the f1 rate the race would sadly be so much lower… the only thing f1 has going for it in this current era is that is “F1”

  4. F1’s problem recently is that every track GP2 go to is producing amazing races right now and F1 has consistently looked as flat as a pancake in comparison.

    1. thats what happens when you add more interests/money and politics in to something, it goes stale.

      1. *higher levels of interest, fewer interests.

  5. Watched Moto GP today, #VR46, going up from 12th or so place, on drying track, to finish second… Now that was something…on Brno track…

    It was a joy to watch. Meanwhile F1 gobles in poor racing via tires and aerodynamic regulations that discourage puahing and following a car closeley…let alone overtake.

    People probably have that in mind, when they want racing, so they rate 5-6, meanwhile real racing happens elsewhere…

  6. WheeledWarrior
    22nd August 2016, 8:10

    I’m currently in the process of rewatching races from the 2003-2008 years and wow, how I’d love to go back to those days. Real screaming engines, no track limits/endless run off because of gravel that punishes drivers who make mistakes, no silly penalties for every contact between two cars, real overtaking without DRS, poorer reliability makes for some unpredictability. Sure not every race was good back then (Hungary 2004 anyone?) but still way more entertaining than the last couple of years.

  7. My Tuppenyworth….

    Formula 1 is supposed to be the absolute pinnacle of world motor sport but it seems to be blighted by ever changing rules and constant tinkering with what isn’t really broken – and inequality. Races have become processions of cars following each other round a circuit with the best financed often heading off over the horizon from the rest of the pack

    Why don’t we just go back to basics – scrap a lot of the ‘artificial’ things (ie DRS, tyre compounds and so on) introduced to make racing ‘more exciting’ and have just one over-riding rule…

    Every team starts with the same budget for the season. Everything else would follow on from that…the winning team would then be the one with not only the best driver but also the best back up crew with the best use of technology and development.

    Cars would still need regulation in size etc. and luck would obviously play a part but as I see it the sport is massively over regulated and just isn’t getting any more competitive. Despite all the constant fiddling, currently a team’s success is ultimately totally biased by the amount of financial input it has and thus the ability to buy in better resources/personnel than those with less money.

    Equal finance = equal playing field = better racing = more excitement = a better spectacle = more interest = more income across the board = a winning result for EVERYONE as the best ‘team combination’ is more likely to actually win – not the one that has the most funding….

    Oops – was that a bit controversial and will Formula One Management tinker with the rules soon to stifle such thoughts?!

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