Rate the race: 2011 German Grand Prix

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What did you think of the German Grand Prix? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2011 German Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (18%)
  • 9 (35%)
  • 8 (31%)
  • 7 (12%)
  • 6 (1%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (0%)
  • 3 (0%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 542

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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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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199 comments on “Rate the race: 2011 German Grand Prix”

  1. Seven. The first half was thrillingly tense but it died off after that.

    1. 8 for the exact same reason.

      1. I wish I’d waited. I’d have bumped it up to an 8 just for Alonso riding Webber to Parc Fermé!

        1. LOL, I gave it a 9 for being a real classical good race in the dry AND having that moment.

        2. Agreed, brilliant moment. Even sat on the right side to make it more unique. Someone get in contact with Minichamps!

          Overall it was a good race but not enough for an 8 or a 9, but a lot of overtaking made for a fair amount of entertainment. I’ll admit the result didn’t make me happy but that didn’t affect at all how I rated the race.

          1. Really epic. The last time I rember a driver giving a ride to another was Schumacher giving a ride to Fisichella at Hockhenheim in 1997.

        3. Yep, it had a bit of a quieter moment in the middle, but just as the top three seemed to settle a bit on the primes, the Vettel-Massa fight heated up, and the actual on track fight for the lead and top 5 was great to see.

          That bit with Webber and Alonso recreating that moment is fun and cool to see. The radio communications were also nice to hear bits of interaction.

          I gave it a 9 too.

          1. 9 here as well, nice to get all those radio messages, really adds to it.

          2. Is there a video? I missed the race.

        4. 8/10
          Top 3 very close after half race. Always wondering where a driver that stopped would have come out. Thrilling!

      2. 2 because it should have rained, the rules were stupid, a pit stop decided the Massa/Vettel battle rather than fighting to the finish on track, my favourite driver didn’t win, etc…

        But in all seriousness, the stupid must use both tyres rule did ruin it.

        I would have much preffered to see them try to get it done in 2 stops. Clearly Hamilton was needing the extra stop more than others. Would also have stopped Vettel from just using the pits to overtake

        1. Webber needed it just as much, but I do agree that Alonso had a better chance without the stint on hards.

          The last lap straight pitstop fight was nice – it still was a straight fight, but now by the team, underlining how F1 is a team sport. It is true Vettel would have been better off doing it on track, and Ferrari again let Massa down on a pit stop, but it was a close fight nevertheless.

        2. Wrong. My opinion is your opinion is the wrong opinion.

        3. Yes that pit overtake on the last lap was a bit of a downer, after all Massa’s hard work.

        4. 5 for me, and again, the race is win/loose in the pit. I hate this rule too. Webber go first after first pit and loose 2 place the in the second, and in this trak, DRS zone is not long enough to really helping car to overtake. I hope rain too. The fun part is Webber, carriyng Alonso.

      3. I concur

    2. This race was decided only on pitstops and the one brief moment when Alonso and Hamilton went wheel to wheel. That’s it. Not a lot of racing.

      1. Don’t know what race you were watching. Alonso made a nice pass on Vettel, Button passed a few, The Mercedes guys were involved in a few scraps and Massa was either attacking or defending from someone for the whole race.

        Even though the positions up the front didn’t change on track that much, there was always the potential for it to happen. Even if it didn’t, I found it incredibly tense. But hey, if that’s not your thing, who am I to try and change your opinion!

        1. Massa had a great race. Too bad the pit crew kept him in for 5 sec in the last stop. 2 sec more than Vettel. Again, Massa lost places because of his crew and strategy.

        2. Not to mention passes a bit further back that we did not even get on screen here! It was a great race a it was.
          Sure, Pitstops were part of it as well, but hardly the only thing defining the outcome.

          1. Good race but still could have been better if german summer could have been bit hotter!! but somewhere arnd 5-6. Good to see some overtaking moves.. but anyway this season we tend to see overtaking everywhere dut DRS & tyre degradation.

        3. Agree with Dan. It was an exciting race throughout. The top 3 were interlocked in a race long battle, and positions 4-6 were pretty exciting to watch as well.

          There was almost no artificial overtaking today and we saw some great defensive driving today. I rated the race a 9.

      2. The leaders only fought in pit stops?
        We had:
        Webber passed Hamilton and Hamilton re-passed moment.
        Webber and Hamilton fighting after pit stop and Hamilton keeping in frond.
        Hamilton and Alonso fighting after pit stop and Hamilton passing on the outside.

        It seems to me they had a few scraps.

