2016 German Grand Prix - Hockenheim, 29-31 July

[ChrisDanger]

Hockenheim

The original Hockenheim circuit was built in 1939 as a high-speed test track for Mercedes-Benz, who needed a venue to test for the Tripoli Grand Prix. It was almost eight kilometres long and was formed of two long, curved straights with a long corner at either end.

When war broke out the construction was halted and in the post-war years the Nurburgring became the venue for Formula One racing in Germany, with Hockenheim hosting a few smaller events. When a plan to build an autobahn through the circuit was approved, the government supplied Hockenheim with a large sum by way of compensation. This money was used to build a new track, the now famous Hockenheim circuit, which cut through the forest before looping into the wonderful stadium section around which large grandstands were erected.

Track Map & Stats





Timetable



2014 Qualifying Results



2014 Race Results



Selected Tyre Sets



2014 Pole Lap

[Fulcrum]

Now we get to see what two years of evolution do to lap times, albeit the tyres are not the same.

[NAPI10]

Why FI choose 3 sets of Mediums?

[Jolle]

Why FI choose 3 sets of Mediums?

Could be anything, long aero runs on Friday?

[SectorOne]

Will be interesting watching RB and Mercedes in the last sector.

[Sonador]

I find it awesome that this GP is back on the calendar.
Looking forward to the weekend!

[godlameroso]

Sector 1 is high downforce, sector 2 is low downforce, sector 3 is all chassis. The last race here was quite boring, we need a shakeup after a boring Canada and Hungaroring.

[SamH123]

Mercs performance in the last 2 races has extinguised my hope for any challenge for every remaining race, except for maybe Singapore.

I expect Ferrari/RB to be close here, Ferrari with a slight edge probably

[godlameroso]

Contrary to popular belief, downforce is more important than straight line speed around here. It's a very intense track, and requires a lot of mechanical grip for turn two, the annoying hair pin, the hairpin right after, then the way the track undulates makes getting out of that turn extremely tricky, the blind entry into the super fast right hander, the twisty infield, and the super fast first turn all demand good aero, and grip. The penalty for running high downforce is .25 seconds on the two straights, but you can gain up to a second in the curves with higher downforce. Williams always struggles here, precisely because it's an aero circuit.

[PlatinumZealot]

The Mercedes should be able to run more downforce than other teams because of their engine's grunt. It always annoys me why Williams don't put on downforce just to see what happens. Perhaps their aero is just not efficient as Merc's.

[Moose]

The Mercedes should be able to run more downforce than other teams because of their engine's grunt. It always annoys me why Williams don't put on downforce just to see what happens. Perhaps their aero is just not efficient as Merc's.

It amazes me that we've just had Merc utterly dominant at the Hungaroring and that people still say this. The hungaroring is a circuit where your engine performance matters very very little. We even had qualifying in the wet, which makes the engine even less important, and Merc dominated more.

Merc don't have a downforce advantage because of their engine, they have a downforce advantage because their car is designed better than anyone else's.

[FoxHound]

The Mercedes should be able to run more downforce than other teams because of their engine's grunt. It always annoys me why Williams don't put on downforce just to see what happens. Perhaps their aero is just not efficient as Merc's.

It amazes me that we've just had Merc utterly dominant at the Hungaroring and that people still say this. The hungaroring is a circuit where your engine performance matters very very little. We even had qualifying in the wet, which makes the engine even less important, and Merc dominated more.

Merc don't have a downforce advantage because of their engine, they have a downforce advantage because their car is designed better than anyone else's.

Bang on.

Its part of the hyperbole that at one point forced the FIA into the alternative engine rubbish.

And we see them running less wing than teams with so called "crap" engines.

[Jolle]

The Mercedes should be able to run more downforce than other teams because of their engine's grunt. It always annoys me why Williams don't put on downforce just to see what happens. Perhaps their aero is just not efficient as Merc's.

It amazes me that we've just had Merc utterly dominant at the Hungaroring and that people still say this. The hungaroring is a circuit where your engine performance matters very very little. We even had qualifying in the wet, which makes the engine even less important, and Merc dominated more.

Merc don't have a downforce advantage because of their engine, they have a downforce advantage because their car is designed better than anyone else's.

Bang on.

Its part of the hyperbole that at one point forced the FIA into the alternative engine rubbish.

And we see them running less wing than teams with so called "crap" engines.

Yes. It's quite clear that on a high downforce track the chassis order is
1 Mercedes
⅔ RedBull/Ferrari
4 McLaren

On a Silverstone setup (What Germany is I think?) Williams were pretty good in the past, because of their uncompromising design for that track, but with little development since their 2014 leap, I see them just behind the RedBulls/Ferraris on this track, but in front of McLaren (Who will have a tough time with Force India).

That also why I think Williams can't just add a little more DF, the drag would be significantly more, because the car is designed with a very narrow sweet spot.

[dans79]

The Mercedes should be able to run more downforce than other teams because of their engine's grunt. It always annoys me why Williams don't put on downforce just to see what happens. Perhaps their aero is just not efficient as Merc's.

It amazes me that we've just had Merc utterly dominant at the Hungaroring and that people still say this. The hungaroring is a circuit where your engine performance matters very very little. We even had qualifying in the wet, which makes the engine even less important, and Merc dominated more.

Merc don't have a downforce advantage because of their engine, they have a downforce advantage because their car is designed better than anyone else's.

I think the reason for this, is that RBR has been spreading the "we have the best chassis, but aren't winning because of our crappy PU " propaganda for so long & prolifically that simple minded F1 fans now take it as gospel.

[flickerf1]

The Mercedes should be able to run more downforce than other teams because of their engine's grunt. It always annoys me why Williams don't put on downforce just to see what happens. Perhaps their aero is just not efficient as Merc's.

It amazes me that we've just had Merc utterly dominant at the Hungaroring and that people still say this. The hungaroring is a circuit where your engine performance matters very very little. We even had qualifying in the wet, which makes the engine even less important, and Merc dominated more.

Merc don't have a downforce advantage because of their engine, they have a downforce advantage because their car is designed better than anyone else's.

I think the reason for this, is that RBR has been spreading the "we have the best chassis, but aren't winning because of our crappy PU " propaganda for so long & prolifically that simple minded F1 fans now take it as gospel.

This. It's so irritating to see here and other forums dense people coming to the conclusion that the Merc PU is the only reason for their dominance. If that were the case, why aren't Williams, Force India, and Manor doing better? It's a fallacy in their logic. Never mind the fact that Merc have out-developed everyone on the grid.