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The heat is on in the Formula One world championship arriving at the German Grand Prix, as Europe embraces unusually sweltering conditions. Join The Roar for a live blog from 11:10pm AEST.
A hot Hockenheim, which will likely host its grand prix in the short-term plays host to the eleventh round of the championship – having reached the halfway point in the season.
Celebrating their 200th grand start and 125 years of racing, Mercedes-Benz have sponsored their own home event, with the Silver Arrows chasing an unbeaten record in Germany during the hybrid era.
Regardless of their past form, Mercedes are cautious of the abnormally warmer conditions, given their struggles in similar temperatures at the Austrian Grand Prix. Could Red Bull and Ferrari be in the hunt?
Sebastian Vettel will certainly hope so, having never won a race in Hockenheim and famously crashing out of this event twelve months ago. Though of late, its been the German’s teammate Charles Leclerc who has been the form driver – along with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
67 laps will be raced across the 4.5km Hockenheimring, with one less DRS zone for the drivers to utilise for overtaking. Expect divided strategies across the board as per usual, though if the threat of rain is realised then all predictions can be scrapped all together.
Mercedes had no challenge during qualifying, as they qualified in the top three whilst Ferrari imploded with reliability problems on both cars – despite having been fastest in all three practice sessions.
2018 winner Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position ahead of Verstappen, while teammate Valtteri Bottas will share the second row of the grid with Pierre Gasly.
Leclerc provisionally starting out of tenth, but for Vettel; the German faces starting his home race from dead last on the grid.
A season best qualifying for Kimi Räikkönen in fifth puts Alfa Romeo as best of the rest, ahead of midfield rivals from McLaren and Renault in Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg.
Surprise top ten appearances from Romain Grosjean and Sergio Perez on paper appear positive, though with faster cars such as the Ferraris behind them and even Daniel Ricciardo in thirteenth – their chances of holding on look quite slim.
Will the Silver Arrows reign supreme on home soil, or will the forecasted rain play its hand to upset the leaders in favour of an outside victor?
It has all the ingredients to be another race to remember, so join me on The Roar from 11:10pm AEST for what is poised to be a cracker of a German Grand Prix.
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