As the Formula 1 season heads off for round nine of an increasingly-absorbing 2013 season, Sky Sports F1 will be the only place to watch the German Grand Prix live from the famous Nurburgring circuit.
Three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will be bidding to win his home race for the first time, while Lewis Hamilton – along with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen – strive to close the gap in the standings to the Red Bull driver who leads the drivers’ championship as the season reaches its halfway stage.
The Nurburgring race follows just one week on from a highly contentious and somewhat controversial British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where the conversation during the race itself was dominated by the one thing has dominated most F1 discussions this season – tyres.
After a few days of dramatic fallout and recriminations from the numerous high-speed tyre blow-outs seen last weekend’s British GP – which affected race leader Lewis Hamilton early on in the race as well several other drivers – F1’s sole tyre supplier Pirelli has confirmed its plan of attack to avoid a repeat of the Silverstone failures at the Nurburgring.
Their emergency remedy is the return of Kevlar-belted rear tyres – the solution the Italian manufacturer originally intended to race to cure the early-season delamination problems – replacing the revised structure trialled by drivers in Friday Practice in Montreal and then again last week at Silverstone.
While the fact that the blowouts happened on a back-to-back race weeks has been particularly untimely for Pirelli, the good news for them is that the relatively twisty Nurburgring certainly doesn’t possess Silverstone’s array of high-speed corners and tyre-loading demands.
Despite the negative fallout from last weekend’s grand prix, it is hoped that the racing will retake the centre stage at the Nurburging as the season moves into its ninth round.
Opened nearly 30 years ago in the shadow of the infamous 14-mile Nordschleife, the modern Nurburgring circuit doesn’t present quite the challenge offered by its much revered predecessor, but over the years it has proved itself to be a stern examination of a Formula 1 car and its driver.
The narrow, flowing circuit demands a compromise in set-up – the twisty, low-speed first sector contrasts the high-speeds reached later in the lap, while the chicanes demand soft suspension to allow drivers to really attack the kerbs.
True form ahead of the race is difficult to predict given that the German Grand Prix comes after a series of atypical circuits and – in the case of Silverstone – an atypical race.
That the Nurburgring demands a little bit of everything frequently ensures it is a race that finds out any weaknesses in the technical package.
Car performance can be rendered less-relevant, however, by the stormy weather that often afflicts the region – though the forecast is currently predicting a dry German Grand Prix.
After 14 consecutive scoring finishes, Sebastian Vettel’s race-ending gearbox malfunction denied the World Champion a likely 25 points at Silverstone.
His failure to score, combined with a gutsy drive to third from Fernando Alonso sees the Drivers’ Championship battle intensify, with Vettel (132), having his lead over Alonso (111) cut to just 21 points.
Meanwhile, in the Constructors’ table, Mercedes (171) has moved ahead of Ferrari (168) and is closing on championship leaders Red Bull Racing (219).
Enjoy all the action from the 2013 German Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 or by watching free-to-air highlights of qualifying and the race on BBC One.
FORMULA 1 2013 ON SKY SPORTS F1 HD
Sky Sports F1 HD has exclusive live coverage all the on-track action from this year’s German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Every practice session, Saturday’s qualifying and the race itself will be shown live in high-definition.
Simon Lazenby will present full coverage of the Friday practice sessions, qualifying and the race itself, where he will be joined throughout the weekend by Martin Brundle, Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill.
Ted Kravitz and Natalie Pinkham will have the latest news and reports and from the pit lane – as well as hosting Friday evening’s F1 Show – while commentary on all sessions comes from David Croft.
Martin Brundle joins Croft in the commentary box for both qualifying and the race, while Anthony Davidson will call the practice sessions as well as offer his insights from the Sky Pad during the weekend.
Sky’s qualifying show will include an exclusive sit-down interview with Force India’s coming-man Paul di Resta, a track guide with Nico Hulkenberg – yet to drive around the Nurburgring in a F1 car but a double winner here in the 2009 Sprint and Feature GP2 races – and a special feature on Michael Schumacher’s trip down memory lane around the legendary track for Mercedes.
For Sky Sports F1’s exclusively live race coverage, the likes of Martin Brundle, Damon Hill and Anthony Davidson will be providing expert analysis from the outset and the team will be sending its two intrepid explorers out into the Nurburgring wild for part two of ‘Crofty and Johnny go camping’.
The team will also be looking back at the history of Williams as the team prepare for their 600th grand prix.
During the race, a host of interactive additions, including on-board cameras, pit-lane feeds, the latest race stats and much more available via the red button and the Sky Sports for iPad app.
For those who won’t be at home, every second of the action can be seen via computers, laptops, mobiles and tablet devices on Sky Go.
Further information, news and video content can be found at skysports.com/f1, and viewers are encouraged to interact with the live programmes via Twitter – @SkySportsF1, #SkyF1.
