While most of the talk around the Ferrari F1 team lately has been whether as to whether or not Fernando Alonso will stay there after next year and who is going to take the place of their other current driver Kimi Raikkonen, the team is still trying to focus on good results for the season which is still in progress.
At the British Grand Prix two weeks ago an accident for Raikkonen on lap one which collected Williams’ driver Felipe Massa with it finished the race early for both drivers. It also sidelined Raikkonen for testing at the Silverstone circuit the next day with an ankle injury. Pedro de la Rosa, a Ferrari test driver usually running laps in a simulator and Marussia driver Jules Bianchi filled in for the injured Finn in order for him to rest up and be in good health for this weekend’s event in Germany.
The Hockenheimring in July is supposed to be a big test of reliability this weekend, with hot temperatures giving the new cars a run for their money. With Mercedes driver and Drivers’ Championship leader Nico Rosberg suffering a retirement in England, there is proof that no team is safe from the mechanical and electrical gremlins hiding in the new cars. High temperatures could compound the situation. Leading up to the race temperatures will be nearing 32C (90F), but as of Wednesday the 16th Sunday appears to be much cooler with highs around 26C (79F) and a 40% chance of rain. Oh good, another variable to keep track of.
Speaking of variables, on top of wondering if the car will simply make it to the finish, the tyres Pirelli have brought are the soft and super-soft tyres. This makes teams really have to stay on top of their strategy as the grip level will be diminishing very quickly. This will be compounded further as the track itself is going to require everything from high downforce, mechanical grip and straight-line speed. All three of those things haven’t exactly been Ferrari’s speciality this season and tyre graining has been a huge complaint race in and race out.
It won’t be hard for Raikkonen to improve on his last finish but Alonso will once again have his work cut out for him to attempt to land himself on the podium. A thrilling battle with Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone eventually ended with the Spaniard having to give way to Vettel and settle for a sixth place finish. Alonso has been gutting out great drives to keep his F14T in the points for the entirety of this season. Fernando and Nico Hulkenberg are the only drivers on the grid to have scored points at every grand prix thus far. Hopefully I didn’t just put the jinx on them but at some point you have to think Alonso’s luck will run out in the reliability game.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @Billman93. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Formula 1 writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
