I hope everybody enjoyed watching the German Grand Prix this weekend, the weekend marked the halfway point in the season, and a lot has happened since we all woke up in anticipation that very early morning in March. Ferrari, well where can I start, testing in Winter showed us that they were going to have a potential disaster of a season, and sure did it start that way, until a certain Spaniard and the team turned things around, and is now leading the WDC with a hefty points haulage under his belt, it is a shame his teammate is not taking part in the highs, Massa is still trailing Alonso massively. Be it a car based around Alonso, or sheer lack of pace, who knows. please log in to view this image Position: WDC 1st/14th WCC: 2nd Verdict: Alonso is the man to watch this year. Redbull started the season on the back-foot and now are having a consistent run with both drivers, slowly picking up the pace behind the new Red Baron. Vettel and Co. seem slightly rattled this season, the consistency of other teams this season has really awaken the guys at Milton Keynes based team to the fact that F1 is never a walk in the park. Position: WDC 2nd/3rd WCC: 1st please log in to view this image Verdict: Webber is doing much better than 2011, Vettel seems to be a little out of his comfort zone. Mclaren started the season well, Hamilton looking to have a fresh start on the back of his potential worst/most calamitous season in the sport, did get off the line well some solid podium finishes but then a dip around the Bahrain mark, a sole win in Canada and a retirement in Valencia have shown us that this season may become another rollercoaster of emotions for him and his fans, which may not end well... Button on the other hand started the season with a win, talking of rollercoasters, he has experienced a massive dip in the first stint of this season, questions raised about his performance relative to Hamilton (who was extracting the most out of the car) etc. Yesterday, the 2009 champ slammed his critics back with a welcomed return to the podium, can ensure this occurs more often? Position: WDC: 5th/7th WCC: 3rd please log in to view this image Verdict: Hamilton losing his grip a little (excuse the pun), Button maybe on the rise, but still unclear. Lotus, made massive progress since 2010, and all new driver line up, pretty risky to say the least. Grosjean a familiar face, started the season with some fantastic Quali results, which unfortunately did not translate into points on Sunday, some incidents on track showed us the young Frenchman still needs to improve his race craft, as he would now have a healthy points haul if the situation was different. Raikkonen, much to the delight of his fans, and obviously not enough for himself, has already gained three podiums in his comeback. A very good showing to say he had two years out of the sport. Although there is a feeling that much more could have been done at Lotus, to allow them to maybe challenge for the title. Position: WDC: 4th/8th WCC: 4th please log in to view this image Verdict: Done well to leapfrog Mercs, Kimi showing signs of his old self.. Grosjean needs that extra consistency. I now move onto Mercedes, who looked to have finally cracked the code of getting themselves into the top three. The season started solidly, Schumacher's qualifying results portrayed an improval, in his own raw pace and that of the Mercedes team. Things were not to be though, incidents and mechanical issues decided that he would never challenge for the title this year a single pole position and a podium is all he has in his hands, which had so much more to give. Rosberg has had a slightly better run in his No. 8 car, although he has a challenge against his ever improving fellow countryman, consistency on race days paid dividends, a solid points haulage keeps him in 6th in the championship, but that position is slowly slipping. Position: WDC: 6th/12th WCC: 5th please log in to view this image Verdict: Money is not everything, Schumacher finally on form, Nico doing average, DDRS advantage lost. Sauber and Force India are teams which deserve so much credit, improvements in all areas, driver selection etc. have allowed them to pump up their performance this season, clawing at the heels of Mercedes. In general they are hanging onto the back end of the points tally in a race, but this is a vast change compared to their position in the fog of a mid-field battle in 2011. Position: WDC: 9th/10th WCC: 6th please log in to view this image Verdict: Kamui and Sergio are very consistent, keep it up. Position: WDC: 13th/15th WCC: 8th please log in to view this image Verdict: Getting there, not at the rate that Sauber is doing just yet. Williams now, love him or hate him, Maldonado has been the star here. He has won his first race this season, whilst maintaining his composure against Fernando and the Iceman, in Barcelona. He has his flaws though, incidents on track and a quick release of the red mist under his visor is turns him into a danger on the track, he can only improve though.. a little coaching from a wise head would work well. Senna has not lived up to expectations, whilst Pastor is flying high, Bruno is scrapping for the left-overs, the only bright side is much needed wonga is flying into the collective pocket of Williams from Brazil. Position: WDC: 11th/16th WCC: 7th please log in to view this image Verdict: Big improvements, Pastor needs guidance, Senna needs solutions. Torro Rosso, sister team of RedBull, believe it or not, are falling into the jaws of Caterham, Vergne and Ricciardo especially have shown promise, Qualifying in wet conditions such as Hockenheim portrayed a special talent in the young Ozzy, which unfortunately is not translating into the race results needed. Position: WDC: 17th/18th WCC: 9th please log in to view this image Verdict: Both drivers are not poor at all, but they are not in a great car at the moment to show any potential. Caterham along with Lotus, seem to have made the best improvements since 2011, and it is great to see. Heikki made a risky decision to click refresh and move back there, but it was a good decision. He has won my respect and that of many other people. It will be about time that team find themselves in the mid-field, which we saw yesterday, is not too far away in the horizon. Position: WDC: 19th/20th WCC: 10th please log in to view this image Verdict: Racing well at the moment, nearly out of the dropzone in Q1, keep at it. Marrusia and HRT, are in there own little scrap back there. Pic and Glock seem to be doing just that little better than De La Rosa, who I am sure for a 41 year old, is not doing to bad trying his utmost to get the Spanish team to follow in the steps of Caterham. Karthikeyan showed promise in the days of Jordan, but nothing special has been evident from him this season. Position: WDC: 21th/22th WCC: 11th Verdict: Pic and Glock need to up their pace a little to follow Caterham. Position: WDC: 23th/124th WCC: 12th ​ Verdict: De La Rosa is a fundamental part of HRT, but in the same position since 2010, they need some better results.
From last years 'big 5' only Alonso has improved, although in Vettels case that's very twisted. Red Bull however seem the most consistent so far. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Another point, is that different track layouts and weather conditions influence who does well where. An extreme case is the vast lead Rosberg had on others in China. Generally Lotus have a very complete car this season.
In my opinion the biggest threat to Alonso are Hamilton and Vettel. One is 44 points behind and the other is 62. It's not enough to feel comfortable yet, but as each race passes it's looking more and more like it's going to be Alonso's year. I reckon Vettel will have a strong second half of the season.
I think Hamilton is out of it unless Alonso has some bad luck, 62pts with 250 left is 25% which is a hell of a deficit. Vettel's first challenge is to overtake his team mate, so all in all its heading towards being Alonso's title to loose.
