Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Williams have had a positive weekend after a very dark first half of 2018 - which is nice, considering they reach the milestone of their 700th grand prix this weekend. The car has suffered from fundamental aerodynamic instability all year - basically, the rear downforce suddenly drops away when the drivers turn the steering wheel as a result of a “stall” of the floor.

A new front wing introduced this weekend in the hope of resolving the problem has done exactly that, and Sergey Sirotkin has qualified the car 12th - the team’s best qualifying position since Baku back in April. Technical chief Paddy Lowe described the front wing as “a big step, a big item”, and added: “We’re not claiming we’ve made any great leap forward, we’ve made a step and brought a new wing yesterday.

"The good thing is that it’s done exactly what we’ve intended, both from a measured point of view and also from driver’s comments corresponding to what we hoped to achieve. That’s a good platform from which to build with further developments.” From 12th, Sirotkin’s first ever points might even be a possibility.

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There was no race in Germany last year, but 2016 has happy memories for Lewis Hamilton as he got the jump on polesitter Nico Rosberg at the start and then led every single lap on his way to the victory.

The top 10 were...

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
5. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
8. Jenson Button (McLaren)
9. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
10. Sergio Perez (Force India)

It will be pretty special if Hamilton and Ricciardo can get first and second this time around.

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ÓTùnBá Lamba: Going for a routine Vettel win.... Hamilton will crawl his way back for a podium position.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Haas were decisively best of the rest in qualifying, Kevin Magnussen qualifying fifth, 0.3secs clear of the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg in seventh, with the second Haas of Romain Grosjean just pipping the German.

But in the race they have not tended to be as strong, and the prospects are for an intense midfield battle involving the Haas, Renaults, Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, Force India’s Sergio Perez and even Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in 11th. Expect Esteban Ocon, out of position in 16th in his Force India, can also be expected to feature at some point.

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Max Verstappen starts fourth, but is looking for his fifth podium finish of the season.

Nico Rosberg is the last German to have won this race, with his success in 2014. He is tipping Sebastian Vettel to win today.

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The 2013, 2011 and 2009 races took place at the Nurburgring. Fernando Alonso also won in Germany in 2007 at the Nurburgring, but that race was called the European Grand Prix.

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With 21 races in 2018, there are calls to shorten the season - but what would a 16-race campaign look like? Pick your F1 calendar here.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Max Verstappen achieved a landmark in qualifying by taking the first corner flat-out on his final run. Its the first time anyone has done that and Verstappen - not the most poetic of talkers - described it as “good” and “nice”.

He starts fourth, and is optimistic he can be closer to Ferrari and Mercedes in the race than in qualifying. "It is just the engine mode, very clear," he said of his deficit on Saturdays. "Ferrari, you can see it's very logical, because Ferrari is quick, Haas is quick, Sauber is quick, and it's always on power tracks.

They have a really, really strong engine. [In the race] they cannot use the power mode they have all the time, so that would bring us a little bit closer. If it's going to be enough, I'm not sure, but at least it'll be a bit closer."

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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, speaking during the drivers' parade, was thrilled to see the levels of Dutch support crossing the border: "It’s great to see a lot of orange around the track. I hope we have a good race and finish on the podium."

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Lewis Hamilton, speaking during the drivers' parade: "This is the most people I’ve seen at this race. The game plan is to go forward. I’ve got to catch Sebastian somehow."

Asked what advice he had given to team-mate Valtteri Bottas: "I just told Valtteri to go out and win the race."

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Sebastian Vettel, on pole for Ferrari, speaking to Sky Sports: "There were no mistakes yesterday - it was a great lap.

"The car was amazing yesterday. When the car is doing what you want, it’s a great feeling. So fingers crossed for the race and I hope we have a great one."

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Craig‏: Should be an interesting one today. Bottas sandwiched between the two Ferraris, Hamilton and Ricciardo both hungry and looking to fight back through the field. Drama looking to be on the cards, maybe we could have some rain too?

Ged Ashton: Verstappen to cause a retirement, Vettel to get a puncture and the two Mercedes on the podium.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Can Valtteri Bottas challenge Sebastian Vettel for the win? His first problem is the start, where Ferrari have been very strong in recent races, and fending off Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, who starts third, as much as attacking Vettel, albeit the Mercedes driver has the inside line into Turn One.

After that, Bottas said he expected race pace to be “very close”. But for what it’s worth, Vettel’s race pace averages looked a little stronger even than Lewis Hamilton’s in Friday practice - and Bottas was a smidge slower than his team-mate, at least on the ultra-soft tyres that will be used by the front-runners at the start.

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This picture is just too good to only use the once. The rain came yesterday, but one fan improvised perfectly.

We get going at 14:10 BST and the stands are packed. We are expecting 70,000 at Hockenheim today.