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Formula 1
COOPER: Fun Weekend Ahead In Germany
Sunday's German GP at Hockenheim will mark the halfway point of what has been an entertaining 2012 Formula One season...
Sebastian Vettel has never won in his native Germany. (Photo: Getty Images)
The German GP marks the halfway mark of what has already been an extraordinary 2012 World Championship. You could argue that Hungary the week after has more importance psychologically, as it leads into the four weekend summer break. Whoever wins in Budapest will head into that vacation in a somewhat happier frame of mind than those who don’t.
Nevertheless, Hockenheim is a big weekend, not least for Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull, for whom success in Germany with their local superstars will obviously be very sweet.
There are still several drivers looking for their first win of the season and who are very capable of earning one at Hockenheim. Alas, Romain Grosjean starts with one hand tied behind his back, thanks to a five-place gearbox change penalty after a problem at Silverstone. That potentially gives the advantage to his Lotus teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who could well join the list of 2012 winners.
But the man the crowd will be cheering on will, of course, be Michael Schumacher. Victory for the seven-time champ on home ground, and in a Mercedes, as well? Stranger things have happened this year.
Predicting form from race-to-race is virtually impossible in 2012, and it’s made even harder at Hockenheim thanks to the fact that in recent years the track has shared this event with the Nurburgring. The 2007 (under the European GP name), 2009 and 2011 races all took place there, with Hockenheim getting the even numbered seasons.
So the teams and drivers have been away for two years, and more importantly, it will be something of a step into an unknown for Pirelli, whose only track knowledge was gained in its first GP3 season on a soggy weekend in 2010.
As we have seen so many times, the key to success in 2012 is getting the most out of the tires and the car in both qualifying and the race. The grids are so tightly packed that there is no margin for error, and setup will be absolutely crucial this weekend. Straight line speed is always valuable, and there are two fast corners in turns 1 and 12. But there are also many low and medium speed corners, and thus good traction is also very important. So it really requires something of a compromise.
The split with the Nurburgring also helps to explain why this is one venue where Red Bull Racing has yet to win – and you can be sure that Sebastian Vettel will be keen to address that this weekend.
Seb finished eighth at Hockenheim for Toro Rosso in 2008 and was third in 2010, having started from pole. He was a frustrating fourth in his home race at the Nurburgring last year, a result that will make him even more determined to do better this time around.
Silverstone winner Mark Webber, meanwhile, has a disappointing Hockenheim record, with a modest best of sixth in both 2004 and 2010. However, he did score his first ever win at the Nurburgring in 2009, having started from pole, and was third (again from pole) there last year. Webber has passed under the radar for much of this season, but having re-signed with the team for 2013, and marked himself as a title contender, he will be in the spotlight this weekend.
Ferrari did not have the most competitive car at the start of the year, but the F2012 has gradually been improved. Fernando Alonso has made the most of every opportunity going to put himself firmly in the World Championship, a position he will be determined to hold on to heading into the post-Hungary break. He has a great record at Hockenheim, having won in both 2005 and 2010. He also triumphed at the Nurburgring in 2007 in his McLaren year, and was second there last season, so Germany has been pretty good to him.
It has been a tough season for Felipe Massa, who has struggled to match his teammate as he fights to hold onto his job for 2013, although Webber’s disappearance from the driver market hasn’t hurt. The Brazilian has always gone well in Germany, having finished second, third and second (after ceding to Alonso) in the last three Hockenheim races, with a third and second at the Nurburgring in between! That’s a pretty amazing run, but he’ll be lucky to add another podium this time around.
This has been a year of mixed fortunes for McLaren. Jenson Button’s Australian GP win got things off to a great start, but the team then found out – like everyone else – how hard it is to get the best out of the Pirellis.
It took Lewis Hamilton until the seventh round in Canada to score his first win of 2012, but consistent scoring has kept the 2008 World Champion near the top of the table, although his late retirement in Valencia was expensive, and he was a bit part player at Silverstone. Hamilton won at Hockenheim in his championship year, and also triumphed at the Nurburgring last season, but at the moment, it’s hard to assess the car’s potential.
