The official German GP thread (WITH SPOILERS)
The official German GP thread (WITH SPOILERS)
Author
Discussion

Derek Smith

Original Poster:

49,736 posts

277 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
Preferably without bashing anyone.

The forecast is for a wet race so we might find out whether LH’s great performance at Silverstone was, as some say, due solely to good tactics or had something to do with innate skill.

With three drivers on the same number of points this race is hardly a must win for any of them. Mind you, it’s a must do better for some, like Heikki. If, as seems likely, Alonso will be moving to Ferrari, Massa might be looking for a seat. I know RD is quite loyal to his number twos (in a manner of speaking) but if it was me running the team, I’d be tempted.

Heidfeld is on a bit of a roll after Silverstone and might well think that the German race is the place for a first place.

Piquet is on a bit of a surge, roll being too small a word for his degree of improvement over the last two races. All, I say all but it is a vital aspect of racing of course, he needs to do now is finish.

Rain, they say, is a great leveller but what I think it is in reality is a chance for lesser teams to compete as tactics become much more important. So look out for Ross to throw one of his master classes. That said, it’s got to be one of the top three cars for the win.

I’m really looking forward to the race. It should be a cracker, rain or dry.

paulmurr

4,203 posts

241 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
Will Max Mosely be in attendance...?

MrKipling43

5,788 posts

245 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
I'd love to see Nick win, I was gutted that he didn't get BMW's first victory and to get a win at his and BMW's home track would be some consolation.

Fingers crossed for a wet race.

If it is wet I'll be very interested to see Massa's performance and, if the conditions are terrible, Lewis will walk it.

JeremyK

191 posts

234 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
paulmurr said:
Will Max Mosely be in attendance...?
hehe

[AJ]

3,079 posts

227 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
I'm hoping Jenson will do well in this one. He's had a lot of bad luck lately and deserves to be higher up than he is. Failing a win from Button, lets hope Lewis keeps us proud.

MrKipling43

5,788 posts

245 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
[AJ] said:
I'm hoping Jenson will do well in this one. He's had a lot of bad luck lately and deserves to be higher up than he is. Failing a win from Button, lets hope Lewis keeps us proud.
rofl

Redlake27

2,255 posts

273 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
JeremyK said:
paulmurr said:
Will Max Mosely be in attendance...?
hehe
That reminded me. I was watching the Norisring DTM recently and I'm still amazed that they have the big Reichsparteitagsgelände stage there where the Nuremberg Rally was held. Everywhere else in Germany the remnants of the Nazi past have been erased.


thewave

14,859 posts

238 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
Wet races do tend to be a bit more interesting, so I hope it does rain.

Anything can happen though, fingers crossed for Hamilton & Button though.


O/T, anyone know how Davidson is getting on with his testing for Honda? Would love to see him be really quick and get a seat back.

hostile17

115 posts

237 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
MrKipling43 said:
I'd love to see Nick win, I was gutted that he didn't get BMW's first victory and to get a win at his and BMW's home track would be some consolation.
I second that. I would have loved to have seen Nick take BMW's first win. Maybe he could take their first home win...? Failing that, let's see a decent performance out of Jenson, rain or shine. He needs a good result, he's being shown up by the Boobens.

R360

4,504 posts

235 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
MrKipling43 said:
I'd love to see Nick win, I was gutted that he didn't get BMW's first victory and to get a win at his and BMW's home track would be some consolation.
+1 however if it is a wet race will be really interesting to see how Massa copes, i wonder if silverstone was just unlucky or he really is tht bad in the rain

hostile17

115 posts

237 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
R360 said:
however if it is a wet race will be really interesting to see how Massa copes, i wonder if silverstone was just unlucky or he really is tht bad in the rain
I think it depends on how wet it is. He was very good in the opening stages of the Monaco GP, but appalling at the British GP. He didn't do as badly in Fuji last year as he did at Silverstone, but I seem to remember him spinning once or twice there too. His aggressive style, particularly regarding throttle application, doesn't do him any favours when it's wet.

skinny

5,269 posts

264 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
i agree on nick, it was good to see him 'back' at silverstone, he's a good racer imo and always a guy capable of some really fantastic overtaking moves - plus his input on bringing BMW to where it is now from the start of BMW sauber has been invaluable, so a win would just be great to see, especially in front of his home crowd. and if it's wet i think he'll have a good chance, but you'd probably still favour lewis after silverstone. kubi is always in with an outside shot, and the ferrari's would have learnt from their previous mistakes (you'd hope).

IainT

10,040 posts

267 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
Some of the Ferrari lack of pace at Silverstone must have come from poor setup choices so I doubt McMerc and BMW will have it all their own way.

LH seems to have a great feel for wet racing so must be a favourite barring major judgement errors (his or the team)!

Would be greate to see Kovi do well.

Really looking forwards to another gripping race - it's a shame that F1 only seems to deliver classic races when the conditions throw a curve-ball though!

anonymous-user

83 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
It's just such a shame they ruined the track by removing the fast straights, it used to be awesome at Hokenheim, now it's just another circuit.

If it's wet, Lewis should win, the car is back on the pace and he concentrated better last time out so hopefully he can maintain that for the rest of the season, he is by far the best in the wet of the current drivers IMHO.

FourWheelDrift

92,271 posts

313 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
Shame the old track has gone, but at least they've now moved the Jim Clark Memorial, sadly from the spot the accident happened but to a more accessible location.




Heading down to the first chicane.

miniman

30,029 posts

291 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
What a horrible waste.

stephen300o

15,464 posts

257 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
thewave said:
Wet races do tend to be a bit more interesting, so I hope it does rain.

Anything can happen though, fingers crossed for Hamilton & Button though.


O/T, anyone know how Davidson is getting on with his testing for Honda? Would love to see him be really quick and get a seat back.
"Interesting" as in, advantage grip generating Mclaren?

FourWheelDrift

92,271 posts

313 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
thewave said:
O/T, anyone know how Davidson is getting on with his testing for Honda? Would love to see him be really quick and get a seat back.
Only known him to have been out at Catalunya on the 12th June test day

Times

1 L. Badoer Ferrari Bridgestone 01:22.412
2 R. Kubica BMW Bridgestone 01:22.682
3 D. Coulthard Red Bull Bridgestone 01:22.724
4 S. Buemi Red Bull Bridgestone 01:22.764
5 G. Paffett McLaren Bridgestone 01:22.938
6 A. Davidson Honda Bridgestone 01:23.208
7 N. Hulkenberg Williams Bridgestone 01:23.619
8 R. Grosjean Renault Bridgestone 01:23.899
9 K. Kobayashi Toyota Bridgestone 01:24.442

SPR2

3,220 posts

225 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
Jenson was 2nd in day three of testing last week so hopefully Honda can come up with something good this weekend

Al W

591 posts

256 months

Wednesday 16th July 2008
quotequote all
stephen300o said:
thewave said:
Wet races do tend to be a bit more interesting, so I hope it does rain.
"Interesting" as in, advantage grip generating Mclaren?
Yawn
"Interesting" as in, advantage for drivers who can keep it on the grey bit.
At Silverstone that included several different coloured cars