In racing and in soccer, Germany's success perpetuates - MotorSportsTalk

HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY – Being a German sports fan at the moment must be pretty great. Not only has your national soccer team just won the FIFA World Cup, but you have a German driver and a German team leading the F1 world championships.

Mercedes has dominated proceedings so far this season, and although the fight between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is set to rage on this year, the advantage currently lies with the latter by four points.

In fact, since the turn of the century, there have been just three championship victories that have no relation to Germany: Fernando Alonso’s titles in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, and Kimi Raikkonen’s victory in 2007 with Ferrari. Michael Schumacher won every championship from 2000 to 2004; Sebastian Vettel secured four titles on the bounce between 2010 and 2013; Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button won their titles in 2008 and 2009 using Mercedes-powered cars.

Frankly, it is a staggering record. Even if you look at soccer, there is a clear pattern of success as this golden generation comes to the fore. Bayern Munich has become one of the most dominant club teams in the world, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2013, and Germany’s World Cup win wasn’t exactly surprising – they had the best team, consensus suggests – and the dismantling of Brazil will go down as one of the great all-time soccer games.

The feeling in Germany at the moment is wonderful. Being English, I’ve never had the chance to revel in a World Cup win (1966 was quite a bit before my time), so it is interesting to come to a country that is doing exactly that. There is World Cup fever still almost a week since the final. German flags are still draping from buildings and are stuck to car windows; German football shirts are being worn on every street corner; even Coca-Cola has branded its cans with names such as “Bastian” and “Mesut” in honor of the victorious players.

You only have to look at the parade that took place in Berlin following the final. The nation is unified – quite literally in the sense that this was the first World Cup win not as West Germany – by success.

And the same can be said for Formula 1 at the moment. Sebastian Vettel went from a “crash kid” (to quote one team principal) to champion of the world four times over, and is perhaps one of the greatest we have ever seen. Nico Rosberg has stepped out of his compatriot’s shadow, and is now putting the dominant Mercedes W05 Hybrid to good use in his first bid for a world championship. German engineering is dominating in both F1 – Mercedes – and in endurance racing. Audi has won 13 of the last 15 24 Hours of Le Mans races, and Porsche’s return to the LMP1 class has also been successful.

Back in F1, Nico Hulkenberg is one of the most underrated drivers on the grid, and is sniffing at a move to Ferrari in the near future. Adrian Sutil has been solid if unspectacular, and other drivers such as Timo Glock and Nick Heidfeld have podiumed in the past. Then, of course, we have the greatest: Michael Schumacher. 91 race wins, seven world championships, and a statistical record that is second to none.

So what is it that causes Germany’s racing success to perpetuate? Much of it comes down to the last name on that list: Schumacher. “For us, we’re the generation after Michael and Michael was a big inspiration,” explained Vettel on Thursday. “So for sure, when Michael made Formula 1 really a sport in Germany and made it big, a lot of fathers with their sons went to the go-kart tracks and wanted to do like him.

“I think it’s chances. In the end, if you have a thousand kids trying rather than ten, the chances that one or two end up in Formula 1 are obviously a lot greater.”

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa made a quick getaway from testing last week so he could see the match against Germany. Naturally, our first question in jest to him was “have you recovered from the result?”. He laughed and smiled, but then went on to make some very interesting points about Germany’s recent success both on the track and on the soccer pitch.

“If you see how Germany rests and how Germany is preparing everything on the sport, about Formula 1, about the World Cup, about the other categories,” he began. “It’s the country that has the most drivers racing. It’s the country that has more championships as well.

“In the football as well, the job they did was brilliant, amazing, the preparation, the way they worked.

“I think it’s something we need to learn and we need to always try and improve, but definitely we expect – by being Brazilian, by playing the World Cup at home – to be in the final fighting, and we were not, so now we need to concentrate to improve things for the future.”

After all, it was meant to be Brazil’s World Cup to win; the sixth star. Instead, it fell apart in the semi-final at the hands of Joachim Löw’s squad.

