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606: DEBATE
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By Caroline Cheese

1251: Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says "we shouldn’t see any rain" during the race. 1249: A McLaren engineer lets the cat out of the bag when he is grilled by Martin Brundle – can you put this thing on the podium, asks our intrepid reporter. "Yeah I would think so" comes the confident reply… Interesting, considering Lewis Hamilton and team boss Martin Whitmarsh have been carefully attempting to manage expectations since qualifying…1245: Sun still out at the Nurburgring. What looks like a German boy-band member is now doing an accapella version of the national anthem. George Michael in his Wham days is as close as I can get. Adrian Sutil has told Martin Brundle he’s hoping for a top 10 finish. "Maybe a point," he adds. "A little dream…"BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "Brawn boss Ross Brawn went as far yesterday evening as saying that he ‘welcomed’ a wet race. He is confident that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will not experience the same problems that restricted their pace in the last rainy GP, in China. ‘We have a different front wing now than we had in China,’ he said. ‘One of the problems with the wing we had was when we dropped the flap to get the balance you need in the wet, it lost an enormous amount of the aerodynamic performance in the car. We didn’t fully understand that until afterwards. I can’t judge where we will be in the wet, but we won’t have the problems we had in China.’"1240: Martin Brundle is on his grid-walk. Pole-sitter Mark Webber reckons his Red Bull team-mate Seb Vettel will be his main rival. Jenson Button reports that the grip is better for his Brawn because the track temperature is up.
1238: McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh tells BBC1 that they knew they had made major improvements to their car when they heard Lewis Hamilton "whooping" via his radio in practice on Friday. He adds: "We were disappointed not to get on the front row of the grid. Had we had fresh tyres at the end of Q3, I think Lewis would have been up there."BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "BBC 5 Live commentator David Croft had a ride around the track courtesy of Jenson Button at the wheel of an AMG Mercedes C63 on Saturday evening. Crofty described his trip in the 6.3-litre 527bhp monster as ‘amazing, exhilarating, exhausting, an honour and a privilege’. He says Button joked about halfway around the lap: ‘Imagine what it would be like with a decent driver.’"Michael Schumacher on a possible return to F1: "Put it this way: if I wanted to work, I have all the options. It’s not what I’m looking for."1232: "Horror-Start fur Vettel" is the headline in this morning’s Bild. Even with my completely non-existent German, I think I understand the gist. Vettel, who almost collided with Kazuki Nakajima in the pits, thought he had time for another flying lap in Q3, but saw the chequered flag instead and had to settle for fourth on the grid. His first task today will be to fend off Lewis Hamilton at the start.

BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt at the Nurburgring: "BBC HQ has been deafened by the sound of engines firing up. Guess what was outside the window Only a cluster of classic Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows racing cars. McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa says he is going to drive round the Nurburgring in a 1934 W35 before the Grand Prix. David Coulthard is also going to get behind the wheel of an F1 car for the first time since he retired as he gets back in a 1998 McLaren."BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "One of the attractions of coming here is the fabulous old Nordschleife circuit, which hosted the German GP until Niki Lauda’s fiery crash 1976. You can drive around it in your road car to get a taste of arguably the greatest race track ever built. But it is not an endeavour to take lightly – as one unfortunate man found out on Saturday evening. He had taken his £147,000 Lamborghini Gallardo for a lap and crashed at Bergwerk – coincidentally where Lauda went off – and the car caught fire and was destroyed. Fortunately, the driver was unhurt – at least physically. Insurance does not cover you for a lap of the ‘Ring. As the man at the gate said: ‘He was crying quite a lot when he got back here.’"Force India on Twitter:"Thank you all for your support yesterday. We’re looking for a good result today!"1223: They are sweltering in weekend-high temperatures of 17C at the Nurburgring. Coats are even being unzipped.BBC pundit Eddie Jordan: "He may not have said it, but you can tell Lewis thinks he’s in with a chance of victory today. I have never seen an upgrade as big and as comprehensive as this one by McLaren, so full marks to them."Lewis Hamilton speaking on BBC1: "It’s exciting to wake up on a Sunday to know we have a fighting chance for a podium or points finish. It’s all down to the hard work the guys have done at the factory."1220: "I’m the happiest guy in F1 today." So said Adrian Sutil yesterday. The German not only took Force India into Q3 for the first time, he also qualified in an impressive seventh. Force India may never get a better chance to secure their first points in F1.1215: Disappointing, Andrew, deeply disappointing. I have heard BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz might give the rollercoaster a go. Here’s hoping. BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "I’m afraid I’m not going to get on the new Nurburgring rollercoaster today, Caroline. But Michael Schumacher is going to be one of the celebs on its first run before the start of the race. The organisers claim it is the ‘prospectively (sic) the fastest rollercoaster in the world’. Apparently, it reaches its top speed of 217km/h (135mph) in 2.5 seconds. That’s fast even for Michael."1209: UK dwellers, manually refresh IMMEDIATELY for moving pictures.1208: In answer to the Kovalainen text query below, the Finn benefited from the weather chaos and his lap time is actually over a second slower than his McLaren team-mate.

