After the spectacular last two races in Austria and the United Kingdom, the Formula 1 World Championship arrives at the F1 GermanGP 2019, eleventh race of the calendar. In Germany, Mercedes and Ferrari’´s Vettel will try to give it all before their home crowd.
For another week, Lewis Hamilton arrives at this appointment leading the table and with every chance of winning. To that effect, he will be using a brand-new chassis on his W10. Only the high temperatures -and perhapps, rain- forecasted for the weekend could play against him.
For Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel, the Hockenheim circuit is an ominous territory. It was here that their ongoing winning crisis started a year ago (their last victory dating back to Belgium 2018). Erasing their 2018 blunder from everyone’s minds and starting a new era afresh is a dream of theirs.
Behind them, but getting worryingly close, is Red Bull. An unstoppable Max Verstappen will continue accosting both the Italians and the Germans.
In the middle of the grid, we can expect some grand battles between McLaren and Renault. Who knows, perhaps Alfa Romeo will also join the party at this weekend‘s appointment, whose continuity in the F1 calendar, incidentally, is very much in the air.
Mercedes wants to shine at its home GP
The team from Brackley faces the German GP 2019 from a position which is way superior to that its rivals, both in the standings an on the track. Their eight and last 1-2 of the seasons in England also means they enjoy the healthiest of confidences and spirits.
At Silverstone, they dominated the race throughout, sending a clear message to their rivals that what happened in Austria was just an odd mishap. History is also on their side. The Silver Arrows have won in Germany, their testing track, in 2014, 2016 & 2018.
Their usual thirst for victory will have some extra incentives this year, their 125th anniversary in Motorsports. This Sunday’s will be their 200th F1 race. If that wasn’t enough motivation to win, Lewis Hamilton could break Michael Schumacher’s 4-win record at the German track this weekend.
The other half of the team, Valtteri Bottas, is still trying to impress Toto Wolf that his contract is worth renewing next season. Outshining his five-time-champion teammate, however, is no easy task for anyone.
To the delight of their fans, the W10 will also be bringing a brand new, lighter and sleeker chassis to the track. It rests to see how this behaves on the asphalt.
Ferrari, hunted by 2018
For Ferrari, this race is a key test this season. Their (supposed) leader, Sebastien Vettel is still very much hunted by what happened here in 2018, when a shameful mistake marked the start of the performance and confidence crisis that he still hasn’t been able to shake off.
From that fateful day on, and after a year and 19 Grand Prix, the #5 form Maranello has only had one victory in Spa 2018. Also, since the controversial sanction in Canada, he hasn’t even climbed up the podium.
For all of these reasons, the driver from Heppenheim his well aware of the significance of this weekend and he is really eager to win in Baden-Wurtemberg.
Immersed in a complete opposite dynamic is his teammate Charles Leclerc. In Germany, he will look for his fifth consecutive podium, sixth this season, and if he can, he will want to get in ahead of his teammate Vettel.
The German leader is a mere three points ahead of him teammate in the standings. The Monegasque youngster has now been disputing Vettel leadership for a while.
By the way, the Italian team is in the middle of a staff restructuring. Their Team Principal and technical director, Mattia Binotto, has given up that second title in favour of three Italians. One of those is Simone Resta from Alfa Romeo.
Red Bull: A threat to Italians and Germans
Red Bull has been consistently climbing up the ranks. The RB15 has undergone a performance leap that brings it closer to his rivals above, more so to the Italians.
After tweaking their chassis, and installing the third upgrade of their Honda engine they have consistently shortened the distance with the Prancing Horse.
Max Verstappen, perhaps the only driver in the grid that could take the victory away from Mercedes, will be ready to jump at the opportunity to open the Champaign in Germany. He is currently third in the standings before both the Ferraris.
McLaren: To consolidate its leadership of the midfield
The team from Woking would want to continue with their great performance of the last few months. Their aim will be to make it to the Q3 and getting both MCL34s to point. The extraordinary work that the team has undertaken so far this season has paid off, with Carlos Sainz as the ‘best of the rest’ in the standings.
The Spaniard is currently seventh behind the drivers from the big three (Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull). On Saturday, he will be eager to climb up a few points again this weekend at 2019 F1 German GP, just as he has done in the previous three races. Also, he will be attempt once more get in ahead his talented teammate, Lando Norris.on Saturday.
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