10 Things You Didn’t Know About The German Grand Prix

After the drama of the British Grand Prix, F1 now heads to Germany for the 10th race of the year. Here are 10 things you might not know about the event:

1. Alternating venues

Back in 2007 the FIA announced that the Nurburgring and the Hockenheimring would alternate hosting the German Grand Prix, meaning there would be one F1 race in the country per year for the first time since 1995.

The 2007 round was actually held under the European Grand Prix banner due to a dispute with the Hockenheim track over the naming rights. However, recent rumours and speculation suggests the Nurburgring will soon become the permanent home of the race.

2. A thrilling track

Unfortunately the heading above is not describing the current Hockenheimring layout, but the old, super-fast one that saw cars shoot through the forest, tackling the twisty chicanes that split the high-speed straights.

This version was used between 1965 and 2001, before a new, slower and safer design was introduced for the 2002 event. It was designed by Hermann Tilke and received mixed reactions from drivers.

3. History lost

Speaking of the old track, if you are attending the race and want to take a look, you can’t. This is because most of the historic tarmac that was raced on by some of the sport’s most iconic drivers was torn up and replaced with trees.

4. Schumacher tops wins list

Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver in the history of the German Grand Prix. He won the event on four occasions during his time racing in F1. We continue to think of him as he recovers from his terrible skiing accident. Fernando Alonso has the highest number of wins from the current grid with three.

5. Ferrari domination

Ferrari has had one of its drivers on the top step of the podium at the German Grand Prix 21 times, including – most recently – 2010 (more on that later) and 2012. Williams is next up with nine victories, with McLaren in third with eight triumphs.

Like the last round in Britain, a Formula 1 race in Germany has previously been affected by an intruder. During the 2000 event, won in spectacular style by Rubens Barrichello, a former Mercedes employee managed to sneak onto the track and caused the safety car to be deployed on lap 25. He crossed the circuit several times before being tackled by marshals and taken away from the facility.

7. Fernando is faster than you

One of the most controversial moments in recent F1 history took place at the Hockenheimring in 2010, when Felipe Massa was instructed to let his team-mate Alonso through and into the lead. The Spaniard eventually won the race by four seconds. Ferrari was fined $100,000 for breaking the regulations, but the result remained unchanged.

The Hockenheimring was also the scene of Nelson Piquet’s famous fight with Eliseo Salazar, after the Brazilian crashed into the backmarker while he was in the lead.

9. Track stats

The circuit is 2.842 miles (4.574 kilometres) long and features 17 corners – 10 right-handers and seven left. There will be two DRS zones this weekend – the first will be on the short straight leading to turn two and the second will be on the long run to the turn six hairpin.

10. Home event

It is the home race for four drivers on the current grid (championship leader Nico Rosberg, Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil, who drives for Sauber) as well as the Mercedes team, which is based in the UK but races under the German flag.