European GP report cards

Rubens Barrichello returns to victory, snatching it from Lewis Hamilton's hands, thanks to a mix-up in the pits. Favorable day for the Brazilian, with the Red Bulls out of the points and Button only seventh. A good Raikkonen took a decent third place, but Ferrari must now guard against the return of McLaren if they want to maintain third place in the Constructors' World Championship. Enjoy the reading!

Lewis Hamilton: 10 – His world championship is long gone. Both he and the team would have every reason in the world to ditch the oars and put a stop to it. Instead, contrary to what one might think, McLaren have decided to work hard to at least save their honor. And, after the victory in Budapest, confirmation arrived about the horrible Valencian toboggan. And Lewis, as usual, plays his ideal role as the team's star performer. Very fast in practice, especially exceptional in the race, he maintained an unimaginable pace until halfway through the race, progressively digging a gap between himself and his opponents. Then the mess in the pits, in which he was not to blame. Indeed, he behaves like a gentleman (at least in public), admitting that he wins together and loses together, without therefore blaming the wall for a failed victory. We can't know for sure if he would have won, but we know that he ran at 110% throughout the race, even after the crash, without ever giving up. And this is enough for us to give it full marks. Masterful.

Heikki Kovalainen: 6,5 – Inferior to his teammate, once again at the end of the race he made up 20 seconds. Which are not exactly few. All after throwing away a practically certain pole. Let's say that the term impeccable does not fit the performance of the blond from Rovaniemi. Which, however, also has some alibis on its side, starting from its Silver Arrow in standard configuration, without the short wheelbase which on a street circuit like the Spanish one helps a lot in terms of handling and precision. He loses first second then third place in the whirlwind of pit stops, demonstrating overall that he suffers from his rivals more in terms of rhythm and consistency than in terms of pure speed. But, all things considered, it seemed more consistent than in Hungary. Running with your boss saying “You need to improve your performance” shouldn't be pleasant. But at least he doesn't make any mistakes and takes home valuable points to chase Ferrari in the constructors' championship. All in all, it's okay. Maybe a little wide vote, but on trust. Humble.

Luca Badoer: sv – We prefer not to evaluate his performance. Put into the car in a hurry after ten years of absence from racing, with very little experience of the new car and the tires and, moreover, on a track never seen before except on a postcard. We challenge anyone to do better. And he also gets off to a great start, before being rear-ended (according to him) and sadly slipping to the back of the group. The only real mistake, in our opinion, is made by pinching the white line when exiting the pits after letting Grosjean pass. We don't feel like evaluating it. Assigning him a bad insufficiency would be objectively ungenerous. Giving him a political six would be unfair. We postpone the judgment to Spa. Even if we like to remember that in '99 on a very similar toboggan (the Hungaroring) the much more trained Mika Salo, driving Michael Schumacher's Ferrari and fresh from the near victory at Hockenheim, managed ' to go slower than Luca did in Valencia. Who knows if the Cavallino train had passed then... Courage!

Kimi Räikkönen: 9th – It's official: running practically alone is good for him. In Valencia as in Hungary, Kimi showed off a tough and brilliant performance, grabbing a podium that few would have bet on beforehand. Thanks to a good start (ah, the kers...) and a pounding race pace. He overtakes his compatriot Kovalainen - stuck behind Rosberg - in the second stop and from there he doesn't give up the podium until the finish line, constant and precise. Maybe not the best from a performance point of view, but objectively the best that was possible to get out of a car as honest as the 2009 Ferrari. He says he is very confident for Spa, a track where last year he hit the wall in the final laps after a great performance. Who knows, maybe the air of the Ardennes will complete its personal recovery journey. Solitary.

Robert Kubica: 7,5 – Evidently announcing the withdrawal is the best technical change that can be made in 2009. Honda announces its withdrawal from F1 but dominates the world championship with BrawnGP. BMW is struggling, communicating its disengagement and, having just returned from the mid-August holidays, it is competitive again. Mysteries of modern F1. The fact is that the good Robert takes advantage of the renewed state of quasi-form of the Bavarian car to return to appear in the points. Even keeping a world championship contender like Mark Webber behind him. His race is tough and tough despite a so-so start, in which he chooses to maintain a prudent behavior which causes him to lose a position to the detriment of his teammate. But then he is good at keeping a good pace and lucky not to find traffic. Eighth place is the logical consequence of a constant and concrete race. The best that can be achieved today, probably. But one point is always better than none, isn't it? Little ant.

Nick Heidfeld: 5,5 – “An eleventh place will not change his career, neither positively nor negatively. And it won't even improve the fortunes of an beyond measure failure season for BMW." We wrote this three weeks ago, and this we are forced to repeat. With the small but substantial difference, that this time Quick's teammate Nick, instead of finishing behind him, actually finishes in the points. It's fine to be regular, but every now and then you should also sniff out what's going on. He blames the traffic, the strategy and a distracting duel with Sutil, but in the end if you come out in front of your teammate at the first corner you can't end up that far behind him. Then lapping much slower also as the fastest lap in the race. He says he's on the market: maybe it's time to learn to sell yourself better. Regularist (to the bitter end).

