2010 German Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads the Drivers’ Championship with 145 points, 12 ahead of Button in second and 17 ahead of Webber in third. Vettel is fourth on 121 points and Alonso fifth on 98 — 47 behind Hamilton. McLaren lead the Constructors’ Championship with 278 points; Red Bull are second with 249 and Ferrari third with 165.

Previous race

Webber won the British Grand Prix, passing Vettel from second off the start line. Vettel, who had been given Webber’s new front wing by team principal Christian Horner after Vettel’s own wing was damaged in final practice, developed a puncture on the first lap and was forced to pit. Webber went on to win by a comfortable margin.

Between-race developments

Bridgestone has announced plans to increase the performance difference between their two dry compounds for the German Grand Prix, following the extreme tyre degradation observed in Canada. The harder of the two compounds available will be significantly harder than before, forcing teams to manage a wider range of grip levels.

Red Bull and Ferrari have both been accused of running flexible bodywork — banned under the sporting regulations. The FIA has announced plans to intensify the load tests on front wings, having already strengthened them once earlier this season. Although neither team has failed a scrutineers’ test, the increased scrutiny adds pressure ahead of Hockenheim.

Entrants

Karun Chandhok is dropped at Hispania Racing and replaced again by Sakon Yamamoto, while Bruno Senna reclaims his race seat as confirmed after Silverstone. Hispania states Yamamoto impressed at the British Grand Prix.

Car upgrades

McLaren introduces a revised blown diffuser which was discarded after Friday practice at Silverstone: the pipe is cut at an angle, moved outwards with a longer inner section, and the side channel carbon materials are changed. Mercedes introduces a new rear wing designed to work more efficiently with their F-duct. Ferrari brings a refinement to the exhaust system and modified diffuser side channels. Sauber arrives with several aerodynamic upgrades including a modified diffuser.

Practice

The first session was held in wet-to-mixed conditions. Drivers used full wets in the opening period before switching to intermediates, with the changing grip preventing meaningful dry-tyre data collection. Sutil led with a time of 1:25.701; Massa was second despite several spins. Button was third with a handling imbalance. Hamilton drove into standing water at turn three and slid sideways into the turn four tyre barrier, heavily damaging his car.

Most of the track dried for the second session, allowing more representative times. Alonso set the fastest lap of the day at 1:16.265, with Vettel second and Massa third. Rosberg was fifth despite damaging his front wing against a kerb bollard. A heavy rain shower arrived on Saturday morning but cleared before the final session. Vettel set the fastest time of 1:15.503, with Alonso second and Massa fourth. Sutil missed the entire session when his Force India’s driveshaft broke, costing him 45 minutes of running.

Milestones

Hamilton is the defending race winner at the Hockenheimring, having won here in 2008. The future of the German Grand Prix had been in doubt after the governments of Baden-Württemberg and Hockenheim withdrew funding, but an agreement has now been reached to run the event until 2018, splitting with the Nürburgring on alternate years.