Sky Sports F1 will also screen live action from GP2 and GP3 Series throughout the weekend with commentary provided by Will Buxton.
Thursday 4th July
F1 Drivers Press Conference
LIVE: 2.00pm-2.45pm Sky Sports F1
Gear Up For Germany
7.45pm-8.00pm Sky Sports F1
Friday 5th July
F1: Germany Grand Prix – Practice 1 | Start: 09:00
LIVE: 8.45am-11.00am Sky Sports F1
GP2: Germany – Practice | Start: 11:00
LIVE: 11.00am-11.40am Sky Sports F1
F1: Germany Grand Prix – Practice 2 | Start: 13:00
LIVE: 12.45pm-2.50pm Sky Sports F1
GP2: Great Britain – Qualifying | Start: 14:55
LIVE: 2.50pm-3.30pm Sky Sports F1
F1 Team Principals Press Conference
Delayed: 4.15pm-5.00pm Sky Sports F1
The F1 Show
LIVE: 5.00pm-6.00pm Sky Sports F1
Saturday 6th July
GP3: Germany – Qualifying | Start: 08:45
LIVE: 8.45am-9.20am Sky Sports F1
F1: German Grand Prix – Practice 3 | Start: 10:00
LIVE: 9.45am-11.10am Sky Sports F1
F1: German Grand Prix – Qualifying | Start: 13:00
LIVE: 12.00pm-2.35pm Sky Sports F1
GP2: Germany – Race 1 (Feature) | Start: 14:40
LIVE: 2.35pm-4.00pm Sky Sports F1
GP3: Germany – Race 1 | Start: 16:20
LIVE: 4.15pm-5.05pm Sky Sports F1
Sunday 7th July
GP3: Germany – Race 2 | Start: 08:20
LIVE: 8.20am-9.10am Sky Sports F1
GP2: Germany – Race 2 (Sprint) | Start: 09:30
LIVE: 9.30am-10.35am Sky Sports F1
F1: German Grand Prix – RACE | Start: 13:00
LIVE: 11.30am-4.15pm Sky Sports F1
F1: German Grand Prix – Highlights
7.00pm-8.30pm Sky Sports F1
BBC TV will have free-to-air highlights of the 2013 German Grand Prix on BBC One and BBC One HD.
Suzi Perry introduces all the action from the Nurburgring alongside David Coulthard, who will be on hand to provide lively analysis and discussion in the pits and paddock.
BBC One will broadcast peak-time extended highlights of the qualifying session on Saturday, May 25 at 5.55pm, with comprehensive race highlights the following day, also on BBC One, at 6.00pm.
Weather permitting and depending on the length of Saturday and Sunday’s Wimbledon singles finals – which are scheduled to precede BBC One’s highlights shows – it is likely that F1 coverage may switch to BBC Two (more likely on Sunday with the men’s final) if one or both of the finals overruns. Check EPG listings or for updates on BBC TV closer nearer the time.
Commentary on qualifying and the race comes from Ben Edwards and David Coulthard, with updates from the pit-lane by Tom Clarkson, Lee McKenzie will conduct interviews with the drivers and team personel and Gary Anderson will be on hand with the latest news on strategy.
McKenzie will also host the BBC’s preview programme Inside F1 on the BBC News Channel on Friday at 6.45pm.
The BBC Sport website will have live streaming of BBC One’s broadcasts, as well as additional video content including highlights of practice sessions, qualifying and the race, plus interviews and analysis.
All of the BBC’s TV coverage will be available to view shortly after transmission on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will have live audio commentary of every on-track session from the Nurburgring.
James Allen will lead the commentary team throughout the weekend.
Jennie Gow will be the pit-lane and paddock reporter gathering all the interviews and Gary Anderson will provide the latest technical analysis from the pits.
With 5 live prioritising Wimbledon finals coverage over the weekend, all the live F1 action can be heard on 5 live Sports Extra or online via the BBC Sport website.
Thursday 4th July
5 live Formula 1 – German Grand Prix Preview
7.30pm-8.30pm BBC Radio 5 live
Friday 5th July
F1: German Grand Prix – Practice 1 | Start: 09:00
LIVE: 8.55am-10.35am BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra
F1: German Grand Prix – Practice 2 | Start: 13:00
LIVE: 12.55pm-2.35pm BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra
Saturday 6th July
F1: German Grand Prix – Practice 3 | Start: 10:00
LIVE: 9.55am-11.05am BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra
F1: German Grand Prix – Qualifying | Start: 13:00
LIVE: 12.55pm-2.05pm BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra
Sunday 7th July
F1: German Grand Prix – RACE | Start: 13:00
LIVE: 12.30pm-3.30pm BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra
