Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe: 22 July 2007
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Circuit: Nürburgring
Track length: 5.148 km
Laps: 60
Race distance: 308.863 km
Fastest lap: 1:29.468 (Michael Schumacher, 2004)
The current Grand Prix track of the Nürburgring is a shadow of the old Nordschleife "green hell" of the same name but it has proven to be a much safer layout. It has been in use since 1984, although the Mercedes Arena at the start of the lap was only introduced in 2002. Turns 8 and 9 of the old track have been renamed the Schumacher S after the 8-time World Champion.
The event has been previously called the Louxembourg Grand Prix. This year will be the last time that the European Grand Prix will be held at this venue, as it moves to Valencia next season. The German Grand Prix alternates between Nürburgring and Hockenheim (which will host the 2008 event), and thus the former will return in 2009.
For fans will access to BBC's Radio Five Live, Murray Walker makes a return to the commentary box for the first time since the 2001 USA Grand Prix.
The racing can be indifferent at times, although its location in the mountains makes wet weather more likely than usual. However the last 6 GPs took place in dry conditions.
A medium-high downforce set-up is recommended to tackle the twisty parts of the track. It tends to be harder on the front tyres due to a number of difficult braking points, such as the bumpy approach to Castrol and the downhill run to Dunlop. Passing takes place most often at these 2 corners and Veedol chicane, though it's also possible at Bit and Ford.
The previous winners of the race who are still active are McLaren's Fernando Alonso (2005), Toyota's Ralf Schumacher (2003) and Honda's Rubens Barrichello (2002). Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen nearly won the event which Alonso took but for a suspension failure on the last lap.
The big news for this weekend, besides the espionage saga between Ferrari and McLaren, is the dismissal of Christijan Albers from the Spyker team. No replacement has been named yet. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton still leads the world championship by 12 points but they have been on the backfoot in the last 2 races. BMW and second driver Robert Kubica also showed strong form in those races and in testing at Spa.
Whatever happens, the world championship will surely hot up at the 10th round of the 2007 Formula 1 world championship! -
Is it Turn 9 & 10 on the map?Originally posted by Kuali Baba:Turns 8 and 9 of the old track have been renamed the Schumacher S after the 8-time World Champion. -
No, it's on the Nordschleife.Originally posted by SBS9806J:Is it Turn 9 & 10 on the map? -
Markus Winkelhock has been named as Christijan Albers's interim replacement for this weekend's race.
Rubens Barrichello has announced that he will be driving for Honda next season too! That gives him the chance to beat Ricardo Patrese's record of 257 GPs. -
Markus Winkelhock has been named as Christijan Albers's interim replacement for this weekend's race.
Rubens Barrichello has announced that he will be driving for Honda next season too! That gives him the chance to beat Riccardo Patrese's record of 257 GPs (participated, 256 starts). -
European GP free practice session two times
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m33.339s
2. HAMILTON McLaren 1m33.487s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.590s
4. ALONSO McLaren 1m33.637s
5. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m33.668s
6. TRULLI Toyota 1m33.746s
7. ROSBERG Williams 1m33.845s
8. BUTTON Honda 1m33.880s
9. HEIDFELD BMW 1m34.146s
10. KUBICA BMW 1m34.221s
11. WEBBER Red Bull 1m34.235s
12. WURZ Williams 1m34.264s
13. SATO Super Aguri 1m34.357s
14. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m34.411s
15. FISICHELLA Renault 1m34.431s
16. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m34.446s
17. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m34.504s
18. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m34.554s
19. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m35.320s
20. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m35.653s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m36.527s
22. WINKELHOCK Spyker 1m37.319s
European GP free practice session one times
1. HAMILTON McLaren 1m32.515s
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m32.751s
3. ALONSO McLaren 1m32.932s
4. HEIDFELD BMW 1m32.975s
5. KUBICA BMW 1m33.205s
6. MASSA Ferrari 1m33.605s
7. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m33.825s
8. BUTTON Honda 1m33.936s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m34.062s
10. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m34.142s
11. TRULLI Toyota 1m34.152s
12. WURZ Williams 1m34.345s
13. ROSBERG Williams 1m34.563s
14. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m34.567s
15. WEBBER Red Bull 1m34.683s
16. SATO Super Aguri 1m34.708s
17. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m34.907s
18. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m34.921s
19. FISICHELLA Renault 1m35.077s
20. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m35.643s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m36.340s
22. WINKELHOCK Spyker 1m37.116s -
Hamilton has crashed heavily in Q3! He was P5 with 5 minutes and 13 seconds remaining - the red flag is still out.
