Time for Hockenheim
2008-07-17 10:49
Natalie Le Clue
It's a very welcome return to the Hockenheimring this weekend as Formula One blasts into Germany.
The official name of the German circuit is The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. It's a track situated near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Germany is also the home of one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world; Mercedes Benz. A wonderful tradition every year at the race takes place in the Mercedes Benz stand where fans and employees of Mercedes Benz display messages to their drivers with the use of some cleverly colour co-ordinated hand-held banners.
In 1965 a new version of the Hockenheim circuit was built, with the "Motodrom" stadium section. After Jim Clark was killed in 1968 in a Formula 2 racing accident, two chicanes and an armco-railing were added.
A small memorial was placed near the first chicane, at the site of his accident. In 1980, another chicane was added at the Ostkurve (east curve), after Patrick Depailler was killed there. This version used to be quite large, with a very long, fast section going through forests mainly consisting of four straights of roughly 1.3km, separated by a chicane sequence, followed by a tighter and twisty "stadium" section (so called because of all the grandstands situated there) named Motodrom.
Revamped track
At the turn of the century F1 officials demanded a shortened track. The track was shortened by substituting the long-sweeping forest section in favour of tighter corners. However, there was a great deal of criticism of the track redesign.
The tight hairpin following the very long back straight offers an overtaking possibility and that of course is what all racing fans want to see in modern F1 racing. The revamped track makes for a very fast lap in the region of 75 seconds and the first corner is not to dissimilar from Copse corner at Silverstone.
Since the last time that Hockenheim was on the calendar, F1 has undergone a complete metamorphosis. The last race that was run at this legendary circuit was two years ago. In 2006 Michael Schumacher was still Ferrari's hero, Fernando Alonso was on top of the world and heading for a second consecutive championship, Kimi Raikkonen was struggling for decent finishes in a sub-standard McLaren and Lewis Hamilton was racing in GP2, unknown to the F1 audience.
Turn the clock forward to 2008 and Schumacher looks on as a consultant at Ferrari, Alonso is driving the wheels off a Renault, Raikkonen is finally the world champion and Hamilton is an established talent.
What a difference a few years can make!
Rivalry
One thing that hasn't changed is the competitive energy in F1. If anything it has increased immensely over the last two years.
The 2007 season ended up with a difference of one point between the champion and runner-up while 2008 sees three drivers tied for the drivers' championship lead at present. There is no possible way for the racing to get any closer. Brilliant!
It may be too early to call, but the rivalry between Raikkonen and Hamilton could become one of the great head-to-head duels in the sports' history.
Just as was the case between Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen, these two are throwing absolutely everything at one another. In light of this fantastic battle it is a real pity that issues such as reliability and 'accidents' should sometimes be the determining factor. It may sound like repetition, but it's almost a given that the two main protagonists in the next episode of this drama-series will most probably be Hamilton and Raikkonen.
We now enter the second half of the season and the result is no more predictable than it was at the beginning of the season and that is exactly what makes this racing so phenomenal. This is for sure the most expensive game of cat and mouse and on the biggest stage in the world.
Passion
Every weekend the teams start their preparations in a bullish mood that no one dare try to match. Every weekend is lived at the absolute limit for the teams and the fanatical fans. Every weekend is another chapter in the most pressure filled sport in the world and every weekend someone will walk away a winner. And that is what F1 is all about no matter what anyone else might say. It's not about an exercise in damage limitation. It's about winning.
Race fans know the ups and downs of F1. Glory one moment, disaster the next. It is about having to fight for it that makes it so great. This is the greatest sport in the world because it has the one thing that makes sport the greatest phenomenon on earth; immeasurable passion.
The most fanatical fans of F1 will not be watching this weekend's German GP... we will be living it.