German Grand Prix: Teams’ and Drivers’ Preview – Part II
Renault
Championship Position: 5
Points: 89
Team Renault has said that they have to make sure that the car has maximum mechanical grip for the long straight and two high speed corners at the German GP. A major concern for Kubica is that all their rivals are running the F-Duct system without which Renault will have to reduce the down-force of the car to be competitive on its top speed. This could make them uncompetitive and prone to overtaking in slow speed corners. He said that without the F-Duct and blown diffuser and the reliability issues of super soft tyre compound P4 or P5, it would be a very good result for Renault. Vitaly Petrov who is under intense pressure to perform has said that he needs to qualify in the top ten and finish the race. Reportedly, Renault has already lined up seven drivers who are willing to win a seat for the 2011 season alongside Kubica.
Force India
Championship Position: 6
Points: 47
Adrian Sutil is another driver who has raced on Hockenheim on many occasions in different competitions and is excited about the new circuit. He said that the long straight, tight corners and overtaking opportunities in Germany at the hairpin will make the race a very interesting event. Sutil wants to finish the race in the points table in front of his home crowd. Vitantonio Liuzzi believes that qualifying will be very important and the team will aim to make it to Q3. Once he achieves this, the race will turn out to be good for the team. The team is concerned about the tyre compounds especially after the soft tyres were replaced with super soft for this race. Vijay Mallya has said that the car does not have major upgrades for this race except for a few tweaks to the rear wing and rear suspension. He said that the car will not be any different from what it was at Silverstone and he is aiming for a double points finish this time.
Williams
Championship Position: 7
Points: 3
Williams Cosworth has had a wonderful race weekend in Silverstone as both the drivers finished with points. Barrichello expects to continue his recent run of form and has said that configuring the car for Hockenheim is a challenging task. He says that cars with straight line speed will benefit on this circuit as it will help them into the corners and hairpin turns which is the only overtaking opportunity on the track. Hulkenberg also believes that finding the right setup is very important because there are both quick parts and tight corners on the track. Hulkenberg said that he is hungry for good results and will look to improve his performance. Sam Michael, the Team Principal, has revealed that the team is coming up with further modifications to its diffuser and rear wing. Williams has defined their goal for the race which is to qualify both cars in the top ten and gather strong points from the race.
BMW Sauber
Championship Position: 8
Points: 15
BMW Sauber has produced two phenomenal results in the last two races with Kamui Kobayashi finishing 7th and 8th and has moved up the order in the Constructors’ Championship. The Japanese will look to improve his performances on this a track which he knows like the back of his hand after running in Germany for the Formula Renault, GP2 and Formula Three races. He said that finding the right balance is a challenging task but is hopeful of another points finish. He said that upgrades in the two previous races improved the car and another update is planned for Germany. Pedro de la Rosa believes that the team will have to work hard keeping in mind the wear on the rear tyres. Technical Director James Key has said that the high speed corners will favour their setup and they will focus on braking stability. Sauber are coming up with aerodynamics and diffuser updates and are interested in understating the right use of the tyre compounds as extremely soft or extremely hard tyres, both of which can cause problems in this circuit.
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