The German GP - Nurburgring

[Brogan]

After what has seemed like an age, the German GP takes place this weekend

Circuit statistics, maps and video are here: Germany - Nürburgring

Somehow I can't see last year's results being repeated

I suspect once again it will be Brawn and Red Bull fighting it out but with the momentum seemingly with Red Bull at the moment, they have to be favourites...especially if the weather is cool.

By all accounts McLaren should have a new package of upgrades.
Not sure if it will make much difference but they certainly can't get any worse

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

Ok i missed the first 30 seconds of practice and seemed to of missed something crucial,

What's all this about a rollacoster and what does it have to do with a bump in the track which may or most likly not caused some problems with two cars in FP1??

 

[Brogan]

No idea, I missed it too.
The BBC write up doesn't mention anything about bumps, just an electrical fault for Vettel and Hamilton's KERS failing.
So it's not bullet-proof after all.

I will be watching P2 later though.

 

[McZiderRed]

I was also fashionably late for P1 , but from what I heard a bit later from the commentary was that it's a subsidence bump. The roller-coaster runs close to the commentary box (Crofty said he was glad it wasn't running cos its loud!). Whether building the roller-coaster close to the track would have caused the subsidence, I'm none the wiser...

 

[Andrea_Moda_Rules]

No idea, I missed it too.
The BBC write up doesn't mention anything about bumps, just an electrical fault for Vettel and Hamilton's KERS failing.
So it's not bullet-proof after all.

I will be watching P2 later though.

just so you know I was on about sutil lol, although this bump was suggested by crofty and davidson has a possible cause for his problem, i don't really see how considering it was an hydraulics failure, i mean surely there more sturdy then that.

But still this subsidence bump whatever the cause i think would make things a little interesting if not for quail then for the race. Its unusal to have such a bump like that could see perhaps some problems with braking into the first corner perhaps,

Has for my usual quips and predictions bout who looks good this weekend i think ill save for later

 

[Brogan]

Apparently it was 8° C this morning....in July

We know that the Brawn cars struggle in cool conditions so this could once again be a good weekend for Red Bull.

 

[Boyle]

Apparently it was 8° C this morning....in July

We know that the Brawn cars struggle in cool conditions so this could again be a good weekend for Red Bull.

Now I would like to see Brawn win the championship (the whole fairytale thing - I'm still in pain at the form of Mclaren ) but we really need them to have a couple of bad weekends to make the season come to life.

 

[FB]

Apparently it was 8° C this morning....in July

Pah! You should come to Yorkshire mate, 8° in July has everyone celebrating up here (I say this as an exiled Southerner)

On the McLaren upgrades, LH was telling anyone who would listen there would be no upgrades in Germany. Any idea what they have done? You also have to question why they are bothering given that there appears to be a fundamental problem with the car - lipstick on a pig anyone?

BTW, it's the 75th Anniversary of the Mercedes Silver Arrows this year and with Germany being Mercs home race there is a big celebration. I doubt there will be much to celebrate after the race though.

from Norbert Haug “At the Nürburgring, the Silver Arrows were born and we will commemorate their 75th anniversary with a parade on the racetrack and an exhibition at the paddock entrance to present their unique history to every Nürburgring visitor as well as to the world’s TV viewers.”

 

[Brogan]

Now I know it's only P2 and times don't mean much but Lewis Hamilton topping the time sheets was unexpected.

The acid test will be tomorrow during qualifying though.

Have the new upgrades made that much of a difference?
I suspect not but we shall have to wait and see.

 

[Galahad]

It seems there have been a few more changes to the McLaren than Lewis was letting on.

Still, I think it's a combination of a car and driver who are hard on their tyres getting them up to a decent temperature in cold conditions faster than anyone else. On that basis they might do OK in qualifying, depending on the weather, but I can't see them doing much in the race. Fringes of the top 10 at best if I had to guess.

 

[Galahad]

Mr. Bridgestone talks tyre temperature: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76826

 

[Brogan]

If it stays cool then we could see a lot of drivers starting on the super-soft and switching to the medium for the last stint once the track temperature has increased.

 

[Galahad]

The last weather report I saw for Sunday said 20° and "Chance of Rain".

It's only a Google gadget though and not usually reliable...

