German Grand Prix- Race results by Mark Gero

Following a great start and domination of the race , Fernando Alonso, who had been quick all weekend, managed to pass teammate Felipe Massa on lap 49, to set up a Ferrari 1-2, and win a controversial race Sunday at the Grand Prix of Germany in Hockenheim. Home hero Sebastian Vettel was third.
"This is a very important win, which comes on the back of weeks of hard work from the team, who pushed to make up the ground that separates us from our main rivals.�?? Claimed Alonso.
The weather was cool but dry, as the start was not a good one for Vettel, who tried to block Alonso at the first corner. Massa, took advantage of this going to the outside, and managed to find some room, quickly moving into the lead.
In the back of the grid, both Toro Rosso cars of Jaime Alguasuari and Sebastian Buemi touched, ruining the formers back wing, making a quick retirement for the Swiss. Massa continued to lead for most of the early part of the race, and could even hold a two and a half second lead over the Spaniard until lap 47, when it was obvious that the Brazilian could not keep his lead over his teammate. Only two laps later, Massa relinquished his lead, and this gave Alonso the opportunity to extend his lead even further until the end of the race, when the final gap at the finish was four seconds. Massa, somewhat emotionally hurt, was nearly caught by Vettel at the finish, but for the Scuderia, it was the first victory for Alonso since the opening race in Bahrain.
But Massa was very gloomy about his result, but felt that is was the best for the team." Said Massa. “A driver always wants to win, so I cannot be completely happy with second place. I know that this year, the team has lost too many points in previous races and today it was important to do the maximum. We drivers have to first of all think of the interests of the team and that is what I showed again today. In my opinion this was not a case of team orders: my engineer kept me constantly informed on what was going on behind me, especially when I was struggling a bit on the hard tyres: so I decided to do the best thing for the team, and a one-two finish is the best possible result, isn't it? I got a great start, the best of the season. At the start, on the soft tyres I was going very quickly but then, with the hards, I was unable to run at an ideal pace. I think today I proved that when everything is in order, I am a winning driver. It would have been
 nice to stand on a higher step on the podium but all the same, I want to dedicate this result to Fernando Marins, a relation of mine, who passed away at the start of this week."
 In a quiet race, that only saw five retirements, the McLarens had a quiet day, finishing fourth and fifth at the hands of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, respectively, while Mark Webber, who won two weeks ago in Great Britain, was sixth. Robert Kubica kept obtaining points for Renault with a seventh place finish, while the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, along with Renault’s Vitaly Petrov rounded out the last three point positions.
Regardless of the out come, Alonso was relieved that it was his first win since the start of the season, and hopefully, it could get better.
“Race after race, the improvements applied to the F10 have proved to be effective, thus making the car more competitive. I am very happy, because winning with Ferrari is a very special feeling. At the start I was pushed right up against the wall by Vettel, whose only thought was to close me down, while Felipe made the most of it to go past both of us. Then, I tried to stay close all the time to my team-mate and when he had some difficulties, I got past: I am sure that Felipe was thinking above all of the good of the team and that it was pointless to take risks when we had Vettel catching us up. There is no point in doing the sums for the championship now. We have shown what our package can do in a normal race and we must simply continue to work, trying to always pick up the maximum number of points. As I have always said, the final tally will come in Abu Dhabi.�??
Massa and many others will get their chance in one week’s time, as the F1 teams race again next week at the twisty, dirty Hungaroring on August 1st.