Nelson Piquet hopes an improved qualifying session will help him to break his points duck.

While his team-mate Fernando Alonso has picked up 11 points so far this season, Piquet is yet to finish in the top eight. He hopes all that will change in Germany.

"The team have been working hard since Silverstone with some upgrades, mainly to the aero which should give us a boost," he said. "After Silverstone I said that it was down to me to improve in qualifying and so I'd love to make it into the top 10, which would give me a realistic chance of scoring my first points of the year.

"You also need to keep an eye on the weather at the Nurburgring as it's near the mountains and conditions change very quickly, a bit like at Spa. We can probably expect at least a couple of showers over the weekend."

Alonso, meanwhile, believes the French team could easily move five or six places up the grid if they find an extra three of four tenths.

"The position we are in at the moment is similar to last year, but this time all the teams are much closer together and so it's more difficult to take a big step forward," the Spaniard said.

"If you can find three of four tenths with an upgrade, it can make a huge difference and put you five or six places higher up the grid. That's what the team is looking for - that magic component which gives us a big boost, but we know it's not easy to find."