Formula One heads to Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix this weekend. The circuit shares the race with the Nurburgring and they alternate currently, something which has been in place since 2008. Situated in the Rhine valley; Hockenheim is a very flat circuit, with very little in terms of elevation change. The circuit is most famous for hosting both Formula One and German Touring Cars (DTM) for many years.
The circuit originally opened in 1932 and was over eight kilometres long and like many circuits, used public roads, and was primarily used for motorcycle racing. The circuit remained the same until 1965, when the construction of the autobahn meant that the circuit was no longer usable, so a new one was built. This new circuit featured a stadium section as well as a blast through the forests, with nothing but trees for the drivers to hit. Despite being almost as long as a modern-day Spa, the circuit featured just nine turns, so was one of the fastest circuits on the Grand Prix calendar.
Hockenheim had to be slowed however, after the great Jim Clark was killed in a Formula Two race early in 1968. He lost control of the car in wet conditions, hit a tree, and was instantly killed. Following this, two fast chicanes were installed on the two longest straights, and the circuit lined with Armco barriers. Following the death of Patrick Depailler in 1980, the incredibly fast Ostkurve was turned into a chicane, and the first chicane being made slower.
With this; it was a low-medium downforce circuit, but the lack of overtaking in the stadium section meant that fans often saw very little in terms of on-track action. In 2000, a crazy race saw practically no overtaking where fans could see, an ex-Mercedes employee run onto the circuit, a huge crash for Jean Alesi which resulted him in suffering with dizziness and Rubens Barrichello’s maiden victory from 18th on the grid. After the race, the decision was made to shorten the circuit around the stadium and return part of the circuit to nature.
Everybody’s least-favourite circuit architect Hermann Tilke was left in charge in designing the new Hockenheim. He introduced three tight hairpins, one of which is a 180-degree hairpin and a couple of fast corners. This dramatically reduced the average speed of the circuit and teams and drivers did not approve of the new layout. The only other notable change is turn 1 (Nordkurve) being made slightly tighter.
A lap of the modern day circuit begins with a mighty-fast right-hander which is tough to get right and a short straight before the very heavy braking zone into turn 2. Getting a good exit is vital as the cars travel along the very fast Parabolika corner, before hitting the brakes incredibly hard for the tight hairpin at the top of the circuit. The next corner should be absolutely flat out before hitting the brakes hard again for Mercedes corner, where lots of fans will be cheering on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Turns 10 and 11 are long fast right-handers which are tough to get right as you go into the old stadium section. Turn 12, Sachskurve, is a slightly banked long but slow turn, get that right, and flick the car across the fast chicane before the double right-hander at known as the Sudkurve, before returning to the start-finish line, where the fans will go crazy for the four German drivers in the field: Rosberg; Adrian Sutil; Nico Hulkenberg and of course, four-times Champion Sebastian Vettel.
Much like the Nurburgring, the new shorter version of the once great track is very often criticised for not being good enough to bear the name of the circuit it lays in the shadow of. In terms of actual racing, the current Hockenheim doesn’t generally produce amazing races, although the 2008 race which saw Lewis Hamilton scythe his way through the field was pretty memorable.
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