Formula-1 news

Felipe Massa handed Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso a controversial victory in Sunday’s German Grand Prix as the red team scored their second one-two of the season and the win they were under so much pressure to achieve before the summer break, beating Sebastian Vettel’s pole-winning Red Bull into third place.

Lewis Hamilton held on to his championship lead as fourth place brought him to 157 points ahead of McLaren team mate Jenson Button, who moved to 143 points after finishing fifth. Red Bull’s Mark Webber was sixth after a race in which he was held back by an engine problem. He and Vettel are now joint third with 136 points, as Alonso closed up on 123 and Massa climbed to 85.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on his tricky start from pole position; Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari on their first-lap collision; Lotus on their disappointing double DNF; and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa on their first one-two since the season opener in Bahrain. All 24 drivers, and senior team personnel, report back on Sunday’s race

1st Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 1h27m38.864s; 2nd Felipe Massa (Ferrari), 1h27m43.060s; 3rd Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h27m43.985s.

Q: Fernando, as the team told you at the end you have indeed been very quick this weekend. Frustration though for much of the race and you said on the team radio at one stage ‘this is ridiculous’ but in the end it ended very well for you.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think it was a good weekend overall. We did improve the car a lot and immediately from Friday we felt very competitive…

Hockenheim is practically in Sebastian Vettel’s back yard – he grew up barely 40 km away – so few were surprised to see him take pole for his home race. More surprising was the way he then got dumped down to P3 at Turn One by the Ferraris. Vettel, however, is looking on the bright side – he outscored his main title rivals and for a change it is a team other than Red Bull courting controversy at the end of the weekend

Hockenheim was a weekend of extremes for Ferrari. They finally found the speed needed to beat Red Bull and rediscover winning-ways, but their much-needed one-two came at a price – $100,000 to be precise. The team insisted Alonso’s pass on Massa was not the result of team orders, but the stewards disagreed and now the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council must decide if the matter is taken further. While the result stands, however, it puts Alonso very much back in the hunt for a third drivers’ title, as his key rivals – unable to match the race pace of the two red cars – were left to conduct damage-limitation exercises. We take a team-by-team look at Sunday’s events in Germany

Soft Pauer have announced that its official Formula One

It was another promising but ultimately frustrating weekend for Williams in Germany, with both Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg making the Q3 cut in qualifying, only to be stymied in the race by poor starts. Technical director Sam Michael reviews the events of Hockenheim and looks forward to this coming weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix

Hot on the heels of Hockenheim, the teams head straight to Budapest for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the Formula One community takes a well-earned summer break. Drivers and senior team personnel discuss their prospects for the Hungaroring

Following their controversial one-two result at the German Grand Prix, Ferrari have been fined US$100,000 by the FIA after race stewards deemed they had breached sporting regulations and the case has been referred to the World Motor Sport Council.

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who had been leading the Hockenheim race, moved aside to allow team mate Fernando Alonso past on Lap 49. A few moments before, Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley had told the Brazilian “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”

The only really conclusive thing about Friday morning’s opening practice session for the German Grand Prix was how heavily Lewis Hamilton trashed his McLaren after getting caught out in the slippery conditions at Turn Four.

Heavy rain from the start made for a tough morning’s work for everyone. Adrian Sutil was the hero, slamming his Force India round in 1m 25.701s…