[Official] German Grand Prix 2016: Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[Born Racer]

It has been a busy time in Formula 1 recently. In what will be the longest season yet in the sport's history, with 21 Grands Prix, this will be the fourth race in a month, during which time Lewis Hamilton has managed to overturn Nico Rosberg's large advantage in the drivers' championship into his own slight lead, now owning the championship battle by six points. It is also the final race before we embark on the summer break and the final opportunity for teams and drivers to give themselves that boost before they all disperse until Spa at the end of August.

This weekend, we go to the Hockenheimring. The German Grand Prix is the home race for four of the twenty-two drivers, not the least of whom is championship contender Rosberg. The race was first held at the circuit in 1970, although back then it was a vastly different layout from now. The new incarnation has been used since 2002, although the race has often altered between here and the modern incarnation of the Nurburgring.

The German Grand Prix has a long history, going back to 1926, although it has only ever been held at three places, albeit on various different versions. The first was at AVUS in Berlin. Considered dangerous even back then, the circuit was made up of two six-mile straights with two left-hand hairpins at the end. In 1927, Grand Prix racing came to the fearsome Nurburgring in the Eifel Mountains, 28.3km in its entirety. The Gesamtstrecke (the full course) was only used for a few years, before the event was run on the 22.8km Nordschleife (North Loop) for the first time in 1931. The circuit was perhaps the best in the world. Full of exciting twists, turns and jumps, it was a beast of a track and taming it required high levels of both skill and bravery.

In 1935, in his Alfa Romeo and after losing six minutes during a pitstop, Tazio Nuvolari managed to catch up with the lead Mercedes and Auto Union cars, which performed much better. He started the final lap 35 seconds behind the leader Manfred von Brauchitsch in his Mercedes, but with him having used up his tyres, Nuvolari managed to get past. In 1936, Auto Union driver Bernd Rosemeyer won, earning him the title of Nebelmeister ('Fog Master').

In 1939 a new circuit, called the Deutschlandring, was built near Dresden, with the aim that it would host the German Grand Prix but World War II put paid to that ever taking place.

Formula 1 racing arrived in 1951 at the Norschleife. In 1959, the second Grand Prix was held at AVUS, this time with two 2.5 mile straights, a tight left-hander at one end and 43° bricked banking at the other. It didn't return. It was considered too bland to be worth the danger. The following year, a race run for Formula 2 cars was held on the Sudschleife (South Loop), which was just 7.7km. The race then took place on the Nordschleife for the rest of the 60s. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association required changes in the interests of safety to be made but they were not implemented and the Grand Prix was held at Hockenheim for the first time in 1970.

Smoother and with Armco barrier in places, the Nurburgring came back the following year, In 1976, the Nurburgring was finishing a three-year contract and despite some safety enhancements, Niki Lauda, dissatisfied with the circuit arrangements, tried to organize a boycott with his fellow drivers. He was outvoted on this, though, and the race went ahead. Nonetheless, the decision had already been taken to make this the last race at this circuit. On Lap 2, Lauda's Ferrari's rear suspension failed and he was pitched into an embankment and his car into flames. Lauda made a recovery, but there was no going back to the circuit.

Hockenheim then became the home of the German Grand Prix, It is curious for me that, growing up with this circuit on the calendar, I always had the impression that it was slightly unpopular or unloved. Perhaps it was the indignity of being the place which claimed Jim Clark's life that did for it or it was the fact that it never had the sheer thrill of the Nurburgring, no matter how overly dangerous the latter was considered. Now, though, since the track was completely modified in 2002, making it into much of a normal and less original layout, I sense nostalgia for the old layout. It was made up of four blasts through the forest, punctuated by different chicanes. It was always one of the most distinctive Grands Prix to watch on the television, those long slipstreaming battles in between the trees, before drivers came into a stadium section in the final sector, greeted by the cheers of fans. Now, those forest bits of track have become derelict, with grass growing all over them and the Hockenheim of old has passed into the annals of history.

