But the team was fined US$100,000 and is under investigation by the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) for telling Felipe Massa to let Fernando Alonso win the race.
“It was a good weekend overall. In the race as well we were competitive. We performed really well,” Alonso told the postrace press conference, on Formula1.com.
“Top three in qualifying and top two in the race, and the best thing as well is that the car keeps improving. It is a good performance from the team and hopefully next week in Hungary we can have a good weekend as well and score some strong points for the team.”
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel started from the pole but made a bad start, letting Massa and then Alonso through, and he couldn’t get close for the rest of the race, finishing third.
McLaren captured fourth and fifth, with Lewis Hamilton finishing ahead of Jenson Button, both nearly half-a-minute off the pace.
Mark Webber finished sixth in the other Red Bull, nursing an oil leak.
Fined for Team Orders
Ferrari’s problems began on Lap 48, when Massa’s engineer, Rob Smedley, radioed to Massa, “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”
The meaning was, “Pull over and let him through,” which Massa did on Lap 49.
Afterwards, Smedley came on the radio and said to Massa, “Good lad. Sorry.”
Formula 1 rules state that there shall be no team orders—that is, the drivers must race each other as if they were on different teams. A driver in the lead but with fewer championship points—Massa—cannot be ordered aside so a driver with more points—Alonso—can take the position.
The issue here is that Alonso was lapping faster than Massa. In fact, once Alonso passed, he opened a gap of four seconds over his teammate.
Could Alonso have made the pass without help? Did Alonso pull aside in a form of protest for not being allowed to fight for the win, and if he had been less obvious, might nothing have been said?
Their different responses in the postrace press conference reveal much.
Alonso said, “I don’t know what happened, but at the exit of Turn 6, I saw Felipe a little bit slow and tried to overtake. You have to take every opportunity you have, as it is a very difficult circuit to overtake and you only have one chance into Turn 6.”
When Massa was asked what happened, he replied, “Well, I don’t think I need to say anything about that.”
A reporter pressed, asking if he had made a driving error, to which Massa replied, “He passed me.”
Finally, a reporter asked directly, “Did you feel that you weren’t allowed to win that race?”
Massa, answered diplomatically, “No, the only thing I feel is that we are working for the team, and we are doing a very good job for the team, and that is the most important thing.”
Massa all but admitted that he had been ordered to pull over, which is explicitly against the rules.
It will be seen what the WMSC think of all this, and if any further penalties will be forthcoming.
The next Formula 1 race is the Hungarian Grand Prix, on August 1, 2010.
Tickets and travel arrangements can be made through Expedia for Formula1.com.
The race will be broadcast on SPEED-TV in the United States, starting at 8 a.m. EDT.
| Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2010 | ||||||
|
| # | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Pts |
| 1 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 67 | 1:27:38.864 | 25 |
| 2 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 67 | +4.1 secs | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 67 | +5.1 secs | 15 |
| 4 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | +26.8 secs | 12 |
| 5 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | +29.4 secs | 10 |
| 6 | 6 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 67 | +43.6 secs | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 66 | +1 Lap | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 66 | +1 Lap | 4 |
| 9 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 66 | +1 Lap | 2 |
| 10 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 66 | +1 Lap | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 66 | +1 Lap |
|
| 12 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 66 | +1 Lap |
|
| 13 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 66 | +1 Lap |
|
| 14 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 66 | +1 Lap |
|
| 15 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 66 | +1 Lap |
|
| 16 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 65 | +2 Laps |
|
| 17 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 65 | +2 Laps |
|
| 18 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 64 | +3 Laps |
|
| 19 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 63 | +4 Laps |
|
| Ret | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 56 | Accident damage |
|
| Ret | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 50 | Suspension |
|
| Ret | 20 | Sakon Yamamoto | HRT-Cosworth | 19 | Mechanical |
|
| Ret | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 3 | Gearbox |
|
| Ret | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1 | Accident damage |
|
| World Drivers’ Championship Points | |||
|
| Driver | Team | Pts. |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 157 |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 143 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 136 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 136 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 123 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 94 |
| 7 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 89 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 85 |
| 9 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 38 |
| 10 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 35 |