Massa’s point about Brazil needing to play catch-up is also relevant in racing. The nation has a wonderful heritage in motorsport, but if Massa were to leave F1 and not be replaced by a fellow countryman, it would be the first time in over 40 years that there has not been a Brazilian driver in the sport. Felipe Nasr is the only Brazilian of note coming through the junior ranks, currently racing in GP2, but there are few other than him.

Instead, there are a number of European h youngsters coming through the ranks that are attracting attention: Sainz, Ocon, Marciello and Vandoorne to name just four. Germany also has one to watch for the future in the shape of Marvin Kirchhofer in GP3. It’s all down to preparation.

The good feeling in Germany is set to last for some time following the national team’s victory in Brazil. However, one eye will unquestionably be on the future; how can the team continue to grow and develop in order to create a legacy?

The same will be on the mind of the management at Mercedes. It is an inevitability that the German marque will win the constructors’, and one of its drivers will definitely win the main title. However, it cannot go down as a flash-in-the-pan success like we saw with Renault in 2005 and 2006. The groundwork was made in the years leading up to Fernando Alonso’s title wins, but it did not go beyond that when he left for McLaren. Mercedes has a perfect opportunity to lay down a Ferrari-esque streak (2000-2004) and create a legacy in F1 with Rosberg and Hamilton leading its charge.

Germany’s sporting scene is in superb shape right now. However, with expectation comes pressure – will the weight prove to be too much for Nico Rosberg this weekend at Hockenheim? A win for Lewis would put the momentum firmly in his direction as we pass the halfway point in the championship.

For Germany, now is about letting the good times roll and the party atmosphere continue. The fans at Hockenheim have their tents up in the woods around Hockenheim, and following the example set by his soccer-playing compatriots, all eyes will be on Nico Rosberg to step up to the plate this weekend.

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INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou had not turned a wheel wrong the entire Month of May at the Indy 500 until Rinus VeeKay turned a wheel into the Chip Ganassi Racing pole-sitter leaving pit road on Lap 94.

“There is nothing I could have done there,” Palou told NBC Sports. “It’s OK, when it is my fault or the team’s fault because everybody makes mistakes. But when there is nothing, you could have done differently there, it feels bad and feels bad for the team.”

Marcus Ericsson was a master at utilizing the “Tail of the Dragon” move that breaks the draft of the car behind him in the closing laps to win last year’s Indianapolis 500. On Sunday, however, the last of three red flags in the final 16 laps of the race had the popular driver from Sweden breathing fire after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden beat him at his own game on the final lap to win the Indianapolis 500.

Despite the two disappointments, team owner Chip Ganassi was seen on pit road fist-bumping a member on his four-car team in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after his drivers finished second, fourth, sixth and seventh in the tightly contested race.

Those are pretty good results, but at the Indianapolis 500, there is just one winner and 32 losers.

“There is only one winner, but it was a hell of a show,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Chip Ganassi Racing consultant Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “Alex was very fast, and he got absolutely caught out in somebody else’s wreck. There was nothing he could have done, but he and the 10 car, great recovery.

“Great recovery by all four cars because at half distance, we were not looking very good.”

After 92 laps, the first caution flew for Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing hitting the Turn 1 wall.

During pit stops on Lap 94, Palou had left his stall when the second-place car driven by VeeKay ran into him, putting Palou’s Honda into the wall. The car sustained a damaged front wing, but the Chip Ganassi crew was able to get him back in the race on the lead lap but in 28^th position.

Palou ultimately would fight his way to a fourth-place finish in a race the popular Spaniard could have won. His displeasure with VeeKay, whom he sarcastically called “a legend” on his team radio after the incident, was evident.

“The benefit of being on pole is you can drive straight and avoid crashes, and he was able to crash us on the side on pit lane, which is pretty tough to do, but he managed it,” Palou told NBC Sports. “Hopefully next year we are not beside him. Hopefully, next year we have a little better luck.”

Palou started on the pole and led 36 laps, just three fewer than race leader Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing.

