Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg and Adrian Sutil are the four Germans on the Formula One grid. They will celebrate their home Grand Prix at the upcoming race at the Hockenheimring. After the success of Germany at the FIFA World Cup, the 120,000 spectators will be hoping to see a German on the top step of the podium come the end of the race.
The most experienced German on the grid is Nico Rosberg who has raced at the Hockenheimring on four occasions (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012) with an eighth place finish his best result. Despite not having previous success at this circuit, he finished 4th at the 2009 German Grand Prix which was held at the Nürburgring. Rosberg currently leads the driver’s championship by four points and is hoping to extend his lead over Hamilton on home soil. Speculation over the potential removal of the FRIC suspension system may disrupt the pecking order however on the basis of previous races, Rosberg will be feeling confident about winning his home race.
Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel has struggled this season and sits twenty-eight points behind teammate Ricciardo. Vettel started on pole at Hockenheim in 2010 however a slow start from him ensured Massa and Alonso passed him – he would eventually finish third. In 2012, Vettel crossed the line second however was later given a time penalty which dropped him to fifth for overtaking Jenson Button off the track. Vettel broke his duck at Germany by winning the 2013 race at the Nürburgring. This season, it is unlikely he will be able to achieve that feet once again however a podium would be a realistic aim for the Red Bull driver. Vettel will be hoping he can begin to start out-performing teammate Ricciardo sooner rather than later.
Nico Hülkenberg has been one of the stars of the 2014 season. He has finished in the points in each Grand Prix thus far and has scored sixty-three points in total. Like Rosberg, Hülkenberg’s record at the Hockenheimring has been poor with a best finish of ninth in 2012. However this season he is well equipped to finish well inside the top 10 as Force India are confident the track lay-out will suit the VJM07.
Our final German is Adrian Sutil. Prior to this weekend, there had been much speculation regarding the future of Sutil however he looks set to take part in his sixth German Grand Prix. Sutil has yet to finish in the points at the Hockenheimring however came home sixth in 2011 at the Nürburgring. Sutil had qualified seventh in 2009 however a collision with Kimi Raikkonen forced the German to pit once more for a front wing costing him a chance of scoring Force India’s first ever points (Fisichella later scored Force India’s maiden points at the 2009 Belgium Grand Prix). Sutil has yet to score a point for Sauber this season and the team are at risk of finishing behind Marussia in the constructor’s championship. The thirty-one year old will be hoping for rain or some of the front-runners to run into trouble to have any chance of scoring his and the team’s first points of the season.
If any German is to win this weekend then Nico Rosberg would be favourite to do so. With the potential removal of the FRIC suspension system then Sebastian Vettel cannot be ruled out. Whatever happens, the German drivers will want to be seen as heroes just as the German National Football team are..
