That’s according to Gerhard Berger.

Gerhard Berger doubts that Sebastian Vettel is currently the best German driver on the Formula One grid. According to the former McLaren and Ferrari driver, there is nothing now to separate the Red Bull man from his young compatriot at Mercedes, Nico Rosberg, this 2010 F1 season.

“For me, Nico is on par with Vettel. He just needs the right car now to begin winning,” Berger told Auto Motor und Sport.

“He has shown this year that he makes very few mistakes, that his setup is usually right, and that he is mostly ahead of Michael Schumacher. If Rosberg and Vettel were sitting in identical cars, I would not know who to put my money on.”

Another young German to have caught Berger’s eye this 2010 F1 season is Force India driver Adrian Sutil. And it was not something the Austrian expected.

“Last year I was laughing at him. I would never have believed he has this much potential. His speed is tremendous, and his mistakes have reduced dramatically. For me, with Rosberg, he is the surprise of the season.”

Berger also sees a bright future ahead for GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg after a year of learning the ropes in his rookie Formula One season.

“He is in a learning phase. He makes many more mistakes than Vettel and Rosberg did when they began, but Sutil was the same. I think Hulkenberg’s mistakes are normal for a first year. If everything goes right, he is almost at the level of Barrichello – and that’s a compliment.”

“Barrichello is certainly the best man of the…”

Yes, we miss it.

The 2010 F1 season gets back on track with the Belgian Grand Prix in Ardennes at Spa Francorchamps from August 27 to 29. After taking a rather long three-week break – Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and the rest of the field will be slugging it out once again.

20 points separate Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso from championship points leader, Red Bull’s Mark Webber. In case you missed it, Webber took the lead in Budapest where he beat Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton, Vettel and Button round up the top five of the 2010 driver’s standings with 157, 151, and 147 points, respectively.

Webber has already four wins this 2010 F1 season, following him closely are Hamilton and his Red Bull teammate, Vettel. Vettel, topped last year’s Spa race and has dominated his teammate all throughout the season. On the other hand, Hamilton, has performed better over his teammate Jenson Button. Alonso, on the other hand, has also made some strides this season and now would like to carry over his strong performance in the last two races.

Team Red Bull has been consistent all through out the season but will have to muster out another solid performance as the Spa race track is a high speed track with long straights. Ferrari will have a slight advantage with their powerful engines as they have won the last three races.

Mercedes GP is expected to be in the middle of…

I’m rooting for exactly that.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber blitzed to victory at a nail-biting finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix to take a four point lead in the driver’s championship heading to the mid season break of the 2010 F1 season. The Aussie took over from Lewis Hamilton after dominating Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

Sebastian Vettel, the guy who took the wings of Mark Webber, much to his dismay of course, maintained an early lead from pole position. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, was providing a tough challenge for Webber.

A few laps after the Australian took advantage of Vettel’s drive through penalty and held out for a pit stop as he built a lead over Alonso. The strategy ultimately paid dividends with the 33-year-old claiming the first place in Hungary. He is now atop the standings in the driver’s seat.

Alonso’s ferocious pursuit earned him second place, while Vettel finished third. Russian Vitaly Petrov finished 5th just behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa – the best achievement for the Renault driver this season.

“It was a bit of a gift, but I’ve not had many of them, so I’ll take it. It’s an incredible day for us. It’s nice to have more points than anybody else, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves as there are some big events coming up,” Webber said.

Just 20 points now separate the top five drivers…

And the best part of it all is the fact that they were once teammates in Ferrari.

In case you missed, the 2010 F1 season resumed in Hungary where a frustrated Michael Schumacher put on quite a dastardly move on former teammate Rubens Barrichello after the former seven-time world champion tried to put Barrichello to the wall when the Brazilian tried to get past him.

Luckily, Michael Schumacher failed to catch the Brazilian so instead of keeping the lead, Rubens Barrichello zoomed past his teammate, leaving the once king of Formula One in his rearview mirror.

Fans were shocked of how Michael Schumacher tried to defend his position, calling the move cheap and unfair. Ross Brawn on the other hand is adamant Schumacher was not trying to put Rubens Barrichello into the wall in Hungary, rather he was trying to “discourage him”.

Fighting for the final points-paying position in the Hungarian GP, Schumacher moved across the track, squeezing Barrichello towards the wall, which the Brazilian only just managed to avoid hitting

The Hungarian stewards ruled that Schumacher had “”illegitimately impeded” Barrichello and slapped with a ten-grid slot penalty for the next race in Belgium.

However, his Mercedes GP team boss reckons that was a “tough” call.

“Pretty tough – a tough move by Michael and a tough…”

And rightfully so.

Yep, Mark Webber, the guy who was stripped of the wings of his car in favor of his younger teammate, Sebastian Vettel, and the same guy who his team thought should play second fiddle to Vettel, the guy they think is the future of Red Bull Racing, actually leads the drivers’ championship at this point of the 2010 F1 season.

How’s that for poetic justice eh?

After all his trials and tribulations earlier this year, Mark Webber was delighted to have the Hungarian Grand Prix race victory gift-wrapped for him on Sunday.

The Australian started on the front row of the grid with team-mate Sebastian Vettel, but things went horribly wrong at the start and he dropped to P3 behind Fernando Alonso.

His mood worsened on lap 17 when the Safety Car was deployed and he failed to make his mandatory stop when everyone else made their way to the pits.

However, it turned out to be a stroke of good fortune for him as he was able to stay out much longer and build a big gap over second-place Alonso. When he eventually made his stop on lap 43 he had a big enough lead to come out ahead of the Ferrari driver.

“The start we always knew was going to be a bit tricky on that side,” Webber said.

“I knew once I’d got the primes on and these guys had already done 20-odd laps; it was in the bag. It was a bit of a gift for me – but I haven’t had many of them. An incredible day for the team. One-two was our goal but we were unfortunate not to get that.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says they decided to…

They are after all, teammates.

German driver Nico Rosberg has defended under-fire teammate Michael Schumacher as a remarkable reversal of fortune has unfolded within Mercedes this 2010 F1 season.

Despite Michael Schumacher spending three years in retirement prior to his return to Formula One at the start of this season, many expected the seven-time World Champion to dominate Nico Rosberg.

With Nico Rosberg also new to Mercedes following his switch from Williams, and with Schumacher close friends with team boss Ross Brawn, it seemed inevitable the 41-year-old would hold sway.

Schumacher, though, has struggled throughout his comeback and so far has been out-qualified and out-raced by Rosberg by a count of six to two.

In the grand prix in Canada, Schumacher looked at times like a rookie rather than a legendary racer with a host of records to his name. Schumacher’s performance prompted a further wave of criticism that arguably he is now too old and no longer cut out for Formula One. But Rosberg, who celebrated his 25th birthday and so is 16 years Schumacher’s junior, said: “He’s had some very strong races this year.”

“Sometimes I’ve had the upper hand, but in general…”

The Italians are not happy these days.

Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali has admitted that his team are going to have to dig deep to recover from their recent trials and troubles in the 2010 F1 season.

Though he is optimistic that they can turn things around. The Maranello squad have scored just 19 points from the last three races and are currently third in the constructors’ standings, trailing championship leaders McLaren by 113 points.

Despite the F10’s improving pace, Ferrari left Silverstone empty handed, after a problematic start and drive-through penalty for Fernando Alonso and tyre issues for Felipe Massa saw the duo finish in 14th and 15th respectively. Speaking during a conference at the factory, Domenicali urged the team to stay positive and work even harder.

“We are angry that we did not get the results which we were capable of delivering, but this anger must be turned into a positive force,” he said. “We must remain rational. We must not let ourselves be discouraged nor frustrated. We just have to knuckle down and continue with the development of the car, working calmly, with great concentration and determination. Then, the results will come.”

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, who was also in attendance, is equally keen for the squad to put recent problems behind them and focus on forthcoming races.

