Five things to watch out for at the German Grand Prix

Pirelli tyres have been termed as unacceptable

After a thrilling British GP, the F1 season now moves on to Germany. Here is a list of five things that you should watch out this weekend at Nurburgring.

The modified Pirelli tyres

Six cars suffered blowouts in Silverstone. The performance of the Pirelli tyres were termed “unacceptable” by almost all drivers and constructors. Pirelli have now announced that they will use kevlar belted rear tyres in Germany.

The circuit in Nurburgring is not as demanding as the one we saw in Silverstone, but still Pirelli were not going to take the risk of using the same tyres that failed so miserably. Hence, the kevlar belted tyres that have already been tested at the two previous GPs will now be used. Also, at the next race which will take place on July 28th at Hungary, a new range of tyres will be introduced.

All eyes will be on the tyres at Germany. Pirelli can only hope that their tyres don’t blow up this time.

Sebastian Vettel and the July Jinx

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel, the three time defending Formula 1 Champion has never won a race in the month of July in his career. He has also never won at his home circuit in Germany.

In his F1 career so far, he has competed in 12 races during the month of July. He has completed 10 out of these 12 races, has been in the top 8 on all ten occasions and has been on the podium five times.

Vettel ironically has his birthday in July. It would be interesting to see if he finally breaks the July Jinx and it would be even more special if he does it at his home circuit this weekend.

Team Williams’s 600th Race

The German GP will be Williams’s 600th race

The German GP would be Williams’s 600th professional Formula 1 race. Although they kind of already celebrated this occasion at their home GP in Silverstone last week, numerous eyes would be on them for various reasons.

Williams are traditionally one of the stronger teams in Formula 1. Out of the 599 races they had competed in so far, they have set the fastest lap in 131 races, achieved pole position in 127 races and have won 114 of the races. These are very impressive statistics.

However, this season, Williams have not been able to score even a single point. Valtteri Bottas despite qualifying 3rd in difficult weather conditions in Canada managed to finish only 14th.

On the occasion of the 600th race of this historic team, it would be interesting to see what happens.

Force India’s quest for a podium finish

Force India will be aiming for a podium finish

Both Force India cars had a fantastic outing at Silverstone. Paul di Resta, albeit that one outing in Malaysia, has managed to finish and score points in all other races. Adrian Sutil too has been impressive off late.

In Silverstone, Sutil was very close to a podium finish occupying the 3rd place for the majority of the race. It is true that Force India does not have the pace as the rest of the leading cars in the grid, but with some quirky tactic and efficient pit stops, they have been competing at a higher level all throughout the season.

Their quest for a podium finish will continue at Nurburgring and it would be interesting to see if it materializes.

The German Battle

Sebastian Vettel (L) and Nico Rosberg (R) will be looking for their first win at home

Michael Schumacher‘s big shoes have been adequately filled by not one but two fantastic young drivers from Germany. One, as we all know is the defending champion – Sebastian Vettel. The other is Schumacher’s former team-mate and the winner of last week’s British GP, Nico Rosberg.

At first, we thought that Lewis Hamilton made a grave error by moving to Mercedes, but Mercedes have surprised us all with their pace. Out of the last six races, Mercedes have occupied the pole position on five instances and have won two out of the last three races.

Like Sebastian Vettel, Rosberg too would be looking for his first win at his home circuit this weekend in Germany. Although Vettel has the obvious advantage, it would be interesting to see which German wins this fight.