Fernando Alonso: 7th – You don't have to skin your hands for the applause, but you don't have to scream at the boos either. If you start from eighth position in a (bad) kart track like the one in Valencia the only chance you have is that those in front of you are hit by some meteorite and retire. Obviously it doesn't happen, so the sixth place finish in the end must be seen with the logic of the glass half full. Of course, given the times recorded on Friday, we would have expected something more. The impression - just the impression, mind you - is that on this occasion, aware of the difficulties, Fernando decided to be content and not risk too much. Who knows, maybe we're wrong. When in doubt, sufficiency is still there, and abundant too. But nothing more. Streetwise.

Romain Grosjean: 5,5th – Unlike Badoer, we can hazard an assessment. We are in fact talking about a driver trained for competition and in full physical shape. The experience, however, is what it is, and he pays the price for his debut in F1 especially at the start, where he collides with Badoer and slips to the back of the group. Then from there he turns all things considered more than with dignity, he films the Ferrari driver and is careful not to cause any damage, admitting himself that he has to pay a lot of attention because the 'film' moves very, very quickly. We don't believe that Piquet jr would have done who knows how much better (sorry for the frankness). He deserves a pass, but we take away half a point because having rammed Badoer seemed like gratuitous malice, even if it was involuntary. Spa will be better. Sadistic.

Jarno Trulli: 5 – Desperately looking for grip. This is the refrain we saw Jarno singing throughout the Spanish weekend. Without grip you can't go anywhere, of course. But, at least in qualifying, his teammate seems to have found the key to the problem, or at least to have understood a little more than him. The impression is that he is distracted by the transfer rumors and that he is not running calmly. It's not like him, a fine test driver, to mess up with the set-ups and badly fail the qualification. It's a shame, because Toyota in Valencia was probably worth more than its thirteenth place finish. He still finishes ahead of Glock, involved in an unfortunate contact at the first corner, but it is and remains too little. Also because he takes 1 second and three tenths from Glock in the fastest lap of the race: the data speaks for itself. It is not the first time that he has found himself in difficulty when the future in the team appears uncertain (see his past in Renault). Let's hope we're wrong, really. Confused.

Timo Glock: 5 – Unlike his teammate, he hits Q2, only to then throw everything away with an unfortunate start. He says he was touched from behind, and it's also true, but he creates a bit of havoc by throwing everything in and contributes to the chaos that is created later. After all, it's his temperament, we know, but this time with a less aggressive and more conservative race conduct he could perhaps have gotten close to the points zone and, why not, moved up his ranking. Also because he set the fastest lap, a sign that - albeit at the end of the race and with the rubberized track - the potential was there. Instead he also finishes behind his teammate, who was in difficulty all weekend. In Valencia Toyota was probably worth more than its drivers. And this is also news, gentlemen. Distracted.

Jaime Alguersuari: 5,5 – He says he suffered more than in Hungary, and we have no difficulty in believing him, given the heat and the difficulties of the unlikely Valencian circuit. Toro Rosso doesn't digest the track, and he, in his second race in F1, has neither the technical culture nor the experience necessary to reverse the situation. At the end of the race he holds only Badoer behind him. Better than nothing, but not exactly the best. In any case he does no damage - a fact not always obvious about a citizen! – And he accumulates kilometer after kilometre. Maybe he'll show something better at Spa, who knows. Of course, that second gap made up by Buemi in Q1 weighs heavily on his performance. After all, even with several more GPs, the Swiss is also a rookie... Postponed.

Sebastien Buemi: 5 – He's not going through a great moment of form, there's no denying it. After demolishing Bourdais he seems to have lost his bearings a bit. He was effective in qualifying, where he climbed up to Q2 with a slow and unwieldy car, he made a complete mistake at the start, ending up on Glock and ruining the front wing. The inevitable pit stop puts an end, as he himself admits, to his hopes of having an at least decent race. He's back on track – rightly so, of course!!! – to accumulate experience and kilometers (he's still a rookie, what the heck) but the only result he gets is to destroy the braking system and end up off the road. Good for him that the generous escape route prevents him from doing damage. We wish him that everything goes better in Spa, an accident like this in Les Combes shouldn't be pleasant. Confusing.

Mark Webber: 5 – On the citizen of Valencia the Red Bull loses its wings and he collapses. Do we have to be honest? We didn't expect it from Mark. It would have been more predictable to see Vettel in difficulty, given his lesser experience in the beloved formula and his limited militancy in second-tier teams, yet the Australian gets completely confused, making a mistake in qualifying (ninth place is certainly not the best viaticum to attack) and proving inconsistent in the race. Although the car is not the rocket of recent times, it is unacceptable that the tall Australian finished outside the points without having suffered either a contact or a technical problem. Has he forgotten how to fight? We don't believe. A bad day can simply happen to anyone, therefore statistically also to him. But nothing takes away from our minds that he could have done more, at least kept Kubica behind him. The exchange between him and his engineer who, in the midst of the brawl, shouts at him: “From the garage they ordered Button to pass you, is priceless. Well, I order you not to be overtaken." Memorable.