“There is no point in crying about it and I want the team to tackle the…”

Apart from the door opener in Bahrain, we’ve had a few great races, thanks to wet tracks, close racing, tire influence, and a few brilliant and explosive racing incidents.

The 2010 F1 season drivers championship remains wide open, with a maximum of 25 points for first, leaving us with a maximum of 250 points on offer. Despite this, there is really only five who you would consider likely to win from here.

Lewis Hamilton sits atop the Driver’s Championship standing with 127 points followed by Jensen Button with 121 points. RBR-Renault driver Sebastian Vettel takes the third spot with 115 points while teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso round up the top five with 103 and 98 points, respectively.

Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg are definitely not out of it. However, Rosberg’s Mercedes team will need to storm to an unlikely number of wins to challenge from here.

The main reason Red Bull Racing aren’t way out in front after their early season pace is due to reliability and poor strategy. (And probably because of the dissension between teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber too…)

Although McLaren and Ferrari rarely fail to capitalize on an opportunity, Red Bull are one team that can shoot themselves in the foot.

In addition, particularly bad tyre choices at Melbourne, Shanghai and even Montreal didn’t help their cause, as well as the famous coming together of Vettel and Webber in Turkey. It’s very likely that the winning driver will come from the winning constructor, as the teams each have closely matched drivers, which gives teams an equal footing.

McLaren and Ferrari know a lot more about winning, and…

Formula one race cars are heading towards the Canadian Grand Prix.

After the thrills and spills at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix followed by the frustration of the Turkish Grand Prix, circuit Gilles Villeneuve will host the upcoming race, for which the stands have been stretched out in Montreal to embrace the cars and drivers on the 16th of June, 2010. Yep, we’ll have the Canadian Grand Prix this 2010 F1 season.

No race was scheduled for the year 2009; however, a contract was signed for the races to be held from 2010-2014. As the countdown begins with the memories from the Turkish Grand Prix fresh in the minds of many, the Canadian Grand Prix is the one to watch out for.

Back in 2008, BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. Nick Heidfeld finished second in a BMW Sauber car, with David Coulthard third in a Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole position, failed to finish the race, retiring on lap 19 after crashing into the back of Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari car in the pit lane. It turned out to be BMW Sauber’s only win and 1-2 finish, as they pulled out of F1 at the end of the 2009 season.

The current driver’s world championship standings leader is Mark Webber of Red Bull with 93 points as he has kept his place at the head of the Formula One standings after finishing in third place in the Turkish Grand Prix behind the McLaren pair of Jenson Button 88 points and Lewis Hamilton with 84 points.

Webber looked to be headed for this third straight win at Istanbul Park until a collision with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel which caused him to pit for a new nose cone. Vettel went off and did not finish, meaning he has slipped to fourth in a close title race which is dominated by Red Bull and McLaren after seven rounds.

Hamilton’s victory, his first of the season and first since…

Why? Because he says he would’ve done the exact same thing.

In case you didn’t know, there was some sort of controversy concerning how Michael Schumacher finished in Monaco, the sixth leg of the 2010 F1 season.

For those of you who missed it, Michael Schumacher overtook Fernando Alonso just moments after the Safety Car returned to the pits at the final corner of the final lap of the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher was running seventh then and needed to overtake Fernando Alonso for that final championship point. Unfortunately for Schumi, the stewards ruled the move illegal and instead of a 6^th place finish, Schumacher was slapped with a 20-second penalty.

Alonso though, insists the rules are clear and says he wanted to overtake Lewis Hamilton but his team told him not to do it.

”The team told me over radio that we could not overtake,” Alonso said. ”I wanted to attack Lewis Hamilton, but I was forbidden by the team to do it. The fact that Michael went ahead to pass me did not surprise me.”

Alonso said there was no doubt in his mind that the seven-time world champion would be penalized. ”I was calm and that was later confirmed by the stewards, who put things right,” he wrote in his Ferrari blog.

Alonso’s weekend in Monaco wasn’t as good as he had hoped…