2014 German Grand Prix preview

Hi there! It's time for some Grand Prix racing again this weekend and the event will take place at the legendary Hockenheim ring in Germany.

The track used to be a bit different and here you can see the difference:

I personally liked the old circuit more with the forrest part. I know it was mainly just driving straight but you could see a lot of overtaking there. Smaller teams that didn't do that good could get an advantage in Hockenheim too if they were fast on the straights. 

One of the fastest on the straights this year is Williams so they would have probably been the best on the older track. They might be pretty awesome on the new version of the track as well but Mercedes is very close and are hungry for more wins.

Sauber, McLaren, Force India and Ferrari are getting big updates and I am pretty sure that the other teams are not just sitting around so this could be a very interesting weekend! I am very sure! You will see something radical in my predictions as well ;) (the winner)

Before I reveal my predictions I would like to show you a few videos from the 2010 German GP to refresh your memory:





I hope something like this doesn't happen this year but I hope the weekend will be unforgettable anyways. 

Tell me what you think of that "scandal" below or on the facebook page or send me an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com


Here are my predictions for the 2014 German GP:

Pole position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

The race:

1. Valtteri Bottas, Williams
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

First to pit in the race: Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso

Surprise: Jenson Button, McLaren - He will be very close to a podium finish.

Remember to post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE.

The rules:

POINTS:  1st - 3  2nd - 5  3rd - 10 

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes. 

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side JT, AE & MW. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps. 

THIS TIME YOU ALSO GET BONUS POINTS! PREDICT POLE POSITION AND FASTEST LAP CORRECTLY TO EARN 2 EXTRA POINTS! AND NOW ALSO THE DRIVER WHO PITS FIRST IN THE RACE.

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com

FIA press conference schedule - Germany

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who broke his home duck and triumphed in Germany for the first time last year, will be among the six drivers taking part in the official FIA press conference at Hockenheim on Thursday. Fellow countrymen Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil and Nico Rosberg - whose championship lead was slashed to just four points following his retirement at Silverstone - will also be present.

Meanwhile on Friday senior personnel - including recent Renault Sport returnee Cyril Abiteboul and the man who succeeded him at Caterham, Christijan Albers - will answer questions from the press. The line-ups in full...

Thursday, July 17, 1500 hours local time (1400 GMT)
Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Kevin Magnussen (McLaren), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Sauber), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Friday, July 18, 1600 hours local time (1500 GMT)
Cyril Abiteboul (Renault Sport), Christijan Albers (Caterham), John Booth (Marussia), Federico Gastaldi (Lotus), Paul Hembery (Pirelli), Toto Wolff (Mercedes)

The qualifying and post-race press conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.

(source: f1.com)

1983 Belgian Grand Prix - FULL RACE

1983 Monaco GP - Full Race

I am very sorry that it's in finnish but try to enjoy it anyways ;)

Vettel: Mercedes will be hard to catch in 2014

Sebastian Vettel admits Red Bull have found it difficult to improve their performance and bridge the gap to runaway championship leaders Mercedes over the first half of the 2014 season.

The Milton Keynes-based team have dominated in the constructors' standings for the past four seasons, but over the opening nine races of the year have scored just over half the points total of the Silver Arrows. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, are more than 60 points behind Mercedes' pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

While the Red Bull duo have enjoyed various successes this year - most notably Daniel Ricciardo's breakthrough F1 triumph in Canada - Vettel admits the Milton Keynes-based team have not made significant inroads into their deficit to Mercedes.

"Right now the gap is very big and we haven't really closed the gap since race one," Vettel, who has scored podiums in Malaysia and Canada, told reporters at the recent Silverstone test.

"It has been up and down this year. Obviously we have tried lots of stuff to improve, but they (Mercedes) are doing the same thing.

"We are waiting for bigger steps to happen to close the gap even more which I think at the end of the season we can judge a lot better - then we know what we can do over the winter."

Vettel said a potential ban on Front-and-Rear Interconnected Suspension (FRIC) systems could alter the competitive order however, adding: "Obviously we know what we are running. We don't know what they [Red Bull's rivals] are running, but it is pretty clear what the FIA have said, so some teams will probably be more affected, others less."

Asked what he therefore hoped to achieve next weekend at his home Grand Prix in Germany, Vettel - who triumphed on home soil for the first time last year - said breaking into the top three was his chief focus.

"Obviously we hope for a smooth weekend without any problems, and to try and get the best out of myself and the car," he said. "It would be very special to finish on the podium there."

(source: f1.com)

1982 Italian GP (Monza) - Full Race!

I have not posted these for a while so here is one interesting race for you guys: 

The 1982 Monza GP!

Lotus hoping for "good step" from Hockenheim updates

Lotus technical director Nick Chester says the team are hopeful that a raft of upgrades to the E22 will significantly boost performance at Hockenheim next weekend.

The Enstone-based team have narrowly missed out on cracking the top ten across the last three Grands Prix, meaning Romain Grosjean's eighth-place finishes in Barcelona and Monaco remain the only occasions when they have scored points so far this season.

Chester however says a number of upgrades, coupled with what they were able to learn during the two-day Silverstone test, could lift Lotus in Germany.

"Our development schedule is continuing at full pace," Chester explained. "We will have a new front wing, which is a decent improvement, a cooling upgrade and some smaller bodywork updates to increase downforce. 

"Between what we have learnt in the Silverstone test and these upgrades, we hope to make a good step forward."

Asked whether Hockenheim will suit the E22, Chester added: "It's quite a mixed track with a couple of long straights and a medium-speed final section. Two of the straights are also linked by a medium to high-speed corner, which is good for us, as is having soft and supersoft tyres for this circuit."

Grosjean meanwhile said next weekend's race will be an examination of just how far Lotus have improved since the start of the season.

"We've worked hard to improve performance in the low-speed corners, so Hockenheim will be a good test of how much we've progressed," he said. 

"Apart from the run down to the hairpin there are no real straights to speak about so power unit emphasis will be on acceleration rather than top speed. 

"The weather played a part in the Silverstone weekend, just as it did at Hockenheim in 2012, so we'll need to stay on our toes. I think as a team we have more to gain than lose from any weather changes so we should view them as an opportunity - the E22 seemed to like the damp conditions at Silverstone."

The Frenchman, who has only once started from higher than tenth in 2014, said that Lotus must also address their performances on Saturday, adding: "We can't afford to give our rivals a head-start. A top ten grid place will be the first target for Hockenheim."

(source: f1.com)