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2018 Germany Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: Everyone sees Vettel went from an eight point lead to a 17 point deficit, a 25 point swing. But, it's worse than that. Vettel entered the race with 171 points. Had he won, he would have had 196 points. At the time of his crash which brought out the safety car which shuffled the front runners, Hamilton was in fourth place. Maybe he would have gotten Raikkonen. Maybe. And then maybe he would have gotten past Bottas. But let's say he didn't. He then would have wound up with 12 points giving him 175 points. Sure, there are a lot "would haves," but potentially, Vettel went from a 21 point lead to a 17 point deficit. That's a swing of 38 points! A close championship battle would be hard pressed to overcome that.

TRACK: Hockenheim can't afford the grand prix every year. Nürburgring can't afford the grand prix every other year. So, it appears the German GP is off the calendar again next year.

EVENT: Perhaps Max Verstappen should get a commission. His massive following at Spa arguably saved the Belgium GP. Will his massive following at Hockenheim save the German GP?

QUALIFYING: Vettel keeps his positive momentum going, Hamilton keeps his negative momentum going, Bottas nearly saves the day for Mercedes, and once again Leclerc makes it to Q3 even if you factor in Hamilton and Ricciardo not taking Q2 runs.

RACE: First, the threat of rain had the strategists pulling their hair out. Then, the rain shook everything up. Too bad the downpour didn't come in time for the last lap...

START: Everyone has an excellent, clean getaway, making it, perhaps paradoxically, a thriller.

HAMILTON: Lewis is right. Never give up.

BOTTAS: Once Hamilton's tires warmed back up, we don't think Valtteri could have caught him. Before the team issued stay put orders, Bottas had a couple of laps, but was losing ground.

MERCEDES: Silverstone taketh. Hockenheim giveth.

VETTEL: Sebastian blew it. Completely, 100%, absurdly blew it. If he loses the championship by a few points, this moment will haunt him for years.

RAIKKONEN: While possibly lame duck Kimi racks up another podium.

FERRARI: With the sudden health issues of Sergio Marchionne, there could be chaos swirling around the team. How well the new leadership handles this unplanned transition could ultimately decide the championship.

VERSTAPPEN: Continues to keep it clean.

RICCIARDO: The whole purpose of taking the grid penalties this race was to avoid them at the impossible to pass Hungaroring. Well, so much for that strategy.

RED BULL: Now they are in the driver's seat with contract negotiations.

HULKENBERG: We feel no matter how many good drives Nico puts in, his window to going to a top team has closed.

HAAS: Completely caught out by the safety car and their tire choices.

FORCE INDIA: Complete winners of the safety car and their tire choices.

GROSJEAN: But Romain makes an excellent comeback from that setback for a rewarding sixth place finish ahead of the Force India's.

ERICSSON: Marcus takes advantage of the craziness to finish in the points.

HARTLEY: Brendon finally grabs a point. Albeit, thanks to Sainz's penalty.

GASLY: Going to intermediates was somewhat debatable to begin with. But, who made the absurd decision to put Pierre on full wets even if you were hoping for heavy rain which wasn't in the forecast till the very end?

LECLERC: One of the best 360 degree spin and continue. Unfortunately, that was followed by an all out off course excursion.

FIA: And once again the inconsistency returns. First they wait 90 minutes to even kick off an investigation. Then, they come up with cowardly way out to not penalize Hamilton for an infraction every driver in the past has been penalized for.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Slippy.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 3 -- The number of laps at the German GP Sebastian Vettel led in his career before this year. And, the position Vettel finished this year ... if you held the classification sheet upside down...

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time a German manufacturer other than Mercedes (not counting just engine suppliers) won the German GP was in 1960. Which was also the last time the race was not part of the World Championship. The reason was because the organizers converted the race to Formula 2 in order to give Porsche a chance at home. It worked. Joakim Bonnier won in a Porsche. It was run on the 4.7-mile Sudschleife (South Loop) section of the Nürburgring. Heavy rain, a delayed start, a poor crowd, and fog made it a dismal affair.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: We all knew what Ferrari was telling Raikkonen. We all knew Kimi knew what Ferrari was telling him. Kimi knew we all knew what he was being asked to do. But, Raikkonen wanted it all out there for the world to hear, "Do you want me to let him go? Just tell me!"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Fernando Alonso knows his F1 days are up, even it not immediately. When asked what he thought about the possible new regulations, he answered, "I don't know. I won't be here."

SCHEDULE: Essentially the summer break starts now. It's not like we are going to see any passing at the Hungaroring...

Copyright © 2018 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 67
2. Bottas 67
3. Raikkonen 67
4. Verstappen 67
5. Hulkenberg 67
6. Grosjean 67
7. Perez 67
8. Ocon 67
9. Ericsson 67
10. Hartley(R) 67
11. Magnussen 67
12. Sainz 67
13. Vandoorne 67
14. Gasly(R) 66
15. Leclerc(R) 66
16. Alonso 65
NC Stroll 53
NC Vettel 51
NC Sirotkin(R) 51
NC Ricciardo 27

Time of Race
1:32:29.845

Margin of Victory
4.535 sec.

Safety Car
1 for 5 laps

Lead Changes
5 among 4 drivers

Lap Leaders
Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas

Fastest Race Lap
Lewis Hamilton

Pole Position
Sebastian Vettel

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 188
2. Vettel 171
3. Raikkonen 131
4. Bottas 122
5. Ricciardo 106
6. Verstappen 105
7. Hulkenberg 52
8. Alonso 40
9. Magnussen 39
10. Perez 30
11. Ocon 29
12. Sainz 28
13. Grosjean 20
14. Gasly(R) 18
15. Leclerc(R) 13
16. Vandoorne 8
17. Ericsson 5
18. Stroll 4
19. Hartley(R) 2

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 310
2. Ferrari 302
3. Red Bull 211
4. Renault 80
5. Force India 59
  Haas 59
7. McLaren 48
8. Toro Rosso 20
9. Sauber 18
10. Williams 4
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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