      3. I guess that you missed Hamilton and Webber battling down the main straight, during a fantastic battle amongst the front runners.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev0EfUe3_Ic

        1. Webber simply slow down to let Hamilton regain is place. Not sure if the yellow flag zone is over.
          And Webber again lose 2 seconds on his second pit, making him 3rd.

          1. That’s not what the guys were saying in the press conference. They were asked about this battle and didn’t mention the yellow flag at all.

            There was just the right amount of overtaking. We had a tense battle for the lead and some exciting battles in the midfield. Tyre strategy mattered, sure, but a lot more was decided on track. The driver I wanted to win, didn’t. It happens. However I still think this race was an instant classic.

            Webber giving Alonso a lift was a cherry on top.

            10/10

    3. I agree with Dan, but I’d probably still say 8. Loads of overtaking and virtually none of it was down the the DRS. I loved it! :)

      1. The DRS was undoubtedly a huge success this race, it didn’t make things easy at all. But what it did do was visibly reduce the gaps.

        1. Jake gave a good stat at the end of the Red Button Forum. Only 29% of overtakes this season have been in the DRS zone. Shows that Pirelli are doing a fantastic job.

          1. Yes, but DRS zone helps a lot to go closer to your opponent, even if you don’t overtake in the zone, you are so close that you can overtake a few corners after, especialy if you kept some KERS.

    4. If i was signed up here i’d have given it a 9. It was a good race 3 car 3 team battle for the lead not involving vettel, lots of action through out the field lots of mistakes.

      Strange situation with the last lap pit stop but i think that added to the race rather than took away from it. We knew after all when they put on the 2nd set of soft tyres they had to make another stop so don’t blame the rules, it was the drivers/teams decision when to do that and in it’s self was a unique thing not often you get a pit stop on the last lap. Mark giving alonso a lift was nice, for all the reasons above it was easily the 2nd most enjoyable race of the year for me.

  2. 9/10 awesome!

    when the 4 frontrunners were together out of the pits i almost had a heart attack! and then later before the final pitstops i nearly died again!

    my favorite race this year!

    1. So what your saying is if its a 10 race your a goner. I guess thats bad taste with all the death and destruction in the news. Its all too morbid and depressing. Especially as one of my favourite artists is gone. RIP AW.

    2. when the 4 frontrunners were together out of the pits i almost had a heart attack!

      Yes, that really was an incredible moment! I could see 4 cars in a heap resting against the barrier for a second. :P

  3. People will complain that it’s got a high vote because a McLaren won but what a fantastic Grand Prix.

    Great opening to the race. The first 30 laps were fantastic with Alonso/Webber/Hamilton.

    Faded a bit at the end but was made exciting by the uncertainty with the harder tyres.

    8/10

    1. Hamilton pitted earlier for the medium compound and it actually turned out faster than the worn out soft, why did the other teams not notice this??
      I gave it 7 because the medium tires performing better than expected made a dull finish.

      1. For the first full lap Hamilton did, it appeared to be slower. That meant everyone waited an extra lap by which time, it was too late.

        1. Alonso came in the lap after ham…

          1. I thought he ran another lap after that.

          2. No it was two laps. Hamilton was several tenths slower than Alonso in the middle sector on his outlap, so Fernando stayed out for another lap. Hamilton had got up to speed by this time and Alonso met traffic and lost the tenths he made.

          3. yeah, Alonso ran another lap after that first lap. And he got stuck behind a Virgin at the end of that lap as well, losing the time he made up on Hamilton in the first 1.5 laps of staying out longer.

        2. But they could have done as McLaren did (according to Whitmarsh) and checked how Petrov did a not-great first lap before he was very much up to speed on those tyres. I don’t really get why they didn’t.

          Webber probably decided it was too late already and stayed out longer hoping it might bring something, but Ferrari? Guess they were too worried about their prime tyre pace in the cold.

          1. Ferrari did a few things to hand Lewis that Victory I think, but having said that, they still put in a great race to beat both the Red Bull cars.

            Webber I think, by the end of the race had a the slower car, I think for him it was a do or bust kinda moment.

      2. Makes you wonder if Hamilton purposely was slow in the firs two sectors of his outlap to stop the others from pitting, then booted it! :P

        1. Highly unlikely :) He didn’t know himself what the medium tires were capable of and with a close race like that he can’t afford to waist any second.

    2. yer I voted 8 as well, the early stages were a 10 but the final half of the race tailed off a bit. It was still fascinating battle between the top 3. But overall it was a very good race, but not a 9 or 10.

    3. People will always go on about that. They don’t realise the connection isn’t between the high score and a McLaren win, it’s between a high score and an exciting race. By coincidence McLarens seem to triumph in the closely fought battles, whereas more Red Bull/Vettel wins are walkovers.

