Red Bull poised for German Grand Prix | Thebigtip

The F1 season continues this weekend with the German GP at Hockenheim, some 100km south of Frankfurt.

BACKGROUND

The German F1 GP has been part of the F1 championship since 1950 and other than one-off races in Berlin (1959) and Hockenheimring (1970), the GP was held on Nurburgring's Nordschleife until 1976. Following Niki Lauda's near fatal crash in 1976, the GP again returned to Hockenheimring in 1977 and continued to be held there each year until 1985 (one-off return to Nurburgring) and again from 1986 to 2006.

In July 2006, Bernie Ecclestone announced that from 2007 onwards there would be only one Grand Prix per season in Germany and that Nürburgring and  Hockenheimring would alternate hosting.

Nürburgring hosted the GP in 2007 and 2009 and its Hockenheimring's turn this year.

HOCKENHEIM HISTORY

The original Hockenheimring circuit opened in 1932 as a high-speed test track for Mercedes-Benz and ran along public roads through a pine forest. The circuit was modified in 1965 to 6.8km in length and the stadium section was introduced. Chicanes were added in 1968 and again in 1980 in response to driver fatalities (Jim Clark and Patrick Depailler). The 6.8km circuit was considered too long and dangerous and not particularly spectator or overtaking friendly. Ecclestone, with Herman Tilke, pushed for changes which were eventually approved at the end of 2001. The new circuit was first used for the German GP in 2002. The stadium section remained mostly intact with new spectator stands. The circuit was shortened to 4.574km, with the long, sweeping forest section chopped off in favour of more tight corners.

Winners of the German GP at Hockenheim include Ayrton Senna (3 wins) and Nelson Piquet (3). Australian Alan Jones won in 1979 driving a Williams. Of the current drivers only Schumacher (1995, 2002, 2004, 2006), Barrichello (2000), Alonso (2005) and Hamilton (2008) have won at Hockenheim. Webber won last year's German GP at Nürburgring.

The current GP circuit comprises of five fast straights (285kmh to 325kmh). The heavy braking (and best overtaking) areas are at Turn 2 (310kmh to 90kmh) and Turn 6 (325kmh to 60kmh). The twisty stadium section from Turn 12 to Turn 17 is where most of a good lap time is gained. The lap record is 1:13.780 (223.182kmh) by Raikkonen (2004).

As Hockenheim sits in a middle of a pine forest wind should not pose problems. However, this means the race is typically run in hot conditions with high humidity and with some of the highest track temperatures of the whole season. The long straights followed by slow corners require a medium-low aero setup (like Bahrain) and good mechanical grip and traction are required for the slow corners and for the stadium section. This traction and the high track temperatures can cause significant rear tyre wear.

Expect teams to adopt the standard one-stop strategy of 18-22 (super soft) + 35-39 (hard) laps, unless it is very hot in which case the first stints will be much shorter. The circuit is also demanding on engines with a 223kmh average lap speed and 71% of the lap being run at full throttle.

SEASON 2010

Silverstone continued the season script with Red Bull and McLaren leading.

Mercedes improved but Ferraris had a disaster. Massa got a puncture from Alonso and Alonso was (again) caught on the wrong side of the race stewards who gave him a drive-through penalty for overtaking Kubica by cutting a corner. It was good to see one Sauber, both Williams and one Force India in the points. Of the new teams Virgin's car update worked to be just 0.5s behind Lotus. Lotus has already directed their car development efforts to 2011. It was no surprise that Hispania finished last.