The present-day, 2.8 mile Hockenheimring is a mix of high,
medium and low speed corners, which simultaneously demands strong traction and
downforce. With the track absent from last year’s calendar, this will be the
first time we see Pirelli tyres and DRS at the circuit – the tyre allocation
for the weekend consists of the medium and soft compounds, whilst the DRS zone
is located, perhaps predictably, on the long, curved approached to the
Spitzkehre hairpin.
The last race at Silverstone perhaps gave us our clearest
insight yet as to how this year’s intriguing title battle may unfold.
Unquestionably, Red Bull and Ferrari proved the class of the field, with Lotus
not far behind at least as far as race pace is concerned. McLaren and Mercedes
meanwhile seemed somewhat out of sorts, and found themselves mired in a
midfield melee with the Sauber and Williams teams.
Based on last year’s form, few would have given Mark Webber
a chance of adding his name to the illustrious list of world champions heading
into this season; his emphatic victory at Silverstone is all the
evidence required to suggest he does however have a chance of becoming the eldest world champion
since Alain Prost in 1993. The Australian has nonetheless not been the most
consistent driver since his early run of fourth place finishes, so a strong sequence of podiums could well prove key for Webber if he is to live up to
the promise he showed so clearly two weeks ago.
If not for that alternator failure at Valencia, Sebastian Vettel would
in fact be leading the championship at this stage. Whilst he may have fallen slightly short
of teammate Webber at Silverstone, one can’t help but feel that Vettel remains the more
attractive prospect of the Red Bull pairing when it comes to this year’s title.
The German suffered a strangely lacklustre performance at home last year, and
the event is one of the few remaining on this year’s calendar that he is yet to
win. Vettel will no doubt be itching to set straight that particular record,
and in doing so re-establish superiority over Webber.
The Hockenheimring is likely to bring back some bad memories
for the Ferrari team. It was of course during F1’s last visit to the circuit
that Felipe Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley delivered those immortal words to
his driver in his trademark Middlesborough accent – ‘Fernando is faster than you.’ Still, Massa has finished on the podium during
his last three Hockenheim outings, and his spirited drive to fourth at
Silverstone could well set the tone for the Brazilian's first podium appearance in
two years.
Judging how close Fernando Alonso was to back-to-back wins
at Valencia and Silverstone, two very different circuits, it’s safe to say that
the Ferrari is likely to be quick at most circuits from this point
onwards. The Spaniard is always a threat when provided competitive machinery,
and has indeed featured on the podium at four of the last five races. His near-metronomic
consistency could prove the decisive factor come Interlagos, and it would take
a brave man to bet against him ascending the podium once more in Germany.
Given how quick the Lotus car has been on occasions this
year, it’s tempting to say that ‘Team Enstone’ ought to have won its first race
since Alonso’s victory for Renault at Fuji back in 2008. The majority of Kimi Raikkonen’s
race at Silverstone was clearly compromised by Michael Schumacher’s slower
Mercedes, and the pace he demonstrated towards the end of the race was
indictative of the potential still locked away in that car. It has largely been
Saturday when Raikkonen and teammate Romain Grosjean have tended to come up
short, making a strong qualifying performance imperative if either driver is to
get among the Red Bulls and Ferraris come race day.
With the summer break looming, McLaren need to pull
something out of the bag both here at Germany and Hungary to maintain its title
hopes in both championships – ideally, Lewis Hamilton needs to take a win
either here or next weekend at the Hungaroring. The team are introducing what
team principal Martin Whitmarsh promises will be an outwardly noticeable
upgrade package in order to help him do just that, though it is going to have
to make an immediate and dramatic impact after an abysmal home race for both Hamilton
and Jenson Button. With next to no hope
of taking the title himself, Button’s goal now has to be to take away as many points
from Hamilton's rivals as he can to allow his teammate to put himself firmly in
the title hunt.
If Silverstone is anything to go by, Mercedes may be about to
experience an equally dismal home race as McLaren did. Michael Schumacher’s
undiminished wet-weather prowess may have allowed him to qualify a heady third
at the Northamptonshire track, but the car was evidently not up to task in the
warm and dry race conditions. Nico Rosberg’s victory at Shanghai must feel like
some time ago by now, the team having fallen to a distant fifth in the
constructors standings. A cool or even wet race will be the team’s only likely
hope of pleasing its home fans as Schumacher and Rosberg bid to try and make up
some of the ground the team has lost to its rivals in recent races.
Pastor Maldonado’s latest antics as well as Kamui Kobayashi’s
pitlane blunder unfortunately served to deny Sauber any chance of scoring
points at Silverstone in spite of the strong early pace they showed, but both
Kobayashi and Sergio Perez will probably have the opportunity to re-inforce the
team’s stranglehold on sixth in the constructors'. Williams meanwhile have
scored just four points since Maldonado’s Spanish GP victory, and risk slipping
behind Force India if they can’t score a reasonable haul of points this weekend
at a track that should theoretically suit the car.
Qualifying Prediction
1. Vettel, 2. Alonso, 3. Webber, 4. Hamilton, 5. Massa, 6.
Raikkonen, 7. Maldonado, 8. Rosberg, 9. Button, 10. Grosjean (penalty)
Race Prediction
1. Vettel, 2. Alonso, 3. Webber, 4. Raikkonen, 5. Hamilton,
6. Massa, 7. Grosjean, 8. Rosberg, 9. Perez, 10. Senna
Red Bull are on some fine form at the moment, and a driver
of Vettel’s calibre can’t avoid winning his home race forever. Thus, I’ve
backed the home hero for success on Saturday and Sunday, with Alonso and Webber
closely in his sights on both occasions. Raikkonen will make his way forward ahead
of Hamilton and Massa during the race, with Grosjean unable to do no more than
seventh, albeit right behind the second Ferrari, thanks to his five-place grid
penalty for a gearbox change. Rosberg will scrape no more than a few points with Schumacher a little
further down the order, with Perez and Senna completing the top ten as Button
becomes Maldonado’s latest scalp.
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