Jul 22 2012

F1 2012: Hockenheim

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.”

…

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.

…

“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.

…

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.

…

“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.

…

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.

…

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

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

rustymancuso581

74 comments

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  2. Lots of Germans.

    Track drying.

    Red Bull legality.

  6. Lap 2.

  9. Grosjean Mediums

    Senna Left Front Puncture

  10. Lap 3.

  13. Alonso

    Vettel

    Schumacher

    Hulkenberg

    Button

    Maldonado

    Webber

    Raikkonen

    di Resta

    Ricciardo

  16. Grosjean got Massa before the first turn.

  17. Lap 7

  19. Lap 10

    McLaren says suck it up.

  21. Alonso

    Vettel

    Button

    Schumacher

    Hulkenberg

    Maldonado

    Webber

    Perez

    Kobayashi

    Rosberg

  23. Lap 13

  26. Alonso

    Vettel

    Button

    Schumacher

    Hulkenberg

    Webber

    Perez

    Kobayashi

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

  28. Lap 17

  31. Vettel

    Button

    Alonso

    Kobayashi

    Ricciardo

    Schumacher

    Raikkonen

    Hulkenberg

    Maldonado

    Perez

  32. Lap 21

  33. Lap 23

  35. Alonso

    Vettel

    Button

    Raikkonen

    Schumacher

    Hulkenberg

    Perez

    Webber

    Maldonado

    Kobayashi

  38. Lap 26

  39. lap 27

  40. Alonso

    Vettel

    Button

    Raikkonen

    Schumacher

    Perez

    Hulkenberg

    Webber

    Kobayashi

    Rosberg

  42. Lap 32

  43. Lap 33

  46. Alonso

    Vettel

    Button

    Raikkonen

    Schumacher

    Perez

    Kobayashi

    Webber

    di Resta

    Maldonado

  47. Lap 37

  49. Lap 38

  50. Lap 39

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