Sebastian Vettel: 5st – If Athens cries, Sparta certainly doesn't laugh. As good in qualifying as he was terrible at the start, when he was completely disinterested in who was in front of him and only tried to block Button. However, he himself ended up slipping behind Raikkonen. Who knows what he wanted to do. Bah. This isn't how you win the World Cup, not with maneuvers like that from the second row. Then he clearly blames the pit stop in which he didn't get all the fuel expected, but the damage had already been done. The retirement is just a liberation, even if he has almost run out of engines at his disposal for the season. The impression is that he's a bit – use the term – out of his mind. Let's hope we're wrong, we'll see in Spa, a track for real men and totally different from the dull Spanish toboggan. There Red Bull should once again assert its aerodynamic supremacy, we'll see what the scenario will be. What is certain is that his pursuit of the world championship seems to be held up only by mathematics. Bad.

Nico Rosberg: 8th – A tough and attacking race finishes fifth. Williams is on the ball, but above all he is the one who makes it fly. The level of symbiosis achieved with the car is impressive, especially on a citizen like Valencia. He gains two positions - real ones - compared to the start and still scores precious points. Even though he is, together with Alonso, the most prized piece on the drivers' market, he does not allow himself to be distracted by the many rumors and maintains his concentration. The podium isn't that far away, who knows whether he won't be able to get there between now and the end of the year. And to think that in past years Williams tended to collapse as the season progressed... and instead now it is going from king of Friday to - at least - prince of Sunday. Noble.

Kazuki Nakajima: 5,5 – Starting thirteenth is not the best thing in life if you want to get back into the points. And we're not there yet. Of course, if even bad luck ends up blocking your race with a puncture, it's clear that the conditions for another weekend to forget are all there, absolutely all. The retirement, with three laps to go, is only a relief. Indeed, had he arrived earlier, he would have spared the Japanese the torment of running the entire race at the rear of the group in the deadly heat. But when things don't go, they don't go. Patience. We deny him sufficient solidarity only because of his objectively disappointing qualification. Bad lucky.

Adrian Sutil: 6,5 – Force India is in economic crisis and in technical progress. Consistent with the spirit of this world championship (see what was written for Kubica). And the German does everything he can to show off, taking a good twelfth place in qualifying and engaging in a good battle with the BMWs. In the end, after a victoriously concluded battle with Heidfeld, he finished a vigorous and, all things considered, positive race in tenth place. He says he can't wait to get to Spa, and you can't believe him. And, returning to the opening speech, if Mallya's team were to announce their withdrawal... maybe we would miss the podium! Brilliant.

Giancarlo Fisichella: 6 – He suffers from his teammate both in practice and in the race and closes two positions behind Sutil. He suffers from tire problems, in particular annoying graining which would limit his performance. However, in the end his performance was decent and he kept the two Toyotas behind without too much trouble. Curious that he is the only driver to complain about the tyres, but so be it. Who knows what he will be able to do at Spa, a track that he notoriously loves and on which he has almost always performed well. Maybe he can even defeat the Sutilite that has been plaguing him for some Grand Prix. Antibiotic.

Jenson Button: 6nd – Repetita Juvant, the Latins said. Repeatedly, some students retort. We don't give a damn. For the third time in a row we are forced to open your evaluation with the same concept: too easy to dominate races when the car is the best on the market. If the going gets tough he stops playing, or at least takes to the track with laughable determination. He takes them from Barrichello in practice, takes them back loudly in the race and in the end collects two points more for the misfortunes of others than for his own merits. Certainly the maneuver suffered by Vettel at the start did not favor him, but by starting further forward he would have easily avoided it. We're not there, we're not really there. He says that from now on he will change his tactical attitude by moving to a more aggressive approach. We'll see. At Spa, where BrawnGP will have to suffer, we'll see what he's really made of. Soft.

Rubens Barrichello: 10 – Let's face it: finally! For once, in addition to not incurring various bad luck, he is also lucky, and so he manages to obtain his first victory of the season, after many years of not reaching the top step of the podium. And he does it with a capital performance, we could define it as Schumacher-style - Rubinho doesn't need it - given the frenetic pace he manages to impose in the laps immediately preceding the pit stops. We don't know if he would have won without Hamilton's inconvenience, but we know that he brought out the maximum potential from BrawnGP by massacring his teammate and favorite in the chase for the world championship. Who knows if he will now be left free to play his own chances. It would be interesting to see his performance, free from constraints, at Spa. But maybe they will really let him free, who knows. At 37 years old he appears in better shape than ever... who knows, maybe he won't be able to get some more great satisfaction. Welcome back.

Manuel Codignoni
www.f1grandprix.it