Red Bull believe their race pace is reasonably close to Mercedes this weekend, but the silver team may have grabbed a strategic advantage for the race in qualifying.
By running on soft tyres in Q1, the silver cars have reserved a fresh set of super-soft tyres for the race. As they also have a two sets of soft tyres the Mercedes drivers could have the option of three-stopping in the race.
Lewis Hamilton used a three-stop strategy at the last race at this track two years ago as he fought his way from the back of the field to finish on the podium. This was the preferred strategy for seven of the ten points-scorers in the race, though Nico Rosberg could afford to cruise home on a two-stop strategy as he was under little pressure from behind.
A three-stop strategy is viable at the Hockenheimring because the time lost making a pit stop is comparatively low. And we’ve seen some seriously quick pit stops this year – such as the unofficial record set by Mercedes in the last race.
The speed of the Red Bulls could be enough to force the Mercedes to run closer to their maximum pace. We’ve seen several times already this year Red Bull are content to make aggressively early pit stops to try to gain the benefit of the undercut – as Daniel Ricciardo did in Hungary. However they only have one new set each of super-softs and softs, limiting their strategic options compared to Mercedes.
Ricciardo, third on the grid, will also start the race at a slight disadvantage. “I’ll start the race on slightly older tyres because I had to do two laps in Q2,” he explained, “which means they are not as fresh for the start but it’ll be fine.”
Red Bull once again banished the Ferraris to the third row of the grid. Max Verstappen lines up one place in front of Kimi Raikkonen, ready to pick up where they left off six day ago.
The first corner at the Hockenheimring is a bit of a trouble spot. Last time F1 raced here Felipe Massa was flipped after a collision with Kevin Magnussen.
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
As in Hungary Hamilton lines up behind Nico Rosberg on the front row. But after passing his team mate at turn one last week he’s ready to play it cautious at the start tomorrow if he needs to.
“This is a track where you can overtake,” said Hamilton, “so I don’t have to go for it at the first corner”.
Although drivers have been given greater freedom with track limits this weekend they will still have to give the outside of this corner some respect. Sergio Perez was briefly launched by the kerb at the end of the run-off area during practice.
There have been other incidents during the weekend too. During Saturday’s GP2 race Philo Paz Armand was launched by the same kerb. Earlier this year at the same point on the track Will Buller’s Formula Three var was flipped over during a test. The levels of downforce F1 cars produce may prevent that, though it’s not something which can necessary be taken for granted, particularly when the cars are running in the slipstream of each other.
Earlier on at the outside of that corner GP3 driver Alexander Albon found another launching pad during their race. Drivers may be able to exploit track limits more this weekend but they will have to do so with caution.
Although some weather forecast give no indication of the possibility of rain tomorrow, the teams are alert to the possibility. “There is talk of some rain tomorrow,” said Nico Hulkenberg, who starts eighth after a penalty, “to be honest I would not mind a shower during the race but let’s wait and see what happens.”
Qualifying times in full
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’15.485 | 1’14.839 (-0.646) | 1’14.363 (-0.476) |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’15.243 | 1’14.748 (-0.495) | 1’14.470 (-0.278) |
3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’15.591 | 1’15.545 (-0.046) | 1’14.726 (-0.819) |
4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’15.875 | 1’15.124 (-0.751) | 1’14.834 (-0.290) |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’15.752 | 1’15.242 (-0.510) | 1’15.142 (-0.100) |
6 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’15.927 | 1’15.630 (-0.297) | 1’15.315 (-0.315) |
7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1’16.301 | 1’15.623 (-0.678) | 1’15.510 (-0.113) |
8 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’15.952 | 1’15.490 (-0.462) | 1’15.530 (+0.040) |
9 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’16.169 | 1’15.500 (-0.669) | 1’15.537 (+0.037) |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’16.503 | 1’15.699 (-0.804) | 1’15.615 (-0.084) |
11 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1’15.987 | 1’15.883 (-0.104) | |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’16.172 | 1’15.909 (-0.263) | |
13 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1’16.317 | 1’15.989 (-0.328) | |
14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’16.338 | 1’16.041 (-0.297) | |
15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’16.328 | 1’16.086 (-0.242) | |
16 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’16.636 | 1’16.665 (+0.029) | |
17 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’16.716 | ||
18 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1’16.717 | ||
19 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’16.876 | ||
20 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1’16.977 | ||
21 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1’17.123 | ||
22 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’17.238 |
Sector times
Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Nico Rosberg | 16.160 (2) | 34.777 (1) | 23.356 (3) |
Lewis Hamilton | 16.128 (1) | 34.993 (2) | 23.182 (1) |
