Mark Webber snatched victory from Fernando Alonso's grasp at the last race in Britain, and now the pack move on to Hockenheim for the penultimate race before the summer break. The championship continues to be exceedingly close, and the performance of teams seems to vary with each new circuit we attend - so who will end up on top in Germany? That's what the coming action will tell us, and this is everything you need to know ahead of the weekend.

Event schedule

Fernando Alonso managed to retain his lead on the driver's championship, whilst Red Bull continue to do exceedingly well in the constructors. Both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel have shown some increased pace over the last few race weekends, and Vettel will be heading into his home race so may have added incentive to perform well. He's not the only one, however, with Mercedes fielding two German drivers, plus of course, Timo Glock and Nico Hülkenberg.

Support racing for this event includes GP2, GP3, and Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

The weather

Although the weather forecasts are not predicting the sorts of rain that we saw at Silverstone, there could still be some precipitation on the cards as we head towards the weekend. Just like the British GP, however, it is meant to clear up for the Sunday, so that we will hopefully see a race without any significant delays. Keep in mind the weather at Hockenheim can be just as unpredictable as in the depths of the British countryside, though.

Hockenheim

Friday, 20 July

• 21℃
• Low 13℃
• Humidity 65%
• Afternoon showers

Hockenheim

Saturday, 21 July

• 21℃
• Low 12℃
• Humidity 71%
• Light rain

Hockenheim

Sunday, 22 July

• 22℃
• Low 11℃
• Humidity 59%
• Partly cloudy

Circuit map

The circuit

There have been a few tweaks to the circuit for safety reasons this year, after the last race in 2010. The drag strip at turn 16 will have the rubber removed before the racing action begins.

There's also some changes to the artificial grass, with a higher quality replacement. Finally, some work has been done on the safety barriers as well.

The circuit as a whole hasn't changed, with the last major redesign at Hockenheim a decade ago. Many drivers and fans miss the forest section of track that is bypassed in the current layout.

However, the track is still challenging enough - fast flowing, and a difficult mix of high and low downforce sections. Reports suggest that as the tyres start to wear, understeer could become a problem, so that it will be crucial to maintain balance through the duration of the race.

Tyre compounds

Pirelli are returning to the medium and soft compounds this weekend - the combination last being used at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. The tyre supplier are also bringing their experimental hard tyres in the hopes the weather might play fair and let the teams try them out on Friday.

Pirelli's test driver Lucas di Grassi gives the benefit of his experience with the rubber to evaluate what might be the problem areas this weekend.

Unlike the old Hockenheim, the modern circuit is a track that doesn’t have any particular one feature that will push the tyres hard but instead the challenge comes from a combination of factors: there are some heavy braking areas, with lots of energy going through the tyre, and the stadium section relies heavily on lateral grip.

- Lucas di Grassi

Press conference schedule

Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend. The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.

Race stewards

The FIA stewarding process was changed last year to include a former F1 driver to give added insight. These are the stewards overseeing this weekend's action.