The German Grand Prix has a long and illustrious history. It has only been contested on a total of three tracks - the venerable Nurburgring, AVUS, and Hockenheim.
The AVUS track was completed in the 1920s with the first race being held there in 1926. The name AVUS is an acronym for Automobil Verkehrs und Ubungs Strasse or auto traffic and practice street, as it was part of the public road system. It was sort of a strange shaped oval - imagine a hairpin with two offset loops at each end and you get the picture.
It was comprised of two parallel straights, 9.78 kilometers or 6.08 miles long, separated only by a grass median 8 meters, or 26 feet, wide. There were two curves - the relatively tame small radius Sudkurve, and the more ominous Nordkurve, which was reworked in the thirties to have 43 degree banking (Daytona in contrast has only 31 degree banking). The Nordkurve was surfaced with red brick and had no retaining wall at the top, which resulted in some wild rides for a few unfortunate drivers.
It's capability to produce high speeds led to the German teams developing streamliners for AVUS. The cars were only legal for Formula Libre events, and were never used in official GPs. During practice for the 1937 AVUSrennen Formula Libre event, Bernd Rosemeyer turned a lap of 4:04.2 (284.31km/h - 176.7mph), which still stands as the fastest lap ever in Grand Prix car competition. Those speeds were not seen even at Indy until the 1970s.
Although AVUS was used extensivly, particularly in the thirties, it only hosted the German Grand Prix once - in 1959. It was deemed too dangerous and it was the last time F-1 cars would use it.
The original Nürburgring is perhaps the toughest and most respected track ever devised by mankind. It was first built in the mid-twenties as a way to alleviate unemployment in the area and to boost tourism money. It is situated in the picturesque Eifel plateau region of the German Alps.
It was originally two circuits that could be combined onto one, long, 172 turn course, which is how it was used during the 1930s when drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari and Bernd Rosemeyer were achieving fame there. 1939 was the last year it was used in its full length for a Grand Prix event.
The largest section, known as the Nordschleife or North Loop, is 14.2 miles long. The Südschleife is a mere 4.8 miles. The grandstands and pits were situated where the two tracks meet, as was an inn - the Sporthotel.
Of the many corners that made up the Nürburgring, there were several legendary ones. One of the most instantly recognizable is the Karussell turn.
Two more legendary corners were Pflanzgarten and the aptly named Flugplatz - meaning airfield in German - where the cars would get airborne going over the hills.
There's also the notorious Bergwerk, site of many a nasty spill. Niki Lauda would have a fiery crash on the approach to Bergwerk in 1976. It would lead to the German Grand Prix being moved from the Nürburgring to Hockenheim. However, with a character all its own, the Nürburgring still holds a spot in the hearts of fans. It was a track set apart by sectors such as the Adenauer Forest with its downhill run to the Adenau bridge, the steep uphill run from Bergwerk to Hohe Acht, and the incredibly long main straight.
With so many fearsome features, it's no wonder that Jackie Stewart would give the Nürburgring the nickname "The Green Hell".
The 1935 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring was one for the ages. The mighty Auto Union and Mercedes teams had been dominating Grand Prix racing, and the early laps of the 1935 race were no exception. Caracciola jumped to a lead along with the rest of the Mercedes and Auto Union contingent.
Tazio Nuvolari in his out-classed Alfa Romeo P3 was running a distant 5th place, but a pouring rain and Tazio's desire to win helped him close the gap, and move up to 2nd place when it came time for pit stops. All the top cars came in at virtually the same time, and it soon turned to disaster for Nuvolari. The pump used to fuel the car broke down, and the crew had to resort to fueling the car by cans. It turned out to be an over 2 minute pit stop, which put Nuvolari back to 6th place and seemed to ruin his chance at a win.
Yet Tazio would mount a charge that has gone down in history as perhaps the greatest comeback in racing history. In his overworked Alfa he ran down the sleek German machines to take the lead and go on to win the race, stunning the large German crowd, teams, and numerous government dignitaries that were ready to celebrate a German domination of their home grand prix.
Legend has it that they were so sure one of their cars would win that they had only the German national anthem to be played during the post-race ceremonies. Conviently, Tazio just happened to have a copy of the Italian Anthem.
