Germany quotes & stats round-up

Sauber's Sergio Perez believes he had the pace to challenge for a third career podium at the German Grand Prix.

The Mexican qualified 12th but a penalty for impeding meant he lined up 17th on the grid.

An early problem with his car also did not help matters, but Perez shrugged off the issue to storm into the points and finish sixth.

1 Fernando Alonso 2 Jenson Button 3 Kimi Raikkonen 4 Kumi Kobayashi 5 Sebastian Vettel* 6 Sergio Perez 7 Michael Schumacher 8 Mark Webber 9 Nico Hulkenberg 10 Nico Rosberg

*Vettel penalised for passing Jenson Button off the track

"I think with the pace we showed, we could have fought for a podium," said Perez.

He continued: "I had a problem in my first stint, I had to stop early because of a problem with the left of the car. I felt a puncture but the team didn't know. We need to analyse what happened.

"But it was a great result for the whole team after such a bad day on Saturday."

Perez's team-mate Kamui Kobayashi finished fifth to cap a fine grand prix for Sauber, but was promoted to fourth after Sebastian Vettel was penalised 20 seconds for an illegal pass on Jenson Button.

"We struggled in qualifying, but I am glad to get points," said the Japanese driver.

"We were confident for a dry race and that we would have the pace for those conditions. I think I had a great race. I really enjoyed it."

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher gave himself a great chance of a podium finish at his home race by qualifying third, but was unable to keep up the pace with the front-runners as he dropped down the field.

7 - Michael Schumacher 6 - Ayrton Senna 5 - Gerhard Berger, Alain Prost 4 - Fernando Alonso, Nigel Mansell, David Coulthard, Jacques Laffite "There are nicer ways to finish a home race than falling back from third to seventh place," said Schumacher.

"I squeezed everything I could out of the car but, unfortunately, that's everything we could manage."

He added, cryptically: "We take the result and see what happens in future. I think we might see some interesting happenings in the future that does not concern just one car but several cars. It will be interesting."

Nico Rosberg started 21st on the grid but picked up a point for Mercedes by crossing the line in 10th place.

"It feels OK to have scored one point after such a bad qualifying and starting right at the back," he said.

21 - Ferrari 9 - Williams 8 - McLaren "We had a good strategy and I had great fun out there at times overtaking so many people to move up to 10th place."

Kimi Raikkonen was promoted to third after Vettel's punishment, but did not have the chance to celebrate on the podium as the stewards conducted their investigation.

Nevertheless, the Lotus driver felt any chance of challenging for a higher finish was prevented by a relatively disappointing qualifying session in the wet.

"Maybe if we had found a bit more pace in the wet on Saturday we could have started higher and pushed the leaders, but it is what it is," said Raikkonen.

"For sure we were hoping for a bit better here, but the car worked well all through the race and we still brought home some good points for the team, so there are some positives to take to the next race."

Force India enjoyed their best qualifying performance of the season as Nico Hulkenberg secured fourth place on the grid, with Paul di Resta lining up ninth.

They were both unable to build on that during the race, though, as Hulkenberg took ninth while Di Resta finished 11th.

"We always knew it was going to be tough to hang on to fourth place because we did not look especially strong in the dry conditions on Saturday morning," said Hulkenberg.

The circuit was reduced by around 2km in 2002 to give the circuit its current length of 4574m Number of corners: 13 (9 right-hand & 4 left-hand) The long sweeping left-hander named Parabolika sees the drivers reach speeds of almost 200 mph before braking for a sharp hairpin (Spitzkehre) "So it's good to come away with some points, but I was certainly hoping for a bit more from my home race."

Di Resta shared his team-mate's opinion, adding: "It was a bit mixed for me. I really struggled, certainly at the beginning. I was strong at the beginning and end of stints but not in the middle for some reason.

"We will go away from here certainly having to do a bit of work and aim to do better. Hopefully in Hungary we will be able to get on top of things a bit better."

German GP 2012: Alonso wins at Hockenheim

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Alonso wins tense race in Germany

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer at Hockenheim Ferrari's Fernando Alonso beat Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Jenson Button in a close fight to win the German Grand Prix.