      1. In this case, much as Hamilton can annoy me… He did put in a dogged fight to take the win. He never gives up a place.

  4. 8/10

    Fantastic first half but a bit boring coming to the end. Good battles all up the field, though!

  5. 9/10 fizzled in the middle, end was more tense than dramatic, but what a good race

    1. “was more tense than dramatic”
      Perfectly said. It lacked dramatic retirements.

      1. We don’t get those any more do we?

        Remember when the feed used to cut to a front runner stopped with a blown engine and Murry would scream “It’s Schumacher! It’s Schumacher!”

        … Sorry, nostalgia.

  6. 5/10
    Most of the race was strategy, passing in the pits. Not a lot of on-track action, as evidenced by Vettel staring at the back of Massa’s car for several laps, only to change positions due to a screw up by Ferrari in the pits.

    1. I agree. Boring action. It’s all about the tires.

      1. Hitman Contract (@)
        24th July 2011, 15:31

        Can’t we get rid of the supremely idiotic tyre change rule?

        1. Trenthamfolk (@)
          24th July 2011, 16:42

          What’s wrong with them… all drivers are subject to the same rules, and they choose when to change tyre’s?

        2. They would have run out of softs anyway, agreed it’s a dumb rule but it’s played almost no part this year.

          1. Actually perhaps in this case not but it’s hard to say how different the race would have been.

    2. LOL, someone must be blind!

    3. not a lot of on track action? what race were you wtaching?

      we had 4 leading cars all abreast in the first corner at one point! we had 4 overtakes for the lead. not to mention the racing that happened down the field. what more do you want? what would constitute sufficient track action on your oppinion? I guess the last 10 years in F1 must have been very boring for you if you say this race had little on track action.

  7. wqtch the top 3 get disqualified lol

    1. That would be funny, but also quite sad.

      1. It’s a German circuit lol vettel is German. I wouldn’t rule this out.

    2. Why should that be the case?

      1. Because of Webber giving Alonso a lift and Hamilton leaving the parc ferme zone. Which both is prohibited in these days. But it even won’t happen I guess.

        1. So i was right about the lift, it’s banned.
          But I doubt the punishment for these infractions (or the lift at least) is race DSQ.

          1. Exactly, it wasn’t a incident during the race, but they might get a fine though.

          2. Doesn’t matter if it’s after the race, If they break the rules they can be DSQ.

            However, I doubt either of these will result in anything but a slap on the wrist. It would be bad form to chastise Webber for creating what will become a memorable moment.

  8. I loved Webber giving Alonso a lift at the end!

    1. That was great! Just like the good old days.

      1. The commentator actually said that this has happened only 10 times before in F1.

        1. I though FIA had banned that, sort of. An official policy, or something.
          Hope I’m wrong and Webber doesn’t get fined.

    2. absolutely classic scene!

  9. Excellent race,c ould have done with more on trac action, but it was so tense. 8/10.

    As an aside: VET couldn’t overtake a driver in front running car on the track, some things never change.

    1. Not forgetting nearly half the race he has problem with his rear brakes.

      1. Is that the 4th time you’ve said that cheif?

        1. The simple evidence to that is that, as with Button on Schumacher in Canada, as soon as Vettel’s mechanics got him past at the pitstops, he slung away from Massa at a race of knots in the final lap.

          So he always had the capability to overtake, but couldn’t get it done. I don’t think that’s an expression of “he can’t do it” but he certainly failed to quell the doubters.

    2. for me what made the slight lack of on track action fine was that the action we did get didn’t involve the DRS =D

    3. To put as a subtitle on the “I beat the Stig” shirt!

      1. “I beat the man who beat The Stig” perhaps?

        1. “I beat The Stig, but I am not Faster Than You Felipe”

  10. 7/10

    The first half was thrilling and the second half had its moments, but the action was mostly confined to small moments. Great battles throughout though.

  11. Seeing Alonso and Hamilton edge out in front of Webber was disgusting. Webber had done everything right over the weekend to that point and deserved to win. I say it should be just 2 sets of softs and 1 set of hards for the race, not the ridiculous strategies they have now.

    1. Why was it disgusting? They managed their tyres better and deserved to pull ahead. That’s racing and conditions are the same for everyone…

      1. Webber failed as usual. He fluffed pole again…

        1. Someone needs to give Webber a gift certificate for a drag-racing school.

    2. Um… the top three all used 2 sets of option and 1 set of prime in this race – so what exactly is your point?

      1. No they used 3 sets of softs and 1 set of hards for this race.

      2. Forget it mate, some people are just like that. There’s no point trying to find a point in what they say. Look at some stuff been said above.. makes me laugh!