Daniel Ricciardo | 16.193 (3) | 35.189 (7) | 23.275 (2) |
Max Verstappen | 16.196 (4) | 35.098 (3) | 23.439 (4) |
Kimi Raikkonen | 16.363 (5) | 35.278 (9) | 23.498 (5) |
Sebastian Vettel | 16.432 (6) | 35.345 (10) | 23.509 (6) |
Nico Hulkenberg | 16.479 (9) | 35.147 (5) | 23.762 (9) |
Valtteri Bottas | 16.493 (10) | 35.142 (4) | 23.842 (12) |
Sergio Perez | 16.472 (8) | 35.255 (8) | 23.679 (8) |
Felipe Massa | 16.552 (12) | 35.181 (6) | 23.845 (13) |
Esteban Gutierrez | 16.537 (11) | 35.492 (13) | 23.788 (10) |
Jenson Button | 16.609 (13) | 35.480 (12) | 23.820 (11) |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | 16.642 (15) | 35.626 (16) | 23.667 (7) |
Fernando Alonso | 16.446 (7) | 35.638 (18) | 23.937 (14) |
Romain Grosjean | 16.625 (14) | 35.439 (11) | 23.967 (15) |
Jolyon Palmer | 16.734 (16) | 35.561 (15) | 24.128 (18) |
Kevin Magnussen | 16.971 (21) | 35.631 (17) | 24.114 (17) |
Pascal Wehrlein | 16.856 (18) | 35.559 (14) | 24.302 (20) |
Daniil Kvyat | 16.765 (17) | 35.775 (21) | 24.066 (16) |
Rio Haryanto | 16.894 (19) | 35.753 (19) | 24.330 (21) |
Felipe Nasr | 16.961 (20) | 35.959 (22) | 24.203 (19) |
Marcus Ericsson | 17.021 (22) | 35.765 (20) | 24.452 (22) |
Speed trap
Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | Mercedes | 341.0 (211.9) | |
2 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | Mercedes | 340.4 (211.5) | -0.6 |
3 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | Renault | 339.1 (210.7) | -1.9 |
4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 339.0 (210.6) | -2.0 |
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 338.8 (210.5) | -2.2 |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 338.0 (210.0) | -3.0 |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 337.7 (209.8) | -3.3 |
8 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 336.7 (209.2) | -4.3 |
9 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 336.4 (209.0) | -4.6 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 335.8 (208.7) | -5.2 |
11 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 335.6 (208.5) | -5.4 |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 334.7 (208.0) | -6.3 |
13 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 334.6 (207.9) | -6.4 |
14 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 334.5 (207.8) | -6.5 |
15 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | Ferrari | 334.1 (207.6) | -6.9 |
16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 334.0 (207.5) | -7.0 |
17 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 332.9 (206.9) | -8.1 |
18 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | Ferrari | 332.3 (206.5) | -8.7 |
19 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 332.1 (206.4) | -8.9 |
20 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 331.3 (205.9) | -9.7 |
21 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Honda | 329.5 (204.7) | -11.5 |
22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 329.0 (204.4) | -12.0 |
Drivers’ remaining tyres for the race
Medium | Soft | Super-soft | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Team | New | Used | New | Used | New | Used |
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Felipe Massa | Williams | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Sergio Perez | Force India | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Jenson Button | McLaren | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Romain Grosjean | Haas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Over to you
Will Rosberg win – and re-take the championship lead – in front of his home crowd? Can Red Bull use their race pace to take the fight to Mercedes?
Share your views on the German Grand Prix in the comments.
2016 German Grand Prix
- Ricciardo grabs third Driver of the Weekend win of 2016
- F1 went into the summer break on a low
- 2016 German Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 German Grand Prix
- 2016 German Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
mystic one (@mysticus)
30th July 2016, 19:00
I think Rosberg will have an engine or electronic failure during the race, and blame it on someone probably Ric :)
Hamilton will win most likely with Max behind him
just.daz (@nemo87)
30th July 2016, 20:40
As much as I hope this is true.. It’s probably a bit too ‘mystic’ for me ;)
drs
30th July 2016, 22:16
why do you hope? it’s boring enough already
sato113 (@sato113)
30th July 2016, 23:30
can’t have Rosberg winning a WDC can we. He’s just so jammy (lucky)
drs
31st July 2016, 10:06
how about the gifted wins for lewis in monaco and canada and of course rosbergs penalty in silverstone? (i’m not a fan of either)
Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
31st July 2016, 0:13
Well if Lewis does not win he can again go to Charlie and beg him to penalize Nico.
paulguitar (@paulguitar)
31st July 2016, 1:03
@ianbond001
Oh dear.
Traverse (@hellotraverse)
31st July 2016, 8:57
Oh dear oh dear…
Ju88sy (@)
31st July 2016, 10:09
Oh dear dear dear…..
Ian Bond (@ianbond001)
1st August 2016, 15:56
Indeed :)
Highindutchman
30th July 2016, 21:17
Im sorry but i think mercedes will win this one hands down and with two fingers in the nose as we say in holland. More interesting is the fight between red bull and ferrari i think. Just like the races we saw in the past. Maybe a surprising strategy will do the trick? Anyway max need al the luck he can get and then make something of it. He has proven he can keep a car with faster tires behind him. Is there any chance of rain btw?
John
30th July 2016, 22:19
The top photo of Hamilton exiting turn 1 is the perfect example of everything wrong with modern track design. What a joke.
