Thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s win at the previous British Grand Prix, the championship title fight is still very much alive, with Hamilton just four points behind his Mercedes AMG teammate Nico Rosberg, the current points leader. Rosberg, of course, will want to score his own win on home soil, so he will certainly be putting up a good fight this weekend. The German will have extra reason to celebrate if he wins, as he recently married his sweetheart Vivian Sibold and extended his contract with Mercedes AMG.
The Hockenheimring is one of the oldest circuits on the F1 calendar, although its most recent redesign in 2002 has left it a much milder track than it used to be. The current Hermann Tilke-designed circuit sees the best action at turns six and eight, while the end of the lap where the grandstand sits is always a highlight for drivers and fans alike. The corners are cambered, making them deceptively fast.
The weather can be variable here, and at present some rain is expected for Sunday’s race. Sole tire supplier Pirelli will be bringing its P Zero Yellow soft and the P Zero Red supersoft compounds, the same combination used at the Austrian Grand Prix.
As the German Grand Prix’s location alternates each year with the Nürburgring, the last time the race was held in Hockenheim was in 2012. The winner that year was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Going into this year’s race, Nico Rosberg remains on top of the 2014 Drivers’ Championship table with 165 points, with Lewis Hamilton just four points behind. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo is a distant third with 98 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes AMG leads with 326 points versus the 168 of Red Bull Racing and 106 of Ferrari.
