1981 German Grand Prix
Surprisingly, the major talking point this weekend was Ligier. The French team brought their new FR02 chassis to Hockenheim in the hopes of improved performance. The old FRA-01 chassis has by no means been a bad one, de Cesaris and Cogan scoring five points in the last five races so the team management must be really confident with the new one.
There was another driver change too as Theodore Racing's David Kennedy's contract was terminated. The Irishman had only qualified to one race all season (DNF in Monaco) and was reportedly running low on sponsor money too. His replacement is unknown Colombian Ricardo Londoño who hasn't so far achieved anything noteworthy. Some people on the paddock even claimed that Londoño shouldn't be allowed to race due to his inexperience but was granted a racing license by RDFIA nevertheless.
Pre-qualifying
After Toleman's departure from pre-qualifying, March's Hans-Joachim Stuck has been the dominant driver. Another pre-qualifying win earned him and teammate Rahal a place in qualifying. Theodore's Rupert Keegan was second fastest only 0,107 seconds slower than Stuck but would need help from his unproven teammate as Alfa Romeos looked strong in 3rd and 4th. In the end, Londoño delivered to the surprise of many. Despite being sixth fastest of the session, he lost only half a second to Keegan and helped Theodore return to the qualifying fro the first time since Monaco.
Qualifying
McLarens and Tyrrells dominated again, this time Mansell was on pole. Nelson Piquet continued Ferrari's improved form with fifth fastest time while his teammate was still struggling in 12th. Arrowses, de Angelis and Depailler were in the top-10 as expected but one driver didn't really belong. Kevin Cogan showed the potential of Ligier's FR02 car with 8th fastest time.
In the back Stuck and Keegan continued their fine form from pre-qualifying by qualifying in the 10th row ahead of both Renaults and Lotuses! This time, to the surprise of everyone, Ricardo Londoño was actually able to qualify for the race! Perhaps the Colombian isn't as bad as most people think... Hans Binder and Bobby Rahal were the two not qualifying for the race.
Race
It was a clean start and the McLarens took the lead with Tyrrells and Piquet following. Overall the first lap was very calm and the biggest mover was Londoño, up six places to 20th. Other than that all drivers kept their positions.
Pironi had made his way up to third during first laps but a minor driving error dropped him behind Piquet in fifth. Andrea de Cesaris had a much larger error as he crashed with Mike Thackwell in Ostkurve, both retired.
Befire pit stops around lap 20 of 45 the order had remained largely the same, surprisingly because the long straights offered plenty of slipstreaming opportunities. Ferrari's Carlos Reutemann had used his chances the best as he was up to 7th before being the first to pit. Hoffmann's retirement had also helped him gain one position.
Renault was having yet another terrible weekend and it was made even worse as René Arnoux crashed out on lap 22. A few laps later his countryman Alain Prost went out too. It was Prost's fifth retirement in a row as the youngster seems to be struggling with his confidence at the moment. Laffite was the fourth Frenchman out today when his transmission broke around lap 32.
At that moment Mansell was still leading with six second over Scheckter who had passed Rosberg during pit stops but lead the Finn by only two seconds. Pironi was back in fourth but too far back to threaten for a podium place. Piquet and Reutemann were on their way to get Ferrari's first double points finish of the season but unfortunately the Brazilian suddenly lost all power on lap 36 and retired.
Piquet's retirement gto Cogan up to sixth briefly but Ligier FR02's first points would have to wait for a while still when the Williams drivers de Angelis and Alboreto caught and overtook teh American in the closing stages. Cogan even had a small off with three laps to go, dropping further half a minute back. Word out for the smaller teams around the tenth place as Toleman, March and Theodore each got one car to the finish line. Derek Warwick continued his brilliant form with yet another 10th place, just ahead of Hans-Joachim Stuck and notably Ricardo Londoño who truly showed why Theodore picked him as David Kennedy's replacement.
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The development market for the eleventh race is open! You have until Tuesday 16:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.
