We've now passed the mid point of the season and it certainly appears to be turning into a four horse race between the Red Bulls and the McLarens. Arriving in Hockenheim there are several questions between these two teams that need to be answered and it will be interesting come Friday morning to see how the weekend will play out.
The track suits cars that have excellent grip and balance between downforce and straight line speed. To that end you have to say that the Red Bulls are the best prepared cars to meet this challenge but how will the team be effected by the continued friction in the camp? McLaren's upgrades at Silverstone were almost a complete disaster and seriously effected their weekend. In the interim two week gap have their computers managed to sort out the blown diffuser or will they risk not using it and concede a small advantage to the RBRs?
Ferrari and Mercedes have to come good this weekend. Ferrari had another weekend they would want to forget in Silverstone. Despite the issues that Alonso had with penalties the car did show some signs of pace but once again his temperament was called into question while his team mate slips further into mediocrity. Will Massa slide further into the midfield or will he wake up? Rosberg keeps plugging away for Mercedes but the team still need to find a big improvement if it hopes to compete for wins by the end of the season. They have all the right ingredients but still can't seem to make a decent cake. As an all German team in owner and drivers there will be no hiding at Hockenheim.
The midfield has already been wonderfully summarised in TBY's post but it's fair to say that Williams, BMW Sauber and Force India will be fighting it out for the last points paying positions here. The improvement of both Williams and Sauber has been impressive in the last few races especially after both teams had an appalling start to their season. Obviously with both Hulkenburg and Sutil on home soil they will be looking to impress here. Due to the two different tyres being provided by Bridgestone this weekend Force India have deceided to maximise the time on track for their two regular drivers and therefore regular Friday test driver Paul Di Resta will be sitting this one out.
At the back end of the field I'm sorry to say that the three new teams will be left to scrap it out among themselves again since this track will not suit any of the new cars with their lack of downforce, mechanical grip and straight line speed. Lotus will be running Fauzy again on the Friday and I'm sure he will be praying for fewer mechanical issues than he had at Silverstone. Timo Glock is of course another driver who will be on home soil this weekend and keen to show what he can do. He split the two Loti in the time sheets over most of the Silverstone weekend and will be expected to do the same here. Much has already been written about HRTs new policy of driver swaps but Yamamoto didn't actually do that badly in Silverstone and it will be interesting given that he has now had some track time in the car to see how he compares with Senna's pace.
The two factors that will undoubtedly play the biggest roll in this weekends outcome are the weather and the tyres. All things being equal, I've got to go for a Vettel win but as Murry Walker used to say "Anything can happen in F1 and it usually does".
The track suits cars that have excellent grip and balance between downforce and straight line speed. To that end you have to say that the Red Bulls are the best prepared cars to meet this challenge but how will the team be effected by the continued friction in the camp? McLaren's upgrades at Silverstone were almost a complete disaster and seriously effected their weekend. In the interim two week gap have their computers managed to sort out the blown diffuser or will they risk not using it and concede a small advantage to the RBRs?
Ferrari and Mercedes have to come good this weekend. Ferrari had another weekend they would want to forget in Silverstone. Despite the issues that Alonso had with penalties the car did show some signs of pace but once again his temperament was called into question while his team mate slips further into mediocrity. Will Massa slide further into the midfield or will he wake up? Rosberg keeps plugging away for Mercedes but the team still need to find a big improvement if it hopes to compete for wins by the end of the season. They have all the right ingredients but still can't seem to make a decent cake. As an all German team in owner and drivers there will be no hiding at Hockenheim.
The midfield has already been wonderfully summarised in TBY's post but it's fair to say that Williams, BMW Sauber and Force India will be fighting it out for the last points paying positions here. The improvement of both Williams and Sauber has been impressive in the last few races especially after both teams had an appalling start to their season. Obviously with both Hulkenburg and Sutil on home soil they will be looking to impress here. Due to the two different tyres being provided by Bridgestone this weekend Force India have deceided to maximise the time on track for their two regular drivers and therefore regular Friday test driver Paul Di Resta will be sitting this one out.
At the back end of the field I'm sorry to say that the three new teams will be left to scrap it out among themselves again since this track will not suit any of the new cars with their lack of downforce, mechanical grip and straight line speed. Lotus will be running Fauzy again on the Friday and I'm sure he will be praying for fewer mechanical issues than he had at Silverstone. Timo Glock is of course another driver who will be on home soil this weekend and keen to show what he can do. He split the two Loti in the time sheets over most of the Silverstone weekend and will be expected to do the same here. Much has already been written about HRTs new policy of driver swaps but Yamamoto didn't actually do that badly in Silverstone and it will be interesting given that he has now had some track time in the car to see how he compares with Senna's pace.
The two factors that will undoubtedly play the biggest roll in this weekends outcome are the weather and the tyres. All things being equal, I've got to go for a Vettel win but as Murry Walker used to say "Anything can happen in F1 and it usually does".
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