Well, that was a great race.
Alonso was great again, and Ferrari seems to keep making steps forward. It was a flawless race. Massa had some bad luck, but he's clearly not up to the challenge, and it doesn't look he's capable of improving. A shame, but he's not the same Massa of 2008.
Räikkönen had a mostly "unremarkable" race, and made it to 2nd. A good drive though, and it looked like he had the pace to go for the win. Grosjean was driving very well, but technical failures can't be controlled. He could have been the 8th in 8, he had the speed for sure, and he's showing he's F1 material, even if he makes mistakes.
There was another returnee in the podium. Congratulations to Michael Schumacher and Mercedes. At last he had some luck, and this will probably give him even more confidence into the next races. Rosberg was 6th, which is another good result for Mercedes, and keeps him in 5th position overall.
Webber did a great race too, ending 4th after a really bad qualifying session. It puts him 2nd in the driver's championship. Vettel had an "easy" win in his hands, but the car broke.
Nico Hulkenberg took 5th, the best result for Force India this season. Di Resta was 7th, putting a good end to a good weekend for Force India.
Button has been MIA in the last races, and this is no exception. He really needs to pick up the pace (not like he isn't trying) and I hope he can do it soon, he's good to have in the top places. Hamilton did a good race for what he had, and managed to hold Grosjean for quite a long time, even if he was clearly slower. A pit problem (looked like the jack broke) costed him 2 positions, and then Maldonado ended his race. Bad weekend for McLaren, maybe they'll have better luck in Silverstone.
Sergio Pérez didn't shine so much in this race, he didn't seem to be involved in anything. Kobayashi was unlucky, he was having a strong race, with a good chance for a podium, but Senna's mistake put an end to that. Perhaps it was too optimistic to put his nose there, but still. And then he crashed against Massa, ending his own race.
Bruno Senna certainly had an interesting race. He seemed to be doing well, then he closed Kobayashi against the wall, got a puncture, then a drive through, and was last with a big gap to the next car. Then the SC saved his race, and after retirements and penalties, he ended 10th. He really needs to stop making rookie mistakes, he would get a lot better results. As for Maldonado...someone defined his moves as borderline-idiotic. That suits him perfectly.
Petrov and Kovalainen drove that Caterham to its limits, with 13th and 14th, after being involved in crashes with the Toro Rosso drivers.
Charles Pic kept it together, and got a 15th position while being close to Kovalainen.
De la Rosa did what he could with the HRT, which keeps improving but it's not quite there yet. It looks like it doesn't treat the tyres well, so they suffer with high wear. Both him and Karthikeyan finished the race without technical problems.
Vergné was ridiculous this race. He crashed Kovalainen for no reason, and the penalty is deserved. A mistake, sure, but a costly one.
As for the Maldonado/Hamilton crash. Sure, Hamilton should have played it safe, but as he said, this is racing. They have to expect certain standards, like a driver not coming back into the track right at the middle of the apex when there's another car there. Hamilton pushed Maldonado out of the track, yes (doing that isn't right) but Maldonado did that to Webber a few laps before in the last corner. And once Maldonado was out of the track, the fight was on hold and he should have focused on going back to the track. And yes, it's a split second decision, but if he can't get right this kind of thing, then he's not deserving of racing in Formula 1. And it's not like it's an uncommon thing for Maldonado. I doubt he'll learn though, not even if he had a harsh penalty like missing a race. I doubt this will be the last crash he'll have this season.
So overall, a good race, maybe the best this season in terms of excitement. But honestly, I hope I can keep saying that for every race.
