2012 Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland preview

After the washout that was the majority of the British Grand Prix weekend, the Formula 1 fraternity now heads to the legendary Hockenheimring for the 73rd German Prix. Fernando Alonso is still leading the Drivers’ Championship, but with a reduced points advantage over the Red Bull of Mark Webber. McLaren head to Germany in a state of emergency, as they strive for a competitive result after two disastrous races.

The legendary Hockenheimring will be hosting its 33rd German Grand Prix, after first hosting an official Formula 1 event back in 1970. It wasn’t until 1977 that the Hockenheimring hosted another F1 race, and apart from 1985 the daunting Hockenheimring remained the sole host of the German Grand Prix until 2007. The track underwent an extensive redesign in 2001, and was shortened from 4.240 miles to a meagre 2.842 miles for the 2002 German Grand Prix.

In 2007, the race was run under the European Grand Prix title, and for the first time since 1985 the race was held around the Nürburgring-Strecke circuit. Since then, the race has continued to alternate between the two legendary circuits, with other races such as the Spanish Grand Prix looking set to follow this fashion of alternation two venues biennially.

This season has featured numerous spills and thrills, and has become renowned as one of the most unpredictable and exciting seasons in many years. Each race weekend is a step into the unknown, and this weekend will be no exception as it will be the first German Grand Prix to be hosted at the Hockenheimring to feature the use of the current Pirelli tyres and DRS overtaking device.

Rudolf Caracciola is the most successful driver at the German Grand Prix, with a dominating six wins (’26, ’28, ’31, ’32, ’37 and ’39). The most successful contemporary driver at the German Grand Prix is unsurprisingly Michael Schumacher, who has taken victory four times throughout his long and colorful career (’95, ’02, ’04 and ’06). Equally unsurprising is the fact that Ferrari are the most successful Constructor at the German Grand Prix, with an absolutely startling 21 race victories (’50, ’51, ’52, ’53, ’56, ’59, ’63, ’64, ’72, ’74, ’77, ’82, ’83, ’85, ’94, ’99, ’00, ’02, ’04, 06 and ’10)!

The DRS zone is situated on the run down to turn 6 this weekend, an exceedingly tight 2nd gear corner which is taken at only 40mph/64kph. The nature of this particular DRS zone should hopefully boost the amount of overtakes, with turn 6 the best opportunity for overtaking around the Hockenheimring.

Ex-F1 driver Derek Warwick will make his fifth appearance as the FIA Driver Steward for this weekends German Grand Prix, having previously been the steward for the 2011 Turkish and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix and the 2010 Spanish and Hungarian Grands Prix. The Briton raced in 146 Grands Prix from 1981 to 1993, racing for legendary teams such as Renault, Brabham and Lotus throughout his long career.

With only a minimal possibility of rain throughout this weekend’s German Grand Prix, it looks as though the teams and drivers are set to enjoy some dry running after the inclement weather which plagued proceedings last time out at Silverstone. Fernando Alonso will be gunning for his third victory at the Hockenheimring, with the Red Bull duo close behind as the pecking order is gradually revealed as the season enters its halfway mark.

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