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The German Grand Prix comes our way this weekend and it couldn't be set up more perfectly. Sebastian Vettel leads the F1 World Championship after a stunning victory at Silverstone, and Lewis Hamilton is in a close second position, after clawing his way back from the dead at his home Grand Prix in spectacular fashion.
That leads us to the Hockenheimring -- a venue steeped in racing history and widely considered one of the best tracks for pure racing purposes. The track made its F1 debut back in 1970, and has since been refreshed and refurbished several times to make it the outstanding modern racing spectacle it is today. Initially prepared as an alternative to the treacherous Nurburgring, the Hockenheimring has established itself as the leader in the German Grand Prix and makes its return to Formula One after a one-year hiatus.
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With the historic German Grand Prix returning to the F1 calendar this weekend, we wanted to take a look back at Germans who not only made it big in their racing careers, but in turn kept the German flag flying high. So here are the top five German drivers to grace the world of Formula One (with a bonus entry).
#6 Stefan Bellof
We start the list with a bonus entry and a name not many racing fans will be familiar with. But the truth is, if he'd lived longer than he actually did, he'd probably a racing legend. Widely considered as one of the best endurance racers around, Stefan Bellof made his name in the World Endurance Championship.
It would seem fitting that Bellof set the fastest ever time on the Nordschleife at the Nurburgring in 1983, a record that stood for 35 years before being beaten. He won the 1984 World Endurance Championship and battled in F1 for two years before tragically losing his life at Spa in Belgium in 1985. At just 27 years of age, the sport lost an upcoming star whose death is mourned till date.
#5 Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen broke into the world of Formula One back in 1994 after an impressive showing in the minor racing series and being handpicked by Bernie Ecclestone along with Michael Schumacher to represent Germany in Formula One.
After driving for Sauber and impressing with his obvious driving skills, Frentzen was picked up by Williams in 1997 and won his first ever F1 race at the San Marino Grand Prix. It turned out to be a brilliant season for Williams, with Jacques Villeneuve winning the driver's championship and Frentzen finishing second after Michael Schumacher's disqualification. The talented German driver won two more races with the Jordan team at the French and the Italian Grand Prix in 1999, before ending his F1 career with Sauber in 2003.
#4 Ralf Schumacher
His legacy may well be connected to that of his brother, but there is no doubt that Ralf Schumacher was one of the most talented drivers of his generation and may have tasted more glory if it wasn't for the dominance of his elder brother at the same time as he was racing in F1.
Ralf made his F1 debut in the 1997 season with Jordan and made a steady climb to the top with some impressive podium finishes. He finally won his first F1 race with BMW Williams in 2001 at the San Marino Grand Prix and finished a brilliant fourth place that season in the driver's championship.
Among his victories that year was a very special one for Ralf, winning the German Grand Prix in front of his home fans with friends and family looking on. He had two more successful seasons in the BMW Williams, and ended his glittering career in 2007 while driving for Toyota.
#3 Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg is another one of the modern German legends to have graced the world of Formula One. Making his debut in 2006 as an unassuming rookie, Rosberg worked his way up the ranks in a below-par Williams car and had to wait till 2008 for his first ever podium finish. It was only onward and upward from that point on however, and powered by his unique skill and reckless abandon when it came to overtaking, the team managed to finish in the top half more often than not.
After moving to Mercedes in 2010 and rubbing shoulders with his hero Michael Schumacher, Nico won his first race in 2012 at the Chinese Grand Prix, and within a couple of years was battling with new teammate Lewis Hamilton for the driver's championship. After falling short in two previous seasons, Rosberg finally won the crown in 2016 with 385 points and announced his retirement soon after.
#2 Sebastian Vettel
He may be among the best in the business currently, but Sebastian Vettel has had to scratch and claw for most of his 51 Formula One victories, including his most recent one at the British Grand Prix.
Vettel made history in 2008 when he became the youngest ever driver to win an F1 race at the Italian Grand Prix in a measly Toro-Rosso. It showed the sheer class this young driver possessed and had teams scrambling to sign him up as soon as possible.
He finished second the following year with Red Bull Racing but it wasn't long before the Vettel storm took over the world of F1. He dominated the sport from 2010-2013 winning four consecutive World Championships before choosing to sign with Ferrari in 2015. After finishing second behind Lewis Hamilton last season, Vettel is widely tipped to go one better this time around and win his fifth driver's championship.
#1 Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is the true 'GOAT' of Formula One racing. The German is the only driver in the history of the sport to win seven World Championships, and did so by dominating much of the 90s and early 2000s. He won the first of his seven titles in 1994 while driving with Benetton in the same year that Ayrton Senna was tragically killed driving for Williams.
He won in 1995 as well before dominating the early 2000s with five straight Championship victories from 2000-2004. He finally called it quits in 2006 after a win in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza before making a heroic return to racing with Mercedes in 2010.
There is no doubt that he is the undisputed king of racing, but Schumacher's current condition is an unenviable one following a serious ski accident in 2013 that all but took his life. Regardless, he will always be considered as one of Germany's greatest gifts to the world of motorsports.
