Hockenheim Formula 1 Race Recap- Team Vodafone

The gap between the big boys and JV teams is incredible when you look at the Constructors points standings:

1 Ferrari 105
2 BMW Sauber 89
3 McLaren 86
4 Toyota 25
5 Red Bull 24
6 Williams 16
7 Renault 15
8 Honda 14
9 Toro Rosso 8
10 Force India 0
11 Super Aguri 0

BMW is really turning it up this year, solidly locking in the 4-6th spots, often with someone on the podium too. Of course the 1-2 punch in Canada helped! Kudos to Kubica (and Heidfeld).

I think BMW were luck to get Canada and a better description of their pace would be slower but steady.

MaindrianPace I wonder, would you prefer drivers and teams who DON'T make the podium to win?

This is a ridiculous comment. I am sure Heikki was aware that Hamilton was much faster than he is on that last stint. He knew that he couldn't have held Hamilton off for long and any such attempts would just be to the detriment of the team effort. He then made a decision that was better for the team standings as well as improve a teammate's chance at the driver's championship. If you think that "Heikki needs to worry more about his own ass", do you really think that blocking Hamilton, he would have earned some favor with Ron Dennis or Hamilton? I argue that Ron Dennis as well as the other team principles sees this as proof that Heikki is a mature racing driver.

I think Heikki needs to worry about retaining his JOB never mind concocting plans to hold Lewis up!

Heikki shouldn't have let him past, this is racing!! And if you were watching the race on Fox the commentators were speculating team orders which wouldn't be surprising at all.

Some of you people need to get a clue. There have been team orders in racing since racing began. There are still team orders, but no one is going to be obvious about it. Heikki did exactly what he should have done -- what was good for the team. If he had held Hamilton up, there is no doubt he would have lost his drive at McLaren for next year -- think about that while you're ruminating on whether Kovalainen should be worried about retaining his job. Holding up your teammate -- especially when that teammate is leading the driver's championship -- is NOT racing. It is stupid and the quickest way to lose your ride. McLaren made a tactical error, but fortunately, Hamilton and the car were up to the task.

At that point in the race Lewis was not leading the drivers championship. Passing Heikki only put him in 3rd position behind Felipe Massa who at that point was leading the championship.

It does not matter -- if your teammate is faster, you let him by. There was no way Kovalainen was going to pass Massa, but Hamilton was consistently one second or more per lap quicker than Massa -- it was obvious he was going to at least catch Massa, and in F1, if you're one second quicker, you're MUCH faster, and Hockenheim is a track where aggressive drivers can pass (see: Montoya vs. Raikkonen, 2004). The team and the driver knew he could do it.
And so what the commentators were saying it was team orders -- everyone in the world knows there are team orders. You just can't be so obvious, although Heikki was.
When your car and driver combo is as quick as Hamilton was Sunday, you don't let your 1.5 sec slower per lap teammate race him. Throughout Ron Dennis' history with McLaren, he has never been one to have his drivers "hold station," unless they're cruising to a 1-2 victory. Haven't you heard of Senna vs. Prost?

Sorry, I was just commenting your previous statement.

And maybe Mercedes does need to find a new teammate for Lewis because right now, even when Heikki does let Lewis past, he's not benefiting the team in the constructors points. But at the same time Lewis has made some mistakes this year that did not benefit the team.