F1 Germany

A damp track made qualifying very interesting with lots of surprises. The second session was kind of funny. Everyone went out on slicks in a long procession, skated around the slippery track once, and then promptly went back in to get intermediates.

Mark Webber didn't look that great in Q1 and Q2 but he was unbeatable in Q3 when it counted. Barrichello managed to out qualifying Jenson for the second race in a row. It seems Jenson only does well when the car is going perfectly, which isn't the mark of a champion in my opinion. For only the second time this season, Vettel qualified out the top three, in fourth position. I expected him to do better at his home race on a track he knows very well. MacLaren made a huge step forward for this race and their efforts got fifth and sixth on the grid. The biggest surprise was Sutil and Force India who made it into Q3 for the first time, and even out qualified both Ferrari's! How sweet is that?

The race was equally exciting with good action everywhere down the field. Webber scored his first win but it certainly was not easy. Before the first corner he had contact with both Barrichello and Hamilton, who had used his magical KERS button to storm to the front. Barrichello took the lead in first corner but Webber would be running longer so it really wasn't so bad. But then Webber received an undeserved drive through penalty for the contact with Barrichello. The penalty should have ended Webber's chance for a win, but the team saved it by having him serve the penalty when Barrichello pitted. After that, Webber drove like a demon to make up the lost time, and earned a well deserved first win.

It was bizarre watching Button weaving down the straights to keep the tire temperatures up. I can understand Barichello's frustration, but with the Brawn GP Achilles heel in full effect, blaming the race strategy doesn't make any sense. Brawn GP have lost a lot of ground and I still have doubts they have the budget to keep up with the rest of field.

I wonder if Hamilton regrets using so much KERS power at the start. He was barely able to slow it down for turn one but his sudden appearance must have surprised Webber quite a lot. The resulting contact with Webber gave Hamilton a puncture which ended any chance for a good result and all that work from the team went down the drain.

Sutil is on the other end the heart break scale. He was having a great race with an excellent chance to score some points when Räikkönen basically drove over Sutil's front wing. Sutil was on the racing line after exiting the pits and really had no where to go. Will Räikkönen apologize like he did after Monaco 2008? Well, it looks like that won't necessary.

So an exciting F1 season continues. Unfortunately, so does the politics. Will this nonsense never end?