After his win in Melbourne and second place in China, Button has struggled to come to terms with the tires, and has rarely been able to match his teammate, much to his frustration. He was fourth on his Hockenheim debut with Williams back in 2000, and with BAR Honda was second in 2004 and third in 2005. He’s had little luck in Germany since then, finishing a modest fifth in the last race at the track in 2010.
His former team, now known as Mercedes GP, has made huge progress this year. Stuck firmly in fourth place in 2010 and 2011, it has proven to be a race winner when Nico Rosberg scored a memorable success in China, and since then the German driver has consistently been in the points. He can certainly be expected to do better than in his last two home races, in which he finished eighth and seventh – on both occasions crossing the line just in front of his teammate.
Schumacher celebrates the 20th anniversary of his first German GP appearance this weekend, and he will be determined to give his home crowd what it wants to see – a victory. His record in 14 Hockenheim appearances here is pretty impressive. He won in 1995, 2002, 2004 and 2006, and has recorded three other podiums. He’s also had some disappointing races in front of his fans, and ninth and eighth in his two German GP starts for Mercedes were not the sort of results he wanted.
However, with a more competitive car, he’s been much stronger in 2012, and the podium finish in Valencia showed that when circumstances are right, he can get the job done.
The Lotus E20 has been the season’s surprise package, and the black and gold car has been challenging for podiums at almost every track. Grosjean has been a revelation, and while several potentially good results were lost to incidents in the early laps, he has proven he can fight with the best.
Many were skeptical about Kimi Raikkonen’s return but the Finn has been strong all season, taking second places in Bahrain and Valencia, and a third in Barcelona. He’s had mixed fortunes at Hockenheim over the years, but he took pole for McLaren in 2005 and Ferrari in 2006, finishing third in the latter year.
Williams, which last won at Hockenheim with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003, has re-emerged as a competitive force this year. The irrepressible Pastor Maldonado scored a superb win in Spain and showed that was no fluke by qualifying third in Valencia. He’s put in some great drives, but has on occasion been a little too aggressive, and has been lucky to escape with relatively minor penalties.
This will be his first F1 start at Hockenheim, but he knows the track well from GP2, having won the feature race in 2010. He has generally overshadowed teammate Bruno Senna, and while the Brazilian has had some strong points finishes, he needs to do something eye catching soon.
Sauber is a podium threat every weekend, and Sergio Perez made a great impression with his second place in Malaysia and third in Canada. Teammate Kamui Kobayashi hasn’t had such spectacular results, but has often been faster than the Mexican in qualifying. The car is kind on its tires and that’s allowed the team to often pull off clever strategies. This will be Perez’s first F1 experience in Hockenheim, but he did a brilliant job in GP2 in 2010, finishing second in the feature and winning the sprint race.
Force India hasn’t had the podium finishes of Williams and Sauber, but the team has been a consistent scorer at most venues. Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg have proven to be evenly matched, and are enjoying their own private battle. The Scot has yet to drive a F1 car at Hockenheim, while Hulkenberg made Q3 but finished a lowly 13th for Williams in 2010.
It’s been a disappointing year for Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team struggling not only to compete with those ahead, but also to fend off the improving Caterham outfit. Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne face a steep learning curve, but they do at least know Hockenheim from the Renault 3.5 series.
As mentioned, Caterham has made good progress, pulling well clear of Marussia, and giving STR a hard time. In his third year with the former Lotus outfit, Heikki Kovalainen remains as motivated as ever, and is always ready to mix it with quicker cars in the early laps if he makes a good start. He’s also outpaced teammate Vitaly Petrov for most of the season.
Marussia and HRT have been fighting their own battle at the back of the grid. Timo Glock hasn’t had a lot of luck in his home race – he had a crash at Hockenheim in the Toyota back in 2008 – and will be hoping that the update package introduced at Silverstone will pay dividends. Teammate Charles Pic knows the track well, having finished third in the GP2 feature race in 2010, behind Maldonado and Perez.
Finally, Pedro de la Rosa, who finished sixth in Germany with Arrows back in 2000, will be happy just to outpace the Marussias once more, while his HRT teammate Narain Karthikeyan last visited Hockenheim with Jordan in 2005.
