The second half of the Formula One season officially starts in Germany.

You read it, it’s already the halfway point of the 2008 F1 season as the 10th leg of the 18-race year will be held at Hockenheim for the 2008 German Grand Prix. With nine races already over and only nine races more to go starting in Germany, drivers going for the title would love to finish at the podium once the German GP starts this Sunday.

The 2008 F1 German Grand Prix marks the 55th time F1 visited Germany as a part of an event for the F1 world championship. It also marks its return to the F1 calendar after a year of absence.

Why the absence? The Grand Prix in Germany alternates between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring, which started from 2007 to 2010. Officials of the AVD, the automobile club who organizes GP races at the Hockenheimring, own the rights for the name, ‘German Grand Prix’ thus forcing the 2007 Nurburgring race to be dubbed as the 2007 European Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa all head into the German Grand Prix as the favorites to win this Sunday. All three are on top of the drivers championship standings with 48 points.

However, although they are all leading the standings at this point of the season, Fernando Alonso may have the upperhand after winning the last race held in Germany, at the Nurburgring circuit. So who won the last race held at Hockenheim you ask?

Michael Schumacher.

STILL, you can expect Alonso to keep on winning in Germany and with their Ferrari predecessor becoming the last Hockenheim champion back in 2006, you can expect the same from Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

One guy who also scored a win here is Lewis Hamilton, although this will be the first time in his career he races around the Hockenheim circuit riding his F1 McLaren machine.

‘’I was at Hockenheim in 2005 when I won a Formula 3 EuroSeries race and in 2006 with GP2 when I finished second and third. It’s actually quite a straightforward circuit to get into, and it helps that our car just feels so awesome at the moment,'’ Lewis Hamilton said.

‘’There’s a bit of everything around here and it’s quite fun to throw the car into some of the high-speed corners, like Turn One and Turn 12 - the high-speed right-hander into the stadium section.'’

‘’It will be great to be at Hockenheim where I will compete in my first German Grand Prix. I’m looking forward to the support of the Germans and especially the Mercedes fans.'’

Who will win the 2008 F1 Drivers Championship? Bodog Sportsbook has the odds.

Kimi Raikkonen 2.75

Lewis Hamilton 3.00

Fernando Alonso 7.00

Felipe Massa 7.00

Want more odds? Visit Bodog for more F1 betting odds and the best betting lines on some of today’s biggest sporting events.

F1 German Grand Prix Hockenheim