German GP Race Thread

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

i thought id start one as i didn't see one

if there is one please delete this one

[vcs316]

Ferraris line up to spoil Vettel’s party (German Grand Prix pre-race analysis)

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2010/07/2...race-analysis/

Red Bull have their tenth pole position of the year but they’ve only managed to convert them into five wins so far. Sebastian Vettel will have to resist the fast Ferraris and his team mate if he’s to win on home ground.

The start

So Sebastian Vettel starts on pole position once again. But he’ll need to do better than he did at Silverstone, where first place became 24th by the end of lap one.

With a large amount of rain this weekend starting from the racing line side of the grid may not be that great an advantage. In the Saturday afternoon GP2 race the drivers starting second and fourth were both able to overtake those who started first and third.

But keep an eye also on the McLarens starting from row three. Their straight-line speeds in Q3 were at least 5kph faster than all the other cars, and Jenson Button was 9kph quicker than Mark Webber, who starts in front of him.

The opening lap will be critical as ever and keep an eye out for drivers making use of the tarmac run-offs, particularly at the exit of turn one and the turn six hairpin.

As we’ve seen in the past, notably at Spa last year, stewards are happy for drivers to use run-off on the outside of the track to gain an advantage.

Strategy

The teams have had little experience of dry running this weekend. Even in second practice the track wasn’t fully dry, and it only really began to rubber-in during qualifying.

Tomorrow’s race is expected to be dry, but the teams have limited knowledge of how the super-soft and hard tyres are going to perform – how well will they last, and how soon will they start to degrade?

Significantly, none of the top ten drivers chose to gamble on starting on the hard tyres. They will all start on the super-soft tyres having qualified on them.

Michael Schumacher, starting 11th, may well gamble on the hard tyres and stay out longer in the hope of gaining some places.

Also keep an eye on the two Force Indias who will be starting further down the field than usual.

Adrian Sutil has made some excellent passes in the last two races and has a lot of ground to make up after his gearbox change penalty. As we saw with his team mate at Silverstone, his progress could play an important role in determining when the leaders make their pit stops.

It’s a short lap at Hockenheim as well, raising the possibility of traffic causing problems among the leaders. Going off the times from practice this morning the front runners could catch Sakon Yamamoto as early as lap 12.

[Rishu]

8eing a Ferrari fan i am not celebrating as yet. We have not started well in most of the races this season. Yes turn 1 is the key & if we dont have contact b\w ourselves or with RBR's, we can defend against Webber & McLarens as both Ferraris will stay togather. Circuit being short means passing the backmarkers will be a headache. Safety car is inevitable. All in all we need some good stratgy & luck to end German GP on a high. My gut feel says Alonso will take the Chequred flag.

[Ferrarichamp]

I really hope Alonso wins this race. I'd be happy to see Felipe win too, but Alonso has a better shot at WDC.
A Ferrari win would be great for so many reasons, beating Mercedes in Germany, silencing Vettel and RBR, obviously boost our championship challenge...

[m schumy]

I think today`s race will be exciting to watch and I expect both Alonso and Massa to finish in the top 5. A win would be better though

[vecchiasignora]

The start will be very important to dictate the race

[Alessandra]

Great qualifying - we start in front of the people who matter most at present ( McLaren) according FA's first rule of chamionship victory, as I understand it! Now all we have to do is finish in front of them - simples!

Good luck Fernando, Felipe and team

[Greig]

Hopefully we get a clean start and no incidents like Silverstone, then we can take the fight to Vettel

[Tommy_F]

I hope it's gonna be an uneventful race for our boys, and that we will bring home 43 points more than RB


Forza Ferrari!

[dfunk257]

I just wanna see a straight fight, no accidents, no safety cars please!
FORZA FERRARI!

[Tifosi]

We can take Vettel today and he knows it. A clean start and we can either mug him on the first lap or do it the hard way. Either way, Vettel is finally under pressure from us :twisted

[Effone]

A Ferrari 1-2 coming up today folks! our race pace is going to be VERY good, I can feel it :D

[Hornet]

If we can have a clean start, I expect us to get 2 podium finishes, if not the win.

