How Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim was nothing short of spectacular as he fended off formidable rivals such as Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. There was no obvious winner as it was a close race until the final laps. McLaren’s Jenson Button had been pestering Alonso, which was barely able to maintain the lead. But when there were only five laps left, the Spaniard made better progress as he lapped backmarkers when Button’s tires had begun to fade. Alonso was then able to get ahead, eliminating the possible late attack posed by the DRS drag reduction system.
With this win, Alonso is now ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber by 34 points in the world championship race. The Australian only managed an eighth-place finish for this race. After Button failed in his attempt in the later part of the race to get past Alonso, Button was challenged by Red Bull’s Vettel. On lap 66, the current world champion made a move stick on the Briton but the race stewards determined it to be illegal and a 20-second fine was imposed, making him fall to fifth place.
With the exception of the top three’s movements, the other racers had a significantly unexciting experience. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen was at No. 4 before shifting to No. 3. The tires of Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez were long-lasting and had come in at fourth and sixth places from having been at midfield starting positions.
