Just days after claiming his second win of the season in last weekend's tumultuous British Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg aims this weekend to complete a perfect set of three 'home' wins when he leads the Mercedes team into the German Grand Prix.
After Monaco, where he grew up and lives, and Silverstone, a circuit that is barely 15 kilometres from his outfit's Brackley base, the Nurburgring, a traditional Formula One venue steeped in history and located in the Eifel mountains, represents the track of his motherland -- and he believes that with the momentum he has generated, he has a great chance of claiming another win.
"We are fast and we are setting the pace and we are growing into the role of being favourites for the races now," said Rosberg. "That is a fantastic feeling and for me, personally, it would be so good, so fantastic, if I can win again to complete a hat-trick of three wins on my home circuits."
Rosberg, 28 last Thursday on the eve of the British Grand Prix, emerged triumphant last Sunday after a spectacular tyre failure had blown Mercedes team-mate Briton lewis Hamilton out of the lead at his home race after he had taken pole and dominated from the start.
Three other drivers suffered major tyre blowouts during a race that ended in chaos and controversy with some drivers threatening to strike unless the sport made immediate changes to the low-wear, low-durability Pirelli tyres that had failed.
In a statement ahead of the German race, Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery said: "Nurburgring is one of the circuits that we have the least experience of, having only raced here once before in Formula One, but we're certain that we have chosen the correct compromise between performance and durability by bringing medium and soft compounds.
"These were actually the same compounds that we chose for this track in 2011, but since then the tyres have got softer and faster, so we expect a quicker race time with an average of three pitstops for most drivers.
"The Nurburgring is not on the whole an especially demanding circuit for tyres, but there are still some distinctive aspects to look out for when it comes to tyre management, such as the kerbing on the chicanes. "And, for this race only, we will bring Kevlar-belted rear tyres, following the incidents at the British Grand Prix."