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The 2018 German Grand Prix will be held at the Hockenheimring from July 20 - July 22 and with the way the season has shaped up so far, there could be quite a lot of action both at the top and at the middle of the pack.
A resurgent Ferrari has challenged Mercedes in almost every race this season and would be determined to end the Silver Arrows' winning streak at the German Grand Prix. However, Lewis Hamilton would be determined to put the Silverstone incident behind him and get back to winning ways.
The German GP has undergone quite a few changes since its foray into Formula 1. Traditionally, Nurburgring hosted the race, but in 1970, Hockenheimring made its debut in Formula 1. Since then, the lion share of the race weekends were held at Hockenheim. Both the tracks had seen major redesigns and have offered spectacular racing with race victors here going to further to become world champions.
With the uncertainty surrounding the German Grand Prix, 2018 could well be the last time we see the F1 cars moving around the iconic Hockenheimring and the Nurburgring. Let us take a trip down the memory lane and look closer at the five most memorable moments of the German Grand Prix.
#5 Ferrari's team orders scandal
In the 2010 Grand Prix, Ferrari's controversial team orders, which forced Felipe Massa to slow down and let Fernando Alonso pass him attracted much criticism from both pundits and the fans. Additionally, the team was fined $100,000 dollars for the same.
Ferrari locked starting grid with a great qualifying session that saw the Brazilian and the Spaniard finish third and second respectively. A poor start by Sebastian Vettel allowed Massa to take the lead, who was closely followed by Alonso.
The Brazilian led the race until lap 48 but later surrendered the lead to the Spaniard the very next lap after his race engineer Rob Smedley told Massa "OK, so, Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?"
This incident joined the list of the controversial team orders issued by Scuderia Ferrari and is quite often seen analogous to the 2002 incident when Barrichello slowed down on the final lap to finish second behind Michael Schumacher.
#4 The two-heat race at AVUS
The AVUS hosted the German Grand Prix in 1959, which was held across two-heats. The dangerous race track was over 8km long and had an interesting design with only four major turns. Interestingly, this was the only race in Formula 1 history that had a concept of multiple rounds.
Tony Brooks's brilliant drives with the Ferrari ensured that he won the race across the two rounds and the win at the German Grand Prix was his second of the season. He went on to finish the season in the second place behind Sir John Arthur Brabham.
Frenchman Jean Behra was killed in a sportscar crash the very same weekend, and this ensured that it was going to be the only Formula 1 visit to the AVUS track.
#3 Niki Lauda's life-threatening crash at Nurburgring
The 1975 world champion had a horrific crash in which he suffered serious burns in the 1976 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
The Austrian held the lap record at the Nurburgring the previous year and was favored to win the GP. Appalling weather conditions combined with the treacherous conditions of the track forced Lauda to set a meeting before the race to urge his fellow drivers to boycott the event.
Failing to convince the drivers, the race went on and Lauda was pushing to make up time after his pit stop. However, just before the Bergwerk right-hand curve, the Austrian's Ferrari hit the fencing and bounced back on the track, before being wrapped in flames. Niki Lauda suffered extensive burns and was flown to the hospital in a helicopter.
Lauda returned to racing only after three weeks and finished fourth at Monza with his wounds bandaged. He went on to finish second in the championship that year.
#2 Prost trying to push his car over the finish line
Alain Prost's rather interesting moment on the final lap of the 1986 German Grand Prix, which won a lot of hearts and is one of the finest examples of racing passion exhibited by the drivers.
The Frenchman had a very good qualifying and made a McLaren one-two with Keke Rosberg taking the pole. Most of the race was smooth and saw very little action at the top of the field. Senna took the lead in the opening laps while the later stages were led by the other Brazilian Nelson Piquet.
McLaren opted for a single-stop strategy while the Williams went for two-stops. Theoretically, it was advantage McLaren but in the final lap, just after the last corner, Keke Rosberg's car stopped after running out of fuel, who at the moment, was right behind the eventual winner Piquet.
Prost was in the third place when his car too stopped just before the finish line. The desperate Frenchman got out of his car and tried to push the car over the finish line but was passed by two drivers. He was classified sixth while Rosberg was awarded the fifth place.
#1 Rubens Barrichello's win after starting from the 18th place
Rubens Barrichello's first Formula 1 win at the 2000 German Grand Prix is surely the most memorable moment at the Hockenheimring.
The Brazilian had an appalling qualifying session that saw him start the race from a long way back in the 18th place.
Barrichello had a dream start as he progressed to the tenth place at the end of the first lap. Moreover, the deployment of the safety car in quick succession at laps 25 and 29 helped the Brazilian's surge to the top of the field.
What began as a dry race soon transpired to become a damp race and then changed into a wet race. Rubens Barrichello's inspired drive in the rain with the slick tyres helped him jump the leaders who had pitted for a change of tyres. He won the race with a margin of 7.4 seconds over Mika Hakkinen.
Elsewhere, Jensen Button of the Williams finished in fourth place after finishing 16th in qualifying.
