German Grand Prix talking points

27 July 2016 11:23

Lewis Hamilton is six points clear of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg after winning Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Formula One circus now heads to Germany for the final round of the championship before the sport's summer break.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at the big talking points heading into the Hockenheim race.

HAMILTON NOT WILLING TO CHANGE HIS APPROACH

After spending more than four months playing catch-up to Rosberg, Hamilton finally got his man on Sunday. Rosberg triumphed in the opening four rounds of the championship, but five victories in six races for Hamilton means the British driver is now in charge of the title. But Hamilton, who knows he will start at least one race at the back of the field under the sport's complex engine rules, is not adapting his approach. "I'm still in the mentality of chasing," he said. "It's been great to come back after the struggle that we had at the beginning of the year, and I'm very proud of that, but I am conscious there's a long way to go."

SAY HELLO TO THE HALO?

As the title race heats up, another topic which will be on the agenda this weekend is the Halo. F1's Strategy Group, which consists of the sport's major players, will meet in Geneva on Thursday morning to determine whether the controversial cockpit-head protection device is given the green light for 2017. Hamilton has been among a number of high-profile critics of the Halo - earlier this year he described it as the "worst-looking modification in Formula One history" - but following a presentation by the FIA in Hungary, he has appeared to change his stance. "I don't think we can ignore it," he said. "It's a safety thing that we all have to accept."

YELLOW FLAGS TO THE FORE

Hamilton has also vowed to raise the topic of yellow flags in the drivers' briefing on Friday. Hamilton felt he was robbed of a certain pole position in Hungary after he was forced to abandon his final lap in qualifying following a spin by Fernando Alonso. Rosberg, further behind Hamilton on the track, was issued with doubled waved yellow flags, too - an instruction to slow down and be prepared to stop - but the German lifted off the throttle only temporarily. An ensuing stewards' investigation however, deemed Rosberg had decreased his speed "sufficiently". Hamilton is keen to seek clarity on the rule. He said: "We need to be careful because the message we're sending, not only to the drivers here, but also to the drivers in the lower categories, is that it's now possible for you to lose only one tenth of a second in a double waved yellow flag section which is one of the most dangerous scenarios."

ARE FERRARI FEELING THE HEAT?

Ferrari were expected to take the challenge to Mercedes in 2016, but their campaign has been blighted by inconsistency and issues with reliability. Indeed in Hungary they were behind Red Bull in the pecking order, and head to Germany just one point ahead of them in the standings. On Thursday, they also announced that their highly-rated British technical director James Allison will leave with immediate effect. The loss of Allison will come as a blow to Ferrari with the 48-year-old having been integral to their plans of winning a first title since 2007.

RENAULT REPLACE JOLYON PALMER WITH ESTEBAN OCON

A costly spin from Jolyon Palmer in Sunday's race saw the British rookie miss out on his first points in Formula One. And now Palmer will have to give up his seat to Esteban Ocon, Renault's French driver who may yet replace Palmer in 2017, for opening practice on Friday.

Source: PA