It's been a relatively successful year for Germany thus far, winning a bunch of football matches, leading both the drivers and constructors championships and now the grid rolls into the country for their home race. Even if Hamilton spent a little while in the media questioning exactly how German Rosberg actually is. But in the intervening weeks the FIA have thrown another spanner into the works (and there'd be more bother if said spanner was classed as a movable aerodynamic device). Out of nowhere it appears that the powers that be (not Bernie this time, but more on that later) have decided that Front-Rear Interconnected Suspension (FRIC) is on the verge of being illegal. So what is FRIC I can vaguely here the empty vastness of cyberspace where an audience would be calling. In essence it is a way of connecting the front and rear suspension systems such that the car remains level at all times - something that has been around for almost a decade now. But somehow, through some contorted loophole in the regulations it appears there is an argument from the FIA that as the system prevents the car from tilting as much it is under consideration as a movable aerodynamic device... So no-one is running the system this weekend for fear that the FIA will throw every volume of the rulebook at them... in hardback form. Making decisions of this nature in the middle of the season is, well, silly really - in a year of dramatic changes to the cars which have been quoted as difficult to work on why suddenly throw something old and well tested out the window. Of course the conspiracy theorists are out in force, claiming this is a tactic to try and hobble the Mercedes pace - especially if it is something they are doing better than everyone else. They said the same thing when flexible floors and wings were questioned at Red Bull and those exploding tyres last season... everyone hates a winner. But over the course of the weekend, the ever raging row on track limits will be equally as dominant
A second, sub-story picked up from F1 Racing magazine - which doesn't seem to have emerged elsewhere (so maybe it is all nonsense). Was the amusing position that good old Bernie placed the contractual allocation of the German GP in. The Nurburgring and the Hockenheimring share the race on alternating years, this year the race being held at the latter. Bernie, from what it seems offered a contract extension to the Nurburgring - probably for exorbitant sums of money again. However it appears that he forgot the arrangement the two circuits have with each other - and effectively assigned the 2016 and 2018 races to both tracks. At 213km a race between the two might prove interesting, but it is another sign that Bernie might be starting to lose the plot a little bit.
The Venue
The Hockenheimring was the host sole host of the German GP for so many years, featuring an high speed straights through the middle of the forest. It was very unique and daunting for both drivers and the machinery. But financial pressures on maintaining such a large circuit, and expansion requirements for safety meant this behemoth of motorsport had to be curtailed. There will be many people out there in the real world who have seen mighty tracks trimmed back for safety - tracks such as Spa and the A1 Ring have even faster and more dangerous pasts for example. But the Hockenheimring is one that has been transformed in the years I've tracked the sport - and there is this dwindling sense of nostalgia in the aerial imagery of the trees reclaiming the original layout.
Of course that is to say that the replacement isn't too shoddy - and as an amphitheatre for the track-side supporters it works well. Turn one - Nordkurve - is brilliant, one of the remaining relics of that glorious track - but these days it is corrupted by the debarcle of track-limit complaints. Didn't have those when it was gravel on the other side of the curb now did we... The track drives headlong along it's former path, towards the corridor of greenery, but turn two - a sharp right - drags it away from woodland thus beginning the refurbished phase of the lap. Turn three curves back towards the woods but opens out into the 'Parabolika' a long gentle curve aiming at the piece of tarmac that once was the final one of the three mega-blasts between the trees.
The Spitz Kurve is the tight hairpin that re-unites the past with it's present and offers a prime overtaking spot. It was also the corner at which renowned collision experts Grosjean and Maldonado crashed into each other in GP - at least one of them has calmed down since. On the exit of the Spitzkurve the drivers head down a portion of the old track before stepping out into the Mercedes Arena. The Arena consists of a fast right hand flick into the breaking zone of a 90 degree left - there is potential for more overtaking, but - in Euroseries F3 at least - tends to see cars flip over each other and land on the catch-fencing at the bottom of the gravel trap.
The Mercedes arena exits back onto the old circuit for the remainder of the lap ready for the Stadium section where the cars would be re-united with the supporters after exiting the forest. Mobil Kurve used to be a considerable challenge - after hurtling around at 200mph, scrubbing off just enough speed at just the right time for a quick right hander was a lot of fun on the old F1 video games (note to self, install the layout into the simulator later). Nowadays the entry speed is slower but the corner remains as challenging as it once was - because the older part of the track is far narrower than the rest leaving little room for error. There is also grass and gravel on the exit too, makes a nice change. The rest of the stadium section belies its compact nature - the Sachskurve hairpin is banked allowing the cars to carry more speed. A quick chicane over a slight crest is follwed by the Sudkurve, two connected rounded right angles bordered by the drag strip. How this many turns fit into such a small setting without feeling cramped is bewildering, it is well engineered... all very German.
Except of course that the stadium section and the former layout were designed by a Dutchman - the same one behind Zandvoort and Suzuka. The 2002 rebuild... well we can blame the Germans for that one.
The Form Guide
As I am now writing this after FP1 instead of it being compiled yesterday I have a fraction more insight into how things might play out... not that it helps too much. We can all assume that despite this FRIC controversy that Mercedes have more than enough pace in their car to weather this period of instability and still power away from the competition. Of course FP1 times are far from representative but it appears that the self-imposed ban has had performance implications for other members of the grid, twitter claims that Williams, Lotus and Marussia were previously running an advanced FRIC system - like Mercedes, but are suffering more. In a sense this could be exacerbated by the fact that this newer (if a 12 year old layout can be classed as newer) version of the track would help Red Bull and Ferrari be more relatively competitive in relation to Williams, Force India, McLaren etc. But time will tell how that plays out if the other variable comes into play.
This other variable being rain - remember what that is - just like Britain this weekend thunderstorms are threatened, here it is Saturday - but in Germany the rain is predicted to make an appearance on Sunday. I know we've heard that story before - every other race weekend in the second half of 2013 had rain threatened, so I won't get my hopes up. But an injection of stormy precipitation could help the likes of Sauber, Lotus and even the bottom teams steal a point if it all goes wrong for those further forward. Perhaps it would be a long shot for Caterham who've been shedding staff and junior drivers in their restructuring, but Marussia might be on the cusp (depending on how much of a difference their FRIC meant). It all might be immaterial if the rain doesn't sweep in - and even if it does the FIA being the way they are will just throw a red flag until it is dry again a la NASCAR... god forbid anyone drove around in the wet. It is a sad state of affairs when even Indycar were prepared to run in wetter conditions than supposedly championship featuring the best drivers int he world... Anyway it could get interesting.
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