F1 TAKES ON HOCKENHEIM IN MID-SEASON FEATURE-RACE
2010-07-22 12:38:40 Author: admin Source:
The German Grand Prix, Round 11 of the 2010 Formula One World Championship, takes place at the Hockenheimring this weekend to kick start the second half of the season. With no fewer than six German drivers currently competing in the championship, there will be plenty of home grown interest to entertain the fans and spectators over the course of the weekend. While the Hockenheim track has lost its long straights, it still retains the famous Motodrom, a stadium section which houses the paddock, pits and a complex of corners, surrounded by giant grandstands. For the first time this season, Bridgestone is bringing the two extremes from its range, the Supersoft and the Hard.
Championship leaders McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button (above left) are sitting pretty on top of the drivers' championship with 145 and 133 points apiece. Both have relatively good experience at this circuit, Button made it to second place having started in 13th back in 2004, while Hamilton won the 2008 race from pole position.
Button commented, "I enjoy racing at Hockenheim: I miss the long, flat-out straights that made up the circuit at the start of my Formula 1 career, that was pretty unique. But the current track is better for the spectators and has shown itself to be a very good place for both racing and overtaking. My aim for this weekend must be to make life easier for myself on Saturday afternoon, so that I can maximize my performance on Sunday without needing to play catch-up during the race."
Hamilton added, "While there are quite a few low-speed corners that require good traction, I think we’ll be on more familiar ground at Hockenheim, and should be able to successfully balance our car to be relatively competitive around there."
Red Bull Racing duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will definitely be gunning for glory as both desperately want to reclaim the championship lead from the McLaren drivers. Vettel, with a slight advantage in the drivers' standings, has been busy lately with a Red Bull publicity stunt and street demonstration at his hometown in Heppenheim, while Webber who was victorious last time out at Silverstone is expecting another tough outing for the top spot on the podium not only from his team mate, but the McLarens and Ferraris too. There has been a minor development within the Red Bull Racing reserve and test driver camp as the team hasn't made an official announcement on its line-up of Brendon Hartley and Daniel Ricciardo, following a media speculation that the team had dropped Hartley.
Ferrari has won the German GP nineteen times, which makes it the race Ferrari has won more often than any other event. The last victory came courtesy of Michael Schumacher in 2006, when Felipe Massa made it a nice one-two for the Prancing Horse. The Brazilian has visited the podium on two other occasions, finishing third in 2008 and again last year, when the race was held at the Nurburgring, which now alternates the hosting of the German GP with Hockenheim.
As for Fernando Alonso (above), he won here in 2005. Five years earlier, Five years earlier, Rubens Barrichello, a Ferrari driver back then, secured his maiden Formula 1 victory in rather unusual circumstances. Having started from eighteenth on the grid, the Brazilian began by staging a great climb through the field, in a race that saw a madman stage a one-man track invasion, which necessitated the appearance of the Safety Car. Then in the final stages, the rain arrived and while Barrichello opted to stay on dry tyres, the McLaren duo of Hakkinen and Coulthard pitted for wets: in the final laps, the Brazilian put on a masterly performance in the slower section of the circuit, stirring the enthusiasm of the large number of Ferrari fans packing the Motodrom, who had been left bereft of their idol Schumacher, out of the race after an accident at the start.
Following the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the weekend will be the second home race in a row for Mercedes GP. Both Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher (above) are pumped ahead of the German GP in the team's first appearance at Hockenheim which feature an all German driver line-up. Schumacher, of course, is hailed as the greatest F1 drivers at this very circuit and the 7-time champion plans to make it another memorable weekend for his 'Schumacher' loyalists. "At Hockenheim, I will definitely try my best for my fans who give me such a lot of support, especially over the race weekend. But the German Grand Prix is very special for any German driver. There are very few areas on any race circuit worldwide comparable to the Motodrom, and as a driver you feel that energetic atmosphere when entering."
"It will be the first time for me to come to Hockenheim as a Mercedes driver and I am very much looking forward to the experience. Driving in front of our Grandstand and in front of all the employees, members and friends of Mercedes-Benz will be an emotional moment. I will therefore be extra motivated to give them a weekend to remember," he added.
Rosberg concurred, "As a German driver, the German Grand Prix is always a very special weekend, and it will be even better this year to be racing there for Mercedes-Benz. I have good memories from Hockenheim as I won there in all the junior categories that I competed in, including my first single seater race win. Going into one of the team’s home weekends with the podium finish from Silverstone is a real boost for us, and we will be working hard to continue our improvement in performance and have a strong weekend.”
Robert Kubica is intending to give his best for the Renault F1 team this weekend following his pre-mature end at the British race and to extract the maximum from the car. The Polish driver is counting on the team to provide him with a competitive car that would allow him to better the pace throughout the weekend. He targets at least a fourth or fifth place finish on Sunday. Team mate Vitaly Petrov is under pressure to beef up his performance to avoid leaving the team before the end of the season. The Russian rocket, therefore, is in somewhat of a situation, but perhaps it could be a new sense of motivation for him...
After achieving its sixth consecutive points scoring position, and its ninth of the season at Silverstone, the Force India F1 team is now looking forward to extending this run at the German Grand Prix. Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi once again carry the Indian team's flag to Hockenheim in hopes of decent top ten qualifying positions and race positions as well.
Williams' Rubens Barrichello is a fan of the new Hockenheim circuit with his first ever victory in F1 here several years ago. "The German Grand Prix is really popular among the fans, so the weekend has a great atmosphere and I enjoy going there. It's where I took my first GP win so I obviously have nice memories of this race. The team are still working hard to bring more improvements to the car. It would be positive to continue our recent run of form at Hockenheim and stay within the top ten."
Williams' rookie Nico Hülkenberg is one of the local drivers among the six, and the young German predicts that everything will be a little more focused on the German drivers over the course of the race weekend.
Following two encouraging Grands Prix with a collection of 14 points for Kamui Kobayashi, the team is looking forward to the German Grand Prix. Pedro de la Rosa, who had his best qualifying result so far this year in England with ninth, hopes for more luck in the race. The two C29s will have modified diffusers and proudly display on their monocoques the message that it is the 40th anniversary of Sauber Motorsport.
The Lotus F1 Racing team is excited to build on the strong two car finish they enjoyed last weekend at Silverstone. The layout of the track should suit the T127 better than the flat-out dash around the Northamptonshire countryside, and with the experience they have on both sides of the garage, Lotus Racing is again looking forward to taking the fight to the teams ahead.
First driver Jarno Trulli predicted, "I think our car will suit the circuit well. You have a different speed profile than Silverstone, which didn’t really suit our car, but in Hockenheim I think we’ll be better off. We had a big update package in Silverstone which we couldn’t exploit fully as we were lacking running and setup time, so we’ll be looking to get the best out of that in the Friday and Saturday practice sessions."
In related news, third driver Fairuz Fauzy will be back in the T127 once again at Hockenheim for first Practice session. Fairuz who had already been confirmed to drive in first practice sessions at the British, Hungarian, Singapore and Abu Dhabi races, will add the German GP into his resume following a mechanical issue which cut short his run at Silverstone. The team has decided to bring forward his Hungary run to Germany, allowing him a chance to bring another valuable perspective to the team’s on-track development.
Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing team should again be brushing the back of the grid with Lotus Racing for the best of the new teams' title.
