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(Motorsport-Total.com) – Although Formula 1 racing at the Nürburgring has been held on the Grand Prix track since 1984, the appeal of the Nordschleife also attracts today’s Formula 1 stars. (Formula 1 2020 on live ticker!) The 20-plus kilometer long course, almost unchanged since 1927, draws drivers even on race weekend when they really should be concentrating on their race.
© Grupo C GmbH
The Nürburgring-Nordschleife makes even Formula 1 stars sweat Focus
McLaren driver Carlos Sainz, for example, admits that he enjoyed himself in a rental car in the “Green Hell” on Wednesday in the run-up to the Eifel Grand Prix: “Every time I come here I go to the Nordschleife. It’s a must.” . It was three laps in a borrowed Audi A6. Actually, I shouldn’t say that because it could get me in trouble! “
“I always do that. My father participated in the 24-hour race here. So he knows the track very well. When I drove here in the 2014 Renault World Series, he showed me the track.” I wasn’t 20 then.
Local hero Sebastian Vettel also knew the track from the start: “The first time I was 17 and was driving my private car on the Nordschleife. I had a terrible time. After the Schwedenkreuz I almost had an accident because I did.” The brakes were fading. “
His mistake: “I drove the car like it was a sports car, which it was, but it wasn’t designed at all for the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.”
Ricciardo with a rookie mistake
Daniel Ricciardo had a similar experience on his first attempt: “In 2008 I drove it in my private Fiat Punto. And believe it or not: I managed to get off the track!”
He apparently made the typical beginner’s mistake on the Adenauer Forst, which is well known from numerous YouTube travel compilations: “He climbed blindly to the left and suddenly the curve closed properly. I was not prepared for that. on the sidewalk drove outside and drove through the grass. “
Like most at this point, he was able to avoid an impact as it is one of the few places with a generous runoff zone. “That was my last time at the moment. But I will. [an diesem Wochenende] Returns. This time I will drive slower. “Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc also wants to explore the Nordschleife this race weekend.
© YEARS
Formula 1 continued to compete on the Nordschleife until the 1970s (here 1973) Focus
Young Lando Norris, on the other hand, embodies the new generation: personally, he has never driven the Nordschleife, but has completed countless laps on it in simulation races: “I don’t have a single lap [in echt] I shoot, but I know them by heart from online racing. I really want to drive it. “
However, he wants to focus on his work first: “I’m here for race weekend. I don’t want to do anything stupid beforehand. Maybe I can do a lap or something on Sunday night or Monday before the flight. I think. Everyone in motorsports wants to do it someday. Drive the Nordschleife. That’s definitely on my to-do list and I hope it’s not for long. “
Vettel: F1 at Nordschleife not excluded
Of course, there is always the question of whether Formula 1 should drive the Nordschleife again. The last race took place there in 1976, with an inglorious result. The track is fantastic, all the drivers agree on that. “He’s slim, he’s old school,” says Ricciardo. Sainz and Vettel think it is “very funny”.
Listen and be amazed: Vettel does not consider a Formula 1 comeback out of the question. “I followed the 24-hour race and am a huge Nordschleife fan. It would be great if we did. The track would have to be resurfaced and smoother. It would be the ultimate challenge. “.
Ricciardo, however, has no illusions: “Now with Formula 1 there [Rennen] driving is a bit unrealistic. “
