5 scenarios for Sunday's race in Germany

Having a driver out of position is always an enticing prospect before any race, but having two is at the limit of appetite.

An exceptional moment in qualifying – and perhaps in the season – came when Hamilton squatted next to his car in disappointment after having to stop on the track at the end of Q1, after briefly trying to push him over a mile to the pits. This incident leaves the defending champion from the 14th position on the grid – assuming that a new gearbox is not needed – while the current championship leader Vettel is on pole.

But Hamilton quickly changed position. attention to how he can recover across the field on Sunday. If he needs inspiration, he only has to watch the last race at Silverstone where he crossed the back of the field at the end of the first lap to finish second. behind Vettel. And with Mercedes posting a long pace of more than a second faster than anyone else, Ferrari and Red Bull, he should have the car to do it again.

Among the top three, it's Red Bull who showed the best performance. The racing simulations of Friday, and it will be music in the ears of Daniel Ricciardo. The power unit penalties mean that it will start from the last on the grid, but with probably the fastest car – and an installation for the race – it has eyes on Hamilton's pursuit towards the # 39; before.

"I know [Lewis] is not happy but just from the point of view of television and racing, it will be cool," Ricciardo said. "So we hope to have a little battle to see who gets into the field more quickly …"

2. Bottett to turn the tide on Vettel

Two weeks ago, Vettel took the win in Hamilton, after moving from second place to grid, beating the post and controlling his pace. This weekend, Hamilton could do with his teammate returning the favor to limit any loss in the drivers' championship.

Valtteri Bottas has been impressive this season but has not had the results to match, with the harm often preventing him from capitalizing on promising situations. At the moment, the Finn has a good chance to win the victory at Hockenheim, but it all boils down to the beginning of the race

Vettel's victory at Silverstone took the lead in the first round, because Mercedes and Ferrari were so close. The same goes for Germany, where Saturday's race pace was identical to that of the two best teams in the constructors' championship. Whoever leads at the end of the first round will be the favorite at the end of the last lap.

3. Haas has another chance

It's not just Bottas who is trying to reverse the situation of Silverstone, because Haas will want to do exactly the same thing. Starting from seventh and eighth place in Britain after another qualifying performance, and with a higher race pace than his rivals in midfield, Haas was well placed to score big points. But their drivers collided in the first lap and the return was limited to four points only.

With Hamilton and Ricciardo, the positions in fifth place for Kevin Magnussen and sixth for Romain Grosjean offer a new opportunity for F1. new team to the advantage of Renault in the championship builders. But that's a point we've raised many times, and Haas has only counted one time this season with both cars.

If they needed to be refocused, Haas directly got the two Renault drivers behind them. fight with one of the upcoming drivers. The grid creates the delicate situation of the two Haas drivers who need to give themselves a place in round 1 to avoid a repeat of Silverstone, but do not be too careful and open the door to Nico Hulkenberg or Carlos Sainz to take advantage.

4. Sirotkin pursues his first points

Williams has not had much to scream so far this season, but the team has scored in the chaos of the Grand Prix. Azerbaijan in April. Lance Stroll finishing eighth on this occasion, Sergey Sirotkin is now the only driver who has not yet scored a point this season.

It may be unfair to judge the Russian on this statistic, given that the FW41 has been competitive so far this year, Hockenheim has had a clear lead over the difficulties of the last race [19659003AgoodlapattheendofQ1allowedtherookietomoveontothesecondhalfofqualifyingwheretheabsenceofHamiltonandRicciardoplusamessysessionoferrorsfromMarcusEricssonsawSirotkintake12thplaceonthegridAndwithin005sofFernandoAlonsoitcouldhavebeenevenbetter

With a choice of free tires, the riders are out of position, which disrupts races and riders advancing side by side (Raikkonen and Verstappen, Magnussen and Grosjean), there could be a first set of points for Sirotkin – and he knows it.

"Looking at where we are, I would say we should be fighting for points," Sirotkin said. "Honestly, everything depends a lot on the conditions, and if we face the conditions as we did yesterday for the FP2, I do not think our long-term pace was enough to bring us closer to the points and we obviously fast passing cars, it can be so diverse, it's raining or not.

"Of course, we'll be aiming for points, but realistically if we're dealing with more normal conditions, I do not think not that we really have the rhythm to gain some places. stay here again. For us, right now, I think it's very important, even if we are not able to reach the points, we have to make sure to stay as close as possible in case something happens happen. "

[19659008] 5. The tires and the weather are boiling

As Sirotkin points out, there are two contrasting weather conditions that could have a major impact on the race.The long Friday races at 30 degrees have seen blistering on the rear tires, a problem that many teams had to face at the Austrian Grand Prix.So there is a repeat, then the top 10 all start on the ultrasoft compound and could fight early

In this case, a one-stop strategy would become difficult, but even if that is still possible, an early shutdown for soft-or-medium might put the favorites in the traffic.

While weather forecasts predict high temperatures, this also suggests a high probability of thunderstorms at Hockenheim during the first half of the race .. The FP3 experienced heavy rains, while other have fallen on Saturday after qualifying, and warm weather means that track conditions can change quickly, with a wet circuit able to dry quickly.

Both scenarios will give teams and their strategists a headache. could also bring the race back to the off-position cars at the back of the pack.

– Chris Medland