Qualifying on Saturday at Hockenheim was rain soaked while on race day the track was dry as a desert. Thankfully for teams, this time round they were well informed to handle such a situation, having faced the same at the British Grand Prix earlier in the month of July. As it has been in all the races of the season so far, maintaining tyres and having a good pit-stop strategy plays an equally big role in the race as driving those 67 laps.

START SLIDESHOW

Picture perfect Alonso

Following a brilliant run in Saturday qualifying on a wet track to take pole position, Alonso displayed a silky-smooth drive on Sunday to show that he can drive equally well on a dry track. As the lights went off, Alonso had a good start off the line and stayed in lead into the first corner. The Spaniard continued to pull ahead and was soon out with DRS-free lead; from then on he only had to manage his tyres, and he did just that. It was only when Jenson Button jumped to second after his second round of pit-stops for tyres and started eating up the Spanish driver’s lead that the Ferrari driver’s role changed from merely managing the tyres and back-markers to actually being a racing driver. The two-time champion had no trouble whatsoever in changing roles and he not only retained the gap but also managed to pull a lead of more than six seconds to the chequered flag. 

Buttons up!

Keeping Button’s recent form in mind, it was a good change to see him fight for a race win up ahead of the order. The Brit made a good start from the third row of the grid and constantly managed to gain positions courtesy an upgrade package on the MP4-27 that worked well for the 2009 champion. McLaren’s 2.31second super quick stop for Button not only put the team into the record books for the fastest pit-stop in F1 history, but it also gave Button the opportunity to resume the race ahead of second place running Vettel. The McLaren driver then tried hard to play catch with Fernando Alonso but in vain. He ended up degrading his rear tyres in the process, giving the reigning champion an opportunity to make a move on him into the hairpin bend. Thankfully for Button, all four tyres of Vettel’s RB8 were out of the track when he made the overtaking manoeuvre. Although Button took the chequer in third place the Vettel’s 20-second penalty effectively handed the second place back to Button.