It was a dark day for McLaren, the sun may have been shining but nothing seemed favourable for the team.
Friday’s practice sessions left McLaren wondering whether they should continue trying out their implementation of the rear blown diffuser. The very limited time they have had with the new technology seems to prove they have not yet collected the data necessary to improve the cars performance with its use. As a result both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton had troubles with their cars, Hamilton having to retire after only 24 laps due to a gear box problem. Onto the race and it was pretty obvious that it was going to be an interesting race from the start. Vettel, in pole position, held a strong lead up until the release of the safety car where he got pushed down the field, by various events including having a drive through penalty for not staying 10 car lengths behind the safety car. The majority of the driver’s chose to take the opportunity of the safety car lap to get in a pit stop apart from Webber, Barichello and Trulli. This paid off greatly for the three as they managed to avoid a heap-full of errors made in the pits. After this it was a pretty much secured win for Webber with Alonso in second keeping Vettel behind for a close third. Michael Schumacher got into a bit of trouble as he tried defending his position against Barichello and almost drove the Brazilian into the end of the pit wall. He was punished with a 10 place penalty for the next Grand Prix and Renault were fined $50,000. So heading into the mid-season break Mark Webber takes the lead of the Driver’s Championship and Red Bull move into top place in the constructor’s championship. It’s still all to play for though as no one person holds a comfortable lead. It’s going to be a long while before we get to see what happens at the next Grand Prix so why not go Karting at one of Team-Sports eight fantastic tracks and keep your racing spirit high.