The Top Dog For Germany Is...

- Published on Jul 24th, 2011 by Benson Jammichello

"Hot Rod or Hot Dog" is our regular post-grand prix column where we review all of the driver performances in that race.  As part of the process, one driver is declared as Badger's "Top Dog"; it's not necessarily the winner and, to be honest, it could be for anything.

It has to be...Hamilton

Well. Firstly, that was a great race. Secondly, that was a great drive. Thirdly, was he crying a bit after the race? Fourthly, no, there's no more. That's it.

From lights to flag, Hamilton was clearly on top of his game. In all honesty, there was really too much going on in the race to detail it all here, but the best bit (well, for us anyway) was definitely Lewis' pass on Alonso around the outside of turn two. In order to make that sort of pass you have to have supreme confidence not only in your own car and driving ability, but also in the person you're overtaking. In fact, it's clear that Hamilton trusted Alonso wasn't going to do anything too odd; would he have tried that move on Kobayashi? We leave it for you to decide.

What made the victory even more impressive was the fact that the cars were clearly so evenly matched. It wasn't just a matter of who had the best car, or team mates duking it out, it was a genuine scrap between Alonso, Webber and Hamilton. Even the sector times were markedly different, with Webber fastest in the second sector and Hamilton and Alonso quite evenly matched in the first and last. Great racing all round.

More broadly, Hamilton's mental state seemed to be a lot more...regular this weekend. He really seems to oscillate between a very bleak outlook and one of blind euphoria. Most odd.

Anyway, it's his weekend and it was a pleasure to watch. We hope he's pleased with his Top Dog prize.