Sidepodcast

• Length: 46:25 
• Size: 42.9 MB 
• File: episode71.mp3 
• Enhanced: episode71.m4a 
• Transcript: Coming soon 
• Torrent: episode71.torrent 

This week is all about Hockenheim, and thus all about McLaren as Lewis Hamilton dominated the entire weekend. We make mention of everyone else though, including Glock and his accident, plus Massa’s inability to defend.

Intro

Another sporting injury obtained a ridiculous way, but can it beat Massa in a lift?

Good Week / Bad Week

Good week for Vettel as he’s snapped up by Red Bull, although will he find himself evacuated from the factory like Webber? Bad week for Abu Dhabi because Singapore is just too good.

News and Views

Just a quick mention of BMW and their KERS technology - ready and out in the wild world. They may be implementing it at the upcoming Jerez test, along with Honda and their updates, plus Force India and their new gearbox.

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• Length: 10:54 
• Size: 10.1 MB 
• File: digest40.mp3 
• Transcript: digest40.pdf 
• Torrent: digest40.torrent 

The German Grand Prix had everything, strategy decisions, incidents, tyre issues, and plenty of overtaking. Listen to today’s F1 Digest to catch up with everything that happened.

The Race

Hamilton continued to show serious form, that’s two races in a row where he has outclassed everyone else. The run of unusual podiums continues though, with a Renault making an unexpected appearance.

Conclusions

Whenever the safety car comes out, it always causes controversy, although today perhaps more so than others. Confusion reigned supreme when some drivers pitted and others didn’t, and one in particular has the penalty to prove it.

The weather in Hockenheim this morning is warm and bright. A quick look at the official webcam shows sunshine and blue sky.

Anyone hoping for rain (or snow!) will probably be disappointed by this, but I’m betting the Ferrari team are all smiles right now. The rubber that was laid down on Saturday should offer a nice grippy surface for all the drivers and the warm temperatures will likely benefit those who can make the best use of the softer tyre.

While all this means we probably won’t have quite as exciting a race as last time out, the run to the first corner is a big one, and there’s often been race ending accidents leading into the right-hander in the past.

Three RB4’s line up 8th to 10th, so there could be an almighty scrap between these closely matched cars and while Räikkönen will be wary of those behind him, it’s Alonso and Trulli in front that he’ll be mostly focussing on. Further back, we have an out of position Heidfeld in 12th with Rosberg directly behind him. What kind of strategy will those two be running to jump them up the order?

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The rain held off for this mornings earlier practice session, but will it arrive before or during qualifying?

It doesn’t appear to bother the McLaren’s what the weather will be though, they’ve topped all three practice sessions this weekend and look fast in any condition. On a dry track in warmer temperatures the Ferrari looks to be using the soft tyres quite well, but do they stand any chance over a single flying lap around Hockenheim?

Elsewhere in the field Alonso appears to be making the most of improvements with the Renault while Vettel has been on form since Friday morning. BMW however must be scratching their heads a little. With both cars off the pace no doubt they have a plan, but will technical problems wreck another qualifying session for Kubica?

Alianora’s comparator spreadsheet was spot on with qualifying predictions for Britain, and this week suggests a Hamilton / Massa front row and places Räikkönen in 6th place.

The one hour qualifying session starts at 1pm in the UK (2pm local). ITV’s build up show will also be online. Don’t forget the lovable live timing from Bernie too.

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Saturday dawns and F1 teams have but one more opportunity to prepare everything they need for this afternoon’s qualifying session. A short 60 minute session awaits and the circuit webcam suggests the outlook isn’t pretty.

On the driver front, Alonso has said he enjoyed running yesterday in the rain, while Vettel bemoaned the lack of grip the track had to offer. It seems regardless of what the weather throws at Hockenheim McLaren will be up there, while Ferrari appear to be managing the changeable conditions better than they did at Silverstone.

Yesterday showed us some interesting inter-team battles, with Nakajima finishing ten places behind Rosberg and Piquet nine places back from Alonso. Bourdais also will be hoping for better morning running and a chance to catch up with his currently faster teammate.

As this is FP3, and because ITV still can’t comprehend the idea that Formula One has three practice sessions, we’re on the hunt for some active video feeds. Live timing will inevitably be working and more information on following the action this morning can be found on our F1 on the Internet page.

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Formula One, free practice two. The second of two ninety minutes sessions gets going at exactly 2pm in Germany (or 1pm if you’re in the UK).

After a pretty damp start to this morning’s early session, we weren’t expecting a lot of track action, but the teams certainly delivered. With most drivers putting in more than 20 laps, it was non stop action all the way, especially when Kubica threw it into the barriers unprompted.

The McLaren’s looked strong, while Vettel appears to be in his element at his home track. BMW have work to do this afternoon though. Before his off, Robert had managed just 8 laps of running so they’re well and truly on the back foot at the moment. Ferrari managed to look convincing in the wet too, which is no mean feat given the results of their last outing in such conditions.

In terms of the weather, the rain looks like it might hold off for the remainder of this afternoon’s running. It should be dry tyres all round, and hopefully will give us a better indication of who made improvements during the last test and who fell behind.

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• Length: 6:17 
• Size: 5.8 MB 
• File: digest37.mp3 
• Transcript: digest37.pdf 
• Torrent: digest37.torrent 

The German Grand Prix returns to the calendar, this time at Hockenheim. With so many drivers having a home race this weekend, F1 Digest hopes to give you some clues about who will fare well.

Vital Statistics

• Date: 20th July
• Circuit: Hockenheim
• Length: 4.6km
• Laps: 67

Preview

Ahead of his home race, Vettel has been confirmed as Webber’s partner at Red Bull for next year, so at least one of our drivers will be heading into the weekend with some confidence. Others are more defensive over how the British GP went for them, Massa in particular, and some are clinging on to what the Hockenheim test results showed.