Hamilton praying for rain as heatwave hits Hockenheim GP

Hockenheim, Germany - Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton is hoping rain will come to the rescue as a Hockenheim heatwave threatens to dash Mercedes's hopes of a home German Grand Prix win on Sunday.

Picture: Matthew Childs / Reuters.

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The five-times world champion and Mercedes have been dominant this season, the team winning nine of 10 races so far, but they wilted in the sweltering heat at last month’s Austrian Grand Prix.


Mercedes has made changes to help cool the car but, with much of Europe caught in the grip of a heatwave, Hockenheim could be even hotter than the temperatures were at Spielberg where Max Verstappen won for Red Bull.

"If it stays this hot we are going to struggle and be in trouble," the 34-year-old Briton, who leads team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 39 points in the standings, told reporters on Thursday.

"There is not much we can do (when it comes to cooling), it is a much bigger design issue when it gets hot which is not so easy to change.

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"We are working towards it but it is very small steps and small increments which are not making a massive difference," he added.

"It is definitely a good thing if it rains."

Friday, when the cars first take to the track for two sessions of practice, is expected to be just as hot as Thursday, when temperatures touched 39 degrees Celsius.

But thunderstorms are predicted for Saturday, when qualifying is held, while the chance of rain on race Sunday - a 200th Formula One start for Mercedes as a constructor - has also gone up.

Hamilton, who won in the rain from 14th on the grid last year even as Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out of the lead, is renowned as a wet-weather specialist.

He has won the German Grand Prix four times, three of those victories at Hockenheim, and is chasing his eighth win of the season on Sunday.

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Rain would cement his status as favourite to collect a fifth German Grand Prix win, a record for success at the race in the world championship era.

Hamilton, who won his home British Grand Prix at Silverstone for a record sixth time two weeks ago, is still spoiling for a fight.

"Last year here... I think Ferrari were slightly quicker but I hope it gets closer throughout the year," he said. "I’m always ready, it just has not always been the case every year.”

I'm my own biggest critic, Vettel admits

Hockenheim - If Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is feeling the pressure ahead of his home German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, then he knows who to blame.

File picture: Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters.

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That, the four times Formula One world champion recognised on Thursday, is because he has always been his own harshest critic.


"If I get something wrong and do a mistake, I can’t be happy with that," the 32-year-old told reporters ahead of Sunday's race at Hockenheim.

"The pressure I put on myself after that is bigger than any external factors. (It’s been) the same as long as I can remember."

Vettel's lacklustre form has been under intense scrutiny this season, with his on-form 21-year-old Monegasque team-mate Charles Leclerc providing hot competition, and the pressure is mounting.


Last year at Hockenheim Vettel started on pole position only to crash out while leading on a track made slippery by rain.

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That turned out to be the costliest of a series of mistakes in 2018 that undid his title charge, handing Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton - who won in Germany - a lead that the Briton never relinquished.

Hamilton is now a five times champion and well on his way to a sixth title, winning seven of the 10 races so far.

Vettel, who won four titles in a row between 2010-13 with Red Bull, has meanwhile looked a shadow of his former self since that mistake.

The German has won just once since his Hockenheim heartbreak, at the Belgian Grand Prix last August.

Ferrari has been unable to produce a car to match dominant Mercedes this season with the Italian team without a win since now-departed Kimi Raikkonen triumphed in Texas last October.

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In his fifth season with the glamour team, Vettel is already 100 points behind championship leader Hamilton with no realistic hope of challenging for the title.

However, he said the dream of following in boyhood idol Michael Schumacher’s footsteps by becoming a champion for the sport’s oldest and most successful team remained very much alive.

Driving for Ferrari despite the weight of expectation that goes with it, he said, was a privilege and not a burden.

"I think we all know that Formula One is a world where people are very short sighted which is also fair and part of the game," said Vettel.

"Obviously this year hasn’t gone the way we wanted after the last two years.

"Still, I think things are progressing in the right direction in the big picture."

Good start for Ferrari as Vettel tops first Hockenheim practice

Hockenheim, Germany - Sebastian Vettel was fastest for Ferrari in opening practice for his home German Grand Prix on Friday with team-mate Charles Leclerc completing a one-two at the top of the timesheets.

Picture: Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters.

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The four times world champion lapped the 4.5km Hockenheim track, located just a half hour’s drive from his boyhood home in Heppenheim, in one minute 14.013 seconds on a sweltering morning.

The German, who crashed out while leading last year's race and is in danger of being upstaged by the younger Leclerc, was 0.255 faster than the Monegasque.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes painted in a special livery to celebrate 125 years of motorsport involvement for the German marque, was third and 0.302 seconds off Vettel’s pace.

The Briton, who leads team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 39 points and has won seven of 10 races so far, has expressed concern that the European heatwave could sap his bid for victory on Sunday.


Track temperatures touched the high 40s with ambient temperatures hovering around the mid-30.

Hamilton’s gap to Vettel appeared, however, to be down more to the 34-year-old setting his fastest lap on the medium tyres compared to the grippy and faster softs used by the German.

The five times champion and Bottas led the timesheets before Ferrari’s late soft tyre push.

Bottas ended the session fifth, sandwiched between the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen in fourth and Pierre Gasly in sixth.

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The Finn went off at the same corner Vettel crashed at last year but extricated himself from the gravel without damaging the car.

Carlos Sainz was seventh for McLaren, with Romain Grosjean eighth despite Haas running his car in the same specification it used for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll was ninth for Racing Point and Daniel Ricciardo, who survived a minor spin, rounded out the top 10 for Renault.

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The session was briefly red-flagged shortly after it got underway with Kevin Magnussen grinding to a halt on track, complaining of a loss of power.

His Haas was towed back to the pits with track action getting underway shortly after.

There were no major incidents other than drivers, including Hamilton and Bottas, running wide as they got to grips with the track.