After the new layout had been used for five years, in 2007 the German Grand Prix was not held and was replaced by a European Grand Prix on the new configuration of the Nurburgring (the Strecke circuit - a very different circuit from the Nordschleife). That circuit had previously hosted the German Grand Prix for one year in 1985, a lot of European Grands Prix since the 90s in the and even one which was dubbed the Luxembourg Grand Prix.

Since 2008, the German Grand Prix has alternated between Hockenheim and the Nurburgring, although it was cancelled last year.

This year, with supersoft, soft and medium tyres and a track with limited tyre wear, it seems as though the pattern will be similar to Hungary, with supersofts dominating, but some teams outside the top ten may try a strategy with a first stint on softs.

It has also be announced that pit-to-driver communications have been freed up again:

"At the request of the Teams and Commercial Rights Holder, the FIA has agreed to adopt a more liberal approach to the interpretation of Article 27.1 (that a driver must drive the car “alone and unaided”).

“With the exception of the period between the start of the formation lap and the start of the race, there will be no limitations on the messages teams send to their drivers either by radio or pit board.

“This approach is aimed at providing improved content for fans and spectators, as teams will now be required to provide the Commercial Rights Holder with unrestricted access to their radio messages at all times that their cars are out of the garage.”

To join in our predictions contest on Ten-Tenths, go here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147540

Our Fantasy F1 contest is here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146625

Constructors’ championship standings: http://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2016/team.html

Drivers’ championship standings: http://www.formula1.com/en/results.h...6/drivers.html

German Grand Prix tyre selections: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/h...r-germany.html

Circuit length: 4.574km
Number of laps: 67
Race distance: 306.458km
Dry weather tyre compounds: Medium, Soft and Supersoft
DRS Detection Zone 1: at end of start-finish straight
DRS Activation Zone 1: between Turns 1 and 2
DRS Detection Zone 2: just after Turn 4
DRS Activation Zone 2: between Turns 5 and 6
Lap Record: 1:13,780 (2004 – Kimi Raikkonen - McLaren-Mercedes)
First German Grand Prix: 1926
First Grand Prix at this circuit: 1970
First Grand Prix on current layout: 2002

[S griffin]

Very in depth opening there BR, you deserve a rest after that

[Born Racer]

Haha - thanks on both counts. I wanted to write more but would end up wanting to write a book about the Nurburgring.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Excellent intro as ever. The GP makes a welcome return and Q1 is about to start.

[Lancsbreaker]

Qually just about to start, although I won't see it until C4 show it in about 5 hours, so logging off now........FP sessions seem to show it being pretty close. Lets hope the new rules on Yellow (or Red) flags don't screw things too much.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Nico's on pole, with Lewis second on the grid but as we've seen in the past those positions can be reversed once the lights go green.

[Richard C]

Some great onboard with Nico during his pole lap. His car looked to be on rails! Lewis clearly unhappy during his interview with not much to say. He sounded like he wanted to be anywhere else but in front of a microphone at that moment. And lastly a downright depressing interview with Kvyat by Will Buxton (NBCSN). Kvyat seemed totally lost and with a complete lack of confidence.

Richard

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

Some great onboard with Nico during his pole lap. His car looked to be on rails! Lewis clearly unhappy during his interview with not much to say. He sounded like he wanted to be anywhere else but in front of a microphone at that moment. And lastly a downright depressing interview with Kvyat by Will Buxton (NBCSN). Kvyat seemed totally lost and with a complete lack of confidence.

Richard

Lewis is always like that when things don't go his way. For a three time WDC he should show a little humility and professionalism.

[Mike Harte]

And why cannot the stewards show some consistency in their rulings?

Mercedes released Hamilton from his garage in an unsafe manner, meaning that another competitor had to stop to avoid hitting him. Mercedes was fined, yet no penalty for Hamilton for not using his own eyes to make certain that his intended path was clear and that no other car was proceeding down the pit lane.

