Formula 1: Looking back at the last five Hockenheimring races

Formula 1 is coming back to Germany in 2018 at the Hockenheimring. Will the race deliver a few surprises, or will it be business as usual?

The German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring is one Formula 1 race in which being fastest on Saturday almost guarantees a win. In fact, the winner at Hockenheim has almost always come from the front row. The last non-front row winner was Fernando Alonso in 2006. He started in P3. The only winner to start further back than Alonso in the last 18 years is Rubens Barrichello, who started in P18 in 2000.

So as we look back on the last five German Grands Prix at the Hockenheimring, keep a close eye on Saturday’s qualifying session, as the winner will most likely come from the top two finishers in qualifying if history has anything to say about it.

2008

The German Grand Prix has been kind to Lewis Hamilton, who has won it twice in his career at the Hockenheimring and three times overall, as he also won in 2011 at the Nurburgring. His maiden German Grand Prix victory was a dominant one, as he started on pole position and led 54 of the race’s 67 laps en route to a convincing 5.586-second victory. While it was a routine Sunday drive for Hamilton, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Nick Heidfeld gave fans a show, as both worked through the field to finish well above their starting positions in P2 and P4 after starting in P17 and P12, respectively.

2010

Alonso won for the second time at the Hockenheimring in 2010, spoiling the excellent race of teammate Felipe Massa as well as the pole position start of the home favorite, Sebastian Vettel, in one go. Massa led a race-high 40 laps en route to finishing in P2. Vettel finished on the podium in P3, as the German’s Red Bull couldn’t keep up with the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa.

2012

In 2012, Alonso defended his 2010 win in dominating fashion by leading all but three laps and completing a pole to flag victory. Like it did for Hamilton in 2008, all of the action happened behind race leader Alonso, with several drivers overcoming double-digit starting positions to claim a top 10 finishing spots. Among the notable drives of the day were Nico Rosberg’s charge from P21 to P10, Sergio Perez’s run from P17 to P6 and Kimi Raikkonen’s podium finish after starting P10.

2014

The first year of Mercedes’ dominant run had an exclamation point for the Germans at the Hockenheimring, as Germany won their fourth World Cup title and Rosberg, now with Mercedes, fed off of the post-World Cup energy to claim the pole position, lead all 67 laps of the race and take the win by over 20 seconds. While Rosberg held station out front, his teammate Hamilton was busy carving through the field from P20 to finish on the podium, a clear showing of Mercedes’ advantage over the rest of the grid that season.

2016

Two years after his dominant victory, Rosberg returned to the Hockenheimring with thoughts of repeating his 2014 race and looked to be on pace to do that after grabbing the pole position.

However, unlike in 2014, Hamilton started in P2, not in P20, and had a better start to lead into turn one while Rosberg encountered early problems. Rosberg finished the race down in P4 while Hamilton led all 67 laps and paced the Red Bull Racing pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in P2 and P3, respectively, to the finish.

Next: Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time

If history is any indication, Saturday will be the all-important day of the weekend for drivers in the 2018 edition of the German Grand Prix. However, the season is quickly proving to be a bit of a surprise, so will a surprise (or two) come from outside the front row? We will find out on Sunday.

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