The early indications are that we will have a dry race, which is good news, as it will be fascinating to see how a ‘normal’ race unfolds at a track that does tend to produce some drama. It’s going to be a fun weekend.
Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
Nevertheless, Hockenheim is a big weekend, not least for Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull, for whom success in Germany with their local superstars will obviously be very sweet.
There are still several drivers looking for their first win of the season and who are very capable of earning one at Hockenheim. Alas, Romain Grosjean starts with one hand tied behind his back, thanks to a five-place gearbox change penalty after a problem at Silverstone. That potentially gives the advantage to his Lotus teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who could well join the list of 2012 winners.
But the man the crowd will be cheering on will, of course, be Michael Schumacher. Victory for the seven-time champ on home ground, and in a Mercedes, as well? Stranger things have happened this year.
Predicting form from race-to-race is virtually impossible in 2012, and it’s made even harder at Hockenheim thanks to the fact that in recent years the track has shared this event with the Nurburgring. The 2007 (under the European GP name), 2009 and 2011 races all took place there, with Hockenheim getting the even numbered seasons.
So the teams and drivers have been away for two years, and more importantly, it will be something of a step into an unknown for Pirelli, whose only track knowledge was gained in its first GP3 season on a soggy weekend in 2010.
As we have seen so many times, the key to success in 2012 is getting the most out of the tires and the car in both qualifying and the race. The grids are so tightly packed that there is no margin for error, and setup will be absolutely crucial this weekend. Straight line speed is always valuable, and there are two fast corners in turns 1 and 12. But there are also many low and medium speed corners, and thus good traction is also very important. So it really requires something of a compromise.
The split with the Nurburgring also helps to explain why this is one venue where Red Bull Racing has yet to win – and you can be sure that Sebastian Vettel will be keen to address that this weekend.
Seb finished eighth at Hockenheim for Toro Rosso in 2008 and was third in 2010, having started from pole. He was a frustrating fourth in his home race at the Nurburgring last year, a result that will make him even more determined to do better this time around.
Silverstone winner Mark Webber, meanwhile, has a disappointing Hockenheim record, with a modest best of sixth in both 2004 and 2010. However, he did score his first ever win at the Nurburgring in 2009, having started from pole, and was third (again from pole) there last year. Webber has passed under the radar for much of this season, but having re-signed with the team for 2013, and marked himself as a title contender, he will be in the spotlight this weekend.
Ferrari did not have the most competitive car at the start of the year, but the F2012 has gradually been improved. Fernando Alonso has made the most of every opportunity going to put himself firmly in the World Championship, a position he will be determined to hold on to heading into the post-Hungary break. He has a great record at Hockenheim, having won in both 2005 and 2010. He also triumphed at the Nurburgring in 2007 in his McLaren year, and was second there last season, so Germany has been pretty good to him.
It has been a tough season for Felipe Massa, who has struggled to match his teammate as he fights to hold onto his job for 2013, although Webber’s disappearance from the driver market hasn’t hurt. The Brazilian has always gone well in Germany, having finished second, third and second (after ceding to Alonso) in the last three Hockenheim races, with a third and second at the Nurburgring in between! That’s a pretty amazing run, but he’ll be lucky to add another podium this time around.
This has been a year of mixed fortunes for McLaren. Jenson Button’s Australian GP win got things off to a great start, but the team then found out – like everyone else – how hard it is to get the best out of the Pirellis.
It took Lewis Hamilton until the seventh round in Canada to score his first win of 2012, but consistent scoring has kept the 2008 World Champion near the top of the table, although his late retirement in Valencia was expensive, and he was a bit part player at Silverstone. Hamilton won at Hockenheim in his championship year, and also triumphed at the Nurburgring last season, but at the moment, it’s hard to assess the car’s potential.
After his win in Melbourne and second place in China, Button has struggled to come to terms with the tires, and has rarely been able to match his teammate, much to his frustration. He was fourth on his Hockenheim debut with Williams back in 2000, and with BAR Honda was second in 2004 and third in 2005. He’s had little luck in Germany since then, finishing a modest fifth in the last race at the track in 2010.
His former team, now known as Mercedes GP, has made huge progress this year. Stuck firmly in fourth place in 2010 and 2011, it has proven to be a race winner when Nico Rosberg scored a memorable success in China, and since then the German driver has consistently been in the points. He can certainly be expected to do better than in his last two home races, in which he finished eighth and seventh – on both occasions crossing the line just in front of his teammate.
Schumacher celebrates the 20th anniversary of his first German GP appearance this weekend, and he will be determined to give his home crowd what it wants to see – a victory. His record in 14 Hockenheim appearances here is pretty impressive. He won in 1995, 2002, 2004 and 2006, and has recorded three other podiums. He’s also had some disappointing races in front of his fans, and ninth and eighth in his two German GP starts for Mercedes were not the sort of results he wanted.
However, with a more competitive car, he’s been much stronger in 2012, and the podium finish in Valencia showed that when circumstances are right, he can get the job done.
The Lotus E20 has been the season’s surprise package, and the black and gold car has been challenging for podiums at almost every track. Grosjean has been a revelation, and while several potentially good results were lost to incidents in the early laps, he has proven he can fight with the best.
Many were skeptical about Kimi Raikkonen’s return but the Finn has been strong all season, taking second places in Bahrain and Valencia, and a third in Barcelona. He’s had mixed fortunes at Hockenheim over the years, but he took pole for McLaren in 2005 and Ferrari in 2006, finishing third in the latter year.
Williams, which last won at Hockenheim with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003, has re-emerged as a competitive force this year. The irrepressible Pastor Maldonado scored a superb win in Spain and showed that was no fluke by qualifying third in Valencia. He’s put in some great drives, but has on occasion been a little too aggressive, and has been lucky to escape with relatively minor penalties.
This will be his first F1 start at Hockenheim, but he knows the track well from GP2, having won the feature race in 2010. He has generally overshadowed teammate Bruno Senna, and while the Brazilian has had some strong points finishes, he needs to do something eye catching soon.
Sauber is a podium threat every weekend, and Sergio Perez made a great impression with his second place in Malaysia and third in Canada. Teammate Kamui Kobayashi hasn’t had such spectacular results, but has often been faster than the Mexican in qualifying. The car is kind on its tires and that’s allowed the team to often pull off clever strategies. This will be Perez’s first F1 experience in Hockenheim, but he did a brilliant job in GP2 in 2010, finishing second in the feature and winning the sprint race.
Force India hasn’t had the podium finishes of Williams and Sauber, but the team has been a consistent scorer at most venues. Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg have proven to be evenly matched, and are enjoying their own private battle. The Scot has yet to drive a F1 car at Hockenheim, while Hulkenberg made Q3 but finished a lowly 13th for Williams in 2010.
It’s been a disappointing year for Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team struggling not only to compete with those ahead, but also to fend off the improving Caterham outfit. Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne face a steep learning curve, but they do at least know Hockenheim from the Renault 3.5 series.
As mentioned, Caterham has made good progress, pulling well clear of Marussia, and giving STR a hard time. In his third year with the former Lotus outfit, Heikki Kovalainen remains as motivated as ever, and is always ready to mix it with quicker cars in the early laps if he makes a good start. He’s also outpaced teammate Vitaly Petrov for most of the season.
Marussia and HRT have been fighting their own battle at the back of the grid. Timo Glock hasn’t had a lot of luck in his home race – he had a crash at Hockenheim in the Toyota back in 2008 – and will be hoping that the update package introduced at Silverstone will pay dividends. Teammate Charles Pic knows the track well, having finished third in the GP2 feature race in 2010, behind Maldonado and Perez.
Finally, Pedro de la Rosa, who finished sixth in Germany with Arrows back in 2000, will be happy just to outpace the Marussias once more, while his HRT teammate Narain Karthikeyan last visited Hockenheim with Jordan in 2005.
The early indications are that we will have a dry race, which is good news, as it will be fascinating to see how a ‘normal’ race unfolds at a track that does tend to produce some drama. It’s going to be a fun weekend.
Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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