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But first, Free Practice 3 times:
European GP final practice times
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m31.396s
2. HAMILTON McLaren 1m31.627s
3. ALONSO McLaren 1m32.039s
4. KUBICA BMW 1m32.039s
5. MASSA Ferrari 1m32.217s
6. ROSBERG Williams 1m32.344s
7. HEIDFELD BMW 1m32.581s
8. WEBBER Red Bull 1m32.632s
9. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m32.679s
10. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m32.788s
11. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m32.841s
12. BUTTON Honda 1m32.869s
13. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.936s
14. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m32.974s
15. WURZ Williams 1m33.154s
16. FISICHELLA Renault 1m33.214s
17. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m33.229s
18. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m33.484s
19. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m33.792s
20. SATO Super Aguri 1m33.945s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m34.423s
22. WINKELHOCK Spyker 1m36.090s -
Q3 stopped as Hamilton suffers high-speed crash
The final qualifying session at the Nurburgring has been stopped after Lewis Hamilton suffered a high-speed crash.
The rookie was halfway through a rapid first flying lap on new tyres when his right-front wheel exploded on the 160mph turn-in to the Schumacher S-bend.
A heavy frontal impact with the tyre barrier ensued and Hamilton took some time to get out of the cockpit, raising concerns that he may have injured his foot or leg.
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I cant catch it on tv right now... Australia vs Japan match still on
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Starting Grid
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m31.450s
2. ALONSO McLaren 1m31.741s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m31.778s
4. HEIDFELD BMW 1m31.840s
5. KUBICA BMW 1m32.123s
6. WEBBER Red Bull 1m32.476s
7. KOVALEINEN Renault 1m32.478s
8. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.501s
9. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m32.570s
10. HAMILTON McLaren 1m33.833s
11. ROSBERG Williams 1m31.978s
12. WURZ Williams 1m31.996s
13. FISICHELLA Renault 1m32.010s
14. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m32.221s
15. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m32.451s
16. SATO Super Aguri 1m32.838s
17. BUTTON Honda 1m32.983s
18. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m33.038s
19. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m33.148s
20. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m33.151s
21. SUTIL Spyker 1m34.500s
22. WINKELHOCK Spyker 1m35.940s -
He's not injured but he will be under observation for 2 hours. The wheel gun did not secure the right front wheel to the hub properly during his pitstop.
Originally posted by SBS9828X:
[b]Q3 stopped as Hamilton suffers high-speed crash
The final qualifying session at the Nurburgring has been stopped after Lewis Hamilton suffered a high-speed crash.
The rookie was halfway through a rapid first flying lap on new tyres when his right-front wheel exploded on the 160mph turn-in to the Schumacher S-bend.
A heavy frontal impact with the tyre barrier ensued and Hamilton took some time to get out of the cockpit, raising concerns that he may have injured his foot or leg.
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I cant catch it on tv right now... Australia vs Japan match still on [/b] -
Kimi took pole from Massa before alonso split the 2... looks like i should catch it later
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Who do you think will win tomorrow? Will it be a three horse race or kimi till the end?
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I think Alonso is going for a shorter first stint than the Ferrari drivers, and they have been very strong all weekend. There may be rain tomorrow though.
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Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:31.522 1:31.237 1:31.450
2 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.074 1:30.983 1:31.741
3 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.447 1:30.912 1:31.778
4 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:31.889 1:31.652 1:31.840
5 10 Robert Kubica BMW 1:31.961 1:31.444 1:32.123
6 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:32.629 1:31.661 1:32.476
7 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:32.594 1:31.783 1:32.478
8 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:32.381 1:31.859 1:32.501
9 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:32.446 1:31.843 1:32.570
10 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.587 1:31.185 1:33.833
11 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:32.117 1:31.978
12 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:32.173 1:31.996
13 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:32.378 1:32.010
14 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:32.674 1:32.221
15 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:32.793 1:32.451
16 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:32.678 1:32.838
17 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:32.983
18 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 1:33.038
19 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 1:33.148
20 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:33.151
21 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:34.500
22 21 Markus Winkelhock Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.940 -
finally we see hamilton starting from 10th.
lets see if he is good enough to get a podium finish. -
I suspect that he won't.Originally posted by dragg:finally we see hamilton starting from 10th.
lets see if he is good enough to get a podium finish. -
Hamilton cleared to race
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40118 -
it is high time he shows some aggressive driving.Originally posted by Kuali Baba:I suspect that he won't. -
Yah, most of the time he start from the front, don't see much of overtaking from him since the start of the yearOriginally posted by dragg:it is high time he shows some aggressive driving. -
This is one race I don't expect hamilton to end with a podium finish.
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no 10 podium record isee
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Race stopped after 3 laps, Winkelhock leads, Hamilton is dead last.
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MAYHEM!
i loved the way the cars came sliding in one at a time -
the track is steaming!
Winkelhock!!!