Alonso Wins European Grand Prix
Takes Third Win for the Season under Unpredictable Conditions
Unpredictable weather conditions paved the way for the most eventful race of the season.
Reigning Champion Fernando Alonso wins the European GP in the Nuerburgring circuit. The Grand Prix event was plagued by intermittent rain causing it to be the most eventful race this season. But at the end of all the uncertainty, it was the Spaniard that came out on top.
The sudden shower during lap one already forced the temporary stoppage of the race and thus shuffling the order of the grid. The most prominent victimized driver was no less than championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The rookie sensation was forced to start tenth because of his unfortunate accident during qualifying. The intermission in the race dropped him down even further forcing him to restart at seventeenth place and a lap down. The whole ordeal compromised his chances of defending his lead in the points as well as maintaining his streak of podium finishes. The end of the race saw Hamilton just missing out of the points in ninth place.
Another prominent victim was pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn missed the pit lane entrance during the first lap and was forced to commit a second lap in pouring rain with dry tires. As a result, Raikkonen found himself restarting in seventh position. Although he had fought valiantly to climb up to third and in the hunt for the victory, his Ferrari suffered hydraulic problems forcing yet another retirement.
The driver that was favored the most during the sudden surge of rain was Spyker Ferrari’s replacement driver Marcus Winkelhock who found himself restarting in first place in his first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix. But as soon as the safety car went in after the race was finally restarted, it was evident that the German rookie did not have the pace to maintain his lead as he was quickly relegated first by by Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso who were second and third respectively during the restart. After which, Winkelhock relinquished even more places dropping down the order before retiring from hydraulic troubles.
It would turn out that the battle for the victory would be between Massa and Alonso. As the track dried up, it was Massa that had the advantage pulling out seven seconds for most of the race. But with 11 laps to go, rain once again started to pour forcing everyone to scramble back to the pits to put on intermediate tires.
Ferrari managed to keep Massa ahead with a four second cushion. Unfortunately for the Italian based squad, the Mclaren seemed to have suited the damp conditions. While Massa was suffering from strange vibrations in the car that prevented him from keeping the pace, Alonso was already closing the gap significantly.
The two battled it out for the lead touching twice in the process and allowing Alonso to grab first place with less than six laps remaining. The Spaniard never looked back and hence secured his third win of the season. Massa crossed the line in second while Mark Webber claimed his first podium for the Red Bull Racing team with a dramatic third place finish.
It was an exciting if not slightly controversial end to the race. Fernando Alonso apologized to Felipe Massa during the press conference after the pair's heated discussion in parc ferme which was no doubt about their late race duel.
As it stands, the results of the European GP has blown the championship battle wide open with Hamilton leading the championship standings with 70 points; just two points clear of Alonso who has tallied 68 points. Massa retakes third place in the standings with 59 points. And Raikkonen, seemingly cursed in the German track, is fourth with 52.
