Race - German GP report: Ferrari

Team quotes

By Franck Drui

20 July 2014 - 19:05
Race - German GP report: Ferrari

The rain that might have helped the Scuderia Ferrari drivers exceed the current performance level of their car, cruelly arrived shortly after the end of the German Grand Prix, in which Fernando Alonso finished in fifth place, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen brought his F14 T home just outside the points in eleventh. Not an exhilarating result, but Fernando yet again was a key player in making this an absolutely thrilling race. Two weeks ago he went wheel to wheel with Sebastian Vettel in the British GP and here, after a brief re-match, which the German won, it was the other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo who duelled with the Ferrari man for several laps, thrilling the crowd in the grandstands and the viewers at home. Alonso finally made a passing move stick with a handful of laps to go. Kimi had a less pleasant day, even though he pulled off some aggressive overtaking moves. But he struggled after the opening stint, partly due to front wing damage.

There were other similarities with the last round at Silverstone: a Mercedes won of course, Nico Rosberg this time and the Safety Car was also required immediately after Felipe Massa’s car was rolled over at the first corner. Consolation for his Williams team came from Valtteri Bottas who came second, fending off Lewis Hamilton, who fought his way from the back of the grid to complete the podium trio in the other Mercedes.

At the start, the track temperature was over 20 degrees cooler than Saturday. The Safety Car was immediately deployed for just a couple of laps, after Massa and Magnussen tangled after the start, the Williams tipping over in the run-off at Turn 1. By that point, Fernando had moved up three places from seven to fourth and Kimi had gone from twelfth to ninth. Rosberg led from pole, with Bottas second while Vettel had jumped from six to third. Between Fernando and Kimi were Hulkenberg, Button, Kvyat, and Perez.

Kimi was powerless to stop Ricciardo getting by on lap 11 and then fought wheel to wheel with Hamilton to keep ahead of the Mercedes.

Lap 12 and Fernando was the first of the front runners to pit, taking on a new set of the Soft Pirellis. Lap 12 and Hamilton passed first Kimi and then Ricciardo all in the same move with a small part of the F14 T flying in the air.

Around lap 15, there was an incredible battle for fourth with both Ferraris going to wheel to wheel, Kimi, yet to pit, having started on the harder compound, caught in the middle between Fernando and Vettel, all three cars bouncing off one another. This meant more damage to Kimi’s front wing and as a consequence it would affect his tyre performance from then on. The Spaniard came out ahead of the Finn but behind the German.

Lap 25 and Kimi passed Vergne to go into the points in tenth and not longer after he made that ninth with an aggressive passing move on Magnussen. Kimi moved to eighth on lap 31 when Button pitted. At his second stop, Fernando came in early in an attempt to jump Vettel and later in the race, Vettel would try the same tactic, which inevitably worked, as he came
out of pit lane just ahead of the Spanish Ferrari driver, but the German’s tyres were still not up to temperature and, with a puff of wheel smoke, Fernando got ahead of the Red Bull on the curved back section. Kimi came in slightly earlier than planned for more Softs, unhappy with his last set.

With 11 laps to go, Fernando came in for another set of Supersofts to run to the flag, rejoining seventh, while Kimi was down in twelfth. The Spaniard was up to sixth, passing Button and he set off in pursuit of Ricciardo, whom he caught on lap 60 with the two men putting on a great show, with wheel to wheel action for several laps. Eventually, Fernando got the upper hand five laps from the flag.

Marco Mattiacci

“This was a very hard fought race for both the drivers and the team, which confirms the great effort put in by everyone on a weekend that never had a moment’s breathing space and in which we did our utmost. Fernando produced another fantastic performance, while we saw encouraging signs from Kimi, which unfortunately did not translate into concrete results. We know the weak points of our car and at every race we are looking for improvements that can also be useful for the new project which is beginning to take shape. Now attention turns to the next round in Hungary. It will be another demanding race, but at the same time another opportunity to improve.”

Fernando Alonso

“We did what we could today and even if as always, we were aiming for a podium finish, the cars ahead of us were just too quick. It was a good race, even if it was very complex, as we decided to change from a two to a three-stop strategy. It was not easy fighting while also keeping an eye on consumption and in the end, with the help of newer tyres, getting ahead of Ricciardo meant we finished in the highest position that we were capable of. Here in Hockenheim, we made a small step forward and even if that didn’t translate into lap time, it encourages us to keep trying to improve. The aim is still to score points to help the team in the Constructors’ Championship. So now our thoughts turn to Budapest. We will only find out how things will go once we are there, because every circuit is a story in itself.”

Kimi Raikkonen

“It’s a real shame the way my race went, because this weekend, I felt more comfortable and today, on fresh tyres, I was going well. Unfortunately, twice I found myself squeezed between two cars and on both occasions my front wing got damaged and that compromised my race. Tyre performance dropped more than expected and I had graining on the front left and was losing aerodynamic downforce. On the positive side, I was able to drive the way I like today. I am sure that, but for these problems, things would have worked out differently and I would have been able to finish in the points.”

Pat Fry

“It was a very tight race and with both cars, we pushed to the limit trying to make up places. Because of the accident at the start, we made up three places and both Fernando and Kimi drove very aggressively with a lot of spectacular overtaking moves. Behind the scenes, managing all the parameters of the two cars gave us a lot to do, from monitoring traffic, to the choices relating to the pit stops and fuel consumption. Unfortunately, with Kimi it was all more complicated, partly affected by a couple of collisions that damaged his front wing and affected tyre behaviour. In his second stint, we lost a few seconds because of graining, seconds which unfortunately, cost us a points finish. Fernando managed his race very well and thanks to his final move on Ricciardo, he brought home points that are important for the Constructors’ Championship. In a few days, we will be back on track in Hungary, a circuit where aerodynamic downforce plays a significant role and where we will try and get the most out of our package.”

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