Dinosaurs fight to
stay out front in 45th German Grand Prix
"There are three things
you need at Hockenheim - power, power and more
power." Mike Gascoyne, Deputy
Technical Director, Tyrrell Racing
The crowds will have
already gathered, laden with Heineken and Bitberger,
turning the lonely and rather daunting forests
surrounding the track at Hockenheim into a
small city of tents and boisterous bon hommerie. With
no less than three home boys driving in this
weekend’s race, the atmosphere will equal that
which the Tifosi create for their beloved
Ferrari in Italy. With a real chance that Michael
Schumacher could clinch a third driver’s
championship and an even better one of winning the
race, flares, fireworks and flags will be out in
force. No German has ever won his home Grand Prix
since the Championship competitions started in 1951,
so, should Michael or his younger brother Ralf or Heinz
Harald Frentzen, badly in need of motivation,
manage to set foot on the podium there may even be a
national holiday.
Built in 1929 amid the
flat woodlands in the Valley of the Rhine, South West
of Heidelburg, Hockenheim was used as a test
track for Mercedes, but was overshadowed by
the Nurburgring and post war racing only
commenced in the early ‘50’s. They say that
Hockenheim has no soul, being put to use for
the first time in 1970, 71 years after the first
German Grand Pix was staged at Avus near
Berlin, a race for sports cars. The first World
championship qualifying race was run at the notorious
Nurburgring in 1951. Both recent venues,
empirical in their grandeur, are long and fast and
have had their fair share of tragedy. Think of the ‘ring’
and you think of the death of Phil Hill and
the dreadful accident of Niki Lauda, when he
almost burned to death in the wreckage of his Ferrari.
It is said, that when
drivers realised that the Nurburgring was too
dangerous, Hockenheim was the only
alternative, yet in 1968 when Jim Clark died
at speed in a Formula 2 competition out in the lonely
forests on the fast curling straight leading to the Ostkurve,
chicanes were placed centrally on both fast straights
effectively blunting the rhythm of the circuit. Patrick
Depailler was fatally injured in 1980 at that
corner, testing his Alfa, leading to another
chicane being placed immediately before the fast
right hander, destroying the quality of the only
truly exciting corner that the track has. Two years
later Frenchman Didier Peroni was badly
injured in a collision with another car in a wet
practice session.
Regarded as a
‘meritless’ track, its use was intended to
be a temporary stop gap to allow for the upgrading of
the ‘ring’, but after Lauda’s
near tragedy in 1976, the race returned to Hockenheim
and with the exception of the European Grand Prix
in ’84 and the 1985 German Grand Prix, it
has stayed there ever since.
"Love it or
hate it, they all race it". James Hunt
once said and, whilst it is an immensely daunting
track, the drivers can certainly let their hair down
and put their foot to the floor.
"It is
scary," says World Champion Damon Hill,
"you sit there thinking, ‘I hope the car
doesn't do anything funny’. There is a hell of a
thrill from going along at 200 mph, coming into the
chicane at high speed and braking really late. As
impressive as the speed is in a Formula 1 car, more
impressive is the braking. True, the circuit is a bit
boring but there is something I like about hammering
along through the trees."
One who will remember
‘hammering through the trees’ last year and
then exploding in white smoke, is Gerhard Berger,
recently returned from a three race absence due to a
sinus problem and doubly burdened by the recent death
of his father in a plane crash. Berger led much of
that race convincingly before being forced to retire
with just two and a half laps to go handing the race
to Hill and the runner up spot to his team mate Jean
Alesi. No one remembers those ‘almost
men’, the record books don’t show the
disappointment and the anger or the frustration of a
weekend’s labour to get the car to work
impeccably for just 190 odd miles yet, even now, as
Berger returns to the pits to announce his departure
from Benetton at the end of the season, not many will
remember that he won at Hockenheim for Ferrari in
1994. It would seem that the longest running
partnership in recent Formula 1 history is now
breaking up. The Mercurial Frenchman and the wise yet
mischievous Austrian, both having changed bosses at
the same time after being bedfellows at Ferrari for
three years prior to their disappointing two year
tenure with Flavio Briatore’s team.
"I have a few
options, but will remain in Formula One only if I can
drive for a top team." Berger said. "It is
a bad idea to make a decision when times are
difficult." The truth is, that his options
are fewer than he thinks and the fact that the
announcement was indeed made despite his suggestion
as to opportune time in which to make decisions,
leads one to conjecture if indeed it was Briatore
giving him that gentle push. The Dinosaurs are going
and the young predators are fighting their way to the
lucrative watering holes of the top teams. With Giancarlo
Fisichella signed already and Alex Wurz in
the blue corner waiting for the word it looks like
Alesi to will be demoted from the front line also.
All the movable old guard will get seats in the pit
lane musical chairs but when everyone has finally sat
down, the ones left standing will have nowhere to go
but out or into the commentary boxes of the world.
