NewsOnF1 - The Real Race - Round 12

Gee, I was right! But I was also wrong. Hockenheim made some reputations and wrecked some. With no less than seven different vehicles in the top ten the driver element really played a part in today's event.

Michael proved yet again that he is a master at learning a new track. Ralf, Who was hopelessly outclassed by Button when a new layout figured in the equation at Indy, performed superbly in taking second, over � a second ahead of Juan Pablo.

As expected there was a stratification of players, with some surprises and a few anticipated results. Michael and Kimi performed as expected, as did Fisichella Frentzen, Irvine and Webber. The surprises were Montoya, Massa, Salo and Button.

I guess I have to be satisfied with picking the first (Schumacher) and last (Webber � I did suggest that Alex would fail to qualify). Mark is now the only driver with a perfect win rate, having taken his 12th Qualifying Hero podium.

I had high hopes for Salo here, he didn�t deliver, I had no faith in Panis and he did come through, like Ralf.

The German GP 'Also Ran' Award.

Alex Yoong failed to qualify (yet again) and must be a huge embarrassment to the team and the sponsors. I guess he can at least tell his grandchildren that he was once a F1 driver and spent most of a season doing it. He might just forget to mention just how bad he was. But he wasn�t quite bad enough to win another Also Ran at Hockenheim.

Coulthard and Villeneuve weren�t bad enough either, close, but no gongs for them this time. Only because there is a much worthier candidate this round.

If Michael came in over � a second behind Rubens he would be a shoe-in. Why should our ex-Qualipoints leader be treated any differently. He shouldn�t and he won�t be. After a string of successes on one podium Juan Pablo Montoya has moved to another, the middle step on the Also Ran stage. Perhaps he was just jealous of Ralf�s success in this forum

The German GP Qualifying Heroes

1. Mark Webber, 2. Eddie Irvine, 3. Ralf Schumacher

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The Real Race - Drivers Standings - Round 12

Grid	Driver	Car	Team	Wins	Losses	Best	QualiPoints
1	M. Schumacher	1	Ferrari (B)	9	3	1	80
2	R. Schumacher	5	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	5	7	2	48
3	R. Barrichello	2	Ferrari (B)	3	9	1	59
4	JP. Montoya	6	BMW WilliamsF1 (M)	7	5	1	79
5	K. Raikkonen	4	McLaren Mercedes (M)	8	4	4	22
6	G. Fisichella	9	Jordan Honda (B)	8	3	6	2
7	O. Panis	12	BAR Honda (B)	6	6	7
8	J. Trulli	14	Renault (M)	8	4	6	1
9	D. Coulthard	3	McLaren Mercedes (M)	4	8	2	18
10	N. Heidfeld	7	Sauber Petronas (B)	10	2	5	2
11	J. Villeneuve	11	BAR Honda (B)	6	6	9
12	T. Sato	10	Jordan Honda (B)	3	8	12
13	J. Button	15	Renault (M)	4	8	6	1
14	F. Massa	8	Sauber Petronas (B)	2	10	7
15	H. Frentzen	20	Arrows Cosworth (B)	11	1	10
16	E. Irvine	16	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	7	5	9
17	A. McNish	25	Toyota (M)	1	11	10
18	E. Bernoldi	21	Arrows Cosworth (B)	1	11	12
19	M. Salo	24	Toyota (M)	11	1	8
20	P. de la Rosa	17	Jaguar Cosworth (M)	5	7	11
21	M. Webber	23	Minardi Asiatech (M)	12	0	18
22	A. Yoong	22	Minardi Asiatech (M)	0	12	19

QualiPoints are awarded in the same way points are awarded to the top 6 drivers in a race. (i.e. 10, 6, 4, 3, 2,1)

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