    3. he did everything right.. Alonso and Hamilton just did everything better.

      this is a competition! sometimes you win, sometimes you get beaten

    4. Webber should of driven faster then.

      1. Exactly. He said afterwards that the pace wasn’t in the car- nonsense. He put it on pole, and although I know Red Bull’s qualifying pace often doesn’t translate exactly across to race pace, he still had the pole sitting car. I also believe Vettel’s Red Bull set the fastest lap of the race. Furthermore, he was able to run with the leaders and partly in the lead for 40+ laps. The pace was in the car. Even if it was a little slower than the other two, to blame it on the speed of the car seems like making excuses. Had he not fluffed the start he might have had a better grip on the entire race. I’m not taking away anything- he still drove a good race, but not as good as Alonso and Hamilton.

        1. fullthrottle
          24th July 2011, 17:03

          Redbull has not the same pace in qualifying than in the race. Pedro de la Rosa said in the spanish tv this can be a overheating KERS issue. RB cannot use the KERS all the time, they have to switch it off for Q2 and cannot use it all the race. It also hurts the rear brakes when it isn’t operative, as happened with Vettel. Maybe could also explain some Q1s when the RBs hadn’t an operative KERS.

        2. RBs definitely slow down the straights, makes it hard to attack even if they get out of the corners fast, Hamiltons pass back on Webber was pure drag race speed.

          1. He got a better run and exit from the corner too. And it isn’t purely drag speed if you’re only along aside in the braking zone rather than in front.

          2. Saw it back and yes Hamilton sailed past, but his exit from the corner helped, and Webber actually came back at him and he defended it nicely.

      2. Usefull tip :-D

    5. Webber failed as usual. He fluffed pole again…

    6. Deserved to win because of the events up to Sunday? Sunday is what it is all about, everything else is commentary fodder. Good race by all.

    7. By that logic, Webber didn’t deserve a point in Shanghai, let alone a podium.

  12. We Want Turbos
    24th July 2011, 14:50

    I fear stewards decisions may wreak the race. Hope Alonso doesn’t get disqualified he really has changed my opinion of him the last 3 gps!! Great drive from all the top 3. A few overtakes, can’t remember any of those being DRS. overall exciting race what F1 should be I’ll not vote until we’ve had a classified result but provisional 7.

    1. Will depend on what the rule says about having enough fuel to complete an inlap and whether car is under weight. Remember Lewis lost places saving fuel in GB.

  13. 8/10

    Didnt have the buzz to be a 10/10 but action from the start with the top 3 and right at the end with Vettel and Massa.

    Best thing about this race top 3 cars were equal and thats an AMAZING prospect for the remaining races. Can wait for Hungry too see how close the rest of them are to Red Bull

  14. 10 for the first 25 laps. Amazing battle for the lead, great pit exits and everything else happening in the midfield. Nice swappings in who was the pace-setter in a given moment.

    8 for the rest of the race. It felt like it was fading off a little bit, but the tricky situations with the medium tires added a nice puzzle waiting to be solved.

    Hamilton around the outside of Turn 2 was a really nice piece of a driver to see.
    Vettel in a race last this, last year, would have got a DNF. Proof of maturity in such a bad day for him, with his errors and car faults.

  15. Really good race, action throughout. Seriously disappointed with the coverage of the race below 6th place though – had no idea about Sutil or the Mercedes!

    Otherwise, good. FOM director needs the sack though (once again)

    1. i think the director changes race to race. each circuit/country has their own.

      1. In the past that was true but FOM have gradually taken over the coverage for most races. Only a few are still directed by the host broadcaster (Japan and, surprisingly, Monaco are among those exceptions).

    2. Did they ever show the Heidfeld/Di Resta incident? Or did I just miss it? I heard it mentioned plenty enough, but never heard them say what actually happened.

    3. Agree, we had great comments from people noticing who went past whom, but never saw Button getting past Sutil, nor did we see much of the cars running behind the leaders.

      Not even the Heidfeld/DiResta clash at the start of the race, when they replayed the Buemi/Heidfeld one about 10 times.

      And the stupid notion of activating DRS, having Alonso right on the back of Webber as the best time to show us start Replays (Ok, Webber bogging it down at the start was interesting, but not that much) for 3 minutes.

