Local Boys Geared Up for German Grand Prix, but Not at Pole Position
By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times
July 21, 2012
(A) bit of bad German news has been all the talk of how the other track that hosts the German Grand Prix in alternating years, the Nurburgring, is in a complete state of financial ruin and its future in doubt, as the circuit is going bankrupt. In 2009, the local government backed and paid for a renovation of the circuit into both a circuit and a theme park, and it has turned into a fiasco.
Last March, the European Commission sent out a press release that began thus: “The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether a €524 million set of aid measures supporting the racetrack and leisure park at the Nurburgring in Germany is in line with EU state aid rules.”
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And in a final bit of bad news, German media has found the race a good moment to report that prosecutors in Munich are preparing to investigate claims by a German banker that Bernie Ecclestone had attempted to bribe him, offering $44 million in exchange for selling Formula One to CVC Capital a few years ago. The banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, was recently sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in another matter, after admitting bribery, breach of trust and tax evasion.
F1 : No German arrest for corruption as Formula 1 supremo skips Hockenheim race
F1SA
Sunday, 22 July 2012
The Formula 1 Chief Executive’s absence, unusual for a European race but not unheard of, heightened speculation he is afraid of being arrested.
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“With Mercedes-Benz stalling on a new Concorde Agreement, and sponsors watching on anxiously, no one knows quite what will happen next,” Tom Cary wrote in the Telegraph.
If you build it, they will come? The Nürburgring folly
Mark Hallam, Deutsche Welle
7/21/12
How do you take the world’s most famous racetrack, with relatively small financial woes, and turn it into a half-billion-euro hole in less than a decade? The answer’s simple: renovate it with things it doesn’t need.
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The idea behind revamping the Nürburgring was to turn it into a publicly-traded company at least partially owned by private investors.Two businessmen, Kai Richter and Georg Lindner, combined with then-Nürburgring CEO Walter Kafitz to convince the state government that the project was viable. The pair pledged to contribute to Nürburgring GmbH, and said others would flock to the project once the foundations were laid.
No new investors emerged. Midway through the construction process, Richter and Lindner themselves withdrew, saying they were out of money.
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“Well, firstly, Richter and Lindner obviously must go!” Hahne said. “Secondly, the racing and ‘event’ segments of the company must be divided. And thirdly – this is most important – the race tracks must remain in public possession, either at the regional or federal level.”His suggestion, in short, is to do everything possible to turn the clock back on five disastrous years, at a great cost to the state and the German taxpayer.
Famed German Tracks Leave Their Mark on Series
By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times
Published: July 20, 2012
With the advent of the Schumacher era, Formula One became so popular in Germany that for many years the country hosted both the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and another race – either the European Grand Prix or the Luxembourg Grand Prix – at the Nürburgring. Since 2008, the German Grand Prix has rotated between the Nürburgring and Hockenheim, while the European Grand Prix has moved to Valencia, Spain.
But many of the most memorable races of the German Grand Prix took place at the old Nürburgring track, the Nordschleife, or north loop, which was a track 20.81 kilometers, or 12.93 miles, long, winding through the forests of the Eiffel hills. It was a roller coaster of a track and on it only the greatest drivers could prove their mettle.
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The Hockenheimring was redesigned in 2002, with a vast portion of long straights through the forest cut off in favor of a small track with a large, tight hairpin to facilitate overtaking.
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The distinctive, winding track in the stadium area has remained, however, and is a favorite for fans to see the cars and for the drivers to see the fans.
3 drivers were penalized for gearbox changes, Rosberg, Grosjean, and Webber (at Silverstone). Perez was penalized for impeding in Q2. Red Bull is in violation of Engine Torque mapping rules. No penalty imposed.
Forecast is for a dry track. Coverage is at noon on Faux
- Formula One Official Site
- Hockenheim
- German Grand Prix
- Guardian Interactive Circuit Guide
- Formula One: Hockenheim Qualifying
Pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:40.6 | 23 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:41.0 | 23 |
| 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:42.5 | 24 |
| 4 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 01:43.5 | 24 |
| 5 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 01:44.0 | 27 |
| 6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:44.1 | 20 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:44.2 | 18 |
| 8 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:41.5 | 24 |
| 9 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 01:44.9 | 26 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 01:45.8 | 20 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:39.789 | 15 |
| 12 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39.985 | 16 |
| 13 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:40.212 | 17 |
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:40.752 | 21 |
| 15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:16.741 | 9 |
| 16 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:17.620 | 8 |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:39.933 | 17 |
| 18 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:18.531 | 9 |
| 19 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41.551 | 18 |
| 20 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:19.220 | 12 |
| 21 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:40.574 | 18 |
| 22 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:19.291 | 11 |
| 23 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:19.912 | 8 |
| 24 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:20.230 | 10 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 129 |
| 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 116 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 100 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 92 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 83 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 75 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 61 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 50 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 39 |
| 10 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 29 |
| 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 27 |
| 12 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 23 |
| 13 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 23 |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 21 |
| 15 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 18 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 17 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 4 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 2 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull | 216 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 152 |
| 3 | Lotus | 144 |
| 4 | McLaren | 142 |
| 5 | Mercedes | 98 |
| 6 | Sauber | 60 |
| 7 | Williams | 47 |
| 8 | Force India | 44 |
| 9 | Toro Rosso | 6 |
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Author
Lap 40
Author
Author
Alonso
Vettel
Button
Perez
Kobayashi
Raikkonen
Webber
Schumacher
Hulkenberg
di Resta
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Author
Author
Lap 42
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Lap 44
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Lap 45
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Alonso
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Schumacher
Kobayashi
Hulkenberg
Perez
Rosberg
Webber
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Lap 48
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Alonso
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Schumacher
Kobayashi
Perez
Rosberg
Webber
di Resta
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Lap 51
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Lap 53
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Alonso
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Kobayashi
Perez
Schumacher
Webber
Hulkenberg
di Resta
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Lap 58
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Lap 59
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Alonso
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Kobayashi
Perez
Schumacher
Webber
Hulkenberg
Rosberg
Author
Alonso
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Kobayashi
Perez
Schumacher
Webber
Hulkenberg
Rosberg
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Alonso
Vettel
Button
Raikkonen
Kobayashi
Perez
Schumacher
Webber
Hulkenberg
Rosberg
Author
Incident under investigation.
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