[Ste]

Fingers crossed, if we don't get an unfortunate safety car or dodgy backmarkers or something else, we can definitely take the win today. Looking forward to it, but very,very nervous!

[Suzie]

Really nervous - I'm getting worried about the start.

[epiclyaddicted]

Yep, after the last couple of races, I am very nervous as well. But fingers crossed, and Forza Ferrari. We can definitely win today.

[vcs316]

We can take Vettel today and he knows it. A clean start and we can either mug him on the first lap or do it the hard way. Either way, Vettel is finally under pressure from us :twisted

+1

fingers crossed for zero strategy & driver errors. We can win and the bulls are finally gonna be beaten by the prancing horse!

C'on boys! Let the church bells in Maranello ring this evening

[vcs316]

Really nervous - I'm getting worried about the start.

Good to be nervous Suzie. Makes winning even more sweet

[Suzie]

Let's hope so dude

[Greig]

Making a fry up for breakie, always good for the pre-race nerves

[Suzie]

Making a fry up for breakie, always good for the pre-race nerves

I can't make fry-ups.

[vcs316]

German GP – Finally, a bit of sunshine!

Hockenheim, 25 July – After three days of rain or skies that threatened to rain, this morning, the weather seems to have taken a turn for the better. Already late yesterday afternoon, the skies cleared with pale rays of sun dappling the countryside surrounding the circuit.

However, keeping things in perspective, the German summer has little in common with that on the shores of the Mediterranean, because it will not be long till the clouds hover over Hockenheim once again, even if rain is only due to reappear after the end of the race. That is definitely the fervent hope in the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro garage, as after so many race packed with unusual events, everyone is hoping for a straightforward afternoon.

[Tifosi]

nice air of anticipation though. Makes it sweeter to put the flag up on the mantlepiece when you know you might be waving it about during the podium ceremony

[Becool70]

Really nervous - I'm getting worried about the start.

Hey Suzie me too but at least we are up there

[vcs316]

Vettel: Ferrari strong in straight-line speed

Sebastian Vettel will start today’s German Grand Prix from pole position. The Red Bull driver won qualifying with a margin of just two thousands of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Vettel has said Ferrari’s advantage is their straight-line speed at Hockenheim.

In qualifying Sebastian Vettel was the fastest driver in the third and final sector at Hockenheim while Fernando Alonso was the fastest of the two in the second sector. When asked what sector is going to make the difference durign the race Vettel answered: "It’s quite different, because obviously in qualifying you are on low fuel whereas at the start of the race or for the majority of the race you are on quite high fuel. Yeah, it’s true we are quicker… we are similar in sector one. There are not too many corners, we are quick in the last sector, so it’s good, the corners that we have there, we can use them to maybe build a cushion. There are not too many corners in the second sector, it’s obviously stopping the car and it seems that the Ferrari is very strong there, also in straight-line speed. We have seen in the last couple of races that they are quite quick on the straights which is usually not one of our strengths.

It’s good to be ahead of them, rather than behind, because overtaking would be a bit a more difficult and I think that generally here overtaking is difficult even though you have a nice place into turn six but you have to be close enough first, so it’s good to be up front. The target is to defend the position in the beginning and then once you are in race trim it should be a bit easier. "

[vcs316]

nice air of anticipation though. Makes it sweeter to put the flag up on the mantlepiece when you know you might be waving it about during the podium ceremony

Feels like the first race of the season....

[Ste]

I can't make fry-ups.

[epiclyaddicted]

Feels like the first race of the season....

Yep, for us, the race to the Championship starts... NOW!

[Suzie]

...unless you like a burnt, greasy mess.

[Ste]

...unless you like a burnt, greasy mess.

I'm alright with cooking, as long as it's got a temperature and time on the back of the packet.