The European GP proved to be an eventful race which saw Fernando Alonso win from eleventh, pole sitter Sebastian Vettel retired and a number of drivers involved in incidents which meant the stewards were busy investigating for most of the race. There were a number of impressive overtakes up and down the field, including but not exclusive to Fernando Alonso’s restart when the safety car came in and Romain Grosjean passing Lewis Hamilton for second, but my race highlight is a slightly different one this weekend. By about lap 18 of the race, Michael Schumacher was yet to pit and had developed a bit of a train behind him. This saw ten cars each separated by mere tenths of a second and fighting to get past the cars in front while defending from behind. This provided a tense couple of laps as it became so close that it looked like it might end badly for a couple of cars. Eventual race winner Alonso was involved in the train, along with second place man Kimi Räikkönen as well as both Williams drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button. It was an exciting few laps which everybody came out of relatively unscathed.
Related to the above moment, Kamui Kobayashi and Bruno Senna were involved in contact as the Sauber driver tagged the rear of the Williams as he moved to overtake. Senna’s car was sent into a slide and he was lucky not to collect any other drivers, including his team-mate, but picked up a puncture while Kobayashi had to pit for a new nose. The incident was investigated and Senna was strangely given a drive-through penalty. Was he at fault in the incident? Did he deserve the drive through penalty? Senna wasn’t the only Williams driver finding himself in a spot of bother as on the penultimate lap Pastor Maldonado attempted to pass Lewis Hamilton, who was struggling on his tyres, and was forced wide. He drove straight over the apex of the corner and into Hamilton, lifting the McLaren off the ground and sending it into the wall. Maldonado apportioned blame for the accident on Hamilton, staying he gave him no room, but should Maldonado have backed off and driven across the run-off area? He could have overtaken later in the lap or on the last lap, but you could argue that when there’s the opportunity to overtake it is hard for a driver to let someone go. Is Maldonado completely at fault for the accident or should Hamilton have allowed him more room going into the corner?
Share your thoughts on the race!
Silverstone - For Sale: 1 x Village B and 2 x Luffield Complex Weekend Tickets
2012 Canadian GP: Does the tyre debate overshadow Lewis's brilliant victory?