Drivers preview their Nurburgring race

As always there are many candidates for the win and it will certainly not be a lack of motivation. The top teams are closer to each other then during the last 5 years and many are there to show how good their form is. While Alonso is modestly aiming for a podium, Schumi is up for the top spot...

At the top list of possible winners are most likely the McLaren drivers. Kimi is doing well during the last two races while Montoya needs to find a little more confidence with his MP4-20. The Columbian is hoping for a trouble free weekend at Nürburgring after a very incident filled race in Monaco. Montoya got a penalty for causing an accident in free practice. Now he hopes to match the blistering performances of his teammate Kimi Raïkkonen at Spain and Monaco:
"I can't wait to get back on track at the Nürburgring this weekend, and hopefully have a trouble free weekend to take advantage of the current performance of the car. This event is notorious for understeer, so there will be a focus on dailling it out during Friday's free practice sessions. Unlike Monaco there are a couple of overtaking opportunities at the Nürburgring, such as at the NGK chicane and the hairpin in the Mercedes Arena."

Montoya's teammate at McLaren Mercedes, Kimi Raïkkonen, hopes to win again at Nürburgring. If he manages to do so it will be his third victory in a row:
"After such a great result in Monaco, I am really looking forward to racing again this coming weekend," Raïkkonen said. "The MP4-20 package is working really well and hopefully we will continue to be competitive in Germany. The Nürburgring has quite
good grip and we can use a medium downforce configuration as it has a mix of corners, straights and hairpins. It's a fun track to drive, and hopefully we will be able to put on an exciting race for the Mercedes-Benz home crowd."

That said, Raikkonen is probably the only one who publicly says he likes to drive on the Nürburgring. Some of his colleagues already stated there is nothing really exciting about this track.

David Coulthard is also ready for the European Grand Prix and he wants to 'set the record straight' at Nürburgring:
"After a dissapointing race in Monaco I am hoping for better luck in this weekend's race at the Nürburgring," said Coulthard. "We were very unlucky to be put out of the race last weekend as I was heavy on fuel and could have been one of the last to pit. I never spend too much time reflecting on what might have been so I'm just looking forward to getting on with the job this weekend."

Overall the new qualifying format may well have an influence in the qualifying result, possibly even extending to eventual race results.

Christian Horner feels that the new qualifying format will play
into his teams advantage : "Our cars have always tended to work better when running with the race fuel load in the Sunday session, so this new format should suit us."
Michael Schumacher on his behalf is happy for the fans with the new qualifying but may be more for himself: ''Now, we might have an opportunity to make up our disadvantage by going for a different fuel load".

Time will tell for these gentlemen, and they won't have to wait too long...