“We started really well, was managing the fuel as we wanted, our car was pretty good,” Palou said. “Our car wasn’t great, we dropped to P4 or P5, but we still had some good stuff.

“On the pit stop, the 21 (VeeKay) managed to clip us. Nothing we could have done there. It was not my team’s fault or my fault.

“We had to drop to the end. I’m happy we made it back to P4. We needed 50 more laps to make it happen, but it could have been a lot worse after that contact.

“I learned a lot, running up front at the beginning and in mid-pack and then the back. I learned a lot.

“It feels amazing when you win it and not so good when things go wrong. We were a bit lucky with so many restarts at the end to make it back to P4 so I’m happy with that.”

Palou said the front wing had to be changed and the toe-in was a bit off, but he still had a fast car.

In fact, his Honda was the best car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month. His pole-winning four lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a record for this fabled race.

Palou looked good throughout the race, before he had to scratch and claw and race his way back to the top-five after he restarted 28^th.

In the Indianapolis 500, however, the best car doesn’t always win.

“It’s two years in a row that we were leading the race at the beginning and had to drop to last,” Palou said. “Maybe next year, we will start in the middle of the field and go on to win the race.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s better to let that pass someday.”

Palou said the wild racing at the end was because the downforce package used in Sunday’s race means the drivers have to be aggressive. The front two cars can battle for the victory, but cars back in fourth or fifth place can’t help determine the outcome of the race.

That is when the “Tail of the Dragon” comes into the play.

Franchitti helped celebrate Ericsson’s win in 2022 with his “Tail of the Dragon” zigzag move – something he never had to do in any of his three Indianapolis 500 victories because they all finished under caution.

In 2023, however, IndyCar Race Control wants to make every attempt to finish the race under green, without going past the scheduled distance like NASCAR’s overtime rule.

Instead of extra laps, they stop the race with a red flag, to create a potential green-flag finish condition.

“You do what you have to do to win within the rules, and it’s within the rules, so you do it,” Franchitti said. “The race is 200 laps and there is a balance.

“Marcus did a great job on that restart and so did Josef. It was just the timing of who was where and that was it.

“If you knew it was going to go red, you would have hung back on the lap before.

“Brilliant job by the whole Ganassi organization because it wasn’t looking very good at half-distance.

“Full marks to Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.”

Franchitti is highly impressed by how well Ericsson works with CGR engineer Brad Goldberg and how close this combination came to winning the Indianapolis 500 two-years-in-a-row.

It would have been the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

“Oh, he’s a badass,” Franchitti said Ericsson. “He proved it last year. He is so calm all day. What more do you need? As a driver, he’s fast and so calm.”

Ericsson is typically in good spirits and jovial.

He was stern and direct on pit road after the race.

“I did everything right, I did an awesome restart, caught Josef off-guard and pulled away,” Ericsson said on pit lane. “It’s hard to pull away a full lap and he got me back.

“I’m mostly disappointed with the way he ended. I don’t think it was fair and safe to do that restart straight out of the pits on cold tires for everyone.

“To me, it was not a good way to end that race.

“Congrats to Josef. He didn’t do anything wrong. He is a worthy champion, but it shouldn’t have ended like that.”

Palou also didn’t understand the last restart, which was a one-start showdown.

“I know that we want to finish under green,” Palou said. “Maybe the last restart I did, I didn’t understand. It didn’t benefit the CGR team.

“I’m not very supportive of the last one, but anyway.”

Dixon called the red flags “a bit sketchy.”

“The red flags have become a theme to the end of the race, but sometimes they can catch you out,” Dixon said. “I know Marcus is frustrated with it.

“All we ask for is consistency. I think they will do better next time.

“It’s a tough race. People will do anything they can to win it and with how these reds fall, you have to be in the right place at the right time. The problem is when they throw a Red or don’t throw a Red dictates how the race will end.

“It’s a bloody hard race to win. Congrats to Josef Newgarden and to Team Penske.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500

In racing and in soccer, Germany’s success perpetuates

Strong rebounds for Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi amid some disappointments in the Indy 500