Kimi Raikkonen is hoping for a major improvement from McLaren in front of Mercedes' home fans at Hockenheim this weekend.
The Finn was a distant fifth in France two weeks ago and is in real danger of dropping out of the top four in the championship, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa only a point behind.
But Raikkonen remains optimistic he can return to the podium after a two-race break after encouraging testing form.
He said: 'Our car has definitely been improving over the last few races, and we had another productive test in Jerez last week as the development process continues.
'Hopefully when we get to Germany we will be able to make the most of this on track.
'I hope that following a result that was not what we were looking for in France, we are able to go to Germany and put on a great race for all the Mercedes-Benz employees and fans.
'They are always very supportive so I hope they will get to see a good result for the team.'
Mercedes engine chief Norbert Haug has pinpointed qualifying as the key area for Raikkonen to improve on this weekend.
Raikkonen has not qualified in the top three for the past two races, leaving him to scrap for lesser positions as the likes of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso race away at the front.
But Haug is hoping for better in Germany, saying: 'Hockenheim is a very special grand prix for the team and certainly the busiest one.
'Of course our focus is on what happens on the track and we aim for a good result in our home race.
'We made more progress during intensive tests at Jerez last week, at Magny-Cours, we posted the fastest lap of the Michelin teams and our race speed was amongst the best of the Michelin runners.
'However, we have to manage to start from the first two rows on the grid, this is the only way to turn this pace into the positions we expect.'
