F1 in Germany
July 11, 2009
The politics of Formula One and the ongoing threat of a breakaway series from the major manufacturers continue to overshadow the 2009 German Grand Prix, but on the track the season is hotting up.
After the early domination of Brawn GP and veteran British driver Jenson Button, who won six of the first seven races, a new power seems to be rising on the grid.
Germany's baby-faced Sebastian Vettel - who turned 22 last Friday - is still in the hunt to become the youngest F1 world champion ever. But Vettel knows that to stand a chance of shaking Jenson Button's commanding lead in the drivers' standings, he needs another good result this weekend.
"I felt very at home in the car. That's the most important thing," Vettel said after setting the second fastest time in Friday practice. "However, it seems to be a little tighter at the top than in Silverstone, where the Brawns perhaps struggled with a few problems, while everything was running perfectly for us."
Vettel won the British Grand Prix in Silverstone comfortably, with his Red Bull car stealing the show from the competition. Now, he has his first ever chance in a competitive car on home soil.
"Obviously, it's special to be here, being a German taking part in the German Grand Prix, just as it must have been for Jenson (Button) and Lewis (Hamilton) at Silverstone," he said.
When the season roared into action, neither Red Bull nor Brawn had the odds in their favour, but Button, Vettel and teammates Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber have benefited from major rule changes. Other F1 drivers and constructors however, have performed far worse than they had hoped.
Mixed Fortunes for Germany's other speedsters
Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber has looked nothing like the race-winning car and championship contender that it was in 2008. Seocnd place in the wet and wild Malaysian Grand Prix was the team's best result of the season, but it owed more to the veteran Heidfeld's racecraft than to the strength of his car.
Nico Rosberg has had another respectable season with low-budget privateer outfit Williams. He's scored points in the last four races, but still might be wondering whether he could be better placed in the championship than seventh if he and the team had capitalized on their speed early in the year.
Timo Glock has experienced every extreme in his Cologne-built Toyota this season. Glock started the year well, grabbing a podium in Malaysia. Then in China, it looked like the team would secure their first ever victory when Glock and his teammate Jarno Trulli locked out the front row of the grid.
However, tactical errors cost them the race and Toyota has backpedalled ever since. The team is hoping to re-establish itself as a front-runner in Germany.
Adrian Sutil - driving with the underfunded minnows Force India - has performed well this season, considering the resources at his disposal. However, at circuits like Silverstone where the Force India looked competitive, bad luck has cost him a chance at scoring some valuable world championship points. Force India is the only F1 team yet to score this year.
The Green Hell
The German Grand Prix and the Nuerburgring, are institutions on the Formula One calendar. The circuit has been completely reworked since the first F1 races there in the 1950s as the classic Nuerburgring Nordschleife - a gruelling, narrow 21 kilometer circuit - is too dangerous for modern Formula One cars.
"For a quick lap at the Nuerburgring, you've probably experienced more in seven minutes and six or seven seconds than most people have experienced in all their life in the way of fear, in the way of tension, in the way of animosity towards machinery and to a racetrack," multiple world champion and safety campaigner Jackie Stewart wrote of the Nordschleife circuit.
The "Green Hell" as Stewart famously described the track was replaced with what is known as the "GP cirucuit" in 1984. It is shorter, wider and safer, but critics say it will forever lie in the shadow of its more exciting elder sister.
Two and half decades later, and the Nuerburgring has added a new hospitality center, a museum, a rollercoaster, a disco, restaurants, bars, a holiday park and a hotel - all designed to tempt visitors into buying more than just a ticket for the race.
This new complex is an attempt to again profit from a Formula One race weekend. Currently, circuits pay such large fees to F1's commercial supremo Bernnie Ecclestone that they often lose money. The Hockenheim circuit, contracted to host Germany's 2010 Grand Prix, has already said that it needs financial support to do so.
But with the rise of another German F1 star in Sebastian Vettel, the circuits will be hoping for a return to profit through ticket sales, as was the case during Michael Schumacher's illustrious career.
"To be perfectly honest, Sebastian Vettel is like a birthday present for us," Nuerburgring CEO Dr. Walter Kafitz told German newspaper Die Welt.
Author: Mark Hallam
Editor: Tamsin Walker