Driver of the race- Hockenheim

**Born Racer** · 30 Jul 2006, 16:48 (Ref:1667985)

I will go for Webber. I don't think anyone, perhaps even himself, expected him to be able to keep his car up the sharp end for so long.

A good comeback drive from Trulli as well. I was hoping to see enough fighting spirit to pass at least one of the Renaults at the end as well, with Fisichella seemingly quicker than Alonso but having to hold station. Perhaps Trulli didn't have the car under him for that though.

Schumacher drove a good race, but I think Ferrari may have been so far ahead that he didn't even need to push harder to show us what he was capable of.

OZ_HCR32 · 30 Jul 2006, 17:07 (Ref:1668009)

Trulli, it looks like he has got his head around this racing caper and did well. Lets hope he can continue to deliver with the speed i thought he had

Inigo Montoya · 30 Jul 2006, 17:24 (Ref:1668022)

Thanks for starting the the thread, Born Racer

I've added a poll. I am voting for Michael, for obvious reasons. Let me or one of the other mods know if we need more options :

beau1 · 30 Jul 2006, 17:31 (Ref:1668028)

Uhhhhm, i am going to go for kimi i think. Did very well to regain the positions he lost in the first pitstop during the last quarter of the race.
Other contenders for me: Michael- won the race but no-one challenged ferrari today.
Webber- Was unlucky could have finished in 4th.
Button- Had a steady race nothing special though, slowed at the end. Kudos for getting back past alonso and pushing him out side and the harpin on the first lap.
Trulli- Proved his skills and totally out did ralf today. Great speed from the back of the grid again.
Massa- Drove a good safe number 2 race.

ralf fan · 30 Jul 2006, 18:36 (Ref:1668108)

I'll give it to Webber....

Marbot · 30 Jul 2006, 19:46 (Ref:1668151)

I think that probably anyone could have had a good race in either of the Ferrari's today.And also could have had a bit of a nightmare in either Renault.

MW drove well,but the Bridgestones were the tyre to have.JT also had these tyres and got his car up behind the Renaults at the end of the race from the back of the grid.He gets my vote.

maltafan · 30 Jul 2006, 21:14 (Ref:1668257)

Defenitely Webber. Pity that his Cosworth failed for the umpteenth time this season.

deejay · 30 Jul 2006, 22:07 (Ref:1668316)

I voted for Webber.

You should have Button on this poll.

rocketracer · 30 Jul 2006, 22:11 (Ref:1668324)

Kimi for me.

drove a fantastic race in troubled circumstances, was very impressive.

Of course webber gets an honourable mention, but its tiring giving him a point for a what if....

deejay · 30 Jul 2006, 22:24 (Ref:1668335)

Webber did benefit quite heavily from the Bridgestones, which seemed to have remarkble durability.

I think Kimi actually ended up on the best strategy for the Michelins though. You could see how much Button started to struggle in his long last stint.

I'd probably give it a tie between all 3 of those guys actually. They all did an excellent job.

Jordi · 30 Jul 2006, 22:37 (Ref:1668346)

Kimi did very well, it wasn't a walk in the park.

Inigo Montoya · 30 Jul 2006, 23:42 (Ref:1668386)

Quote:

Originally Posted by deejay

I voted for Webber.

You should have Button on this poll.

Done

Halsey · 31 Jul 2006, 04:57 (Ref:1668458)

I'm going to give it to Webber. He appears to be driving so well without being rewarded with any results. I know that plenty of drivers have been in the same situation in having driven really well, only to have the car fail and them not get a result, a la Raikkonen for the better part of '04, but I felt really sorry for him then too.

Sure, Bridgestone were clearly the tyre to have, but he drove really well once again. Trulli was very impressive again coming from the back of the grid, Raikkonen was able to overcome being victim to a fuelling mistake in qualifying, that was possibly a cunning form of cover for a potential PR exercise, and then more difficulties in the pitstop, and Button did a solid job too.

As an additional note, did anyone else notice how differently the Williams appeared to handle the bumps in the track in relation to the frontrunning teams? Bouncebouncebouncebounce!

All in all, it was a good GP, if you disregard the front two

**Peter Mallett** · 31 Jul 2006, 05:54 (Ref:1668485)

Hmm,

Michael? Drove a commanding race. Peerless.
Masa? Drove equally well and ran the necessary support when it mattered.
Kimi? Lost two spots so not a good race for him.
Jenson? Lost two, made up two ran a good third for most of the race but tailed off when it mattered. Not sure why.
Trulli? Great run, out of character from the back.
Mark? Running brilliantly today but sadly the car broke down.
Ralf? Despite his problems, mostly of his own making, he was pretty damn quick and it was good fun watching him tail the Ferraris after they got by him.
Fisi? Nothing special.
Fernando? Lacklustre and nearly threw it inot the scenery.

So, my choice will have to be Trulli.

Would have been Mark but to get DotD you have to finish.

Rick · 31 Jul 2006, 06:24 (Ref:1668496)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Hmm,

Ralf? Despite his problems, mostly of his own making, he was pretty damn quick and it was good fun watching him tail the Ferraris after they got by him.

