New Hockenheimring Circuit

But now in 2002 we are faced with a new layout which has aimed at maintaining its high speed nature but at the same time allowing not only spectators a better view of the whole circuit but also allowed for the drivers to have a far safer circuit on which to race.

In the past the circuit had two long sections of track that disappeared into the forest. These points of the track were away from spectators but also were the points on the track where the cars reached their maximum speeds. This placed the drivers in a situation of very high risk if they had a failure with their cars.

In order to address these two issues race track designer Hermann Tilke modified the circuit in order to allow for better viewing for the spectators and safer for the drivers. His design also allowed for the the high-speed character of the track to be maintained.

The new circuit keeps the stadium section but it is after they leave this and head down to a right-left combination of bends and the subsequent "Parabolika" that stretches along for 1047 metres. This sweeping section of track allows the drivers to reach speeds up to 315 km/h. After this they are faced with having to bring their cars down to 70km/h for a hairpin bend. This should allow the drivers some opportunity to attempt passing moves.

From the hairpin bend the cars go through a series of right-left-right corners to join the old circuit again. With the modification the length of the circuit is reduced from 6.823 kilometres to 4.6 kilometres.

For BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo he sees the new Hockenheim circuit this way: "The revised Hockenheim circuit is going to make it a bit of a gamble for everyone. Most of the drivers and engineers of course, haven't been there and it's going to be interesting how everyone will be able to work it out from scratch."

Team-mate Ralf Schumacher has already been able to drive around the circuit in a BMW X5 together with Hermann Tilke. Ralf commented on the new circuit by saying: "The new layout is certainly more varied and more demanding for the drivers. Looking at the new Hockenheim circuit does make me a little sad. At least I was the last winner on the old track, and no one can now take this away from me. Furthermore I think that after the revision Hockenheim can still be counted among the very fast circuits."