German Grand Prix Tag

By FIA Sebastian Vettel took his 55th career pole position in front of his home crowd at Germany’s Hockenheimring in a qualifying session that saw chief title rival Lewis Hamilton ruled out when he damaged his car running wide at the end of Q1. Vettel put in a superb performance in Q3 to set a new track record at Hockenheim with a time of 1:11.212. The German’s lap was more than three seconds faster than Nico Rosberg’s pole time of F1’s last visit to this track in 2016. Valtteri BottasRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Formula 1 announced today that the sport plans to introduce 18 inch wheels and a new tire specification for 2021. The plan for 18 inch wheels has been brought up several times in recent seasons, Pirelli even produced a demonstration set, as opposed to the current 13 inch wheels F1 has used for over 20 years. Front tires will decrease in width from 305 down to 270 mm. While the rear tires will maintain their current width of 405 mm, they will increase in diameter fromRead More

By FIA Max Verstappen doubled Red Bull Racing tally of session-topping times at Hockenheim by setting a new track record in second practice for the German Grand Prix. The Dutchman posted a time of 1:13.085 on ultrasoft tyres to power past Michael Schumacher’s 2004 circuit record by 0.221s. As with the morning session, in which team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was quickest ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull edged Mercedes by 0.004s, with Hamilton again taking place, this time just under three hundredths of a second off top spot. Verstappen’s session wasn’tRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo edged Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to take top spot in the opening practice session for this weekend’s German Grand Prix. The Australian took top spot by just four thousandths of a second from the defending champion, though having made a number of power unit changes, the Red Bull driver is set to take a number of grid penalties for Sunday’s race. Ricciardo used a third MGU-K, a third Energy Store and a third set of Control Electronics, which means he will have to startRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring marks the homecoming race for championship leader Sebastian Vettel who grew up nearby the circuit, and defending German Grand Prix winners Mercedes. It also marks the true halfway point of the season which has seen Ferrari and Vettel eek out just a bit of a points gap on Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton after a wild British Grand Prix. The race takes place at the Hockenheimring, one of the oldest and most historic venues on the Formula One calendar, HockenheimRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor As part of the World Motor Sport Council gathering this week, the FIA has confirmed the 2017 Formula 1 Calendar. It features some interesting changes from the provisional calendar, namely the loss of the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, which showcases the sad state of affairs F1 faces in Germany, despite the success of Mercedes and Nico Rosberg. On the happier side, the US Grand Prix is confirmed after some speculation, no doubt the awesome race in October and its attendance record helped seal thatRead More

Lewis Hamilton took a controlled German Grand Prix win to extend his championship lead over chief rival Nico Rosberg to 19 points as the German finished fourth behind the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and third-placed Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s victory was largely sealed at the start when, from second on the grid, he made a much better getaway than polesitter Rosberg. The champion leader hugged the inside line as Rosberg dropped back and emerged from Turn One in the lead. Behind him both third-on-the-grid Ricciardo and Verstappen, who started fourth,Read More

Nico Rosberg bounced back from an early Q3 electronics problem to claim pole position for his home race, the German Grand Prix, ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. After breezing through the first two sessions (the Mercedes drivers were the only drivers to qualify from Q1 having used only soft tyres), Rosberg set off on his first run in Q3 only to have to abandon the run at the end of his first lap when his Mercedes suffered an electronics issue. “It just suddenlyRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Officials for the Nurburgring have expressed an interest to see the Grand Prix track make a return to the Formula One calendar in 2017 and have already begun talks with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone on the subject. The German Grand Prix which is usually shared between the Nurburgring and the Hockenheimring faced unprecedented financial issues earlier this year that led to the race being cancelled. No doubt Ecclestone will put undue pressure on both Hockenheim for 2016 and the Nurbrugring for 2017 to ensure that theRead More

The FIA has released a record 21-race schedule for the 2016 Formula 1 season. The calendar features several changes, including a new circuit, Baku, in Azerbaijan. The 3.75-mile street circuit will host the European Grand Prix for the first time ever in July. The 2016 season will start later than usual, with the Australian Grand Prix not set to kickoff until April 3. Malaysia swaps with Sochi, with the Russian Grand Prix moving to May 1 and the Malaysian Grand Prix taking place on September 25, a week after Singapore.Read More