German Grand Prix Thread
 

To get the ball rolling, Romain Grosjean has copped a five-place grid penalty for Hockenheim, due to a gearbox having to be replaced. This guy seemingly can't catch a break.

Grosjean to take five-place grid penalty at Hockenheim after team discovers gearbox issue - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

Ouch!! That is going to affect my FGP http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag.../angryfire.gif http://www.motorsportforums.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
As for the race I am intrigued by the battle that is shaping up between Vettel, and Webber, as well as; if Ferrari can continue to improve, and if McLaren will rediscover their form.
Long range forecast...... FWIW..... rain
Weather Headlines - weather.com

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This DRS Zone should facilitate über passing http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag.../roll_eyes.gif

Add Rosberg to the list.
Rosberg to get five-place grid penalty after gearbox change ahead of German GP - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

Well, what can we say. Lotus is testing a new double DRS wing, so I wonder, how efficient will that prove to be. Can Lotus make one step forward and finally take a race win on genuine pace?

If it rains, well, Ferrari should be good. Red Bull should be competitive especially in dry. Wonder, how will McLaren go. This is a vital race for Hamilton to stay in the title fight. And McLaren must regain form to prevent other teams gaining momentum in the fight for P2 in WCC.

Well stated on all points Jens. It appears that we may well have a quali, and race situation similar to Silverstone, wet for the former, and dry for the later. I also expect the results to be similar with the exception of McLaren being more competitive. I think it bodes well that Button seems to be comfortable in the MP4-27 in practice. As for Lotus I think their quali form will be ok but have reservations about their race pace. They were able to generate heat in their tires at Silverstone because of the high speed/load corners. Hockenheim is quite a different type of circuit, and the cold temps may affect them negatively. I think Red Bull should be very strong this weekend, although I expect Ferrari, McLaren and to a lesser degree Lotus to be in the fight. FI should also go well here IMO.

Add Webber to the list.

Red Bull's Mark Webber gets gearbox change penalty for German Grand Prix - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

Wet pole ? who will beat Lewis this time ? http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...ies/tongue.gif

Hmmm, Radio 5 Live seems to have Golf or something on...

Also, does anyone know why James Allen has been replaced by Jonathan Legard? Did Allen fall out with BBC?

Oh good I've got 5 Live working, but I'm really wondering why it's Legard... But I'm just glad to have someone on! Beats the open.

MS ?http://www.motorsportforums.com/images/smilies/s.gif

Rain arrived...

http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...ies/sailor.gif snap http://i46.tinypic.com/hv9ul3.gif

Amazing Alonso ! http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...es/biggrin.gif

getting really tired of mclaren not being able to figure out how to get the car to perform in wet weather,
another disappointing qualy in 2012

I agree with you truefan, especially considering how fast is/can be Lewis on wet track.He must be very annoyed about this...

It's particularly surprising, given that they were looking just fine on Q2. Perhaps they just had trouble getting the full wets to work, as the intermediates seemed to be OK.

McLaren have had problems switching on the inters but are ok on the full wets, really a little surprised Lewis didn't do better, but it was a bit of a crap shoot. TBH it was painful watching all of the cars in Q3 bumbling around a soaked track with dry setups. http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...es/grenade.gif

Button, for example, and five others? http://www.motorsportforums.com/imag...lies/angel.gif

It's another lottery in qualifying. Had it been a dry weather, the two Lotuses/Lotii will be up there and it will be Nico instead of Michael. The bulls are going to be strong regardless. Fred haters will continue to believe he got lucky again. Jenson finally out qualified Lewis. Let's hope they have the race pace on Sunday