Ferrari bite dust in Germany : Race 10 review

It's all out in open. McLaren has put in some worthy changes into the MP4-23 to make it work even on the high-aerodynamic circuits like Hockenheim n when they found the sweet spot, Ferrari yesterday found no answers. It's hard to believe that they took a wrong route midway into the championship, where they actually should have bettered the performance advantage possessed in France. Lewis Hamilton was flying and was unstoppable on the raceday piling up a huge gap over the struggling Massa but was proved a worthy winner yesterday when Macca made a strategic blunder. They kept Lewis when the pitlane was open during the SC period, n Lewis had to struggle his way up there after.

Ferrari on the other hand were indeed at a loss for explaining what got screwed up in the F2008. Taking Kimi's issues into account, Kimi for once screwed up his setup and was suffering from a lot of understeer which inturn caused oversteer while correcting. On top of this debacle, the F2008 was struggling for aerodynamic grip which is supposedly one of their strengths. Massa simply couldn't find the pace which he promised after qualifiers. How on earth wud u loose 0.7 secs a lap to Lewis while starting alongside him? Massa needs to explain this and maybe one more. A piteous attempt to take back the lost position from Lewis saw him taking a tour to the grass. Ferrari boss would have been wondering "The way he blocked Lewis in the first place won't win him championships"..........how true it is.

Back to my man, Kimi did pretty well on Sunday considering his fiasco earlier on qualifiers. Starting from sixth and on the dirty part of the track, he had to struggle to keep up with the BMW of Kubica. Trademark Kimi showed us his strength at the end of each stint. Even that pitlane pile up didn't let him down. Rather, from 12th position after second stop, he came back to grab a well deserved 6th. Post race Kimi had this to say "I was struggling for grip all day.....only during the end, I was able to manage the car" n with this limping Ferrari, he got past Kubica as well. Nice one Kimi but concentrate more on the setup now cos we all know u are a great racer but things should fit into place before that. Let me excuse him anyways for his very first technical drubbing in Ferrari. Happens :)

Coming from a home victory, Lewis looked the man to beat on the fast roaring MP4-23. His drive from 5th to finish on the top step of the podium after Macca's lame attempt to optimize their strategy, was indeed worth watching. I have been blabbering till now about Macca's team orders and none listened. Heikki Kovailainen in the same car with no problems at all, simply let Lewis pass as if his life depended on providing the platform for a Lewis victory. I swear to all Macca fans yet again that there's no "absolute equality" bullshit in McLaren and they have simply gathered to put all their money on one man. BMW though would wish to see their qualification woes end cos otherwise, they no longer wud be able to split the Ferraris n the Maccas in the WCC.

On the whole, it was a good drive from Kimi but clearly nowhere near he wanted to be in the end. Massa lacks the spark when he face adversities which was always the case right from the moment he stepped into Ferrari shoes. Lewis is proving that he can indeed control his chuntering and drive when it matters and will be a pain for us in this rest of the season. Next stop is Hungary, traditionally a Macca track. Ferrari needs to sit down n trace back the flaws in their developments which made them clobber by McLaren in the German wave. I'm aggrieved by Kimi's winless streak but sometimes, I have to live with it.

Standings:

Lewis 58
Felipe 54
Kimi 51