      1. You are right he did bog down, but how? his tach was in the red but there was no tyre smoke.

        1. He let the RPM drop. Whether this was his error or the clutch starting to bite? We will probably never know.

          1. Do you think an F1 journo will ask? No way, they know who butters their bread.

  16. Great racing for the top positions, pity Mark did not make a good start (again) but lets not forget Sauber’s Kobayashi amazing 9 positions made up. Great excitement at the pits at the last lap! What were the Ferrari’s crew dreaming>?

  17. A three way fight for the lead for most of the race what more can you ask for.

  18. Exciting from start to finish and delivered. Not as much overtaking as usual but a great race all the same.

  19. It died a little after the first half but mostly I lvoed it. My ratings this year have been rubbish so I apologise to keith if he’s comparing them through the years. I didn’t expect as much action at the beginning of 2011 and I was pleasantly surprised and rated everything very high and now I’m stuck rating them higher than perhaps they should be.

    1. I have the same feeling that my rates are inconsistent. It’s unpleasant i have to say =(

  20. Three top drivers within a couple of seconds of one another for the whole race, each of them leading at different points (Alonso briefly!), question marks over the weather and the primes –

    10/10

  21. 9/10

    Full of excitement for the first 2-3 stints, a complete nail-biter until lap 55 or so (whenever Lewis did a 1:34.6 or whatever on the prime tire).

    Could have been a 10/10 with rain.

  22. I’d like some clarification, as I was watching the Grand Prix, I heard Steve Slater say that if Mark Webber doesn’t come in for this third pit stop, he’d be penalized. Exactly why?

    1. Medium tyres fitted at least once

    2. georges10099
      24th July 2011, 15:12

      because he hadnt used the prime (harder) tyres yet and you have to use both the softs and hards

      1. Ah now I get it, thanks for that guys! :)

        How do you find this rule?

        1. It’s a basic rule that It’s often mentioned by commentators, and has been in place for a few years now.
          Just watching enough GPs, I guess :)

        2. Hitman Contract (@)
          24th July 2011, 15:37

          I can’t say how I find this rule without being moderated out.

        3. 25.4 (f) at

        4. not too happy about it, to say the least!

  23. 9-10 for me. Excellent race, which by the way showed that Vettel is not a master driver unless he starts from pole and has superior car. If Germany happened 3 races ago, we would still have the title race wide open. Now it’s looking like 2009 revisited – total domination at the beginning and steady decline towards the end. A race without RB on the podium increasingly more probable.

    1. Disagree, Massa had a lot less to lose than Vettel – which is why Rocky told Seb to be cautious.

      1. Hym, Vettel who had 80 points lead in WDC and could easily DNF in 3 races in a row and still be the leader? For Massa fourth would have been a highlight of the season so far. It’s the second race in a row lost by Red Bull with now two teams on par with them or even slightly faster in the race trim. Vacation’s over senior Vettel.

      2. I agree, that Seb had more to lose, but its not as if others did not try.

        And Massa has his fair share of locking brakes where it might have been worth a chance, if Vettel had really pushed and been all over Massa.

        It made for an interesting battle but It did nothing at all to disprove Vettel is not good at this kind of stuff.

    2. It was a very bad weekend for Vettel. But why should he go all in on an overtake on Massa? Vettel had the upper hand and it was all about being patient and minimizing the point loss to his competitors and wait for that opportunity. If he had finished 5th it wouldn’t be the end of the world anyway when the only realistic position was 4th. After such a bad weekend in the end he still did the smart thing and waited for the end to get him.
      I think one of the problems is that the car is just not fast enough on the straights compared to the others. So it is really hard to overtake the others unless they make a slight mistake. Like Webber’s overtake on Hamilton earlier in the race.

  24. 10. Super race again. I cant remember a season where every race has been brilliant.

  25. 10, there was always drama for a dry race! And 3 different cars fighting it out right until the very end!!

  26. Easily 9. Great race. Had there been a quick rain shower and some more confusion and strategy differences it would have been 10 clearly. Great battle at front and as soon as that died out slightly there was the battle for fourth between Massa and Vettel and all sorts of other action. Just brilliant.

  27. 9/10 – So tense, even if overtaking was somewhat lacking. And the battle at the front! When I had absolutely no idea who was going to win! I’m still so elated even though Lewis won (and even I can admit that he was the class of the field today; that overtake on Alonso was perfection and it killed me a little inside, haha); it was so thrilling!

    The ferrari pit stop blunder (which I’ve come to expect at least once a race now) that completely undid Massa’s race-long fight is why I deducted a point. Massa did so well, and it was looking like he’d actually get fourth place.

    I should have known better.

    Oh and the hitch hike with Alonso and Webber just completed what was a great race. Hope he doesn’t get penalised for not having enough fuel.

