German Grand Prix: Teams’ and Drivers’ Preview – Part III
McLaren Mercedes
Champion Position: 1
Points: 278
Championship leaders McLaren will look to extend their lead in the German Grand Prix on this Sunday. Jenson Button has said that he will miss the long straights of Hockenheim which he always enjoyed to race on. He also said that he is disappointed by his qualifying performance and will make his life easier by qualifying at a higher spot so that he doesn’t have to play catch-up during the race. Button is hoping that McLaren will successfully install the blown diffusers for Germany. Hamilton is sure that team will be able to perfectly balance the car. Moreover, the driver said that he is confident of a good result as he won at Hockenheim two years ago and knows the track and conditions pretty well. Martin Whitmarsh said that after the British Grand Prix, the team has been constantly running rig tests, dyno-running and development in the wind tunnel to get the maximum out of the blown diffusers. The team has not decided whether to run the diffusers or not and the decision will only be made after successful testing.
Red Bull Racing
Championship Position: 2
Points: 249
Despite earning two victories in the last two races, Red Bull Racing has a lot of work to do to show their supremacy. So far, they have not been able to find any answer to McLaren’s lead and instead they have had some serious problems of their own. Mark Webber has been accusing the team of favouritism while the Red Bull management continues to deny the accusation. The relationship between the two drivers is not good at all and they are expected to draw daggers at each other during the race in Germany. Christian Horner informed that the team is planning of using some upgrades for Germany on its F-Duct.
Ferrari
Championship Position: 3
Points: 165
The German Grand Prix is going to be Ferrari’s last chance of getting into the championship or at least clinging to it. They are 113 points behind the race leaders and results like those on Silverstone, where both drivers finished without points, are not going to help their championship bid at all. The team is confident that the Hockenheim circuit will benefit their car. Team Principal Stefani Domenicali said that their car is competitive and it is those unlucky events that they need to get rid of. Germany will see some more upgrades on Ferrari F10 including further changes to its diffusers. He has further said that the team needs to bring some big points and they are looking for race wins in both Germany and Hungary. Domenicali, who is under intense pressure to perform, has also issued an ultimatum to his team to either perform better or leave the team. His statement is expected to put additional pressure on the team and could work against them. Alonso is upbeat about the championship and has said that he is totally convinced that Ferrari will win. He said that they will soon show that they are serious contenders for the title. However he lamented over the fact that the ban on testing leaves no room for creativity. Massa said that he needs to find a way around the bad luck and must not let his head drop.
Mercedes GP
Championship Position: 4
Points: 126
Mercedes GP experienced some mixed results in the last race at Silverstone as Rosberg secured a podium while Schumacher could only manage a 9th place finish. Mercedes Boss Norbert Haug has dismissed all such rumours about Schumacher’s departure from Formula 1. He has further said that the German will be fighting for the title next year but he will also try and achieve the best finishes in the remainder of the season. Nico Rosberg said that he would try his best to repeat his performance in the British Grand Prix to secure another podium. Schumacher who was very excited about driving in front of his home crowd after 3 years said that he will do his utmost to produce a good result for his fans. He said that the new upgrades will make the car competitive and the team can actually fight for positions at the top of the grid. Team Principal Ross Brawn said that the team learned a lot from recent races and based on that they will be able to produce a strong result.
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