Surprisingly, the major talking point this weekend was Ligier. The French team brought their new FR02 chassis to Hockenheim in the hopes of improved performance. The old FRA-01 chassis has by no means been a bad one, de Cesaris and Cogan scoring five points in the last five races so the team management must be really confident with the new one.
There was another driver change too as Theodore Racing's David Kennedy's contract was terminated. The Irishman had only qualified to one race all season (DNF in Monaco) and was reportedly running low on sponsor money too. His replacement is unknown Colombian Ricardo Londoño who hasn't so far achieved anything noteworthy. Some people on the paddock even claimed that Londoño shouldn't be allowed to race due to his inexperience but was granted a racing license by RDFIA nevertheless.
Pre-qualifying
After Toleman's departure from pre-qualifying, March's Hans-Joachim Stuck has been the dominant driver. Another pre-qualifying win earned him and teammate Rahal a place in qualifying. Theodore's Rupert Keegan was second fastest only 0,107 seconds slower than Stuck but would need help from his unproven teammate as Alfa Romeos looked strong in 3rd and 4th. In the end, Londoño delivered to the surprise of many. Despite being sixth fastest of the session, he lost only half a second to Keegan and helped Theodore return to the qualifying fro the first time since Monaco.
Qualifying
McLarens and Tyrrells dominated again, this time Mansell was on pole. Nelson Piquet continued Ferrari's improved form with fifth fastest time while his teammate was still struggling in 12th. Arrowses, de Angelis and Depailler were in the top-10 as expected but one driver didn't really belong. Kevin Cogan showed the potential of Ligier's FR02 car with 8th fastest time.
In the back Stuck and Keegan continued their fine form from pre-qualifying by qualifying in the 10th row ahead of both Renaults and Lotuses! This time, to the surprise of everyone, Ricardo Londoño was actually able to qualify for the race! Perhaps the Colombian isn't as bad as most people think... Hans Binder and Bobby Rahal were the two not qualifying for the race.
Race
It was a clean start and the McLarens took the lead with Tyrrells and Piquet following. Overall the first lap was very calm and the biggest mover was Londoño, up six places to 20th. Other than that all drivers kept their positions.
Pironi had made his way up to third during first laps but a minor driving error dropped him behind Piquet in fifth. Andrea de Cesaris had a much larger error as he crashed with Mike Thackwell in Ostkurve, both retired.
Befire pit stops around lap 20 of 45 the order had remained largely the same, surprisingly because the long straights offered plenty of slipstreaming opportunities. Ferrari's Carlos Reutemann had used his chances the best as he was up to 7th before being the first to pit. Hoffmann's retirement had also helped him gain one position.
Renault was having yet another terrible weekend and it was made even worse as René Arnoux crashed out on lap 22. A few laps later his countryman Alain Prost went out too. It was Prost's fifth retirement in a row as the youngster seems to be struggling with his confidence at the moment. Laffite was the fourth Frenchman out today when his transmission broke around lap 32.
At that moment Mansell was still leading with six second over Scheckter who had passed Rosberg during pit stops but lead the Finn by only two seconds. Pironi was back in fourth but too far back to threaten for a podium place. Piquet and Reutemann were on their way to get Ferrari's first double points finish of the season but unfortunately the Brazilian suddenly lost all power on lap 36 and retired.
Piquet's retirement gto Cogan up to sixth briefly but Ligier FR02's first points would have to wait for a while still when the Williams drivers de Angelis and Alboreto caught and overtook teh American in the closing stages. Cogan even had a small off with three laps to go, dropping further half a minute back. Word out for the smaller teams around the tenth place as Toleman, March and Theodore each got one car to the finish line. Derek Warwick continued his brilliant form with yet another 10th place, just ahead of Hans-Joachim Stuck and notably Ricardo Londoño who truly showed why Theodore picked him as David Kennedy's replacement.
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The development market for the eleventh race is open! You have until Tuesday 16:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.