I'm glad someone enjoyed it because it was driving me nuts watching the Shu brothers (courtesy of the German diector, no doubt) engaging in a meaningless "battle" whilst the Kimi/Webber/Button scenario was being played out. The first we knew of Webber's problem was on the screen timing he suddenly appeared 8th - but we were watching Ralf "dicing (!)" with the Ferraris!

**Peter Mallett** · 31 Jul 2006, 06:33 (Ref:1668501)

I had the ads!

Halsey · 31 Jul 2006, 07:05 (Ref:1668524)

I realised that something was wrong when he wasn't in one of the shots of Raikkonen very close after he was overtaken, but I didn't say anything because I refused to believe it was happening again

My friend had picked it up to, and said "Webber has a problem - he's nowhere near Raikkonen". I was still in denial at that point, and persisted in insisting that nothing was wrong.

That approach just made it worse when you cut to him cruising back to the pits

Chatters · 31 Jul 2006, 07:09 (Ref:1668526)

Webber. Without a doubt. It's official: He is the unluckiest driver in F1 atm. He was faster than Schuey almost every lap but it was his piece of **** Williams that let him down.

dsg · 31 Jul 2006, 07:17 (Ref:1668531)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chatters

Webber. Without a doubt. It's official: He is the unluckiest driver in F1 atm. He was faster than Schuey almost every lap but it was his piece of **** Williams that let him down.

He was only lapping faster than MS & FM once they had a 30 second lead and were winding down for the last third of the race. That was about the same time Ralf unlapped himself.

He was consistantly lapping faster than Button and about the same as Kimi so a podium was not out of the question.

rocketracer · 31 Jul 2006, 07:17 (Ref:1668532)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halsey

As an additional note, did anyone else notice how differently the Williams appeared to handle the bumps in the track in relation to the frontrunning teams? Bouncebouncebouncebounce!

yeah i noticed that too. I cant remember which corner it was (possibly the fast right hander coming into the stadium section), but when mark was leading 2 other front running cars through there (may have been fisi and raikkonen) the car looked like it was bouncing like a monster truck...

safc_fan89 · 31 Jul 2006, 07:20 (Ref:1668536)

3 drivers really impressed me: Raikkonen, Webber and Trulli. Why is it that Trulli has to start last to have some influence on the race? Very strange.

I will say Kimi though. Considering he had 3 major problems (fuelling error yesterday, sticking rear wheel at pitstop and car problems after the first stop) he did very well to get a podium. If he hadn't had those problems he would have had a much more comfortable race, and his pace wasn't that far off the Ferraris. Plus he pulled off a nice move on Button. Always a good thing

mac · 31 Jul 2006, 07:34 (Ref:1668551)

Went with Webber. Would have been on the podium on pure pace if not for problem.

Honourable mentions to Jarno, Kimi and the Ferrari boys, though I'm not sure how hard they ever had to push...

deeks6 · 31 Jul 2006, 08:04 (Ref:1668568)

Webber - this guy is impressing me this year more than any other, not only with his driving but his persistency is amazing. Despite all the bad luck and driving an ordinary car, he continues to try even harder.
lap after lap of fastest personal laps as the fuel washed off showed he was driving at 10-10ths the entire race...fantastic.

I'd be very surprised if his name was'nt at the top of the shopping list for Renault and McLaren but the word is that Frank has decided he will stay at Williams unless some serious money is thrown at him. With Toyota now in the Williams camp, he may well be better off staying put - as long as they start building the car now for 07 and assign the current piece of junk to history.

My second vote would have gone to Christian Klien ... another good drive from this underrated young bloke.

deejay · 31 Jul 2006, 09:08 (Ref:1668627)

I think Trulli's getting overated here. Who did he beat? 2 Midlands, 2 Tora Rossa's, 2 Red Bulls and Ralf, who had a first lap incident.

I think he just benefitted from the Bridgestone, which allowed him to run long with no degradation. On the other hand, all the 2 stopping Michelin runners struggled on their tyres at some point during the race (Button and the Renaults notably). The only one who bucked that trend was Kimi on a 3-stopper - but of course he had to make an extra stop.

I think we're starting to see the true picture of the change in form more clearly now, it ain't that Ferrari have suddenly gotten a lot better than Renault, it's that Bridgestone have taken a very strong lead in the tyre war.

Notso Swift · 31 Jul 2006, 12:33 (Ref:1668847)

Massa did well IMO, genuine pace for 2/3 and I suspect he had older tyres in the middle sector
Button gets mentioned for the First lap
Would have been Weber, but he didn't finish
So the Finnish for me, Kimi,
Despite being stuffed before he began.
Kimi and Weber after Kimi's 3rd stop was a great moment, where they both put their boys out on the table, and Kimi's were a fraction bigger.Another 1/10 in the pits and Weber would have held out, it was that close

Finally a good race, that is the true winner, for me

View Poll Results: Driver of the Race-Hockenheim?
Michael Schumacher	9	9.57%
Felippe Massa	3	3.19%
Mark Webber	54	57.45%
Kimi Raikkonnen	16	17.02%
Giancarlo Fisichella	1	1.06%
Jarno Trulli	7	7.45%
Jenson Button	4	4.26%
Voters: 94. You may not vote on this poll

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