The Hindu : Sport : German Grand Prix: Michael Schumacher starts favourite on current form

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Sunday, Jul 30, 2006

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German Grand Prix: Michael Schumacher starts favourite on current form

Like a few other circuits on the F-1 calendar, Hockenheim is a mystery, writes Narain Karthikeyan

Originally opened on 29th May 1932, on a 97-hectare plot, Hockenheim is a legendary racetrack.

It has been the scene of epic victories, like Rubens Barrichello's in 2000, when he came from the back of the grid in extremely wet conditions. It has also been the scene of the tragic and fatal crash of Jim Clark in 1968 in a Formula-2 race.

It will be the 12th race of the 2006 Formula One season. The German Grand Prix was first held there in 1970, although the first ever German GP was held in 1951 at the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in the Eifel Mountains.

However, in 2002, a radical re-design of the circuit changed its complete nature. The track length was reduced to 4.574km, with 17 corners and six straights, and a minimum width of 15m. The fast sweeping expanses through the Rhine forests have been removed, and what remains can still be quite a challenge, and require exacting standards of driving and engineering precision. Like a few other circuits on the F-1 calendar, Hockenheim is a mystery, one where the drivers and engineers spend most of their time searching for a compromise set-up, which can accommodate the low and medium speed corners as well as the high speed straights.

Difficult race

At approximately 1380m, the super-fast Parabolica straight is the longest flat-out section of the lap and will see the engines rev at full throttle for just over 17 seconds at speeds in excess of 320kmph.

With the engines subjected to 70 per cent of each lap at full throttle, Hockenheim ranks very closely with Monza and Indianapolis in the speed stakes and consequently demands very high engine durability.

As the circuit is located in the southern part of Germany, near the university town of Heidelberg, the ambient temperatures can be very high and result in track temperatures in excess of 50°C. As a result, the thermal loads placed on the tyres, particularly the rears, will be especially high at this race, while the physical pressures exerted on the drivers are as equally demanding.

Having entered the championship in 1997, Bridgestone could celebrate its 100th GP victory in Hockenheim this weekend.

I wish it all success in achieving that landmark. I'm sure it will only be its first century, amongst many more to come in the future. If Michael Schumacher wins the race on Sunday, he will have accounted for 56 of those 100 victories, quite an astonishing achievement. Isn't it!

The two-week gap between the French and German races has allowed all the teams to conduct some testing before the mid-season testing ban kicked in. Williams was at the Spanish circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, where it completed an intensive schedule of tyre testing, as well as work on the braking and cooling systems, in preparation for the races in Hockenheim and next weekend in Hungary.

The tyre problems, which affected Mark's last race in France were identified as excessive inside shoulder temperature on the rear left tyres.

These problems have hopefully been eliminated by the Bridgestone engineers. Our cars will also feature updated bodywork in the form of new diffusers and a modified front wing.

For Nico, it will be a home race, and I'm sure he will be extra charged-up to do well here. It's a circuit, which he knows very well, and has won here many times in junior formulae.

On current form, it would be foolhardy to bet against the Ferrari's for a win on Sunday, especially as it's Michael's home race, and the vast majority of the 120,000 plus spectators will be cheering him on. Bridgestone also seem to have made a significant improvement in its tyres since the beginning of the season, and this improvement has been extremely evident since the Canadian GP.

The qualifying was a big surprise with Raikkonen snatching the pole in the final moments. He was 0.135 seconds faster than Schumacher and his teammate Felipe Massa finished third. The Honda also proved to be very quick with Button fourth and Barichello in sixth. Fernando Alonso is languishing in seventh place, but I am sure he will get a fantastic start as is customary for the Renault. Going by the qualifying results, tomorrow's afternoon promises to be exciting.

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