Sam (@crunch)
31st July 2016, 2:16
+1 I agree.
rick2k9 (@rick2k9)
31st July 2016, 5:42
+1
Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
31st July 2016, 6:37
I agree that modern track design isn’t great, but the picture above could have easily been taken on the ‘original’ Hockenheimring. Turn one has always been like this.
John
31st July 2016, 8:14
Turn 1 was reprofiled with the redesign. The original curve had a straight run toward it and had a more curved radius. The exit kerb was more forgiving than most back in the day but it was not dead flat or three metres wide. It also had grass and gravel immediately behind the kerb, the circuit limits were clearly defined. There was great footage of Berger making a mistake during qualifying in a Mclaren, skiping wide over the kerb onto the grass and keeping it off the wall. Youtube it. Shows the difference between a track with a limit and a natural edge, compared with todays rubbish.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
30th July 2016, 22:34
The speed trap data seem to give an accurate description of the current engine power situation. Apparently Magnussen was on a low-downforce setup. Interestingly, he was very slow in the first sector, which only consists of one turn, while Alonso was much faster despite his low top speed. That McLaren really must be mighty in the first corner.
Mike (@grippgoat)
30th July 2016, 22:36
Is sector 2 a high speed section? Red Bull are pretty far behind there. But they’re right on pace in sectors 1 and 3.
Michael Brown (@)
30th July 2016, 23:30
Sector 2 is from the beginning of the Parabolika to the turn before the stadium.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
31st July 2016, 6:21
@grippgoat It’s mostly flat out, so Mercedes with their PU advantage are much quicker there
Mark in Florida
31st July 2016, 1:15
Crash in the first corner. Red Bull 1,2 . Hamilton looked like he was about to cry during the interview. Chaps his rear that Rosberg took pole so he will try to cut across Nico and Nico will go deep with no let up, so Red Bull 1,2.
Ju88sy (@)
31st July 2016, 10:18
Doubt it, this race is not a charge for turn 1 unlike Hungary. Even though there is often an incident.
bogaaaa (@nosehair)
31st July 2016, 1:24
DannyRic for a win, fingers crossed
Mikee
31st July 2016, 4:02
Hamilton will get a huge run on Rosberg on the back straight, Rosberg moves to the inside to defend, Hamilton tries to overtake around the outside at the hairpin, Rosberg runs Hamilton wide and they crash, red bull 1-2. Mark my words….
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
31st July 2016, 8:14
Howcome Hamilton is unable to outqualify his teammate at Hockenheim? What is different here? Normally he is second to nobody on most tracks. Seems here he is unable to get the job done.
lockup (@)
31st July 2016, 11:20
I have an idea it’s T2/3. Are Lewis’ worse tracks Kimi’s better tracks? Dunno, just wondering if it’s a corner exit thing.
Martin
31st July 2016, 12:53
To be fair his qualy record isn’t as bad as it is being made out to be. There have only been 4 qualifying sessions since the last time Hamilton out qualified a teammate here. One was scuppered by McLaren for both Button and Hamilton in 2012 when they messed up their tyre strategy compared to the other teams (Hamilton was on provisional pole at that point) and in 2014 Hamilton’s brakes failed in Q1
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
31st July 2016, 9:53
Interestingly Red Bull have more supersoft tires than both Mercedes and Ferrari, so they may be stuck on a 3-stop strategy. Due to their poor qualifying Ferrari will likely go for 2 stops, so it will be difficult for Mercedes to decide which of them they have to cover. A podium for Räikkönen doesn’t seem unlikely.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
31st July 2016, 10:03
The atmosphere at the press conference certainly seemed tense yesterday for some reason.
My guess is Hamilton will overtake Rosberg within the first 5 laps and then will drive away from him. Nico just doesn’t seem to be able to stay close enough once Hamilton hits the lead.
The battle behind them between both RBR’s and both Ferraris should be the bit that is really worth watching.
drs
31st July 2016, 10:09
another hamilton snoozefest
Rob (@potsie9000)
31st July 2016, 11:31
Interesting that Keith mentioned GP2 and GP3 above. I’ve never watched those formulas (formulae?) before yesterday. (Not sure if GP2 had been televised in AussieLand before now)
That GP2 racing is amazing. Much more exciting to watch than F1. I just wished that I knew who the drivers were so I could have understood what the commentators were talking about.
I’d love for F1 racing to be like that GP2 race … much more interesting than hearing talk about track limits, radio bans, halos etc. and get F1 back to something good to watch
Rob (@potsie9000)
31st July 2016, 11:42
oh .. and back to the question .. undoubtedly I like to see RIC to win … or anything really other than HAM as I am finding the SKY F1 Lewis Hamilton centric telecast harder ad harder to put up with (as is my dog .. she gets upset every time when I scream at the telly telling that Brundle bloke to shut the *something* up)
pSynrg (@psynrg)
31st July 2016, 21:09
@potsie9000 The race result makes me very happy, but very sad for your poor dog and your rabid rants at a TV? Newsflash, Brundle can’t hear you.