Jul 24 2011

F1: Nurburgring

After Nikki Lauda died in 1976 they pretty much bulldozed the Südschleife and built a new 2.8 mile track that was used today.  Any ordinary person who happens to find themselves in the area can purchase a ticket and drive the Northern Ring which is pretty remarkable when you think about it.

As of yesterday they were predicting rain, rain, and more rain although the 6 am ET GP2 race took place in the dry (though it was threatening).

I’ve heard no more interesting rumors about phone hacking even though the irony of having this covered on Fox is appealing.  This is the last race that will be tape delayed this season which has drawn a surprisingly strong reaction from my readers.

Of course what’s surprising to me is that I have any readers at all.

I plead both distraction and fatigue for the brevity of my introduction and I’m afraid I can’t promise any better for next week’s Hungaroring when with any luck at all I’ll have a chance to visit my doggie friend and his owner too.

While there might be pretty tables below all that they’ll show is continued Red Bull dominance with Scuderia Marlboro UPC improvement and Renault decline relative to Mercedes.  Everyone else is an also ran even though the season is but half complete.

However wet has the potential to mix things up and Hamilton for one has opined he wouldn’t mind if they ran every race in the damp from now on.

Pretty tables will wait.  I think commentary is more important.

rustymancuso581

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  3. As I pointed out above, it was all originally one circuit and it’s the Southern half that was too dangerous so they bulldozed it.

    Drive the Nordschleife as fast as you like for the price of a ticket.

  5. Softs at these temps (54 F yesterday) will last near the whole race, so one pit.

  6. Lots of elevation changes, especially in the turns.

  7. They’ll saw the cars back and forth particularly violently to build up heat.

  8. For now.

    They expect early pits for Inters in these conditions.

  10. In the lead.

  16. Webber passes Hamilton for the lead, can’t make it stick.

    Pits for tires and comes out 6th.

    Someone parked and brought out a local yellow.

  18. Webber leads.

    Raining again.

  20. Nürburg (Not to be confused with Nuremberg) is a town in the German district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is also the name of the local castle, Burg Nürburg (Nürburg Castle), which was built in the High Middle Ages. The town is best known for its 24 kilometer race track, the Nürburgring. Five kilometers of the track are used for a Formula One grand prix.

    The Nürburg rises above the village of the same name (in the district of Ahrweiler) on the second-highest hill in the Eifel (678m). The castle and hill are regarded as a characteristic feature of the Eifel. Even though it is one of the most significant castles in the Eifel, it nevertheless still needs to be researched in full. There are almost no written sources relating to the history of the castle’s construction in the Middle Ages. The hill is referred to in documentary evidence in AD 954 by the name mone nore, which means black hill. In descriptions of boundaries which served to clarify which property belonged to whom, it was used as a significant reference marker. The name Nürburg is thought to derive from mons nore, as the color of the volcanic basalt used to build the castle exhibits an unusually dark color.

    The Nürburg is considered to be the “highest castle in Rhineland-Pfalz”, and on a clear day, the spires of the Cologne Cathedral may be seen.

    Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about 70 km (43 mi) south of Cologne, and 120 km (75 mi) northwest of Frankfurt. The old track was nicknamed The Green Hell by Jackie Stewart and is widely considered one of the most demanding purpose-built racing circuits in the world.

    Originally, the track featured four configurations: the 28.265 km (17.563 mi)-long Gesamtstrecke (“Whole Course”), which in turn consisted of the 22.810 km (14.173 mi) Nordschleife (“Northern Loop”), and the 7.747 km (4.814 mi) Südschleife (“Southern Loop”). There also was a 2.281 km (1.417 mi) warm-up loop called Zielschleife (“Finish Loop”) or better known as Betonschleife, around the pit area. Between 1982 and 1983 the start-finish area was demolished to create a new GP-Strecke, and this is currently used for all major and international racing events. However, the shortened Nordschleife is still in use, for racing, testing and public access.

    Click on image to enlarge

  21. Webber

    Hamilton

    Alonso

    Sutil

    Button

    Massa

  22. 11 laps more than Webber.

    Lap 24.

  23. McLaren not counting on rain.

  24. Lap 31

  25. Hamilton

    Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Vettel

  26. Stays in front of Webber

    Alonso leads.

    Button passes Sutil.

    Lap 33

  30. Lap 35

  31. Hydraulics.

    Fucking McLaren.

  32. Lap 48 of 60

  33. Hamilton, Alonso, and Webber, it seems he who pits first loses.

    Webber has the most laps on his tires, Alonso the least.

  36. Too late?

    Lap 57 of 60.

  37. Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Vettel

    Sutil

    Schumacher

  38. Vettel wins that one.

  39. Hamilton

    Alonso

    Webber

    Vettel

    Massa

    Sutil

    Rosberg

    Schumacher

    Kobayashi

    Petrov

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