Rosberg all set to keep Ger feting

The historians would have to delve back to 1939, before the outbreak of World War Two, to find the last all-German home triumph,  Rudolf Caracciola for Mercedes-Benz at the Nuerburgring. 

Now, after Fangio’s compatriots failed to deny Germany victory in last Sunday’s World Cup final, Rosberg arrives at Hockenheim with the party well underway and fans keen to keep the beer flowing in the forest campsites as F1 reaches the halfway point in the season. 

He has plenty to celebrate himself, having signed a new multi-year contract after getting married last week and, even if his team are British based, a win for the ‘Silver Arrows’ in Germany will be something special. 

Rosberg knows he has a real chance, even if he may have lost some of the momentum after suffering his first retirement of the season in the previous race at Silverstone won by team mate Lewis Hamilton. The German is still four points clear of the Briton and hungry for his first home win, if Monaco, where he grew up and lives, is excluded from the reckoning. 

‘I lost a lot of points and the championship battle is very close but I’m feeling good. Hockenheim is a crucial race for all of us, it’s the home Grand Prix for Mercedes-Benz and a second home race for me after Monaco, so I’m really focused on getting a top result this weekend. It’s actually the circuit I’ve won the most races at during my career through all the junior categories so I know it suits my driving style,’ he said this week.  

It also suits Hamilton, with the Briton winning there in his 2008 title season, and a repeat will see him regain the overall lead, with Hungary, where he won last year, next up. ‘It is always good to beat others on their home turf. It will be great to win in Germany. This is a fresh start, the second half of the season and this is really when it is going to be tough,’ he told reporters after Silverstone.

Red Bull’s quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel was a home winner last year at the Nuerburgring while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has won the last two races held at Hockenheim under the current alternation agreement. ‘The last 2 times we had the race in Hockenheim, 2 victories. This weekend should be a bit more difficult but still, I have a good feeling,’ the Spaniard tweeted this week, before posting a mock-up of himself as Superman.

Meanwhile, Williams have had Valtteri Bottas on the podium in the last two races and can expect to be competitive again while Alonso’s record, he has won three times at Hockenheim, means the Spaniard is always in the reckoning. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg will be aiming to continue his record as one of only two drivers to score in every race this season while fellow-German Adrian Sutil is still seeking his first points of 2014 with Sauber.