Race Highlights: Adrian Sutil's Points Bonanza

- Published on Jul 24th, 2011 by Craig Normansell

With six German drivers at the Nurburgring this weekend, the home fans had plenty to cheer for. Ranging from propping up the grid to a reigning World Champ, it was clear that the battle for the Bratwurst would be varied in the chase for Badger's best German.

Could it be Sebastian Vettel? The home hero had the crowds swollen with the chance of taking home a race win, but the combination of not getting on the front row and a spin thanks to the slick tyres/damp astroturf put an end to that thought. Not a successful mix by any F1 standards. Stuck behind Felipe Massa's gearbox for most of the latter stages, it took a last lap pit stop to leapfrog ahead. Must try harder please Sebastian.

Would it be living legend Michael Schumacher? Not from the form guide of his recent races, in which he's tried to reconfigure the aerodynamic profile of his Mercedes on several other cars. Although he didn't manage it this race - despite brushing into Jenson Button's diffuser at the start - he suffered the indignity of spinning at a track that has a corner named after him. 8th was the best the 7-time champion could muster from his waning powers. Teammate Nico Rosberg didn't fare much better, spending most of the time being on the losing end of the DRS zone, hauling his Merc home in 7th place.

Timo Glock was at the back of the grid as per usual, challenging Team Lotus the best he could but had to settle for second in the "slower car" championship.  As for Nick Heidfeld, it wasn't a good race at all - qualifying was iffy, but after an incident with Di Resta that saw him drop to 20th and then Buemi persuading him off the track it was game over.

Top German for us then? Well, seeing as he stopped twice and for once kept his nose clean, we've got for Adrian Sutil. Getting his Force India in Q3 was a feat in itself, but then to plonk it in 8th place was just as impressive, beating Schumacher in the process. In the race, Sutil was calm and under control, stopping just twice while the front runners decided on three stops. This put him ahead of the squabbling Mercedes, who with pretty much everything of theirs German-made, you'd be wondering if Sutil is the one that got away.