F1: Nico Rosberg seeks home comfort at German Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg heads into this weekends German Grand Prix all set to strike back against Lewis Hamilton in the championship battle and give his alreadygiddy home fans another sporting high to cheer aboutMercedes Nico Rosberg walks into the teams motorhome at Hockenheimring yesterday PicGetty ImagesRosberg arrives at the Hockenheimring circuit with a freshlyminted multiyear Mercedes contract extension in his pocket and with a chance of becoming the first German to win at home in a German car in Formula OneA historic Rosberg win in a Mercedes which would be the first by a works Silver Arrow on home soil since Juan Manuel Fangio won the German Grand Prix for Mercedes in 1954 would chime perfectly with the nations recent World Cup triumphBut more crucially for Rosberg it would allow him to resume extending his lead in the overall standings All year long in a season dominated by Mercedes the advantage in the title race has continuously seesawed from Rosberg to Hamilton and back againJust two weeks ago the margin between the two stood at 29 points but Rosbergs advantage over his teammate was slashed dramatically after the German was forced into his first retirement of the season at the previous race in Great BritainHamilton won that race and now lies just four points off the head of the standings and Rosberg knows that should his rival win on Sunday he will regain the lead in the championshipI lost a lot of points and the championship battle is very close but Im feeling good Rosberg who married his longtime girlfriend Vivian Sibold in the week following the British Grand Prix saidHockenheim is a crucial race for all of us Its the home Grand Prix for MercedesBenz and a second home race for me after Monaco so Im really focused on getting a top result this weekend he addedRosberg has never before in his Formula One career had the car to win at the Hockenheimring but the son of 1982 world champion Keke has had some success around this circuit in the junior formulaeIts actually the circuit Ive won the most races at during my career through all the junior categories so I know it suits my driving style Rosberg said Of course I would love to add Formula One to that list sometime soonAs he has at every race this year Rosberg will face a stiff challenge from teammate Hamilton The Briton is no slouch around the Hockenheimring either and won here for McLaren on his way to the title in 2008Furthermore following his win at Silverstone Hamilton seems to have rediscovered the purple of patch of form that took him to four straight race wins earlier this year and is eager to continue in the same vein as he heads into the race that marks the halfway point of the yearI feel like Ive been on the back foot all year only briefly leading the championship despite taking the wins Ive had so to have got myself just about level was exactly what I needed Hamilton who now has five wins to Rosbergs three saidIts almost a fresh start heading into the second half of the season and its going to be a really close battle between usThe most successful driver around Hockenheim among the current crop is Fernando Alonso The Spaniard has won here three times including in 2012 the last time Formula One went to the circuit which hosts the German Grand Prix every alternate year in a racesharing deal with the NurburgringBut given Ferraris current form the team hasnt won a race since last years Spanish Grand Prix the double world champion has written off his chances of winning a race this yearIf Im honest with you Id say no its not possible to win this year Alonso told reporters ahead of the British Grand PrixWe will try to do the best we can and if one opportunity arrives we will take it Its extremely difficult with the performance we are showingThe most recent German Grand Prix winner is Sebastian Vettel The reigning world champion won his home race for the first time last year when it was held at the Nurburgring to join Alonso and Hamilton as the only three German Grand Prix winners in the fieldHe has never won at Hockenheim the circuit where he first watched Formula One cars in action as a fiveyearold in 1992 and his best result here is a third place finishWith Mercedes expected to dominate again this weekend and Williams who have taken over from Red Bull as the best of the rest over the last few races a repeat of that podium is possibly the best the reigning world champion can hope for in front of his home fansOf course you want to give as much as possible back to the fans Vettel who hasnt finished higher than third this season saidBut sometimes its not in your hands However we will attack at the weekend and give everything