The 1939 Grand Prix would be the last one before the war. Rudi Caraciolla would win driving a Mercedes. Team mate Heinz Brendel was signaled to come in and turn the car over to Hermann Lang, but he refused. He would later crash, and after telephoning the pits and asking team manager Alfred Neubauer to send a car to pick him up he was told he could walk back.
After the war, Grand Prix racing (now the World Championship) would return to Germany for the first time in 1951. Alberto Ascari would win the race driving a Ferrari.
The 1957 German Grand Prix was another epic race. After enduring a lengthy pit stop, Juan Manuel Fangio would run down and pass the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorne and Peter Collins on the last lap for the win.
The Nürburgring would continue to host the German Grand Prix into the Sixties. There were yet more famous races. In 1965, Jim Clark won the race in his Lotus. Indeed he led away from pole position and took a flag-to-flag victory. In doing so, he also clinched the 1965 Drivers' Championship. Future champion Jochen Rindt would score his first World Championship points that day. A year later, Rindt would stand on the podium at the German Grand Prix - he secured third place, but the race was won by Jack Brabham in wet weather conditions.
Jackie Stewart would earn perhaps his greatest victory at the 1968 race. In the pouring rain he would win by over 4 minutes, despite his wrist being in a plaster cast.
"Nothing gave me more satisfaction than to win at the Nurburgring, and yet, I was always afraid. When I left home for the German Grand Prix I always used to pause at the end of the driveway and take a long look back."
"I was never sure I'd come home again."
- Jackie Stewart
As in 1957, F-2 cars competed along side the F-1 cars at the Nürburgring in 1966-67-69 to help fill a rather small field of cars. Seen below are the closed-cockpit, plywood constuction Protos F-2 cars of Kurt Ahrens and Brian Hart in the 1967 race.
After Niki Lauda's terrible crash in 1976, the old Nurburgring was permanently dropped from the schedule in favor of the Hockenheimring. But a new, much safer circuit was built alongside the old course and opened in 1982. It has since held the German Grand Prix again in 1985, and the European Grand Prix on several occasions starting in 1984, and is now scheduled to be the home of the German Grand Prix every other year (albeit with the European Grand Prix moniker), sharing with Hockenheim.
The Eifel mountains have always suffered from changeable weather, and rain has often afflicted the German Grand Prix. The 2007 event at the Nürburgring (run under the banner of the European Grand Prix) was no exception, and heavy rains assualted the track in the opening laps, leading to treacherous conditions. Several cars aquaplaned off at high speed at the first corner, but Lewis Hamilton kept his engine running and was controversially craned back onto the track. The event also generated a statistical anomaly - due to a gamble on tyres, Marcus Winkelhock found himself in the lead of the race after the leaders either spun off or pitted. It was his first, and to date his only, F1 race, thus he has a 100% record of leading Grands Prix!
The Hockenheimring was first built in 1939 as a test track for Mercedes. It went virtually unused for years until the 1960s, when it started hosting sport car and F-2 events. Jim Clark was killed there in an F-2 event in 1968. A memorial to him still stands there. The first Formula One World Championship event was held there in 1970. Jochen Rindt would win the race on route to securing the Drivers' Championship. The 1982 race was memorable for an incident involving Nelson Piquet and Eliseo Salazar - they tangled at the Ostkurve chicane, and both men were eliminated from the race. Piquet took exception, and proceeded to punch and kick Salazar before they were separated by the marshalls! The event was marred, however, by the massive accident suffered by Championship leader Didier Pironi in practice. He suffered severe injuries that, although he survived, ended his racing career.
At the German GP in 1994, the Benetton of Jos Verstappen had a fueling problem that resulted in he and the crew being engulfed in a huge fireball. Fortunately only minor burns were suffered by Verstappen and some of the crew, but it was a very frightening scene. An equally frigtening event occured at the start of the 2001 event. Micheal Schumacher's Ferrari suffered a gear selection problem and the Prost of Luciano Burti ran into the back of Schumacher's slowed Ferrari and went for a series of rolls. Both drivers were unhurt and made the restart.
Honda would mark their 300th Grand Prix Start at Hockenheim in 2006.