1204: While I sat on the sofa and ate pizza last night, the F1 party headed to a middleweight boxing match at the Nurburgring. Bernie was there with Flavio Briatore. Michael Schumacher was there with Germany striker Lukas Podolski. Schuey, you’ll notice I’m sure, sporting a v dodgy necklace.From Joe, Dudley, via text on 81111: "A prediction. There will be not be a Brawn car on the podium today. Webber. Vettel. Hamilton. My 1.2.3."

From Future-Headlines on 606:"If there is a tougher job than being a weather forecaster at the Nurburgring, I don’t know what it is!"

From Ric, London, via text on 81111: "If Kovalainen has none of the upgrades that Lewis has, how come he’s lining up alongside him on the grid"1152: Lewis Hamilton famously loves the rain – but he may also be hoping for a dry start, so he can benefit from the Kers power-boost on his McLaren.BBC Sport’s pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie: "I might be making a bold statement, especially with the weather which will probably throw a very large spanner in the works, but this could be the day we see Lewis Hamilton back on the podium, albeit on the second or third step. I also think it could be Mark Webber’s day, finally. If it is raining then being tangled up in traffic and spray from cars in front will be a huge disadvantage and if Mark makes a good start then he could build-up a pretty handy lead."1146: The weather certainly had its say during a chaotic qualifying session yesterday. Mark Webber took pole – and once fuel loads are taken into account, the Aussie looks a good bet to end his long wait for a Grand Prix win. Lewis Hamilton was the big surprise though: the McLaren man qualified in fifth but is actually third on the fuel-adjusted grid, while Sebastian Vettel moves up from fourth to second. The two Brawns, struggling again with their tyre heat, are fuelled light. Adrian Sutil, on the other hand, won’t be stopping until lap 28, which could be a major benefit if it does rain. You can read more about it inthe F1 Mole’s latest offering.BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt at the Nurburgring: "Eddie Jordan put his old team principal wiles to practical use on the journey to the Nurburgring this morning. After the BBC minibus found itself stuck in a traffic jam, EJ took over: "Get right up at the front… Put your hazards on… Squeeze up on the outside!" Soon we were off piste, diving through the thick forests and mountain villages on the way to the Nurburgring. Once up at the circuit, the sight of EJ at the window prompted excited shouts of "Ahh, hey Eddie," and he began signing autographs to help ease the bus through the crowd."1137: BBC Sport’s Lee McKenzie was reported as saying "you can reach out and touch the clouds" at the Nurburgring this morning. Lovely. The BBC weather forecast is a lot less romantic andpredicts light showers throughout the day.However, the sun is now poking through and a dry line emerged on the track by the end of this morning’s GP2 race. In summary: it’s anybody’s guess.
1130: Hello… or should I say Hallo. About half an hour ago, I was looking up "it’s raining" in the German dictionary, as I looked forward to wet weather chaos at the Nurburgring. However, I’ve just had a call from our man in Germany and he reports that it has now stopped raining, they are predicting a dry race and he can even see the sun. Booooo

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