By Jem Ruggera and David Galton-Fenzi
McLaren
are back...?
McLaren looked
to have genuine dry weather pace in Germany, which must come as a mighty relief
to everyone at Woking, let alone the drivers of the MP4/27. For Jenson Button,
it meant he had the car beneath him to convert sixth on the grid to second by
the end of the race. The major upgrade package the team brought to Hockenheim
introduced modified side-pods and exhaust, and they demonstrated speed superior
to that even of the Red Bull.
This was amply
demonstrated when we had the rather curious spectacle of a car unlapping
himself. For Lewis Hamilton, the pace of his car meant nothing. He suffered a
puncture after he, like most of the field, drove over the wreckage of a
first-lap incident. Three-wheeling back to the pits Hamilton was talking
retirement, but the team sent him out again just as the leaders passed the pit
exit. On fresh tyres he was clearly faster than Sebastian Vettel and Fernando
Alonso who were running 1-2, and quickly caught the current world champion. At
this stage many were wondering what the rules had to say on the subject of
unlapping oneself. The rules said go for it, which the Briton duly did, cutting
down the inside at the hairpin and grabbing the outside line into Turn 7.
Vettel, clearly aggrieved that a lapped car was getting between him and Alonso,
gesticulated wildly but conceded the corner.