Other drivers have been given penalty points and/or been demoted on the grid for similar transgressions.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

And why cannot the stewards show some consistency in their rulings?

Mercedes released Hamilton from his garage in an unsafe manner, meaning that another competitor had to stop to avoid hitting him. Mercedes was fined, yet no penalty for Hamilton for not using his own eyes to make certain that his intended path was clear and that no other car was proceeding down the pit lane.

Other drivers have been given penalty points and/or been demoted on the grid for similar transgressions.

Mercedes incurred a fine of $10,000; small beer.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Mercedes incurred a fine of $10,000; small beer.

And now Hulkenberg is demoted one place on the grid because of a mistake by Force India using the wrong set of tyres in Q1.

Why is it that a driver is punished for a team's error when he cannot possibly have had any input, yet a driver that leaves his garage recklessly, i.e. not looking for oncoming traffic, is not sanctioned?

Or is it that one set of "clarifications" apply to Hamilton, whilst another set is applied to the rest of the grid?

[Dixie Flatline]

Blistering start from Hamilton and Max.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A great start from Hamilton. It looked like Rosberg had a clutch issue. He was slow to get away and is in 4th.

[billy bleach]

How come the Williams engineer inspecting the rear of Massa's car wasn't wearing fireproofs?

[bjohnsonsmith]

I don't think I've ever seen Rosberg so aggressive.

[chillibowl]

Looking like this final stint may deliver the goods!

[billy bleach]

SITUATION VACANT. Race strategist for Oxfordshire based Formula One Team.........Ability to speak Finnish and Portuguese an advantage

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Lewis and a superb drive from Ricciardo. Rosberg's problem of failing to capitalise on Pole with bad starts has returned. I thought he was very unlucky with that penalty.

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Congrats to Lewis and a superb drive from Ricciardo. Rosberg's problem of failing to capitalise on Pole with bad starts has returned. I thought he was very unlucky with that penalty.

I though Max was caught napping, NR clearly outbraked himself and Max could have switched back and kept the place as Rosberg ran wide. It was only by trying to hang on round the outside of Rosberg that Max made it look as if he was forced off the track.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Congrats to Lewis and a superb drive from Ricciardo. Rosberg's problem of failing to capitalise on Pole with bad starts has returned. I thought he was very unlucky with that penalty.

In the Max and Nico situation, I really pull for Nico as I would like to see him stick it to Lewis and with Max I feel he also needs some payback as well, but... It was clear to me via in car from Nico that he was purposely not turning in to push Max wide (and given the line from Nico... Off track for Nico). His tires were not locked, he had already finished most of his braking (granted he went deep) and didn't turn the wheel at all until the very last moment. Nico was rightly called out. Sadly it shows lack of consistency from the stewards as the Max move from last race was just as blatant with no penalty. So it's it bit random if you can get away with dirty tricks.

Oh, lastly, I think Nico had a good chance of making it work without pushing him off. It was otherwise a good move!

Richard

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fourWheelDrift

I though Max was caught napping, NR clearly outbraked himself and Max could have switched back and kept the place as Rosberg ran wide. It was only by trying to hang on round the outside of Rosberg that Max made it look as if he was forced off the track.

When Lauda was asked about it, he seemed rather non-plused and said it was 50-50. He also seemed rather non-plused, that Lewis now had a 19 point lead over Nico.

[chillibowl]

think Nico is lucky that Max chose to not really defend. certainly went a long way in helping Nico keep his title hopes alive.

[djinvicta]

Yes Richard, I agree. Dirty tactics again by Nico, not even bothering to turn until the last second, forcing Max out wide deliberately

[Jimmy Magnusson]

It seemed to me he was cranky at Verstappen for him moving during breaking. Two wrongs don't make a right but I think Verstappen pretty much asked for it.

[steve_r]

Rosberg needs to learn from his own mistakes. Yet again forcing another car off track, yet again nowhere near the racing line, yet again he is rightly penalised, yet again it costs him points.