The Spaniard became the only man to win three times so far this season.

He drove a controlled race and stayed just far enough ahead of his pursuers to maintain the lead.

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“Great strategy calls from the team to keep me ahead through the pit stops. I knew it would be a long race to the end”

Fernando Alonso Button climbed up from sixth on the grid to pass Vettel at the second pit stops but was re-passed with two laps to go.

However, the Englishman was promoted to second place after race stewards gave Vettel a 20-second penalty for his overtake of Button on the penultimate lap.

Lewis Hamilton retired with gearbox damage after running well down the field following an early puncture. But he will not incur any penalty for a gearbox change because of his retirement.

The result extends Alonso's championship lead to 34 points ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber who had a low-key race to eighth place, never showing any real pace.

Alonso said: "It was tough, not an easy race. Maybe we were not the quickest in dry conditions but we were competitive and it was enough to maintain the lead.

"Great strategy calls from the team to keep me ahead through the pit stops. I knew it would be a long race to the end, with Jenson putting pressure.

"But the car was feeling good on top speed and traction and that was enough to keep the lead into Turn 6, and after that overtaking is not so easy."

Puncture leaves Hamilton frustrated

The only consolation for Hamilton on the occasion of his 100th grand prix was that the McLaren showed encouraging pace following a major performance upgrade.

At one stage, Hamilton unlapped himself on Vettel - although not Alonso - as he attempted vainly to recover from his early set-back. A move which angered the double world champion.

Alonso was never very far in front but was always able to stay just far enough ahead of first Vettel and then Button to ensure they could not use their DRS overtaking aids to pass him into the hairpin at Turn 6.

It led to a tense grand prix in which the identity of the winner was always in doubt until Alonso took the chequered flag.

The Ferrari made a lightning start from pole position and although Vettel quickly closed up the initial gap Alonso had built on the first lap, the Spaniard was able to pull clear before their first pit stops to ensure he held the lead into the second stint.

Meanwhile, Button was fighting past Hulkenberg and then Schumacher, to move quietly into third place.

Vettel emerged from his first pit stop five seconds ahead of Button but the McLaren closed remorselessly on the Red Bull and passed the German by making his second stop a lap earlier.

Vettel emerged from the pits to find Button on his outside on the run to Turn 2, and the McLaren easily took the position.

2011 - Lewis Hamilton 2010 - Fernando Alonso 2009 - Mark Webber 2008 - Lewis Hamilton Button was rarely more than a second behind Alonso from then until the end of the race but the Ferrari driver was always in control and in the closing laps he stretched away as Button began to lose grip in his rear tyres.

Rather than try to take the lead, Button had to spend the closing laps fighting off a late challenge from Vettel, who passed him at the Turn 6 hairpin on the penultimate lap.

Vettel said: "The pace was there but it was extremely difficult when I was close to Fernando and Jenson we seemed to lose a lot and not be able to stay close enough to try to something under braking.

"I am not entirely happy, it could have been a bit better if it was clean air most of the race but that was not the case. Second place was the best we could get today and I am happy with that."

Button said: "It was a close race and I couldn't quite get Fernando at the end.

"When you are in the middle of three you really have to fight and I was pushing a little bit more in the early part of the stint, whereas when you're in front you can coast a bit in the bits where you don't need to push.

"It was close but Fernando knows as we all do where to use Kers to keep someone behind you. I ran out of steam at the end of the straight and the gap was a little bit too big to get back.

21 - Ferrari 9 - Williams 8 - McLaren "But it was a fun race and it's nice to be on the podium again. I've had my feeling back the last two races but the pace hasn't been there [in the car], but today it was. We're there or thereabouts at the front, still a little way to go."

Raikkonen provided some exciting racing as he moved up from 10th on the grid.

On the way, Raikkonen engaged in top-class racing with Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher and the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta.

Schumacher finished seventh behind Sauber drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez. Hulkenberg and Di Resta took the final points positions in ninth and 10th.

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