Vettel demands more
He may still be 77 points clear in the world championship, but Sebastian Vettel cannot be accused of resting on his laurels.
He finished a distant fourth yesterday in the German Grand Prix and immediately demanded his Red Bull Racing team push to match developments from their rivals.
"Generally, I think fourth anyway was probably our maximum today, which is not satisfying, but you know we have to accept it and go from there," he told the BBC.
"Next week is the next race [in Hungary] and it looks like McLaren and Ferrari are getting quicker and quicker, so we need to work harder on our car to try and improve it in order to be back on the podium and maybe stand on the top step again."
More misery for Button
While Lewis Hamilton was celebrating on the podium, Jenson Button, his McLaren-Mercedes teammate, suffered his second successive retirement to further dent his slim championship hopes.
The Briton is 107 points behind Vettel after a mechanical failure forced him out of the race. "We retired the car on safety grounds because we had a hydraulic issue. It was a very disappointing end, but these things sometimes happen in motor racing and you just have to put it behind you and move on."
Best yet for Sutil
Adrian Sutil caused a surprise by being the second-highest German finisher, behind Vettel, as he took sixth place in his Force India.
It was his and the team's best result of the season, and he said: "It was a great race today and I'm so pleased to get this result for the team because we really deserved it.
"We had a great car all weekend and everything just went perfectly. To get this result in my home race also makes it extra special."
Schumacher's spin delay
Michael Schumacher was accustomed to success at the Nurburgring, winning there five times prior to his retirement in 2006.
But, as with how things have generally gone since he returned last year, he struggled in his Mercedes GP in yesterday's race, finishing eighth behind teammate Nico Rosberg following an early spin.
The seven-time world champion said: "My spin caught me by complete surprise, but that spot is known to be tricky in wet conditions, even if the conditions were not so wet today. Anyway, it obviously cost me some positions which was a shame."
Perez angry at himself
Sergio Perez was furious with himself for wasting a chance of scoring points.
The Mexican damaged his tyres by running wide and off the track early in the race, which forced an early pit stop.
He recovered well and finished 11th, but was one place outside the points scoring places.
He said: "I am angry with myself because I made a mistake on lap eight. This was why I had to pit early and change tyres. This obviously was not what was planned in the strategy. We recovered a bit from there, but not enough for points, which were my aim."
Buemi punished
Sebastien Buemi, the Toro Rosso driver, has been given a five-place grid penalty for next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix after being judged by the race stewards to have caused an avoidable collision when he was struck from behind by Nick Heidfeld's Renault.
The incident saw Heidfeld crash out at high speed, and he said: "He just didn't give me any room and pushed me on to the grass, and after that there was nothing I could do."
Buemi went on to finish in 15th place.