 

[bogaTYR]

our LH was trying a new front wing if my eye sight didn't let me down. but on the other hand, the nr of laps he did in FP2 was a bit on the low side i thought, just quick dashes and no real long stints. one eight lap and one four lap stint on the hard tyres and then a four lap stint on the options. during that last short stint on the options he set his fastest time.

looks like we could be in for a cold and wet race. the weather forecast for sunday is lousy, rain rain and even more rain. temps will be around 20 degrees.

vettel time!

 

[Brogan]

Congratulations to Mark Webber on his first pole position.

The rain during Q1 and Q2 really shook things up and resulted in an unusual final 10 in Q3.

McLaren look to have made huge strides with the development of their car and may have finally solved their aero problems.

And what on earth is a Force India doing in P7?

All in all it should be a good race tomorrow.

 

[bogaTYR]

force india!

amazing, i know its cos of the circumstances but still.... best place of the team since 2003. Q2 must have been one of the insanest qualifying sessions ever! the ferrari whoopsadaisy was sooo funny.

lets hope for a good race. i still think its all vettel.

 

[teabagyokel]

Yeah, but they didn't just dazzle in Q2 and come out 10th, did they? (I'm looking at you, Piquet). We've got Sutil in 7th!

And anyway, I can't sully Piquet's day. Nobody beats Nelson Piquet Jr. 27 times in a row!

I bet Sutil's got roughly the contents of a bottle of mineral water's worth of fuel in his car but hey, FI scored in the Qualifying World Championship which has now got a tie at the top between the Vet and the But! Very exciting!

So, is tomorrow Australia's day in Nurburg (and Cardiff)? If it rains tomorrow then the Australian's team might not win it, but the position they're in they're the favourites if it remains dry?

What were you saying about Test Match Cricket vs F1?

 

[bogaTYR]

now this for sure aint cricket!

http://planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5426103,00.html

glock demoted and red bull fined...

!%^*&^@@*&@!!!

 

[bogaTYR]

the weights! sutil was pretty heavy. hamilton and both brawnes on fumes..

By Race Number

No Driver Car Weight
1 Hamilton McLaren 654.5
2 Kovalainen McLaren 664
3 Massa Ferrari 673.5
4 Raikkonen Ferrari 674
5 Kubica BMW 673.5
6 Heidfeld BMW 681
7 Alonso Renault 668.2
8 Piquet Renault 676
9 Trulli Toyota 683.7
10 Glock Toyota 662.3
11 Bourdais Toro Rosso 689.5
12 Buemi Toro Rosso 674.5
14 Webber Red Bull 661
15 Vettel Red Bull 661
16 Rosberg Williams 689.6
17 Nakajima Williams 683.6
18 Sutil Force India 678.5
19 Fisichella Force India 662.5
20 Button Brawn GP 644
21 Barrichello Brawn GP 647

By Grid Position

Pos Driver Car Weight
1 Webber Red Bull 661
2 Barrichello Brawn GP 647
3 Button Brawn GP 644
4 Vettel Red Bull 661
5 Hamilton McLaren 654.5
6 Kovalainen McLaren 664
7 Sutil Force India 678.5
8 Massa Ferrari 673.5
9 Raikkonen Ferrari 674
10 Piquet Renault 676
11 Heidfeld BMW 681
12 Alonso Renault 668.2
13 Nakajima Williams 683.6
14 Trulli Toyota 683.7
15 Rosberg Williams 689.6
16 Kubica BMW 673.5
17 Buemi Toro Rosso 674.5
18 Fisichella Force India 662.5
19 Glock Toyota 662.3
20 Bourdais Toro Rosso 689.5

By Fuel Load

Pos Driver Car Weight
3 Button Brawn GP 644
2 Barrichello Brawn GP 647
5 Hamilton McLaren 654.5
1 Webber Red Bull 661
4 Vettel Red Bull 661
19 Glock Toyota 662.3
18 Fisichella Force India 662.5
6 Kovalainen McLaren 664
12 Alonso Renault 668.2
8 Massa Ferrari 673.5
16 Kubica BMW 673.5
9 Raikkonen Ferrari 674
17 Buemi Toro Rosso 674.5
10 Piquet Renault 676
7 Sutil Force India 678.5
11 Heidfeld BMW 681
13 Nakajima Williams 683.6
14 Trulli Toyota 683.7
20 Bourdais Toro Rosso 689.5
15 Rosberg Williams 689.6

 

[RickD]

How did Vettel get away with a fine? Surely this is the same as happened last year(?) and surely should have been a demotion (5 or 10 places) for causing a dangerous situation in the pits..