Every time this race is great for me. We saw the support the team had two weeks ago at the British Grand Prix and also the British drivers like Lewis and Jenson. With five different German drivers there is plenty for the fans back home to support. It will be a very special weekend for me, taking place just 30 minutes from my family home. I have achieved some good results in this race in the past and it is always good to have some friends and family around me to share the experience. I hope the weather will be good for us and, basically, I’m just counting the days now until the weekend can begin. I think we made a good start with our new package in Silverstone two weeks ago and I hope we will see a further small step with it.

I’m eager to get back in the car after the positive signs we saw with our new aero upgrade at Silverstone. It was clear that there is still plenty more we can extract from it and I hope to continue this progress at the weekend. It will be another special weekend for the team as it is Timo’s home race, which is great for him. I have raced at the Hockenheimring once before, in 2010 in GP2, and I secured pole position and finished on the podium in 3rd place.

We are all looking forward to heading back to the Hockenheimring for the first time since our debut season of F1 competition in 2010. This is our third ‘home’ event in succession, coming off the back of the British Grand Prix on our factory doorstep and then last weekend’s demonstration event in Russia. Next, it’s Timo’s home race, and we can expect to see a lot of support for him, and for the team. That will provide a big boost for him I’m sure, as it’s always a special feeling to have your home crowd rooting for you. This weekend we’re looking forward to exploring more of the potential of the significant aerodynamic upgrade package we debuted at Silverstone two weeks ago. We had a solid race but there were some flashes of even greater promise during the course of the weekend that we were unable to bring to fruition due to the weather. It’s hard to believe that we have arrived at the midpoint of the season; the first six months have passed by so quickly. This is the first of two back to back races that take us to the summer break, when everyone in the team will be able to enjoy a well-deserved break, so it would be nice to see some really positive steps over these two races and end this leg of the season on a high note.