    1. I agree. Felipe did so well, but his team let him down on this occasion.

  28. great race, MOSTLY decided by masterful passes by Hamilton and Alonso, the two greatest racers on the track (I know, I know, but this is a completely different career from Michael’s earlier F1 days)

  29. 10/10 Made us not wanting to go back to Hockenheim ever again. A single TV screen is not enough to contain all the dramas. No rain required.

  30. 2nd half was not as exciting as the 1st half but it was fun to watching the battles in the top 3. Hammy returning to his mojo – quick retake of lead from MW after being overtaken, nice move outside at turn 3 leaving Alonso behind again… and abundant spin outs and midfield actions…

  31. I give it a 10. Perfect race and thrilling win from Lewis

  32. huwlewis (@)
    24th July 2011, 15:40

    10/10
    No matter what you think of Hamilton, he always brings the element of excitement to F1..a true racer and Vettel proved he is only good from the front! Excellent Grand Prix

  33. Hitman Contract (@)
    24th July 2011, 15:42

    1, and is one point too many. With hard Bridgestones and no tyre rule change we could have seen some racing.

    1. Why can’t we vote 0 anyway?
      Then again it’s a 1 instead of 0, for Jenson Button’s DNF.

      1. You gave it a 1 purely because JB didn’t finish? Think you’ve missed the point of the vote there… is about the race as a whole.

        1. I think he was meaning it was a 1 celebrating on Button’s DNF instead of being even lower than that for a Hamilton win, judging from other comments made by him.

  34. Hmmm, Brundle just wondered whether Rosberg can win a race without the fastest car, “we know Hamilton can, Alonso can, VETTEL can” – really?

    1. In wet conditions and the right circumstances, maybe Vettel could win a slower car. Otherwise, no.

      1. monza 2008 springs into my mind

        1. = rain (I remembered)

      2. Spain (Mclaren) and Monaco (Mclaren and Ferrari) 2011. On race day the cars in brackets were as fast, if not faster.

        1. The rivals weren’t faster in the race and were certainly slower in quali. At Spain Vettel got past – guess what – via the pits, and at Monaco (a) it’s Monaco, where he led from the off, and (b) we were deprived of seeing Alonso or Button challenging Vettel because of the fresh tyres at the end.

          Some real proof is needed. But the way things are going, Vettel will have his chance to prove he can use an at least equal car to get past his equally paced rivals on track.

  35. Long Live The King !!! Hamilton & McLaren all the way !!!

  36. 8/10. Great race. Lets never go to the new Hockenheim again.

  37. I can already see that this race is going to be rated quite highly, simply because Hamilton won. I know Keith encourages us not to rate on where our favoured teams/drivers finished. but it’s pretty evident already that this is exactly what’s happening and being a UK site. naturally more people will be following the UK drivers!

    I personally gave the race a 6. Although it started of great, towards the end of the race it fizzled out a little for me. Also the return of the dreaded “only pitting because we have to” with Vettel/Massa.

    1. Honestly I would have rated it just as high, or possibly even higher if Alonso or Webber would have been able to pull a pass on Hamilton in those last 8 laps, its not about who won, but what happened on the way to get there.

    2. I know Keith is tired of pointing out that only about 1/3 of his site visits are from the UK. So there it is. In fairness, this season, there only two kinds of races: 1. RBR walk-overs and 2. races where a Ferrari or McLaren snatch a win away from RBR with an amazing performance—which usually must include some passing, because RBR has a deeded freehold on the front row. The second kind naturally are better than the first, and the team has brought you 3 of these serves mushy peas in its canteen.

    3. I’m British, and a McLaren fan, and I rated the race 6.

      Wait, that means I’m biased against the Germans, doesn’t it? Or no, I’m rating it low because Alonso did well, I’m biased against him. Or, maybe it’s because I’m biased *for* Torro Rosso, and they didn’t have a great race.

      Just because people disagree with you, doesn’t mean they’re doing it because of blinkered bias, while your opinions are pure and true. It’s more likely that they have a different opinion, nothing more.

  38. As a Hamilton fan 10/10, objectively 7/10. DRS not really working meant we were back to who can really overtake. Cue Hamilton. Two stunning retakes of position against Webber (my favourite) and Alonso. Excellent drives from all three, but that’s the result you get if you put all three in near enough equal cars and equal conditions: Hamilton wins by that extra racing talent. Today he did the Senna comparison proud!

    1. Maybe that’s a potential solution to the rating objectivity issue…

      Each person can rate on 2 different criteria:

      1.) ‘Rate the result’ – how satisfied you were with the result (based on preferred drivers etc).

      2.) ‘Rate the action’ – how good the action on track was (more objective).

      The 2nd rating wouldn’t be completely objective – given that how an individual sees the action may be coloured by what their favourite drivers do, but it may give a less skewed average.

      1. Though actually it really is difficult to be objective, maybe the race was better from a neutral stance and I’m over-compensating?! Even some Hamilton-neutral (or worse) blog sites rated this a top race and one of his best.

        1. Definitely hard to be objective, since every person watching it is likely to want a particular outcome that will influence their rating (or lead them to over think it).

          I just think that by asking for a result-orientated rating first, it helps (me, at least!) to move beyond it and give a more rounded view of the racing action.

          1. That’s true, I like the idea of splitting the vote options, but I’d put the second option as ‘rate the quality of the race’ rather than ‘rate the action,’ simply because it’s more specific (it could be taken to mean quantity of action).

            Probably should rate the race 8/10 actually, since we saw an extremely close race between three different cars – that’s obviously what F1 needs after half a season of one team dominating!

  39. Gave it a 9

  40. Lots of 9s and 10s here. Considering this was – at best – the third best race this season, I’d say that’s a little generous. There was some good action down the field and a decent battle for the lead but no high drama or anything particularly unpredictable. 7 from me. But then I’m not a McLaren fan.

    1. We Want Turbos
      24th July 2011, 16:37

      Mclaren fan but have to agree with you. Some great bits of action plus a little bit of strategy work!!

    2. I liked it possibly more than Canada, as it did not have to make up for the 2 hour wait and we did not have DRS get too prominently in the way of the podium like it did both in Canada and (with the tyres) in China.

      It might have had a bit more going for it, if Button had been in it and challenged Vettel/Massa for 5th though.

      1. It was 2nd to China for me. Canada was only half a race really so how people managed to rate it 9 and 10 is beyond me.

  41. The wrong Mclaren broke down today. Such a shame. Alonso winning two in a row would’ve made a good race so much better.

    1. I don’t agree. Nothing more downputting (sorry almost nothing, see TO) than a car breakdown to decide the lead.

  42. Trenthamfolk (@)
    24th July 2011, 16:46

    Great race, lots of stuff going on, but especially good since RB were shown to be less than angelic, Vettel in particular. I’m a Button fan, and was disappointed to see him retire after such a rubbish start, but the scrap for the lead really entertained me. I thought Hamilton & Alonso did amazingly well. I really don’t like Alonso Ieither, but i can’t deny his brilliance today. Ferrari didn’t even need to cheat, which is a constant cloud over F1, so well don to the pony boys on that one!

  43. Can’t believe this got a 9? I would give it a 7 personally. Good, but not great.

    Also was I the only frustrated seeing all the German drivers battling away i.e. Rosberg, Sutil, Schumi and Vettel and not the front 3 when TV screens showed the gap between them was abut 1.4s.

  44. Was very interesting strategy game today especially between top 3 (not Vettel for once), even got 3 positions correct with other two also in top 5!

    However it was a shame not to see Di Resta / Heidfeld incident or the Barrichello retirement.

    My race prediction, actual result in brackets where different. Therefore some good points for me.

    VET (HAM)
    ALO
    WEB
    HAM (VET)
    MAS

  45. 9/10 good battles and vettel didn’t make the podium

    Wish alonso won the race

  46. David Johnson
    24th July 2011, 19:37

    9/10, three cars in a tense battle roughly with the same pace, nice “pure” overtakes, jesus what more do you want ? A race for the f1 purest..not for fan-boys/girls.

    1. I can’t imagine anything more that could been given or asked from, what we got today from Lewis, Fernando and Mark. It doesn’t get any better than this.

      1. agree all around

    2. An alternative view of that is:

      3 cars on the same pace, with no likelihood of mechanical breakdown, 3 drivers who are unlikely to make a mistake, tyres which are all wearing at the same rate, and everything boils down to pitstops and strategy. What did we learn? Vettel’s not good in traffic, Ferrari aren’t great at pitstops (though they didn’t rack up another unsafe release, at least), and Hamilton is capable of overtaking Webber.

      A return to the very, very bad old days of hard Bridgestones and races decided by who does the fastest in/outlap on their pitstops.

      This was the first race all year where I got up and did some housework after the first third of the race. And I missed basically nothing – as with previous years, keep an ear out for the commentary and walk back into the room to watch a replay.

      Compare that with Canada where, once the cars were on track, the action was edge of the seat stuff all day.

  47. I gave it an 8.
    Really nice battles !
    My opinion about DRS: if i am not mistaken, the DRS hasn’t made passing too easy this time. It seems they all needed 50/100 meters more to make the passes stisk before the chicane. To me that was what made this race so good: the shortness of the DRS. They could close up the gap to the one in front, but not enough for a pass, and the pass had to be made the real way, after the chicane. Maybe that’s the best way to use DRS ? Was it expected to work out so?

    Apart from that, disappointed for Button, whose machinery denied him a possible 4th place today again…
    And my hero Kobayashi brings home points once again after starting 18th !

  48. I had it down as an 8, love the FA/MW taxi ride pics.

    I also like the earlier post: a 10 for the first set of laps, an 8 later.

    I really don’t know why the rule is they have to use 2 different hardness tires during the race. Why does that rule make sense again? Why not just have all teams use 6 sets of primes or 6 sets of optionals for the weekend?

    1. I think it was there to introduce pace differences between the cars. That creates artificial situations where overtaking is made possible.
      I hate this rule too…

  49. i woke up just in time to see the warm up lap, and i surely enjoyed this race from start 2 finish. from lewis hit P2 in quali, i knew he would get mark in the first corner. didnt know the mclaren would have so much pace!!!
    10/10

  50. I gave it a 9. I thought it was a great, tense, and exciting race. And to top it all off, a McLaren win. Although I promise that didn’t bump my vote up. Well, maybe one point!

    Would probably have given it a 10 had Vettel not being so dull to watch (how come Hamilton and Alonso make passing look so effortless, yet Vettel seems unable to do anything but follow the leader?) and Button hadn’t DNF’d.

    All in all though, a good race. Vettel’s fourth adds a tiny bit of excitement to the driver’s championship too!

  51. 8.
    The first 8 laps were very boring I thought that we might end up that way.But later some good fight by Massa, Webber & Hamilton,especially his repass on Webber was great.Another thing is that I think we have seen some good move into this race in the non-DRS zone,today it was tough to overtake in the DRS zone.

    1. The first 8 laps were very boring

      I disagree, sir! I was on the edge of my seat!

  52. One thing which I dont like about Ferrari is that they are not risk takers. In this season or the last one, I havent seen them bringing Alonso for the tyre change when he is stuck behind a slow driver even once. Like in this race, Webber came out ahead of Ham/Alo because he changed his tyres 1/2 lap/s before the 2. Mcalren did the same to Hamilton in Silverstone and he came ahead of Mark.

    There is no innovation in Ferrari, they just react and not act. If they want to win championships in this ERA where we have great and fast drivers distributed over several good teams, they need to take risks.

  53. Would be nice to hear from the people who rated the races 2/3/4 to hear their justifications for it. Assume these will be Vettel/Button fans who cannot view things objectively (i.e. every race is rubbish unless their favourite driver wins).

    Personally, I gave it a 9 yesterday, it had a good mix of excitement at the beginning and was tense 10/15 laps from the end. We saw some good over-takes, some mistakes and some fails and the top 3 drivers all in close proximity for the majority of the race.

    It just remains to be seen if Ferrari and McLaren can keep the pace for the rest of the season.

  54. Webber ran his engine setting 7 or whatever too much when he was leading. he didn’t have the race pace without it.

  55. Another one in the 2008-2011 top 10, for certain – but just. Had Alonso managed to close the door and we would be seing a normal distribution in the ratings, I guess.

  56. Overrated seriously, the Leadership battle was good, but that was exciting as it gets. Poor broadcast missed most of the other challenges.

  57. 5 for the 1st part, 1 for the second part and a bonus point for Alonso riding back on a Red Bull. So 7 overall

    1. I’m a Mclaren fan, but I cant help but feel that this race was overrated completely

  58. this race was almost similar to MONACO, in terms that if monaco wasnt red flagged, it would have been as thrilling to watch as this, with the top three teams battling it out

  59. I gave the race and 8.

    Before the race everyone seemed to think there would defiantly be some rain, and ordinarily I would have been disappointed there wasn’t any, however I didn’t miss it one bit.

    A great three way fight for the lead and I wasn’t certain what the podium order would be until the final round of pit stops.

  60. Good race, a fantastic drive from Hamilton and quite a few surprises, mainly Vettel doing so badly!

  61. 9. Absolutely marvellous race. Nurburgring proved why it should be on the calendar as a permanent fixture, it’s last three races have been brilliant.

    1. I second that, Nurburgring throws up classics, just as other great European circuits like Silverstone, Spa, Monza and Monaco do. I will always follow F1 wherever it goes, but these five European circuits should always be the spine of the calender!

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