Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: German GP

Controversy reigns supreme in this year's German GP. The 25th July race was won by Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso ahead of his team-mate Felipe Massa, the team's first one-two of the season. But the victory was shrouded by controversy of team orders within the famous scarlet team when Massa, who was leading for 49 of 67 laps, was ordered by team boss Stefano Domenicalli and chief engineer Rob Smedley to let Alonso pass him. "Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand the message?" Smedley radioed to Massa. After the move 18 laps from the end, Smedley radioed Massa again, "Good lad - just stick with it now, sorry." A stony faced Massa told the media after the race that he would not comment on the messages, but said he was just helping the team. On the other hand, a jovial Alonso commented that the car was perfectly set-up and that he thought that Massa was having gearbox problem and that he was just doing what was natural: overtake his team-mate. During the start of the race, pole-sitter Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel tried to block off a charging Alonso, who started 2nd. Massa, directly behind Vettel in 3rd, took advantage of the front duo's antics and ran to the front without much problem. From then Massa was leading the race until the controversial overtaking move. Vettel finished 3rd from the sluggish start and was emotional for taking a spot on the podium in his home race. Lotus Racing F1 Team on the other hand endured another disappointing race with both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen retiring due to gearbox problem and accident damage respectively after a strong qualifying performance on Saturday, with Trulli starting from 18th and Kovalainen on 19th.