Leading the field is Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel who sees the Hockenheim race a very special event for him to prove his point as the man to beat in F1. Germany's illustrious F1 son Michael Schumacher is coming back home after his retirement to race and redeem his stature as one of F1's legend.
Vettel is in the middle of a Red Bull team squabble involving his teammate Mark Webber and their management. The tiff started when the two Red Bulls collided with each other during the middle race of the Turkish Grand Prix that cost both drivers their individual championship and constructors' championship points. The young German was pretty beaten up by Silverstone and that made its toll on him. His teammate Webber lashed out at the team's controversial front wing switch which also affected him as the favored driver by the management.
The young Vettel is now in fourth position in the driver's championship standings trailing Webber and the two McLarens – Hamilton and Button. He is more pressured to perform better at this German course supported by his thousands of fans on weekend. All he has to do is focus on the race, stay with the team's race strategy and compete with Webber squarely. If he will win the race ahead of his teammate without controversies, then the brewing war within the team will be resolved.
Schumacher is racing again in his home turf that gave him most of his F1 career wins. He won his last German GP trophy in this 6.823-kilometer German racetrack in 2004 onboard Ferrari. However, many of his critics are questioning his ability to notch another win with his new team. Schumi has yet to win a podium finish for his new Mercedes GP team.
The German legend has the vast experience to win the race but it will never be a quick or easy process for him to get to his racing form after three years of retirement. He made a strong race in an intra-team battle with Nico Rosberg in Spain and Monaco but slumped again. Mercedes GP car has one of F1's powerful engines ideal for long stretch and slow corners. However, reliability issues of their race cars have contributed to the team's lackluster performance in the season. The German GP might be the answer to his critics or regret that he came out from retirement. It remains to be seen on Sunday's race result.
Other German drivers expected to score championship points in this race include Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) and Timo Glock (Virgin). It will be an exciting home GP for German fans where these homegrown talents will achieve great things for their country. German fans as well as Hockenheim organizers are hoping for a head to head race finish between Vettel and Schumacher or for an all-German finish at the podium.7SUS7HPY4EQA
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