[Race] German GP Preview - Nurburgring

[ottostreet]

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Onwards, then, to the Nurburgring, for the first time since 2011. A home race for Vettel, something he hasn’t won, surprisingly, at any stage in Formula One so far.

Silverstone revealed that the German home crowd could well be in massive internal conflict come Sunday afternoon. Mercedes currently look like the fastest car, even possibly on Sundays, but have an English driver leading the charge for them at the moment. Vettel, beloved Schumacher incarnate, returns home a triumphant defending three time World Champion, but is driving for An Anglo-Austrian team.

The simple solution then, for any partisan German fan, is simply to cheer on Nico Rosberg, the steely German coaxing his teutonic stallion, ever closer to the championship battle. Victory last time out for Rosberg was a fortunate stroke of luck, but possibly makes up for the mechanical failures he himself suffered in Australia and China.

How costly will Vettel’s retirement from the lead prove to be, come season end? Annually, Red Bull seem to like increasing the level of challenge facing them, by throwing away a comfortable 25 points. This year (so far), its Silverstone, last year it was Valencia, and in 2010, it was Korea. Scraping the championship isn’t the gameplan for any team, but based on Mercedes’ upturn in raceday form, the Bulls may have no choice, should they be the ones to win it this year.

Red Bull vs. Mercedes seems to be the current order of events, with Ferrari taking on Lotus for third place. The Scuderia appear to be suffering from the same inconsistency that is hampering the Enstone efforts this year, with occasional incredible speed and racecraft, mixed with a good dose of mediocrity, such as we witness at the British GP weekend.
Sebastian Vettel may be playing down the importance of a home win, but surely he must be thinking this is the final plaudit he absolutely MUST win. Ten to twenty years ago, the stadium at the Hockenheimring would be an ear-shattering cacophany of klaxons blaring, and the crowds screaming louder than the V10s, as Schumacher would enter from the forest. On such scenes, Vettel was raised, and whatever he publically says, he will want to create his own scenes of a jubilant home crowd.

Who can stop him? Mercedes can. Hamilton was buoyant at Silverstone, with a clear edge over Rosberg when it mattered. But it was Rosberg who claimed the win on Hamilton’s home soil, and now it is he who will have the extra adrenaline rush of racing in front of family and friends. It was a shame that Silverstone was broken up so much by tyre incidents and safety cars, as it prevented us from gaining a true picture of how the Mercedes cars were treating their rear tyres, given that the pace should, by rights, have been hotter than it was. Assuming that they are no longer eating their rear tyres, it is very hard to look past a Mercedes win, on the weekend of the 59th anniversary of the first Mercedes F1 victory.

Lotus, too, will be very keen to have a strong race, and placate a frustrated Kimi Raikkonen, whose championship challenge has faded badly since Barcelona. The Nurburgring is not a happy hunting ground for the Finn, retiring from the lead in 2003 and 2005 (spectacularly), as well as retirements from strong positions in 2004, 2006 and 2007. The highest position Raikkonen has scored at this circuit is 3rd, way back in 2002. He hasn’t raced here since 2009, and will very much be hoping for a change in fortune during his ‘second’ career. The passive DRS system that was used in Silverstone, didn’t seem to add much race pace for the Finn, but only Lotus will know whether the positive effects of the device outweigh the lack of downforce at the rear that running it causes.

Can Felipe Massa be as strong this time out? The Brazilian was electrifying at Silverstone, and could well have beaten Alonso home, had he not had his tyre failure. Ferrari’s pace hasn’t looked particularly convincing of late, but Alonso still remains within striking range of the championship lead. The Spaniard scored one of his best wins here in 2007, catching and passing Massa around the outside to snatch the victory in the closing stages.

What, then, of the midfield? McLaren look interminably lost this season, and it is very hard to see how they will have resolved any of their numerous issues in the very short turnaround between the British & German rounds. Force India admit they face a huge battle to stay ahead of the British team, but based on their massive pace in Silverstone, as well as the fact they admit the weekend was a massive missed opportunity, they will be going all out to increase their lead over the McLarens.

With the Summer break beckoning enticingly for the teams, everything remains tight and competitive, with no room or margin for error. If Mercedes can pull off the victory on Sunday, we are in for one hell of a second half.

[JeremySmith]

I enjoy reading your posts, I appreciate your efforts....

[ottostreet]

Thanks Jeremy.

I'm still getting used to writing for an audience, it's terrifying seeing someone has commented on something I've written!

Actually, mods, could this thread be merged with the official thread for the weekend? I don't intend to be starting separate threads to Frostie's previews, just there wasn't one when I added this!