Valtteri Bottas vs Lewis Hamilton, or can Max Verstappen win the Eifel GP?

All the big talking points and stories before today’s Eifel GP, and a hard-to-predict Nurburgring race; Watch it live at 1:10 p.m. on Sky F1

23:35

Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz breaks down the big stories so far at the Nurburgring and what they mean for Sunday’s race.

Will F1’s Nurburgring comeback deliver another 2020 epic?

An hour of practice instead of the usual four would present big challenges for drivers on any Formula 1 circuit. But a tricky old-school track that hasn’t appeared on the calendar since 2013 and on which 12 of the current grid hasn’t? have they raced an F1 car? That, not to mention it will be one of the coldest races in modern F1, creates a lot of unknowns and hopefully an excellent race.

• Watch today’s Eifel GP at 1:10 PM on Sky Sports F1, before 11:30 AM

Meanwhile, the safety cars at the Nurburgring are usually not too far away. In fact, they haven’t been to the last few F1 2020 races either, with incidents sparking one in each of the last four Grands Prix.

4:17

Nico Rosberg praised Valtteri Bottas after taking pole position ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Eifel GP.

Bottas vs Hamilton and a change of momentum?

“Sometimes it can lose its momentum and it can go down, and it will stay down for a couple of races.”

It’s too early to suggest that Hamilton is losing some kind of momentum after a disappointing weekend in Russia, where he racked up two penalties and still finished on the podium, but an off-color qualification adds particular relevance to Nico’s earlier quote. Rosberg. , a man who knows Hamilton, how to beat him in a championship battle, and his supposed “weakness” better than most.

1:58

Sky F1’s Karun Chandhok looks at the qualifying laps of the duo of Mercedes Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton at the Eifel GP.

Saturday was by far Hamilton’s least competitive qualifying compared to his teammate all season and while he still has a 44-point lead over Bottas, the Finn is enjoying a boost in his momentum after continuing. a first win in nine races last time. in Sochi with a first pole in five here. And Rosberg was right to insist that Bottas should seize any opportunity that presented itself.

I would suspect that a chance to match Michael Schumacher’s winning record and the challenge of racing on a small track would spur Hamilton into a fight. Mercedes insists the pair can compete wheel-to-wheel, while cutting Hamilton’s title lead should be motivation enough for Bottas. .

But Mercedes vs Verstappen could be even more decisive …

Bottas and Hamilton may be in the front row, but Red Bull has been narrowing the gap significantly in recent weeks and Max Verstappen was on Saturday, perhaps for the first time this season, a true pole contender. If you back that up in the race, when it tends to be most competitive, then we could have a three-way fight for the win.

“The Red Bulls have closed the gap so they can be faster than us,” admitted Hamilton. Rosberg added: “If there’s a little, little chance, you know Verstappen will do it.”

Ferrari, the surprise midfield leaders

In most races since F1’s brief summer ‘hiatus’, Ferrari has been closer to backrunners and a Q1 exit than to the sharp end of midfield. But while Sebastian Vettel failed to make it to Q3 for the seventh time in a row on Saturday, Charles Leclerc made sure Ferrari rejoined what has been F1’s most common battle in recent years, Mercedes vs. Red Bull vs. Ferrari. in the top four. Judging from Ferrari’s racing form this season compared to qualifying, I’d suspect Leclerc has a good chance of a strong race, even though Red Bull’s Alex Albon may prove too fast from fifth place.

Behind that, Renault is back in shape, while McLaren, Sergio Pérez and the aforementioned Vettel should be the top 10 contenders at the very least.

Hamilton isn’t the only man on the brink of an F1 record

Hamilton may match an F1 record on Sunday, but Kimi Raikkonen will be break one. Don’t expect many celebrations from the Iceman, especially since he ranks a disappointing 19th on the grid, but a 323 start is quite an achievement.

And we have a special Kimi x Rubens Barrichello x Martin Brundle feature on our racing program at 11.30am. M.

Hulkenberg on a mission about the unexpected return to F1

In his last substitute appearance at Racing Point, Nico Hulkenberg qualified third and finished seventh. Given that he starts at 20th today, understandable given that he was put in the car just before Saturday’s shooting, the only way is for a driver who, as he has shown over the years, can shine on a Sunday.