Formula One Next Stop: Hockenheim, Germany
Hockenheimring is located in Baden-Wurttemberg and is the home of Formula One German Grand Prix, which takes place in less than two weeks’ time. We take a look at the circuit’s history and its characteristics before our next race.
History
Hockenheim circuit was built in March 1932 for motorbike racing and was soon adopted by Mercedes-Benz for as its testing circuit. Originally the circuit was over 8 kilometers long and underwent several layout changes in the past. In 1965 several changes were made to the circuit and further changes came after Jim Clark died on the track in 1968 in a Formula 2 racing accident. Two chicanes were added back in 1968 and later another was introduced in 1980 following the death of Patrick Depailler. These changes made the track very long and fast and drivers experienced several problems in finding optimum amount of down force. Accidents were a norm and the track wasn’t ideal for spectators.
After huge pressure from the FIA, the administration revised its layout for the 2002 season by shortening its length. The long sweeping forest section was chopped off and new spectator stands were added to the venue. The track still remains under heavy criticism.
Hockenheim has so far hosted 31 Formula One races.
Facts
The Hockenheimring has a seating capacity of 120,000 and prior to 2002 the racing surface was made of asphalt and concrete. The track was 6.8 km or 4.2 miles in length and consisted of 16 turns. The track record time was set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001 at 1m 38.117s. After the track was shortened in 2002 it ran 4.574 km or 2.842 miles long. The surface was made completely of asphalt and it consisted of 13 turns. The lap record on the latest layout was set by Kimi Raikkonen at 1m 13.78s.
The 67 lap race scheduled for 20 July 2010 is 306.458km long.
Formula One Lap
Formula One car approaches the first turn at 270 km/h in sixth gear and applies breaks for a very brief period. With a single shift down the car is flicked towards the apex to prevent massive amount of under steer. The next turn is bumpy and slippery so early braking is important and then car is powered up gradually to the straight that follows. The 310 km/h straight leads to a very slow hairpin which requires 60km/h in the first gear. The hairpin is the best overtaking opportunity at the track.
Traction is very important while getting out of the hairpin because a driver needs to speed up to sixth gear again before going into turn seven which is easy and flat and leads to a left hander at 280 km/h. The two left hander’s require acceleration and lead to a right hander. The exit from turn eleven takes the driver towards the stadium.
Turn 12 is very challenging because the high speed corner is bumpy and it has a very narrow exit. Keeping the line is very important otherwise car can run onto slippery Astroturf. A second gear left hander is next which requires acceleration but can cause over steer. Then a right hander follows and it is extremely important to make a good exit onto the start finish straight.
Technical Requirements
Hockenheim is designed with overtaking in mind with long straits and low speed corners. With such long straights down force settings are therefore compromised leaving the driver with lesser grip but equipping him with high speed. An optimum braking and cooling solution is a must as this circuit is the hardest test of brakes. The hairpin is extremely demanding where drivers run of risk of locking their wheels.
Traction zones and heavy braking go very hard on tyres and it will come to which driver preserves his tyres better. Hockenheim also tends to get high track temperature and tyres can get blisters sooner than expected. Hockenheim is not so demanding for the engine but with 63 percent of the lap run on full throttle, it can become quite challenging. Cooling systems are very important and good torque is essential to keep the engine running perfectly.
We did not have Hockenheim in Formula One calendar last year. Lewis Hamilton is our last winner at the track in 2008. With extremely demanding conditions and the championship battle heating up, we can witness a very interesting race in Germany in a few days.
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