For Sebastian Vettel’s home grand prix, the German four-times World Champion finally finished ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo on the road, having not done so at any point this season so far. In an unusual race for Ricciardo, he was one of the stars of the show, having fought his way back through the field following an incident at Turn 1 in which the Australian had to avoid.
Three stops seemed to be the way to go on Sunday, with both Red Bull drivers doing just that. Both were involved in a race-long battle with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, and showed pretty strong qualifying pace. It is likely that Hockenheim didn’t really suit Red Bull too well, so to come away with fourth and sixth isn’t a complete disaster. They should perform well at Hungary at the end of this week, where downforce is absolutely vital, and Red Bull has traditionally had plenty of that.
Red Bull German GP Review
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Grid: P6, Race: P4
Vettel needed a result, and he got just that, finishing only behind the Mercedes and Bottas’ Williams. He was outqualified yet again by Ricciardo but having duelled with both Ferraris and having good race pace he found himself in fourth at the end of the race. He made a very brave pass on Kimi Raikkonen which saw the German forced right up to the track edge. He was somewhat fortunate to be in third after lap one following the accident involving Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen, which Ricciardo had to avoid, but he fought very strongly again, as he did in Silverstone.
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Grid: P5, Race: P6
Ricciardo had to take evasive action following the turn one accident, and found himself ahead of an out of position Lewis Hamilton as a result. The pair of them found themselves scything through the field for a lot of the race before Ricciardo came up against Fernando Alonso. In a similar battle to Silverstone, the Red Bull driver took it to Alonso but on this occasion the Ferrari came out on top. It was a battle that Ricciardo said that he enjoyed a lot, and it also showed his ability as a racer, something we haven’t seen a massive amount of this year.
Amazingly, Red Bull have had just one win in Hungary, a circuit where they really should have had far more. It’s also one of the very few circuits on the calendar that Vettel has never won, something which is unlikely to change this year. Having had just one podium in the last three races while Williams have taken three, the reigning champions will need to keep an eye on the very fast-charging team from Grove.
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