Williams has high hopes to continue good form

F1 Grand Prix, GP Germany, Nürburgring

The ninth round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship season takes the AT&T Williams F1 Team to Nürburgring for the German Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg is looking forward to this race as it's his home Grand Prix, but team mate Kazuki Nakajima also looks forward to meet the passionate German fans.

Nürburgring in a nutshell

Back on the calendar after a one year sabbatical (Germany’s race alternates between the Nürburgring and Hockenheim), the Nürburgring is a straightforward circuit, predominantly a mix of low and medium speed corners, that requires an uncomplicated two stop strategy….unless the local weather dictates otherwise. When Formula One last appeared at the track in 2007 it began raining torrentially within moments of the start, so much so that the race was briefly suspended.

Talking technical

Car dynamics:
Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit’s corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit’s configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. Average turn angle at the Nürburgring is 1220 which is significantly higher than the average for the Championship. The circuit therefore has more effect on understeer than the majority of circuits on the calendar.

The end of straight (EOS) speed at the Nürburgring was 303kp/h in 2007. The German track ranks as having the 6th lowest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, the Nürburgring has the 5th lowest average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.

The pitlane length and profile contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at the Nürburgring is approximately 20.6 seconds, the 8th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Nürburgring requires 2.43kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, ranking the circuit as average in terms of fuel consumption.

Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. There have been 3 safety car deployments in the last 12 races at the Nürburgring, making it relatively unlikely that there will be a safety car period, although the weather in the Eifel region is notoriously unpredictable so a safety car period can never be ruled out.

As an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance. Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. The Nürburgring is 618m above sea level and has the 2nd lowest average pressure (946.50mbar) of any race venue in the 2009 Championship. As a consequence, the circuit’s ambient characteristics will result in a significant reduction in engine power.

What the drivers say

Kazuki Nakajima: “I had a full week off after Silverstone and went to Norway with my friend. We just drove around a lot and took in the landscape. The weather was great and we visited the most northern point of Europe which was really interesting, but really quite cold! I’ve been back in the factory everyday since using the simulator and training in the gym in preparation for Germany.”

Nico Rosberg: “It was a busy week around Silverstone. Because it’s the team’s home Grand Prix, I went to the UK early to do lots of marketing and media commitments ahead of the weekend. It was then a busy race as well, so having the three weeks off before Germany was quite nice as I’ve spent the time just relaxing. I’ve been at home in Monaco catching up with friends and doing some training, I also took a short trip to Ibiza to spend some time on the beach!”

Nico “Our performance at Silverstone, in fact in Turkey as well, has given me lots of optimism. The team are doing a really good job in terms of development and that is showing on the track. At Silverstone, we had another fifth place and those points moved us up another position in the Constructors’. We need to keep making that kind of progress for the rest of the season now. Hopefully, we’ll be on the podium soon.”

Kazuki “Silverstone was a good race weekend until the first stint when it was really difficult to make any progress and we missed some opportunities, we cost us a place in the points. It’s not a case of having to try harder; it’s just waiting for it to all come together.”

Nico “The Nürburgring is a very different track to say Silverstone because the average corner speeds are a lot slower. This means car set-up needs to be quite different so we will have a lot of things to test on Friday in order to find the right direction and to get the best out of the car. The FW31 has been very consistent and relatively quick on every track this year so I have high hopes that we can continue our good form.”

Kazuki “Like Silverstone, it’s a tricky track but, unlike Silverstone, it’s more of a slow to medium speed circuit with lots of elevation. The weather can be a big factor at the Nürburgring, as can getting temperatures into the tyres as ambient can be quite low. Set-up-wise though it should be fairly straightforward. I haven’t raced a Formula One car around the Nürburgring, only a GP2 car, but I had a good race then so I hope that experience will help me. I’ve also done lots of lap on the sim, so I hope I’m well prepared.”

Nico “Going to Germany is a bit special for me as it’s my home Grand Prix and the circuit, together with Hockenheim, is the one that I know the best. Racing in front of your home crowd is a real buzz and the German fans in particular are really passionate about the sport, so there’ll be a good atmosphere. After a long break since the last race, I can’t wait to get back out on track now and getting another good result would make the weekend perfect for me.”

Kazuki “It’s a beautiful part of the world, and very close to Cologne which I’ve visited lots of times as I have a lot of Japanese friends at Toyota. The German fans are really passionate, but I think this year they will be more so because of Vettel and Nico who are doing a great job.”