F1 German Grand Prix - Hockenheim Formula 1 Circuit

Lap of Hockenheim - West McLaren Mercedes third driver Alexander Wurz

Crossing the start-finish line at Hockenheim you reach 183mph / 296kph in sixth gear as you accelerate along the short straight. Reaching the fast right-hander of Nord Kurve, your speed reduces to take the corner at 119mph / 193kph in fourth gear. On the exit you go hard over the curbs and quickly move up through the gears, driving along the longest straight on the track. The straight is taken at full throttle, reaching some 215mph / 344kph in seventh gear before braking hard for the right-left flick of the Jim Clark Kurve chicane. You experience forces of up to 4.5G as you drop from the top speed on the track to 60mph / 96kph in second gear. This is followed by a shorter straight that sweeps you gently to the right, reaching 210mph / 336kph in seventh gear leading you into the second chicane, the Ost Kurve. The slowest of the chicanes, the sharp right-left Ost Kurve is taken at 50mph / 80kph in second gear. Exiting the chicane the long, fast right-hander of turn seven takes you onto the first of the two back straights, where you reach 212mph / 340kph in seventh gear on the approach to the Ayrton Senna Kurve. Again hard on the brakes, the left-right chicane slows you to 70mph / 112kph in second gear. You then push hard on the throttle as you accelerate along the final straight, reaching a speed of 205mph / 328kph in seventh gear as you burst out of the forest into the Stadium Complex. The sharp right Agip Kurve that leads you into the Complex is taken at 110mph / 176kph in fourth gear, and is immediately followed by the Sachs Kurve. Shifting down into second gear you take the long, left-hand hairpin at 60mph / 96kph. A short burst on the throttle, reaching 140mph / 225kph in third gear, takes you into the final section of the Stadium Complex, the Süd Kurve. This double apex right hand hairpin is negotiated at 95mph / 152kph in third gear and leads you back onto the start-finish straight.

Grand Prix Description, History, Facts and Figures
Until Michael Schumacher came on the scene, the two icons of German motor sport were the old Nurburgring Circuit and the famous Mercedes Silver Arrows team. "The Ring" or Nordschleife as it is known was the most daunting track in the world. At 22.835 kilometres in length, just learning where the corners were was hard enough, never mind trying to race on it. This ultimate challenge and the world's greatest driver combined together to produce one of the most memorable races in the history of the sport, back in 1957.

Juan Manuel Fangio made a poor start from pole tucking in behind the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, but by lap two he had lopped seven seconds off his own lap record and took the lead next time round. At half distance on lap 11, he had a 28 second lead and gambled on a pit stop for fresh tyres. It took longer than expected and he rejoined a minute down on the leaders. But undaunted, he charged on at incredible speed, gaining eight or nine seconds every lap. With three laps to go the gap was 13 seconds.

One more lap and he had the Ferraris in his sights after lapping eight seconds quicker than his pole time! Just after the pits he stormed past Collins and began to hunt down the leader and with one and a half laps to go, Hawthorn could only watch the Maestro sweep by. It was Fangio's last grand prix win on his way to a record fifth world championship. "Even now, I can feel fear when I think of that race," he said years later. "I loved the Nurburgring and I think that day I conquered it."

Fangio is the link to the Silver Arrows, the Mercedes grands prix cars which built a legend based on just twelve grand prix entered in 1954 and ‘55. The Argentinian won eight of them at the wheel of the fabulous 8 cylinder W196 to take his first two world titles.

Wolfgang Von Trips came close to giving Germany its first F1 world championship in 1961, but tragically he was killed at Monza at the wheel of his Ferrari. Germany then had to wait almost thirty years for Formula One to capture the public's imagination again and that was all down to the "Schumacher Effect." Michael's two world championships at the wheel of a Benetton provided the spark that re-ignited a passionate national following for the sport.

A total of forty Germans have taken part in grands prix since the world championship began in 1950. A further nine have started a race weekend but failed to qualify. Fourteen of those drivers have scored points with Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen accounting for over three quarters of them.

The German Grand Prix was first held at the Nurburgring. It made one visit to the Avus Ring near Berlin before returning to the Nurburgring where it was held until 1970, the first time it came to Hockenheim. It returned to the Nurburgring until Niki Lauda's 1976 accident. From 1977 onwards Hockenheim has hosted every running of the event with the exception of the 1985 race held on the "new" Nurburgring.

A German pre-world championship grand prix still holds the record for the fastest ever race average. Bernd Rosemeyer lapped the Avus Ring, way back in 1937 at an amazing 276.40 km/h in an Auto Union!

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