2014 Formula 1 German Grand Prix

Hockenheim hosts the tenth race of 2014 as the Formula One season reaches its midpoint. Welcoming the German Grand Prix in alternate years, Hockenheim is the centre of F1 in more ways than one, drawing in huge crowds from across Europe that fill the tribunes and turn the stadium section of the circuit into a raucous wall of noise.

The modern track, shorn of its former forest straights, offers a short lap but one that makes an eclectic mix of demands. It asks for good stability under heavy braking at the hairpin, high downforce through the two fast corners at the entry and exit from the stadium and a strong mechanical set-up to cope with the twisting final sector.

The advantage of a front row grid slot is not as explicit here as it is at the season’s many street races but the fact McLaren’s six Hockenheim victories have all come from the pole position reinforces the belief that this is a race where the hardest work gets done on Friday and Saturday.