Even Lauda thinks Alonso's a hero...

To see Niki Lauda take his hat off, something he does very occasionally in the paddock but very rarely in such a public way, to Fernando Alonso on the German Grand Prix podium tells you everything you need to know.

It was such a public display of respect from a great driver to a great driver. And it was very well-deserved after yet another incredible race in this incredible season from an incredible driver.

If you were to hold a drivers' driver vote, I'm certain that Fernando would come out on top in terms of outright performance. I've not seen him make a mistake this year and I'm sure that he's going to carry his superb Hockenheim form into this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. He already has a 34-point lead in the championship and you wouldn't bet against him extending that ahead of the August break.

While it's not the best story from a British point of view to see a Spanish driver winning in an Italian car, you can't help but be impressed with it.

A huge amount of credit must go to Stefano Domenicali, who has kept a calm head throughout the troubles and also Pat Fry, who I worked with at McLaren for all of those years and must have been under so much pressure at the beginning of the season. Together, they have developed the hell out of the car. While it might not look like the fastest, they've won three races and there's no question that it's the fastest driver/car combination.

Alonso is making the most of every opportunity, but there are still 250 points to play for in the second half of the season. That said, when Jenson Button won the title in 2009, he scored a load in the first half of the year but struggled in the second half and still hung on. A lot can happen, but Fernando is looking every bit the potential champion.

Button raced his way to the front in Germany © XPB

McLaren - and Button - back on form

While McLaren will be disappointed with how Lewis Hamilton's race went, the team will be relieved that Jenson has rediscovered his form and that the upgrade package worked so well. There's no question that McLaren could easily have started at the front and won the German Grand Prix, so there will have been a big sigh of relief at Woking last weekend.

You'd maybe expect McLaren to carry that form into Hungary, but you have got to be very careful with such predictions. A few races ago, Lewis won in Canada fairly and squarely, so it's not as if McLaren has been off the pace for months. It's just that the past couple of races didn't work for them.

My suspicion is that if you raced at Hockenheim or Silverstone 20 times in succession, even without any car development, you wouldn't get anything like the same race result every time. Different conditions, temperatures and driver performance have a big influence on what happens and it's difficult to evaluate any team's development.

The Hungaroring is a very different track to Hockenheim and it's going to be a lot hotter, so let's see how things go this weekend.

Vettel's wild afternoon

Sebastian Vettel had a few ragged moments during the German Grand Prix and it's not the first time that we have seen this. When he leads from the front, he's easily the equal of Fernando and there is no question that they are as good as one another. But when he is on the back foot a little, you do see the frustration coming through. But you might say the same thing about Fernando or Lewis as it's never easy when you are chasing the game.

In Seb's short career, we have got very used to seeing him at the front looking utterly in control and having what seems to be a very easy time.

But still, he pushed all the way through the race and that's good to see, even though he paid the price for overtaking Jenson off the track.

But with Alonso now not far off two race victories' worth of points up the road from him, Vettel needs to peg him back in Hungary to go into the summer break feeling like he's in touch.