Grand Prix 2013 German Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

So we leave the sunny shores of Great Britain behind and after a short cross channel hop and a chance to pick up some low tax cigarettes and alcohol we're off to the Rhineland in Germany and to the Nurburgring. If you fancy popping over, you could use the time to look around the place and have it valued, as it is currently up for sale.

Coming only a week after the British GP, the tyre debacle will still be very fresh in the minds of all who saw or took part in the race. It is extremely unlikely that any significant changes to the tyre construction will have taken place prior to the start of the race so all eyes will be on P1 to see if the lipped curbs of the, soon to be famous, turn 4 at Silverstone were responsible or was there a deeper issue with this year’s brand of boot?

For two of the home drivers at this race there will be a new focus on succeeding. For Vettel it was the rarest of things, a mechanical failure of a Red Bull, that saw his closest championship rivals close down his points total and put more pressure on. For Rosberg it was his second win of the season at Silverstone and with a clearly improving Merc, a chance perhaps to continue the momentum and mount a title challenge.

All of the top 4 teams go into the next round knowing that they have capable cars that can put them in the mix, so driver skill is becoming ever more important. We've seen that Mercedes can now maintain the pace of qualification in race trim but we've also seen that Red Bull and Ferrari have lost none of their speed while Lotus continue to bring home the points with Kimi.

Further back down the field McLaren have already fallen behind Force India in terms of race pace and are almost in danger of being swallowed up by the improving pace of the two Rosso cars as their drivers have found the inspiration to improve on their performances thanks to a departing Webber.

Williams are still struggling for points but as yet there is no danger of the "young" teams, as they are now being called on TV catching them up. As for Caterham and Marussia, well, they'll be at the track.

So, will the Mercs be on top at their second home GP or will the challenge come from one of the others??
 
Quintessentially

The last two races at the Ring Webber has beaten Vettel. In fact I go as far as say when it is the home grand prix Vettel gets rather ragged judging the last 3 races here

2009- Webber beat him despite a drive through penalty for hitting Hamilton at the start . Mark came back and thrashed Seb

2010 - Hockenheim he beat Webber but was very fortunate to get away with a podium after attempting to squeeze Alonso to the wall and ended up almost squeezed himself at the start in a Ferrari sandwich and caused a concertina effect behind him

2011 - The Ring -Webber beat him all weekend when he came under severe pressure and accusation he was favoured by Red Bull over team orders at SIlverstone

2012 - In his pursuit to keep up with Alonso and Button he was getting ragged having trips across the grass and then ultimately he was penalised for overtaking Button illegally
 
The GPDA have issued a formal statement.

"The drivers of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association wish to express their deepest concerns about the events that took place at Silverstone.
We trust that the changes made to the tyres will have the desired results and that similar problems will not occur during the German GP weekend.
We are ready to drive our cars to the limit, as we always do, and as it is expected by our teams, sponsors and fans.
However, the drivers have decided that, if similar problems should manifest themselves during the German GP, we shall immediately withdraw from the event, as this avoidable problem with the tyres endangers again the lives of drivers, marshals and fans."

Sounds like if we have even one tyre blow then the whole weekend is off. :disappointed:
 
If a tyre blows with 5 laps left in the race, I don't imagine that the leader would withdraw.
 
The FIA have issued some directives concerning the tyres.

pirelli.webp
 
Think Hammy joined in the end - a bit of "strong arming" from the other drivers.
 
Re - FP on Sky. It was only a matter of time before they started interrupting coverage with adverts, contrary to the promises they made when they took over from Beeb.
 
Half way through 1st practise and two Mercs at the top of the times! ..... by a whole second from anybody else.
Looks like a fairly predictable weekend to me!
Hold on, Jenson's 6th - so not so predictable after all? :snigger:
 
Uninterrupted Practise here - Polsat Sport Extra HD
:D

Commentary in a foreign language - but Sky and Beeb hardly adhere to the Queens/Kings English
 
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