Ringmaster of the F1
circus Bernie Ecclestone has publicly decried
Hill’s rumoured attempts at a $10 million fee
for next year. A highly unlikely scenario seeing as
his intention to move at all has yet to be announced.
But it does illustrate the fact that with the single
exception of Michael Schumacher, the Tyrannosaurus
Rex himself, salaries will be a lot lower next
year. The young Veloce-raptors are
hungry for the spoils of the game and the elderly and
infirm can move over.
Still, all is not doom
and gloom at the Grand Prix. We can expect a battle
royal between the newest veteran of the sport, Jacques
Villeneuve and the number one German. This is a
track that should suit not only the Williams FW18,
but also the barely-seasoned Canadian who drives it
and who craves ‘fun’ in his racing.
New additions to the
Ferrari this weekend will make it a great deal more
suitable to fast circuits, though no one will really
have noticed a drop off in speed or handling of late,
despite their first major mechanical failure this
year, at Silverstone.
After the total
destruction of all four engines running at the
British Grand Prix, Martin Whitaker, Ford
director of European Motorsport regards the circuit
on a more technical level and not surprisingly with
some trepidation. "It’s one of the
hardest circuits on engines, with extended periods at
full throttle during the lap," he said. "It
has a deserved reputation as an engine-breaker, so it
is a particularly daunting task to go there after our
experiences at Silverstone. But pushing the limits is
the quickest way to move development forward."
Rubens Barrichello,
Stewart driver, seemed less pessimistic despite
having to sit in front of one of the troublesome Ford
power units this weekend. "The circuit is all
about braking and your speed is in a straight line.
While it's not a physically hard track, the drivers
have to concentrate very hard on their braking
points. It's an enjoyable feeling when you come out
of those forests and meet the huge crowd in the
Stadium section." He added, "Two
years ago I was fighting for a podium finish until I
had to retire."
Ready to impress and
for sure they will, are the boys from Jordan
Peugeot. Fisichella no doubt buoyed up by his
rocketing credibility, will go well. With upgraded
front and rear wing packages developed for the high
speed circuits of Monza and Hockenheim,
the cars will fly. Backed by renewed sponsorship from
BAT’s Benson and Hedges brand and fresh
money coming in from Lola’s former
executioners, MasterCard, boss Eddie Jordan
has to be one of the most satisfied men in the pits.
His main card, young Ralf Schumacher
marginally quicker than his Italian team mate but
more erratic, is set to take Jordan to greater
heights. The Irishman is also offering a seat for
next year that everyone will want.
Technical Director Gary
Anderson always first to offer his young guns
sensible advice, said, "The teams advice to
our drivers, will be to learn to come to terms with
the low grip and 30% lower downforce levels which
will make the car feel different. It will however
feel nicer to drive as it slides more easily and the
drivers can feel it." Like a mother wrapping
wolly scarves round her childrens’ necks and
sending them off with packed lunches and clean
hankies, Anderson continued, "We will tell
them that they have to push for the top speeds but
then remember that when they enter the corners they
will take them at a much slower speed." Of
course they will Gary, but did you tell them to
remember to brake?
Fastest in testing at
Silverstone and Monza, a podium is a probability if
the lads can keep their heads in gear, which brings
us to the harassed Heinz Harald. Keeping his car in
gear this time will be of prime importance as will
avoiding other vehicles on the road. The pressure is
now truly on him to perform and with only 19 points
scored from nine races, his future is far from
secure. Eviction from ‘No1 pit lane’,
should not be ruled out.
"There is no
doubt that driving for Williams moves you up a gear
when it comes to pressure on the driver," He
said recently and, referring to his aborted start at
Silverstone, "You don’t get the same
feel with a hand clutch that you do with a foot
clutch. It never seems to bite in the same way."
The conjecture is of course that all the winter
testing and between-race practice should have allowed
him to overcome this particular problem by now.
Another problem is his old adversary and fellow
countryman Schumacher. Their rivalry goes back a long
way to the F3 championships in 1989 where they fought
a tremendous duel for the championship with Karl
Wendlinger, who eventually won. Now for the first
time since then, Frentzen can face Schumacher with
equal machinery. "I hadn’t raced against
Michael in equal machinery since those Formula 3
days." He recalled. "Since then
Michael has proved he is one of the best drivers in
the world and he is a big challenge for
anybody." Indeed he is, especially for young
Heinz-Harald. Having already lost out to the Ferrari
driver when he not only took over his Girlfriend
Corinna, but married her too, Frentzen is more than
eager to engage in the near impossible task of
proving himself on the track, as his equal.
In front of a home
crowd Michael Schumacher should be unstoppable and
despite his recent comments that, for him, "The
real challenge for the championship should come next
year," the statistics prove him wrong.
Currently leading both Constructors and drivers
championships, Ferrari are improving at supersonic
rates and should have Williams extremely worried.
What was seen as a foregone conclusion at the
beginning of the season is now at best for
Frank’s boys, a 50-50 chance. The challenge for
Schumacher is now. Next year it could well be
a walkover.
Chris Richardson
24th July 1997
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